I have noticed that many graduates from the big 3 seem to have a seamless time getting into graduate school. I wonder, if one uses proficiency examinations to cover more than half (or for some, all) of their undergrad degree, if the situation would likely become more difficult. When admissions sees the transcripts, how do they feel about seeing, for example 80 credits from CLEP/Dantes and 40 credits from ECEs? Or some other abnormal amount of such exams? Thanks!
I'm guessing that a lot of the people who graduate from one of the big 3 are applying to DL grad programs. Many of these programs are virtually open admission programs. I've long suspected that even programs that require the GRE/MAT exam don't exclude many applicants. I think they're ready to let people succeed or fail on their own merits. So, I'm guessing that the vast majority are admitted. The question then becomes, how many actually finish up and earn their grad degree?
I'm thinking specifically about a DL public university with a good reputation (UMass, SUNY, or the like). Or even a B&M local public university. I'm sure it would be much easier to get into a DL school like APU or even an obscure public school like WNMU, but if one wanted what I described above, should such a person be concerned with the ratio of classes/exams?
I'm guessing that no one actually knows the answer. How could they? The best anyone could say is "I got my degree from TESC with 100% testing out and I was admitted to the UMass MBA program." That would mean something but would it apply equally to you? Or anyone else? Maybe it was their work experience, maybe it was some other intangible. We need to be careful about drawing conclusions from scant data.
Well, that's more or less what I am hoping for. That my work experience and certification(s) will get me in, and that my degree would simply fill a minimum requirement. It would help if I knew of more situations like this. I might finish my BA with only about 33% of it through classes (mix of B&M and online).
>> Kizmet is right, and there really isn't a way to get a good answer to this question. Really, how exclusive are master's programs anyway? I know that some are, but overall, everyone is trying to meet numbers...and while I "hear" about tough admissions, I'd like to see it. I'm not talking med school or the Ivy, just your average state U. What I CAN say, is that grad school (masters/doc) is talked about here A LOT and I can't recall too many people saying they didn't get in...I can't recall any actually. (not to say I didn't miss a post or two) Granted, that's not something you shout from the rooftops, but here I think people do share that kind of information because it's sort of relevant to the overall nature of our forum. If you can't get into ABC University "because you tested out of x" or "because you went to the big 3" it would be a viral thread here. I think people tend to share a lot, and while I'm sure some people lie, you'll have a heck of a lot of people here willing to share their failures too. So, I guess what I'm saying, is that the proportion of people testing out of "some number" of credits here is high. The proportion of those testing out of >50% is lower, but probably much much higher than the general population. So, it's a pretty good pool. Of course, you'll see a lot of people from the IC forum who really have >75% exam credit, so you can ask there too, but overall I would say graduate admission for testers (when the applicant meets the entrance criteria) is a non-issue. Maybe we need a companion to the wash out thread- maybe we need a "denied admission" thread to consider this question more carefully? YMMV
Using my COSC BS degree I was accepted to CSU-DH Masters in Humanities, UF's Grad certificate then their MS in Pharmacy (Healthcare Risk Management - not pharmacy/meds), and TUI's MS in ITM. I would say that is pretty good. The only snag was CSU-DH gave me a conditional admission since they could nto calculate my GPA. After passing 3 classes it would be unconditional. For the 120 credits for COSC, I tested out of about 80 and that includes the 10 credits fro my computer certs.
