BS in Biology Online

Discussion in 'General Distance Learning Discussions' started by BlackLabRat, Oct 5, 2010.

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  1. BlackLabRat

    BlackLabRat New Member

    Hello everyone I'm new to this forum.
    It was my intention to post here first but I was unable to register while the forum was overgoing a make over.

    I'm just going to add the link to another degree forum I found because both of my initial posts are very long. I recieved some good feed back and am looking for any more advice and information. :wiggle:

    Biology BS from Excelsior
     
  2. japhy4529

    japhy4529 House Bassist

    I've just replied in the other forum. I think you're on the right track. Just make sure to check with Excelsior regarding credit transfer, acceptance of CLEP exams (especially as they relate to the Bio major requirements). Excelsior is very liberal in their transfer policies, but it's still good to know for sure.
     
  3. Maniac Craniac

    Maniac Craniac Moderator Staff Member

    This site is WAY better than that one. Proof?

    -----------------------------------------------
    Maniac Craniac's Post Count As of October 5, 2010

    DegreeInfo: 1,811

    That Other Site: 254
    -----------------------------------------------

    The numbers don't lie, there is over seven times more Maniac here.
     
  4. cookderosa

    cookderosa Resident Chef


    yeah, i joined when there was only 3x more. way better now.
     
  5. BlackLabRat

    BlackLabRat New Member

    Ok. I have my first study books for the chemistry Clep.
    I have a chem book with a solution manual, REA CLEP prep, and the wiley self teaching guide.
    I'm going to go through the Wiley self teaching guide first then use the chem texts to supplement the REA Clep prep.

    In order I'm going to do:
    Chemistry (Nov. Dec.)
    Biology & Genetics (Jan. Febuary)
    Microbiology & Pathophysiology (Mar. Apr.)
    Physics (May)

    During the Fall I'm going to enroll at Excelsior and start taking 2 classes. Along with that I'll be knocking out more sciences at other schools:

    Spring - Organic Chem I (UNE)
    Summer - Organic Chem II (UNE)
    Fall - Biochemistry (unknown.....???)
    Spring 2012 - Immunology (UCB)

    I'm still googling for all and any online sciences. I need to make a list of costs too.
     
  6. BlackLabRat

    BlackLabRat New Member

    Hi everyone again!

    So far I have done nothing study wise for my CLEP exam.
    I was scheduled to take the chemistry clep on 2/12 and I haven't studied since I go the books in the mail.
    So basically my plans have been pushed back 2 months. I'm going to schedule my exam for the end of March.
     
  7. Ian Anderson

    Ian Anderson Active Member

    You could save money by not enrolling at Excelsior until you are close to meeting all the degree credit requirements.
     
  8. james_lankford

    james_lankford New Member

    I'm pretty sure excelsior's bio degree requires upper level labs
    I don't think you'll be able to find that online
     
  9. japhy4529

    japhy4529 House Bassist

    From pg. 30 of the Excelsior Liberal Arts Catalog (emphasis is mine): "Biology degree requirements include at least two laboratory courses, one of which must be upper-level. Where possible, biology courses should be taken with a laboratory. You may petition for a waiver of lab requirements when competency gained through work or experience can be documented for review by faculty."

    With BlackLabRat's experience working in a lab, he/she should be able to successfully petition for a waiver of the lab requirements (of course, it couldn't hurt to complete them anyway).

    I recently put together a degree plan for an online BA/BS degree from Excelsior, with a mix of courses completed through Excelsior, Mountain State and University of New England (note that ALL courses, including labs, may be completed online and/or through independent study). This only covers the requirements for the major. I have not included non-biology courses, even though Excelsior encourages (and I agree) completing additional science courses, such as chemistry and physics. One may take these additional courses through Mountain State, University of New England (with the exception of physics), Ocean County Community College, etc...
     
  10. cookderosa

    cookderosa Resident Chef

    You should post it. I often shared my plan for the premeds, but even HERE the myth about lab science exists?!?! What the what? I'm not sure why people keep making the assumption about labs?? Maybe they just havn't looked in a while, but times are a'changing!

    EDIT: sorry, I didn't notice that you included the link to your spread sheet! Cool! I'm curious though, why Mountain State instead of Ocean? Ocean's bios are only $600 each plus lab pack at ~$200 They are open book, MC exams and no proctors....pretty good deal!
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Feb 2, 2011
  11. Maniac Craniac

    Maniac Craniac Moderator Staff Member

    Wow, I miss this thread! It contains one of my favorites of all of my posts above :smile:
     
  12. japhy4529

    japhy4529 House Bassist

    Hmm, I just did the math for tuition at OCCC... A four credit science course through OCCC is $1036 for out-of-state students ($234/credit + $100 DL fee). With the lab pack thrown in, a course at OCCC would cost about the same as Mountain State ($1200/course). I've heard nothing but good things about OCCC, so I would probably go with them over Mountain State (unless you need a self-paced course, in which case I would choose Mountain State or UNE).
     
  13. cookderosa

    cookderosa Resident Chef

    WOW they raised tuition this semester!?! All of my lab classes to date were $608.00 ea, that included the DL fee. In fact, when I dropped physics, they gave me everything back minus $20 processing fee, and that was just 1 or 2 days before the semester started.

    I do like the self pace idea, or at least I think I do. That would be a factor. I strongly considered the UNE classes for their virtual labs. Not every UNE science uses HandsOn Labs, some are virtual or sims- I was going to do that to mix things up but never did. The cost kept me at bay, at double the cost of Ocean, I just couldn't swing it.
     

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