Which one of the Big Three?

Discussion in 'General Distance Learning Discussions' started by MissTake, Jan 17, 2018.

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  1. MissTake

    MissTake New Member

    Hi guys, I'm in a bit of a bind time wise. I need a bachelor's degree ASAP, the major doesn't really matter as long as it will be accepted by employers within and outside of the US and I can completely test out - aside from the mandatory cornerstone course. Which of the Big 3 would be easiest to pull this off with and for the cheapest price?
     
    Last edited: Jan 17, 2018
  2. cookderosa

    cookderosa Resident Chef

    That's asking a lot - there are a zillion things to consider. Welcome to the forum though.
     
  3. AsianStew

    AsianStew Moderator Staff Member

  4. GLGAmerica

    GLGAmerica Member

    I looked at the big three for my son. Honestly, it seemed easier to figure out how to map out a degree with Excelsior than Thomas Edison so I chose Excelsior for that reason. I didn't look at the other college.

    Our strategies are to use AP, CLEP, DSST, UEXEL and the final few classes through Excelsior. However, we are only just over a quarter of the way through our plan.

    While I think I've mapped out the degree properly, I don't think we'll know for sure until we actually apply. That's the hard part of mapping out a degree. If there are any recent graduates who have completed their degree from Excelsior, it would be great to hear from you to get some input on a few things.

    Good luck!
     
  5. MissTake

    MissTake New Member

    Oh I think I saw your degree plan for Excelsior yesterday when I was trying to sort through things, it actually gave me a pretty good idea of how this testing out business is supposed to work and I've managed to put together one of my own for Excelsior's business program that - IF I got everything right - I can completely test out of.
     
  6. SteveFoerster

    SteveFoerster Resident Gadfly Staff Member

    Why not? I had a great experience at Charter Oak State College, and my eldest son is doing the same now.
     
  7. Steve Levicoff

    Steve Levicoff Well-Known Member

    Steve F. illustrates a typical thought pattern among Big 3 graduates: The schools we tend to recommend are the ones from which we graduated. Steve obviously favors Charter Oak, I favor TESU (my alma mater), and Excelsior grads favor Excelsior, even though it shares its name with a type of packaging material and is the only one that is a private (not state) college.

    Best bet: Look at the learning models of each school, then decide what works best for you. And get far, far away from the goal statement in the original post: fast, cheap, and easy. That three-way combination simply doesn't exist, and it's a poor rationale for making choices.

    Finally, if you've been out in the real world for more than a couple of years, don't rule out the notion of prior learning assessment. It's can be easier and even faster than testing out if you have the existing knowledge in a subject to pull it off.
     
  8. SteveFoerster

    SteveFoerster Resident Gadfly Staff Member

    I didn't recommend it, I asked why he didn't even consider it. I've said before that the three are not interchangeable and that different circumstances suggest different schools (such as someone with a lot of community college credit maybe preferring TECU because it might transfer in as upper division).
     
  9. MissTake

    MissTake New Member


    I'm finishing up an As in math and sciences and have been admitted to an engineering program which is what I'm interested in but that one will take at least 2 more years to complete. Since however I have sort of a situation at hand atm I need a bachelor's quicker than that, much quicker, that's why I'm looking at schools where I can test out of one; hence the fast, cheap and easy :p Testing out is fast compared to my regular school, it's also cheap compared to it - though the cheaper I can make it still the better, and easy...well I prefer testing to doing tedious course work tbh so I guess it qualifies as easy for me in that sense.

    What I really meant by 'easy' though is: the school that accepts the most credits and tests I already have toward my chosen major so as not to waste them and that allows the most types of sources to bring in the rest from I guess. Excelsior seemed to satisfy all 3 requirements best from the first look but since I found out I can get partnership pricing at TESU it's a close runner up, although it would make the degree somewhat more expensive but I like the name a lot more than the otehr two - yes I know it's just a vanity point. Charter Oak I have considered as well but they're not very forthcoming with timelines and exact requirements, plus having both a cornerstone and capstone that I'm fairly sure can't be done during the same semester puts it out of the 'fast' category for me.

    I've been out in the real world for about 14 years but I've never been employed per say, not a fan of the 9 to 5. I've been a freelancer for the most part in Europe and since I've been living in Japan - 7 years - I'm a sole proprietor, essentially I run a tiny business :p. None of that translates well to portfolio assessment though, TESU straight up told me I can't do it and Excelsior is...well that's a maybe but since I have a lot of lower level transfer credits I figured why bother with a maybe and a ton of work when I can just pile up tests and be done with it.
    I never got any certs so that's unfortunately out too.
     

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