Just enrolled at Excelsior. Need some guidance.

I recently enrolled in the BS IT at Excelsior. I'm a little confused on what to do next. Do I create my entire degree plan or part of it and submit it to the advisers? Or do I only need to submit if I'm taking classes at Excelsior? What should my degree plan consist of? Classes only or tests(CLEP, Dantes, ect) too? I assume I could take the tests without having to notify Excelsior beforehand for permission correct?

Also do I need to take any classes at Excelsior at all? If I choose to take classes elsewhere do I need to notify them? Any other tips would greatly be appreciated. Excelsior seems like a pretty flexible school so I'm sure there are different ways of attacking a particular degree plan. Right now my concentration is Networking. Would switching to General Options be faster?

Thank you!

 

You aren't the only person dealing with Excelsior who needs guidance. I'm on my last grad class there for an MA and still being driven nuts by the
lack of clarity. I suppose it is because the profs are all adjuncts and admin is overworked. But it really drives me crazy when, for example, one page
of instructions for a course written years ago by one adjunct, doesn't get changed by the present teacher, but the present teacher has a different
requirement which is posted in some other part of the website. And why can't the "assignments" area of my class webpage list...assignments.
And the syllabus doesn't tell WHAT is due, just that Essay 1 is due - and I've been scrolling for an hour trying to find out what the heck essay 1
is about. If it were not for the fact that Excelsior takes old grad units I would never have enrolled with them. I mean, the curriculum is actually pretty good, and the profs are usually pretty good, but God help you if you want an answer to a question or clear simple obvious instructions. This is DIY degree for sure. It's very frustrating and I will be over the moon with joy when I am done with this place.

 

I loved Excelsior. When I enrolled, they sent me the evaluation of what requirements I had met and a list of what what I needed to do. Then I made decisions about how to complete it - I used mostly tests (DSST, CLEP, Uexcel, TECEP, etc.). I would email my advisor and tell him what I planned to take next and then he would approve it. I did it piece by piece until I got done.