Should I cut my losses?

I really love Andrew Jackson University but.....I just keep hitting a wall with picking grad programs that will take NA degrees. I am only 30 or so credits away from finishing my BS in CJ at AJU. Liberty is kind of expensive and me and my wife are not sure we can afford for me to go. I really don't even want a CJ degree as I will never enter law enforcement again, but I don't want to start over. Should I just suck it up and lose 30 credits and pursue the RA degree I really want? One that will allow me to enter a larger selection of masters programs, maybe even a B&M program in Houston where I will be moving soon. Just so it's clear I get 30 hours at AJU from my Peace Officer License. :Eyecrazy:

Yours Truly,
The Habitual Ship Jumper

 

From one ship-jumper to another, I know how you feel. It's a really tough decision and one that only you can make. If finances were not a concern, then of course you should go for the RA degree. A NA degree, while of quite high quality so it's not fair, might not get you where you want to go. Maybe you could go to Excelsior and CLEP through a bunch of classes. If you are a good self-starter you could buy the proper textbooks on Amazon used, study them, pass the CLEP and then sell the books on Amazon again for almost the same amount you paid. That way, you could build up a lot credits for a very cheap price. It would be a lot of work though.

I wonder if Excelsior will accept anything NA, maybe they will accept a few classes to take some of the sting out? I know they are liberal in their transfer policy but I don't know if they accept NA credits.

 

My advice is to concentrate on finishing your AGS from Clovis - then proceed to earn a BS from either COSC or Excelsior. Perhaps they will acept some of your credits from AJU. With your background I'm sure you could knock out a bunch of CLEP and DSST exams for additional RA credit.

What are your career goals now that you are leaving law enforcement? This might change recommendations made by me or by others.

 

I start my courses for my LCDC as soon as I move and some day I want to move on to LPC. I just feel so weighted down having only a few grad schools to pick from.

 

I understand what you are going through and I don't know what to tell you. I was told to follow my heart and not settle. I plan on following this advice until I find exactly what I'm looking for. I will eventually find a pair of shoes that fit and the same will happen for you.

 

I wouldn't know about that, but i know it would be a lot cheaper than Liberty, especially because of the CLEP's.

 

I meant use them to grant the degree but use courses and credits from lower cost sources such as Clovis, other NM state institutions, LSU, etc plus CLEP & DSST**.

** I note that there is a DSST exam in counseling plus one that grants UD credit in substance abuse (this latter may give you 10% of the UD credits required by Excelsior).

 

LOL, I made a list yesterday- I've applied to (and then declined) 7 master's programs. I'd like to have that money back! *you know how mush $ I spend in transcript requests for my patch work quilt!?!? So yeah, I can relate.
One idea- you can change to either of the APUS schools to launder your NA credits into an RA degree, which is something else to consider.

There are a lot of ways that you can use a CJ degree for non-law enforcement. In fact, a book I read last night talked about nurses who added forensics to their resume and specialized in all sorts of things- when I dug more,a lot of these nurses had CJ degrees and some were sexual assault nurses! This was something I hadn't heard of yet. So, not that you'd necessarily become a nurse, my point is that there may be other aspects of your skill set/interests where you can go and still use this degree....perhaps even things you hadn't even considered!

P.S. Nice to see you on FB

 

Well, you have got me beat...and I thought I was the master ship jumper.

 

Well me and you have gone back and forth regarding a degree in CJ, and we agree to disagree. But if you don't have ANY aspirations to return to LE, then there really isn't any point for you to proceed IMO. I would cut you losses, and pick a degree that will land you a job in whatever career field you choose.

Or you can stick with a CJ degree that will make you the highest trained Security Guard at the mall, considering a CJ degree will never work for anything but LE. I would fnd a degree with a greater utility like business.

Just my .02 cents . . .

 

Yes.

Otherwise, you will be haunted for many years by an inferior academic credential that isn't recognized by 99.9% of all state universities. Liberty is a private university, so their tuition is expensive. Have you considered an online state university since they have lower tuition rates? Have you considered Ft. Hayes State University or Troy State University?

Then you need to buckle down and stick with it, or else...

 

Or Amberton or even AMU

 

Otherwise, you will be haunted for many years by an inferior academic credential that isn't recognized by 99.9% of all state universities

With all due respect, where did you get that number? Wow, are you really sure about that?

 

Not true. How many people actually work in the same field as their major? Not as many as you would think. For example, I work at a pharmaceutical company where a former colleague had a degree in CJ (and he never worked in law enforcement) and another colleague (who is a senior director) has a degree in chemistry, but never once stepped in a lab after college and none of his positions have been in this field. Lastly, I have a degree in behavioral science and I'll likely never work in that field.

All too often on this forum, we agonize over what undergrad major to select. While this is not a decision that one should make lightly, in the end it might not matter all that much! For many positions, just having a bachelors degree with just about any major will do just fine. Now, with that said, there are certain graduate programs that require (or at least prefer) one to have a BA/BS in the same field. I'm not sure that this is a consideration with graduate programs in counseling (with the exception of social work, where having a BSW will shorten the time to completing an MSW). However, there are many graduate programs in psychology, business and education (just to list a few examples) that do have this requirement.

 

The number 99.9% is a common linguistic expression, similar to when the bible reads "as numerous as the sands of the sea." It isn't meant to be quantitatively specific, but it definitely makes a point.

:swordfight:

 

From Excelsior's student handbook: "College-level credit from any degree granting institution accredited by the Distance Education and Training Council (DETC) that also has been approved and recommended by the American Council on Education’s (ACE) College Credit Recommendation Service will be applicable." So basically it has to be ACE approved, but then it goes on to say that: "Excelsior College students may file an appeal to use degree level work completed at schools that do not have regional accreditation toward their degree programs. Prospective students will be charged a nonrefundable fee for the service. This policy applies only to coursework completed prior to a student’s enrollment in Excelsior College. Courses completed at non-regionally accredited institutions after a student has enrolled in Excelsior College will not be applied to degree requirements; thus, course approval will not be considered." So basically it'd be on a case-by-case basis. Also, they won't approve more than 25% of the credits needed for a degree from an NA school ACE hasn't given recommendations for.

 

It seems there are a great deal of schools out there cheaper than LU’s $900+ a course cost but much more than AJU's $400+ cost for 15 hours. I think someday I may want to go to a B&M for a masters so I really need to plan ahead. Yes my undergrad will be important, for you LCDC you have to have it in psyc, counseling or sw. I think I'm going to look hard at some of the schools yall have tossed around and see if they take NA credits.

This is what I have and hope to transfer...


Clep 6 Hours Anl. & Interp Lit
Penn Foster 20 Hours
Andrew Jackson University 27 Hours
Clovis CC 12 Hours
AIU 8 Hours

I will be taking 15 Hours at Clovis this summer as well.

So now I will be looking for the cheapest undergrad psychology or Human Services degree that takes a lot in transfer.