Advice NEEDED..Quick and Inexpensive

Scenario: I'm looking to ultimately receive a BA in Business. I've been in IT for 15 years and am currently Senior Software Engineer for a Fortune 13 Retail company in Atlanta yet I have never attended college. I'm at a point in my career I'm looking at Project Management positions but I feel that it would help to have a degree.
I hold a MCSD from Microsoft and a PMP from PMI. It seems almost like a customary exercise to get this degree but perhaps a necessary one.

Plan: I've just enrolled at Columbia College Online (ccis.edu). I've read good things about this school and the price is only $600 per course. I'd like your thoughts on this school and would love to hear from those that have attended.
To expedite things, I plan to CLEP as many courses as I can. Only taking those that I can not. My first CLEP will be Biology. Any ideas or thoughts on other quick hits I should tackle first?

 

I've looked at the Columbia College website and it appears to be a fine school.

Since you are planning on using CLEPS and I assume DANTES tests to finish faster, check with the school to determine the maximum number of credits that they'll allow to be transferred in by testing. Typically, most colleges have a limit on the number of transfer credits. Also, some colleges have a requirement that all CLEPS to be used in transfer be completed before the end of your first enrolled semester. I don't know if Columbia College has this requirement, but I know that University of Florida does. I'm just letting you know so you can check if that is the case.

Something you might want to think about though is trying Excelsior College, Thomas Edison State College or Charter Oak State College. They are known as the 'big 3' in distance learning circles. The reason is they are the only regionally accredited schools that I know of that allow a student unlimited transfer credits. Also, it is possible to almost complete a degree by testing. Since you have never been to college before, you'll have to complete 120 credit hours less any credits granted for your certifications. Your certs may get you anywhere from 0 to 20 credits depending upon the school.

Check out the BA in 4 weeks website also. www.bain4weeks.com

The site is not pretty, but there is a lot of good information. Some of it is a little out of date, but most concepts still apply. Especially see the BS in 4 weeks outline at http://bain4weeks.com/1stYearBus.html

Good luck,

 

I know you said that you enrolled, but did you consider the Excelsior option? www.Excelsior.edu

 

For what it's worth, you may want to consider 40 FEMA credits.

http://forums.degreeinfo.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=24919&highlight=fema

Since they are free, online, unproctored and easy...and awarded credit from Excelsior and TESC (2/3 of the big 3) - it's worth considering (IMO).

Greg

 

I didn't learn about Excelsior until I started reading posts throughout this site. I will look at the school. My concern with some schools is that when one goes to transfer. Some schools and their curriculum may not be accepted.

I've heard horror stories about people that invest money into schools, then go to transfer and many are not accepted.

For me, I'm not too concerned where it comes from. I just want to get the degree under my belt in as little time as possible.

Perhaps I've been fortune because it has only hindered me from one opportunity (with CDC). My experience and background has always served me well but the Management arena is a transition and I think has a little more scrutiny attached.

I will also research these FEMA tests. (first time hearing about)

 

The only school I've talked to about transferring into a MBA program after completing my Excelsior degree is ODU, and they said the degree is acceptable. Seems like most institutions are open to the Big 3, provided other qualifications such as a good GMAT score are met.

 

I read BAIN4Weeks and that site definetly lends food for thought. The question that lingers for me, would be the GPA issue. I can say now that the degree is formost and the GPA is secondary. But when it comes time for an advanced degree, I'd hate to be kicking myself for not having the GPA.

Any thoughts?

 

Excelsior is RA so there should not a be a problem as long as you have the pre-req's. I earned a BS from COSC and was admitted to the University of Florida and California State University.

 

One more thing, was the degree from a regional accredited school?

 

With your work experience, unless you have a poor showing on your GMAT, I believe that you would be eligible for admission to most MBA programs. I think that even if you test out of many courses, you will have to enroll in a few, and those courses would establish the GPA.

MBA programs look at the entire package when considering an aplicant, and I find it difficult to believe that a quality MBA program would frown upon a motivated student who was able to test out of many undergrad courses. In fact, IMHO, wouldn't that be seen as a positive?

 

That's another reason for choosing Excelsior. Excelsior will give a letter grade depending upon your score on some of the CLEPS and most of the DSST tests. Additionally, you will probably want to take some of the most important classes for the degree instead of testing out of them.

Of course, many small, regionally accredited graduate schools are more lenient in their admitting. Good GMAT scores are usually given higher consideration at those schools.

 

Given your work experience, you may want to consider enrolling directly into an MBA program.

e.g.

http://www.aspen.edu/no_ba.htm

No BA, BS, GMAT required...and with your PMP, it's only 9 online classes (PMP get's 9 transfer credits).

http://www.aspen.edu/programs/mbapm.htm

Just so you know...

Greg

 

The MBA specializing in Project Management looks interesting.

How legitimate is a MBA without an undergrade? Accelerating a BA/BS is one thing, but I'd expect more to obtain an MBA.

 

Has anybody here tried this route?

 

An Aspen degree is accreditied - national not regional.

 

I graduated with honors from COSC (3.6 GPA) and was given conditional acceptance at California State University - DH because they were not sure how to calculate my GPA based on the tested. I needed to mainyain a "B" for the first two or three classes to gain full admission. I would think that any grad student should get at least a "B" anyways.

 

This wouldn't be a problem if it came from Excelsior, correct? Because the give actual grades from my understanding.