Needed: BS, like, YESTERDAY

Hi,

Keep in mind that COSC only offers concentrations, not majors. If obtaining a BA/BS in Communications is your goal, then COSC will not meet your needs.

- Tom

 

Well, that's a good point. I'm not sure how hard and fast the concentration is. For example, I see a lot of job openings with an ad which reads like this:

"Bachelor’s Degree in Communications, Public Relations, Marketing or related field"

or this:

"Bachelor's Degree in marketing, communications or equivilent area."

Now, does this mean a BA or BS in Liberal or General Studies with a concentration or emphasis in these areas won't be good enough? I assume so, but I'm not sure.

 

Re: Red Herring Alert!

I will probably apply at COSC as well, simply because they do offer financial aid, and I will be needing some.

Do any other schools accept lots of transfer credit, offer a BA or BS in communications or marketing AND offer financial aid?

 

I spoke with an admissions counselor today at Excelsior College. Despite what I have read about a lack of customer service or their being "secretive" about information or answering questions before you actually enroll, I found her to be very helpful.

She confirmed that I need 32 more credits in order to obtain my bachelors. That is assuming I will go for a Bachelor of Liberal Studies degree. If I enroll in a BA or BS program with an actual major, I will need more credits.

At this point, not having a bachelors, ANY bachelors, is hurting me more than not having one with a particular major. I do plan to go on and get my Masters immediately after the bachelors, so I don't know how critical a major is at this point.

I'm considering going for the BLS with a "focus" on marketing or communications. That will be my quickest route to an actual degree. The distribution requirements I must meet are listed earlier in this thread. Can anyone give me an idea of which CLEP/DANTES tests I could take to help me get to that magical 32-credit mark, and still meet my desired area of focus? I'm thinking I could rack up a few of those before I actually enroll.

Thanks for the input so far!

 

I just started a part-time job today, and one of the main reasons I took it was for the benefits, which include tuition reimbursement. The company will reimburse 50 percent of the cost of books and tuition, but not things like CLEP exams and enrollment fees. The courses must also result in a degree, and the college must be RA. Distance courses are fine.

I'm going to apply at COSC, since I can get federal financial aid there, and then apply the tuition reimbursement to any courses COSC says I will need to take. The company will reimburse for courses resulting in a degree in communications or marketing, so I will go with one of those two concentrations at COSC. I think that will still help me achieve my goal of completing the degree within a year at the lowest cost possible.

I guess I'm going to have to go through the whole credit evaluation thing all over again.

 

Hang in there TCord!! Glad to hear you will get at least partial tuition reimbursement. Good call on that. Take advantage.


Take care,


Abner

 

Hey Tcord---

Upon a quick perusal of all the posts, I didn't see anybody mention the all-testing option.

Check out bain4weeks.com for info on testing out of a degree in it's entirety. Lawrie covers how to do a business degree and a psych degree, both without an emphasis, at Excelsior.

I am enrolled at Excelsior, going after a second B.S. degree in General Business, entirely through testing.

To meet requirements for a marketing major, you *can* take classes locally or online, of course. There is an accelerated option in that LSU Independent Study will allow you to finish a class in as little as 5 weeks (per 3 credits), and they offer a slew of marketing courses. I took one for fun last year and I was pleased. They're also incredibly cheap: About $230 for a 3-credit class.

Another option is challenge exams at your local schools. For example, I live 6 blocks from Colorado State University, and they will allow me to challenge ANY undergraduate course in the Course Catalog for a fee of $20 per credit. Basically, I take the final exam that the professor for the class provides to the testing center, and if I pass (at least 70%), then it's added to my CSU transcript on a pass only (no grade) basis.

You may be ablet to find a similar deal at your local university, then transfer them to COSC or Excelsior.

When it comes to testing out, I'm amazed that more people don't utilize this sort of option. CLEP, DSST, ECE, TECEP, and Ohio are great testing programs, but your local university most assuredly has a broader range of challenge exam options as well.

Also, don't forget that the GRE subject exams are worth considerable college credit at COSC and Excelsior, within a limited range of subjects. But, for example, if you have a lot of social studies-type general education credits to knock out, the GRE Psychology exam could potentially be a good way to eliminate some of them.

Hope this helps somebody.

-Jassen