I am so confused (BA in psychology)

Discussion in 'Nursing and medical-related degrees' started by sillyluc, Oct 14, 2011.

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  1. sillyluc

    sillyluc New Member

    Hello, I'm new to this thread and pretty new to the idea of continuing my degree online. I am currently going to a B&M school and pursuing my BA in psychology with a minor in Neuroscience. It's interesting and I like it. But I also have 3 children and I volunteer extensively in their school and I am finding it really difficult to keep up with my school because it's just not flexible. It's tough to be an adult in college. I earned my AA already from my local community college and earned a good portion of it online and really enjoyed the flexible hours I had to learn.

    This first semester working on my BA has been exceedingly difficult and has led me to consider finishing my degree online. I've been looking at various schools but I still have a few questions..

    Lots of people seem to get their business or tech degrees online. But what about psychology? Some of my classes have a lab component and I'm wondering how this is done online? I'm assuming I would have to drop the neuroscience minor.

    Also.. lots of colleges say I can transfer credits. But can I transfer the AA degree and go straight to working on my BA? I know transferring the AA to my current college helps me more than transferring only credits. Having the AA allows me to skip some of their requirements (ie: I don't need a 101 music appreciation class because I am a degree holding transfer but if I just transfer credits I still would need to take that 101 music class. kwim?).

    I would hope to get my master's degree at some point, but right now I'm just hoping to get my BA. I was specifically looking at Charter Oak and Excelsior, but I've only been contemplating this for a couple days and am a complete newbie to online universities. I also looked at Penn State but they are SO expensive.

    Thanks for any help. :)
    Devon
     
  2. Psydoc

    Psydoc New Member

    Many colleges allow for a certain number of hours as transfer credits; usually 60 sememster or 90 quarter hours. I am not aware of any that waive requirements for a degree simply because you have a lesser degree - but the ultimate decision is made by the college, so don't assume that you won't have to take the music appreciate course. That being said, you will probably have to drop the neuroscience minor for an online degree. I am not aware of any schools that offer such online (that doesn't not mean they don't exist.) Take a luck at Liberty's online pysch program; I have proctored two students that went to Liberty and they were well pleased. Good luck in your search.
     
  3. Jonathan Whatley

    Jonathan Whatley Well-Known Member

    Psychology is with business and possibly above technology as one of the BEST subjects in which to pursue a degree at a school like Charter Oak, Excelsior or the other member of the "Big Three," Thomas Edison State College, with a wide number of examinations for credit available, and distance learning courses too.

    At each of these colleges, just entering with an associate's won't exempt you from general education and distribution requirements like, say, a minimum number of credits in some form of humanities or art appreciation. You're "just" able to transfer all the credits. But there are such flexible and affordable ways to meet most or all of the requirements anyway, you really shouldn't worry.

    Some distance learning science courses include lab components with home study labs using modest and safe sets of physical equipment - think "kitchen chemistry" - or "virtual labs" with computer software, often on CD-ROM, probably increasingly online - think Sniffy the Virtual Rat. These can be hard to find by distance, especially for something specific like upper-level neuroscience. You might want to think about what you could do with summer courses or part-time attendance B&M.

    You can meet almost all or perhaps all of the requirement for a psychology major or concentration at Charter Oak, Excelsior or TESC, and all or almost all general education requirements, and stacks of electives, with relatively low-cost, entirely flexibly scheduled standardized examinations, from these providers:

    CLEP Examinations lower-division
    UExcel Exams lower-division
    DSST Exams lower- and upper-division
    TECEP Tests lower- and upper-division
    Charter Oak Early Childhood Pathways Exams lower-division, targeted tests on early childhood development and education
    Excelsior College Examinations lower- and upper-division
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Oct 14, 2011
  4. sillyluc

    sillyluc New Member

    Thanks! I guess I will have to be ok with taking some basic courses, though I'm hoping to limit those. Unfortunately, I don't think Liberty would be a good option for me as I am not religious. I was originally a neuroscience minor because it seemed as close as I could get to a comparative psychology degree at the university at which I currently attend.
    Jonathan- I am using Sniffy right now! I have kind of this weird affection for that little virtual rat. I do not feel a huge calling to neuroscience. If I had to drop it, I wouldn't lose any sleep over it. It's really tough and I don't know what I would do with the neuroscience minor anyway, except feel smart. ;)

    Thanks for both your input! I will check out the Thomas Edison state college, too. What are some people doing with their online psychology degrees? How many went on to get a Master's PhD? (don't know if that would require a whole separate thread).
     
  5. 03310151

    03310151 Active Member

    I earned my second BA (Psychology)from TESC. The transfer process was simple, they were friendly, and I used a vareity of methods to complete my coursework. TECEPS, transfer credits, regular courses and such. That was 2005 so by now there are probably better options but I have been happy with TESC. It probably worked out better for me as I used their Military Degree Completion Program so the tuition was incredible. Only took me one year to earn the required 30 (I needed 33 to cover all requirements) credits beyond my first BA.
     
  6. Jonathan Whatley

    Jonathan Whatley Well-Known Member

    On the example of a Music 101 appreciation class: the Big Three have good general education requirements without, for the most part, being too specific. For instance, at Charter Oak, you need 3 semester hours in the area Literature and Fine Arts: "Students will demonstrate an understanding of the arts and literature, and gain an appreciation of their impact on our heritage and culture. Examples: Music Appreciation, Art Appreciation, Art History, Music History, Theatre, Dance, Creative Writing, Drawing, Literature." If you don't have that already, options include the CLEP Analyzing & Interpreting Literature, or American Literature, or English Literature, any of which would give you 6 sh so there are three more towards free liberal arts electives.

    If you went somewhere or pursued a different course of study where you needed music appreciation, or you wanted it, Excelsior College Examinations recently introduced an Introduction to Music exam. Thomas Edison has a bunch of standard Prior Learning Assessments in music subjects. You could use these both if you went to either school, or Charter Oak, or any other school that would accept their regionally accredited credits towards your degree plan.
     
  7. Jonathan Whatley

    Jonathan Whatley Well-Known Member

  8. SurfDoctor

    SurfDoctor Moderator

    You are a perfect candidate for online school and Charter Oak would be a great choice. One thing to be careful of if you have the goal of practicing in the field, be sure the school you attend meets licensure requirements in your state.

    By the way, I love Virginia. I was just there to attend a required in-person class for my program at Liberty and I just about didn't what to go back home to California. Of course, that was in the summer, I know it gets cold in the winter.
     
  9. sillyluc

    sillyluc New Member

    Thanks! I hadn't thought about licensure in the state. I'll look into that.

    Can anyone point out any key differences between Charter Oak and TESC? They both look to be about the same to me. Any reason why I should choose one over the other? And thanks, Jonathan, I will look at those links.. it would be nice if I could continue studies in neuroscience but at this point, I'm pretty exhausted and would much rather spend my time helping my kids with their homework than studying brain structure and function. It's not that I'm not interested in it, just more interested in having time with my kids right now.

    Whereabouts in CA? I love Virginia and we've lived here a while. But we also lived in the East Bay/San Fransisco area for about 1.5 years and I absolutely loved it there. I still miss it.
     
  10. japhy4529

    japhy4529 House Bassist

    Licensure only comes into play with master and doctoral level psychology/counseling degrees (and only in certain fields).
     
  11. jra

    jra Member

    I dont think COSC offers a psychology concentration.. just a very general behavioral science one.. Excelsior is an interesting option however they have some required classes that are a bit tricky to find like Biopsychology.

    There is an interesting school Tier 1 called Southern New Hampshire University. The requirements for their Psychology degree are pretty basic and they are also very generous with the transfer credit policy. Take a look at it and let us know what you think.
     
  12. Jonathan Whatley

    Jonathan Whatley Well-Known Member

    Oh, it absolutely does. See in the left-hand field in the main body here. There's psychology, Applied Behavioral Science with a focus in Psychology, or closely related Child and Youth Development, Child Studies, Early Childhood Studies, Health Studies and others. Charter Oak has a special strength in child development and early childhood education, with certificate and credential programs and close partnerships with the state early childhood professional development and parenting education networks.
     
  13. Bruce

    Bruce Moderator

    Some people like Ford, while others like Chevrolet. It's really that simple....there isn't much practical difference, other than TESC has historically been a better place for granting portfolio (life experience) credit.
     
  14. Kizmet

    Kizmet Moderator

    Minor differences in cost?
     
  15. Bruce

    Bruce Moderator

    There might be.....it's been many years since I checked, but TESC at one time had the "one-price" tuition option where during one year, you could take as many TESC courses and transfer as many credits as you wanted (coursework or CLEP, DANTES, TECEP, etc.), with the added bonus of taking CLEP and other exams for free if you traveled to New Jersey, all for the one price.
     

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