I've been lurking for a while and am so excited to find this place! Everyone is so helpful, with straight answers. I'll probably be the resident question-pest, as I'm 35, out of work after taking care of children for 15 years and my back has finally put in it's time. My goal is to become a Nutritionist, and am slightly embarassed by all that I don't know about education. So, I'll start with my first couple questions... 1--Do you need an AS before obtaining a BS? 2--What are the best study guides for CLEP,DANTES, etc... 3--ThomasEdison has been talked about very highly here, and I'm glad bcuz it's on my list, but have not found them to be particularly helpful with some of my emails asking for help &/or advice. Maybe it's me, but if they are "advisors" why the lack of help? Going back to school after 15+years is highly nervewracking for me, especially utilizing distance ed.(thanks to my physical situation), so thank you in advance for responding and I'll stick around for as long as it takes to be confident with the DL process. And just school in general!! Thx!!
Good! It's honest questions that make this forum worthwhile, in my book. Well, I don't know much about nutrition, so we're even. Nope; think of the AS as a purely optional certificate used to mark the halfway-point of a bachelor's program. I think it was mainly designed for folks who need a college credential of some kind, but don't want to (or can't) go through with a full bachelor's. I'm partial to The Princeton Review, myself. At risk of sounding cynical, I'd say it's probably because they want your money first. When I wanted to sign on with Regents in 1995, I got relatively little help; once I signed on, I got all the help I wanted. Good luck, and please don't hesitate to post more questions! Cheers, ------------------ Tom Head www.tomhead.net co-author, Bears' Guide to the Best Education Degrees by Distance Learning (Ten Speed Press) co-author, Get Your IT Degree and Get Ahead (Osborne/McGraw-Hill)
>Originally posted by annabelle: >that I don't know about education. So, I'll start >with my first couple questions... >1--Do you need an AS before obtaining a BS? No. Actually at Thomas Edison, in the course of finishing your BA, you will be expected to complete your AA/AS. Not a biggie, in fact might help motivate one to finish the BA. So don't worry, having the AA/AS might be of value while you complete the BA/BS. >2--What are the best study guides for CLEP,DANTES, etc... I looked at the reviews on Amazon and suggestions from AED (then) and posts on here (now). Some guides are very good, some are JUNK. I also visited the local university book stores to review the guides before purchasing them. >3--ThomasEdison has been talked about very highly here, >and I'm glad bcuz it's on my list, but have not found them to be >particularly helpful with some of my emails asking for help &/or >advice. Maybe it's me, but if they are "advisors" why the lack of help? When I first went back to school, I felt the same way. Even after I was officially enrolled at TESC. However, realize NOW that YOUR success is going to depend on YOU. We are adults, and should be able to determine what best suits our needs. If you are expecting TESC to direct your steps ... it is not going to happen, nor do you really want that. So my point is you need to decide what's best for you. Ask questions until you are ready to lay out YOUR plans. TESC has no one right way of earning a degree. That's why the role of advisors is more of "YES, it's OK to do this... ", rather than "OK, this is what you need to do...". I wrote out my academic planning, sought an advisor's approval and then moved forward. As I made progress, I improved my plan and had the advisor review the new plan and so I kept moving forward. >Going back to school after 15+years is highly nervewracking for me, >especially utilizing distance ed.(thanks to my physical situation), so >thank you in advance for responding and I'll stick around for as long >as it takes to be confident with the DL process. And just school in >general!!Thx!! Lots of good folks and advice to be found on here. It will be more work than you think ... but it will be worth more to you when you are finished than you can imagine at this time. GO FOR IT ! Billy TESC AA/BA TUI MBA Student
Hi Annabelle and welcome. Looking forward to seeing you on the board Don't hesitate to ask questions.
>Thanks for responding! Since you've graduated from TESC, like >I would like to do, it states that a prereq. for the bachelors program >is to be working in the field of the major you're studying. Since I can't >work right now I wonder if I can start anyway. Were you working in >your field before starting the BA you received? thx! ( I placed my reply here in this thread ...rather than 'aa4nu'...) My degree is a BA is Social Sciences (Psy/Soc) with more than enough business courses for entry into graduate business programs. I was a Regional Manager at the time ... but can't recall other than perhaps on the initial application, ever writing what field I was currently in, nor ever being asked by an advisor ... In fact as I mentioned as time went on, I revised my program from "Liberal Studies" to a more focused area ... Social Sciences. My planning would allow the BA to be the entry into either business or liberal arts Master's programs. I also checked with the schools I had in mind BEFORE I entered into the TESC program to be sure all the prerequisites were completed. So no, I don't think "what field you are or are not in" really matters. Also ... in your situation, you have a unique opportunity to really fast forward your progress. I had previous RA classes, really intended to assemble portfolios and do some CLEP/etc. testing for other credits. What I found out for me, was that I still tested well, just as I had many years ago when in high school. So I ended up using the examinations to meet ALL of my BA requirements. You have the time, and it will take time to prepare for these steps, to move forward quickly if you choose to use examination testing as a portion of your plans. Again, you are in the driving seat here. Study what you want your outcome to be, and then plan to hit that target. Your academic plans need to represent YOUR needs. What route I or others used may or may not be applicable there for your plans and school programs. Billy
