please help me figure out what's the best way to finish my BA/BS

Hi! Everyone... I've been looking around these forums and I haven't found anyone with my sort of education.

I studied in the uk and just transfered a btec nationl award in digital media and an A level in design, I should be recieving 24 credits. (I have no clue where they'll fall in, in the plan)

ACE courses:
8 REL courses= 24 credits.
6 PHI courses= 18 credits.
1 (maybe 2) EDU course= 3 credits.
and 2 ACE courses which aren't catarogized=
The Early Prophets: Judges 3 credits Women in the Bible 3 credits

NYU:
15 Credits for Spanish language proficiency exam
16 Credits for Hebrew language proficiency exam

CLEP:
English Comp with Essay 6 credits

EXCELSIOR:
English 101 3 credits

I think I want to go through Excelsior... but I'm not sure...

any advice PLEASE!!!!

 

Hi Kayausa,

I can't give you much assistance as to where your courses fall into a BS or BA (sounds more like a BA though since they are mostly humanities). I will however say that Excelsior College worked wonderfully for me. EC gave me credits for all bar 15 credits of upper level courses in some kind of sequence from my previous work at a few Australian universities.

If it had not been for Excelsior College, all the courses I completed at the Aussie unis would have gone to waste because Aussie unis have very stringent policies about the percentage of courses that need to be completed at their university before being granted a degree; not to mention some serious time limit restrictions.

I found that the advisors at Excelsior were very helpful especially for somebody like me who was totally unfamiliar with the education system in the USA. The clearly spelled out the types of courses I needed and in which category. I was also impressed by the quality of the instructors. I did three courses online through Excelsior and the final one at Brigham Young uni.

I heartily recommend Excelsior College. If they offered electronics courses, I would do those through Excelsior for the sheer enjoyment of studying through them.

You really can't go wrong with Excelsior College.

Best wishes in your endeavours.

 

Thank you! I also thought it would be a ba and not a bs- but looking at the requirements it seems like the ba is harder... you need more math and science...

 

I just noticed that you are planning to take the above English courses. Am I correct? From my understanding you will need just one of these, not both. Alas, I could not avail myself of the CLEP courses because there were not offered here in Australia, so I did my remaining 3 credit English composition requirement in Persuasive Writing at Brigham Young which was relatively low cost and very interesting.

Once you enrol with Excelsior, they will provide you with a list of courses in the various categories, general ed, humanities, sciences etc and the total credit in each category which you require to complete your degree.

Since you seem to be leaning towards the humanities, you are probably better off to do the BA rather than the BS which does require a tad more science courses than a BA.

 

I see you have already taken a class with excelsior, are you currently enrolled? From what you have said I think excelsior looks like a good bet for you. 30 more credits you it looks like youll be done!

 

that was a list of what I've already done... I first took the english clep, because I was going to use tesc then I decided that I'll prob use excelsior and they were going to be reconsidering the exam so I took it.

 

I'm not enrolled yet- I'm waiting for my evaluation from ECE, which should be arriving any day. I spoke to the evaluator and he said I'll be getting 24 credits...
from my own calculation I need:
6 credits in math or 3 in math + 3 in science, I'm hoping to cover this by doing The Race to Save the planet Dante and take math 101 by the Rio Solado college (not cheap, but meant to be easy- and I have a math phobia!)
9 credits in social science... which I haven't decided how I'm doing that yet...
1 info literacy- I did a research unit in college in the uk ece is giving me (just) 1.5 credits for it. I'm hoping this will cover that.

 

is there a reason I should put in the extra effort for the BA? does it have a better name then the BS?

 

The short answer is no. it really doesnt matter, I am sure there are many threads that cover this topic but the conclusion is the same, no one really cares, BS, BA, B(insert random letter here) a bachelors is a bachelors. Where it matters is your major or area of study.

 

thanx- I'll be going with the bs. about the major I was wodering what options excelsior has?

 

....EC....​

 

here is the list of majors
* Area Studies
* Biology
* Chemistry
* Communication
o Journalism
o Rhetoric and Public Address
o Theatre
o Professional and Organizational Communication
o Radio, TV, Video and Film
* Criminal Justice
o Administration of Criminal Justice
o Corrections
o Homeland Security
o Law and Society
o Law Enforcement and Public Safety
* *Economics
* Geography
* Geology
* History
* Literature in English
* *Mathematics
* Music
* Philosophy
* Physics
* Political Science
* *Psychology
* Sociology
* World Language and Literature


https://www.excelsior.edu/Excelsior_College/School_of_Liberal_Arts/Bachelors_Degrees_in_Liberal_Arts

 

I would go with EC also.

 

thank you! I was looking for this list, but I couldn't find it.
I could prob major in Philosophy or language... I'm not really sure if I should, I'm a graphic designer- I studied digital media and design in uk- maybe I can do that as an area of study- how would I do that?
is there a point in having a major? I'm really doing this BS so I just have it in my pocket...

 

I was so unsure between TESC and EC, I chose EC because of their low math and science requirements- which is a big deal for me!

 

If you are just looking to get a bachelor degree in your pocket, then a major is not that important. I did not take a major because while I had a strong sequence in the physical sciences, I also had quite a few other courses in the biological sciences and even a few law courses. In such a mixed bag a major would have entailed additional study which would have upped the required number of courses to do and hence cost and time etc. As a result since my aim was to get a degree completed, a BS Liberal Studies was the perfect, fastest and cheapest option.

However, if you were to be interested in higher level studies in say, graphic design or chemistry for example, then a major in that field will set you up for further studies in your chosen major.

A BS or BA Liberal Studies might just be for you. It will give you the widest range of courses to choose from. If you are going to do a few upper level sciences, I will highly recommend Excelsior's online courses in Biodiversity and Ecology. Fascinating, fun and not too hard. I also did Ethics and Organizational Behavior, both online Excelsior course and worth doing. The student and instructor interaction was dynamic in all these courses. Not as cheap as just sitting an exam, but one hell of a lot more fun!

HTH you along a bit

 

Thanx for your help... I think I'll skip the major, but maybe I should do an area of study in design, the thing is that graphics goes mainly by portfolio- not degree so is there a point?
intersting to know about those EC courses, I think I'll stick to the enviremental science dante- the price is right and it seems doable...

 

The tricky bit is finding an place where you can do graphic design by distance learning and submit the required work. You might have to do a bit of digging before you make a final decision, because if your heart is in design, then it might be worth doing a major in it - but where?

 

oh what I was thinking was to use the 24 credits I already have in design toward an area of study major in EC- would that work?
I have a full time job in design and a quite solid portfolio, so I don't NEED it I guess it'll be a nice thing to add to my resume...

 

The best people to ask is Excelsior advisors or those who have done what you are aiming to do. Maybe somebody on this board will know. But even then, it is second hand knowldege and you really want to get it from the proverbial horse's mouth. Ask Excelsior.