Psychology Degree at Excelsior

Discussion in 'Nursing and medical-related degrees' started by beholdweb, Nov 15, 2005.

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  1. beholdweb

    beholdweb New Member

    Hi,

    Does anybody know with certainty whether a BA or BS in Psychology can be obtained from Excelsior ENTIRELY through CLEP/DANTES/EXE testing?

    If this is in fact not possible, which required courses in particular cannot be earned by testing out? And in each case, what are the alternative options?

    It appears to me, from reading the Excelsior Psychology guide book that it may well be possible to test out of EVERY requirement for the Psychology degree using available CLEP/DANTES/EXE exams.

    If you have personal experience with this particular degree plan, and/or if you have received a definitive answer from Excelsior regarding this issue, I would love to hear your response.

    Thanks,
    Beholdweb
     
  2. salsaguy

    salsaguy New Member

    It was possible back in 2003

    I earned by B.S. in Psychology in 2003 from Excelsior, and almost all of my credits towards my major were earned through testing. In fact, I had too many credits in the end, and I took some courses off my final transcript to improve my GPA

    I transferred in about 38 credit hours from community-college coursework, but only one applied to my psych major. The rest were either general education or were applied to my minor in business.

    Here's a breakdown of what I did re psychology:

    COURSEWORK

    Human growth and development

    GRE PSYCH TEST

    6 credits ( I blew the exam that day cause I was hung over after a night of partying with my Marine Corps buddies).


    CLEP:

    Intro to educational psych.
    Intro to psych


    EXCELSIOR EXAMINATIONS

    Abnormal Psych
    Psych of adulthood and aging
    Research methods in psych
    Statistics


    THOMAS EDISON EXAMINATIONS

    Psych of personality

    MISC EXAMS

    I took several other exams from CLEP, DANTES, and EXCELSIOR (e.g. Fundamentals of Counseling, Gerontology, Sociolgy, etc.) which may have applied towards my psychology degree as well. I don't remember right off hand.

    NOTES

    I also took A BUNCH of other CLEPS, DANTES, and EXCELSIOR exmainations to fill in credit requirements towards my general education and minor requirements. When all was said and done, I had about 150 credits, as I took several examinations that offered higher credits (Spanish CLEP, General CLEPS, etc.).

    ADVICE

    I took 95% of my examinations before officially enrolling in Excelsior. I basically looked at their website which outlined their degree requirements and took the exams accordingly. To my surprise, some of the exams and previous coursework did not apply to my major as I thought they would (social problems, drug and alcohol abuse, etc.). As such, I found myself scrambling for credits to try and meet both my major and minor requirements. This pushed my graduation out from December 02 to April 03.

    Point being this: enroll first, and get formal advice from a counselor, in writing.

    Good Luck!

    I hope this information helps. The degree rules may be different now, but this should help you get an understanding.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Nov 15, 2005
  3. bazonkers

    bazonkers New Member

    Excelsior awards 30 credits in Psych for getting an 80% or higher on the GRE (12 lower level credits, 18 upper level). I think that Excelsior also requires an exam they offer in Research Methods. If you already have a bachelors degree through them, the above is enough for a second degree in Psych. If you don't have a bachelors degree, then you'd have to figure out how to take all your gen ed requirements etc. If you have a bcahelors degree somewhere else, I bet they'd accept this as well as the GRE and ECE exam as enough for the Pysch degree.

    I tested out of all my courses for a BS in General Business from Excelsior. I know that you can finish all your non major coursework through CLEP, DANTES and ECE exams.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Nov 15, 2005
  4. philosophicalme

    philosophicalme New Member

    Here is my plan for completion of the BA in Psychology from Excelsior:

    CLEP Intro to Psych- Complete
    CLEP Human Growth and Dec- Complete
    CLEP Educational Psych- Complete
    Excelsior Course- Social Psychology- in work
    Excelsior Course- Human Motivation
    ECE Statistics
    ECE Psychology of Adulthood and Aging
    ECE Gerontology
    ECE Research Methods in Psych
    ECE Abnormal Psych

    HTH!

    Rhonda
     
  5. james_lankford

    james_lankford New Member

    to all in this thread who have completed or are working towards an Excelsior psych degree, what about Physiological Psychology/BioPsychology.

    This is listed as a requirement for the degree and I haven't found an online course for it that I really like yet (cheap and some what easy)

    what did you do to fulfill this requirement
     
  6. philosophicalme

    philosophicalme New Member

    From what I understand, this is not a requirement per say. If you take a look at the "Guidelines for a Major in Psychology" listed on their documents page, it states you must pick 4 courses from 4 different categories in section II. These courses can be fullfilled with ECE Abnormal Psych, ECE Psych of Adulthood and Aging, Excelsior's Social Psychology course (soon to be an ECE too) and Excelsior's Human Motivation course.

    That is my understanding at least....Anyone else have a take on it? Am I wrong?

    Thanks

    Rhonda
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Nov 15, 2005
  7. beholdweb

    beholdweb New Member

    Would the CLEP "Intro to Educational Psychology" not meet the requirements for area "L - Educational Psychology"?

    Obviously it is in the right category, but I don't know if it meets the stipulations set out by Excelsior.

    Does anybody have the final word on this from Excelsior?

    ;0)
    Beholdweb
     
  8. philosophicalme

    philosophicalme New Member

    Does anyone else have an answer as to what is truely required for a BA in Psych from Excelsior?


    Rhonda
     
  9. sisterc

    sisterc New Member

    I took the GRE Psychology in April and got enough credits to complete the psychology major. My latest evaluation says all the requirements have been met, and I didn't have to take Research Methods.
     
  10. jcummings

    jcummings New Member

    Hi Sisterc

    Can you tell me what study materials you used to do so well on the Psych GRE?

    Did you have a background in Psych already or was Psych a new field for you?

    Thanks!
    Jon
     
  11. Sindaena

    Sindaena New Member

    I am double majoring in Biology and Psychology through Excelsior right now. According to my Student Status Report, The CLEP Educational Psychology does count as one of those 4 areas.

    I you do want to a a bio/physiological psych course, University of Idaho Independent Study has one for $325 that looks pretty good.

    Elizabeth
     
  12. beholdweb

    beholdweb New Member

    Elizabeth,

    Thank you so much for this update!

    It helps a great deal,
    Beholdweb
     
  13. sisterc

    sisterc New Member

    GRE Study materials

    Hi Jon,

    It's been a while since you asked, but maybe the info will still be useful. I used both the Princeton and Kaplan guides. But I didn't just memorize facts. If I didn't understand a concept, I googled it and did research until I did understand it. And as I read, I typed notes. (If I just read, I fall asleep.)

    I had an intro to psych course about 20 years ago, but it's a subject I've maintained an interest in.

    Hope this helps.
     
  14. Tylin

    Tylin New Member

    Bumping this old thread-- good info here!

    Did anyone figure out what exactly the "four areas" were? I'm looking at their catalog and it shows 12 class options... do we get to pick? I'm hoping so... I don't know where I would find ethology or psycholinguistics classes. :p
     
  15. beholdweb

    beholdweb New Member

    Hi Tylin,

    If you go to the Excelsior.edu publications page and download the pdf file for the Psychology major, you will see that it lists several AREAS of study.

    The requirement is that you have at least ONE course/exam from each of ANY FOUR of those listed areas. So there is a lot of flexibility in which subjects you choose to study.

    In addition, you can study more than one subject from any of your four chosen areas, as long as they don't overlap.

    Here is an example of ONE way the 'AREA' requirements could be met via the use of exams:

    - ECE Foundations of Gerontology (Area H - 3 Upper Level credits)
    - ECE Abnormal Psychology (Area J - 3 Upper Level credits)
    - ECE Social Psychology (Area G - 3 Upper Level credits)
    - CLEP Educational Psychology (Area I - 3 Lower Level credits)

    In addition, you would need to fulfill the following requirements:

    - ECE Research Methods in Psychology (3 Upper Level credits)
    - CLEP Intro to Psychology (3 Lower Level credits)
    - 1 Additional Upper Level Psychology (3 Upper Level elective credits)
    [Such as ECE Psychology of Adulthood & Aging, or one of the UL TECEP Psych exams]
    - DANTES (or ECE) Principles of Statistics (3 Lower Level credits)
    - DANTES Organizational Behavior (3 Lower Level Credits)
    - 1 Additional Lower Level Psychology (3 Lower Level elective credits)
    [Such as CLEP Human Growth & Development, or DANTES Lifespan Development Psychology]

    The above would fulfill the requirements for a 30-credit Major in Psychology at Excelsior. You would also need to make sure you fulfill all the other (general education) requirements for your degree.

    Excelsior is changing the requirements for their degree in Psychology as of January 1st, 2007. But the above sample schedule is good at least until then.

    Hope you find it helpful!
     
  16. jcummings

    jcummings New Member

    Will the changes in January 2007 affect the Psychology GRE acceptance for the major?

    Thanks!

    Jon
     
  17. beholdweb

    beholdweb New Member

    Hi Jon,

    Excelsior is keeping a tight lip about what the changes in policy will be. There literature just states that they WILL be changing the requirement in January. But nobody will say anything more specific than that.

    Sorry I can't give you any more details than that.
     
  18. Tylin

    Tylin New Member

    Wow, that makes it quite clear. Thank you, Beholdweb!

    I emailed them asking about the changes and they haven't responded yet. I'll post if they tell me anything. Darn, if I have to enroll earlier it will cost me more money. :rolleyes:
     
  19. Tylin

    Tylin New Member

    from Excelsior:

    "Thank you for your inquiry. We have not yet printed the addendum or published the changes. Any new changes have not been released to the advisors or staff here, either. However, in the next 2 or 3 months, the addendum should be published and accessible on our website as an addition to the School of Liberal Arts catalogs. I am sorry for the inconvenience."

    Hopefully they will print it long before 01/07 so I will have time to think about whether I'll need to enroll right away or not. :rolleyes:
     

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