BS in Psychology from Excelsior Complete!!!

Discussion in 'Nursing and medical-related degrees' started by robertp, Feb 28, 2006.

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  1. robertp

    robertp New Member

    This forum has played a big part in helping me decide which path to take in finishing my AA and BS. I have just completed the requirements at Excelsior in the BS Psychology today. Now its just a matter of finishing the paperwork and paying the graduation fee to finish the degree. I have researched just about every option to complete my masters by August 08 and decided it was time to make a decision. NCU seems to be the best option for me. I wanted to be sure that I was fully satisfied with the format of the classes along with the hospitality of the school before I committed the money and time into a degree specific program. I enrolled at NCU as a Non-degree seeking student for a test drive. I can honestly say that I am very impressed with what I have seen so far. I start my first class March 1st, but already I am convinced that I will go ahead and submit my request to start the MA in Psychology program. One thing I found, that might be of interest, is that you are only able to take two classes as a non-degree seeker and apply those classes to a degree program.

    I would like to use this post as a log of my education so far and keep it up to date as I go along. Hopefully, someone will find a bit of useful information in this log.

    37 Credits were Applied Professional credits from military training.

    1999 Coastline Community College-Navy NCPACE courses.
    Astronomy-3
    Intro to Psychology-3
    Humanities through the Arts-3

    2000 Central Texas College-Navy NCPACE courses.
    Comp & Reht I-3
    Comp & Reht II-3
    History of the U.S. to 1977-3

    2000 Community Colleges of Chicago-Navy NCPACE courses.
    Fundamentals of Speech-3

    2004-2005 Park University-
    Adolescent Psychology-3
    Adult Dev & Aging-3
    Statistics-3
    College Algebra-3
    The Study of the Family-3
    Social Psychology-3
    Theories of Personality-3
    Test & Measurements-3
    Principles of Management-3

    2005 DANTES-
    Principles of Supervision-3
    Human Resource Mgt-3
    Intro to Computers/Basic-3
    Fundamentals of Counseling-3
    Introduction to Law Enforcement-3
    Management Information Systems-3
    Here's to Your Health-3
    Drug and Alcohol Abuse-3
    Criminal Justice-3
    Organizational Behavior-3
    The Race to Save the Planet-3
    Introduction to Business-3

    2005 CLEP-
    Analyzing & Interpreting Literature-3
    Prin of Management-3
    Social Science/History-3
    Natural Science-3
    Intro. to Sociology-3

    2005-Art 100-3 About six months ago I began to run out of steam. I needed one class to finish residency for an AA in General Studies at Coastline. I took the class and received the degree just after Christmas. There are no admission or graduation fees at Coastline.

    2006 ECE-
    Research Methods in Psychology-3
    Human Resource Management-3
    Foundations of Gerontology-3
    Abnormal Psychology-3

    2006 Excelsior College-
    Information Literacy-1

    Completed all requirements on 27 FEB 06. After removal of unwanted classes, I finished with 122 credits and a 3.54 GPA.
    I dropped 29 credits from my status report and plan to use them along with CLEP, DANTES, COSC, and TESC exams for a second degree in Business.
    One test a month over the next year should complete the requirements.

    Thanks to everyone for the mass amount of info and motivation in this forum.

    2006 Northcentral University-
    Theories of Personality-In progress
     
  2. Pilot

    Pilot Member

    Congratulations!!! Way to go!!
    Pilot
     
  3. Longwaytogo

    Longwaytogo New Member

    Robertp,

    ABSOLUTELY AWESOME! I'm thrilled for you! I just KNEW somebody out there somewhere could do a BS Psychology via DL. You are CUTTING EDGE!

    Gotta ask you a few Q's, if you can find the time:

    1. How was Park U? I noticed you had a lot of PSYC courses there. Were they online (I presume so) and how did you find their format, as opposed to Excelsior's?

    2. How strenous was the Research Methods in Psychology for you, timewise? I am currently taking a 4 hour bricks & mortar statitics in psychology course and next course is 4 hours in research methods (we do a project). I'm doing these on campus over 80 miles from home because I couldn't find a regional institution offering them online (I'm in Virginia).

    You are already a HUGE inspiration to others, whether they tell you this or not!
     
  4. Randell1234

    Randell1234 Moderator

    I took the ECE Research Methods in Psychology and it was not bad. I did not use the book that Excelsior recommends, I used the previous edition and I passed with a B after about 4-5 weeks of study.
     
  5. robertp

    robertp New Member

    Thanks Longwaytogo,

    I took all the courses at Park online in an eight week format. Some of the courses could have been tested out through DANTES, CLEP, and ECE exams. But, I'm really glad I actually took the classes due to amount of writing that was involved. Park seems to have a generic format for all their PSY classes. They usually consist of weekly lengthy discussions along with a quiz, midterm, and final. All of the courses required at least one 10-12 page term paper and a few required two or more. This amount of writing prepared me for the amount of writing that is required in the NCU graduate courses. I guess you could test out of these courses, but I would recommend practicing your writing and research skills at the same time you are studying for the exams. eCollege is used for the online classes. While I liked the simple online layout, the only thing that was irritating is their servers were usually sluggish on weekends under heavy loads.

    As for Excelsior, I never actually took classes online. The 12 credits I received were through their exams. I applied what I learned at Park, along with the Kaplan GRE Psych Study Guide and the recommended textbooks, then took 1 exam every week through January and the first week of Feb. There are some good study guides on EBay and Amazon to use as a guide, but I suggest using an older version of the recommended textbooks (they are a lot cheaper and have the same info). For the Abnormal Psychology exam, I used the older version of the recommended text book along with the DSM IV Made Easy.
     
  6. Ted Heiks

    Ted Heiks Moderator and Distinguished Senior Member

    Congrats, robertp!
     
  7. AGS

    AGS New Member

    congradulations

    I am happy for your successes...
     
  8. Longwaytogo

    Longwaytogo New Member

    Robertp,

    Thanks for giving us the scoop on Park and Excelsior classes you took! I'm really impressed that you did 8 week courses that had that much writing involved, when you could have tested out of them!

    I took my first online PSYC 400-level course through Old Dominion U. last fall, and am currently in a 300-level online "core" course in Cognition (which has online lab requirements, too). Until I read your response, I thought I had too much writing to do!

    ODU's online courses have generally 10 chapter quizzes and papers, due every week (seems like every 3 days) with 3 exams worth 50 points each (final exam is for the final third of the course) so it's really not that bad, I guess! :)

    Any comments on whether doing statistics and research methods online is less or more stressful than in-class?

    Again, congratulations and Best of Luck to you!
     
  9. robertp

    robertp New Member

    The statistics class was very time consuming for me and, at times, very stressful. I began looking over the study material for the Research Methods exam about the same time that I started the Statistics course. So, I studied at least 20-25 hours a week to make sure I understood each chapter. The Reas. Meth. exam was a mixture of stats and tests & measurements.

    The course format at Park is set at a good pace, but many times I would finish my coursework 3 or 4 days ahead of time. Then, I would have to wait until the instructor opened the lessons on Sunday night before I could start on the work for the next week. I found that, by studying on my on, I could accomplish more than I could if I were limited by the instructor. One thing about studying on your own, you really need to set your goals and try your best to stick to them. I have one advantage in that the four other people I work with are also working on either their bachelors or masters degree. We make a point to encourage each other to keep pushing along.

    Two of the guys I work with took stats in the classroom. They said most of their time in the class was spent on the one or two people not understanding the material due to the fact they did not put forth the time to study. Time was also wasted on conversation about things that had nothing to do with the class. This is the reason I chose to take my classes online. I am able to study, participate, work on my lessons, and take my exams on my own time.

    One of things that I made a point of doing over the last couple of years was make every effort to finish my degree and associate some of my day to day activities with studying. Fifteen minutes of studying notes during breakfast, 30 minutes after lunch, then a good solid two hours of reading and writing in the evening. I also found that CLEP and DANTES study guides make good bathroom reading material, instead of Maxim or the daily paper.

    The only difference I realized, between online and in-class courses, is that if you see that you are falling behind in the coursework or do not understand the subject it’s up to you to seek help as soon as possible. Whether it be a friend, an online classmate, or a tutor; a person cannot be afraid to admit he/she does not comprehend the material. I remember spending an hour or so a week in my stats class talking other classmates through different equations. I made a point to contact my classmates at the beginning of each class to see if they were willing to discuss the class in chat sessions or on the phone if anyone ran into problems.
     
  10. Longwaytogo

    Longwaytogo New Member

    Wow, robertp,

    What motivation! I like your tips on distributed practice, a great long-term memory tool. Multiple choice quizzes in the loo, huh....couldn't get much more efficient that than, man!

    In my classroom-based stats class, it's brutal; we were told not to miss any lectures if we want to do well. I found out why: key information is left out of the supplemental lecture powerpoint-like notes, purchased with the textbook, perhaps to insure that we have to rely on scribbled notes from class; different formulas are used that what is presented in the textbook so relying on the textbook is not safe. The guy talks a mile-a-minute and brooks no significant interruptions. He'll answer one question on a topic, that's all, folks.

    You have the right idea about combining Stats and Research Methods study. At some schools they recommend simultaneously taking them that way.

    Thanks again for the good tips!
     
  11. spmoran

    spmoran Member

    A big contrats to you. Feels good, huh? :D
     
  12. robertp

    robertp New Member

    Well my graduation fees are paid and my graduation date at Excelsior is April 4th. I haven't received anything from Excelsior through the mail, such as a letter of completion or paperwork to finalize the degree. I'll give it another week, then call and make sure everything is in process. I have to reiterate how good it feels to finish my undergraduate work.

    As for NCU, I just my started first class March 1st and it's actually better than I thought it would be. I'm still non-degree seeking, but I've made up my mind and will commit to the MA General Psychology track starting Monday.

    The Theories of Personality class is very interesting and a little more in depth than the undergrad TOP class. It's 12 weeks, but can be managed in 8. 11 two page, 2 six page, and one 12 page paper. I think I got off light in this one. Anyway, I enrolled in Ethics for Psych a couple of days ago and plan to stagger the classes throughout the program. This way it gives a fresh start and a new interest at the beginning of each month.

    There are no set deadlines. You are able to set your own pace, but I have been given a rough timeline to go by to be sure I'm progressing with my work. I only have two other people in my class, this is a big change from the online classes I have had before. Especially when it comes to scheduling the chats and discussions, but it is manageable and sufficient time is given to finish the work.

    I had my doubts in the first week while NCU fought server problems, but everything seems to be running smooth now and I really like the course interface.

    I still plan to take one clep a month to build credit for the second BS degree in business through Excelsior, I bought most of the study guides on EBay that were recommended on the BAin4weeks site. I've set a goal for Intro to Marketing and it is scheduled for April 19th.

    I've discussed the FEMA courses with a few guys at work and decided it would be good idea to finish them in my spare time. I'm half way through the Professional Development Series and I'll make a goal to finish one a week and to take every course they have. They might turn out to be a good asset one day.

    I've also been going through some of my military training hat is not on my SMART transcript. I'm wondering if it would be worth it to try to turn some of this training into college level credit when I try to get credit for the FEMA courses trough TESC and transfer everything to Excelsior. Any ideas on this? The training I'm referring to is Word, Access, PowerPoint, and Excel certifications, security training, firearm handling, cpr, first aid, and a few others. I've gone thought the PLA search at TESC and found a few classes that might match the training I've had in the past. Has anyone else tried this for military type training?

    Keep up the good work guys.
     
  13. AGS

    AGS New Member

    congradulations!!!

    congradulations!!!
     
  14. Ted Heiks

    Ted Heiks Moderator and Distinguished Senior Member

    Congratulations! It is the graduation stories that make things all worthwhile here. - Ted.
     
  15. robertp

    robertp New Member

    Thank You,

    For anyone interested in how the liberal arts diplomas are written at Excelsior College, I received mine today and am very impressed. It's better than I expected. The diploma states:

    Bachelor of Science
    Psychology

    While the transcript reads:

    Degree: Bachelor of Science
    Program: Liberal Arts
    Major: Psychology
    Focus Area: Admin/Mgmt Studies

    All of the credits, that were transferred in, were stated section by section with a list of the courses under each school. Dates were given that mirrored how the dates were written on the transcripts transferred from other schools. All grades were also listed from other schools.

    I know it's been discussed here before, but with changes happening all the time I thought I'd give a heads up to those interested.
     
  16. Longwaytogo

    Longwaytogo New Member

    Again, congratulations on a great accomplishment and for sharing about how things work when you are, in fact, a pioneer distance degree-seeker in psychology (for some reason, a latecomer to the DL concept). I really "get" the importance of seeing your transcript details nicely organized by the final degree-granting institution.

    You know, with more students "shopping around" for the appropriate courses online, it is good to know that there are ways to summarize our "parellel distributed processing" approach to getting our degree (sorry for the inside reference, hehehe).

    GREAT JOB!
     

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