Month 3 - complete AS and continue on with BS.
We are almost there, associate-wise anyway. Isn't it a great feeling? You'll have your very own fully legitimate, regionally accredited Associate of Science in Business to begin building your resume and seek a better job position. And it only took you 4 months (allow time for all transcripts to be received and graduation to be processed). But no time to talk, only test and finish coursework.
Semesters at Excelsior are appx 16 weeks, so remember that when you enroll in the military option. Remember that you can switch back at any time and to stay on track with my program, you'll have to. It's simply a matter of how much money you want to save and how fast you want to finish (will 2-3 more months really make a difference in the bigger scheme of things?). Speaking of which, if you wanted to be enrolled in the military option for the BS as well, you may want to consider enrolling in all 4 3-credit courses in months 1 or 2 of the roadmap (which, for the Navy would max out your 12 semester hour limit on Tuition Assistance for that fiscal year...and actually put you over 1 credit!). This way, you are can still graduate on schedule, at least for the BS with a significant savings in your military pocket.
If you find yourself maxing out the Tuition Assistance and still want to penny pinch, perhaps you should also consider starting classes closer towards the end of one fiscal year so that by the time you are enrolling in new classes, they can be picked up by the following school year.
Now without further ado.....
Semesters at Excelsior are appx 16 weeks, so remember that when you enroll in the military option. Remember that you can switch back at any time and to stay on track with my program, you'll have to. It's simply a matter of how much money you want to save and how fast you want to finish (will 2-3 more months really make a difference in the bigger scheme of things?). Speaking of which, if you wanted to be enrolled in the military option for the BS as well, you may want to consider enrolling in all 4 3-credit courses in months 1 or 2 of the roadmap (which, for the Navy would max out your 12 semester hour limit on Tuition Assistance for that fiscal year...and actually put you over 1 credit!). This way, you are can still graduate on schedule, at least for the BS with a significant savings in your military pocket.
If you find yourself maxing out the Tuition Assistance and still want to penny pinch, perhaps you should also consider starting classes closer towards the end of one fiscal year so that by the time you are enrolling in new classes, they can be picked up by the following school year.
Now without further ado.....
Month 3
- Information literacy credit
- CLEP Principles of Accounting
- CLEP Introductory Business Law
- CLEP Intro to Management
- DSST Principles of Supervison
- CLEP Principles of Marketing
- CLEP Intro to Psychology
- CLEP Educational Psychology
- CLEP Principles of Accounting
- CLEP Introductory Business Law
- CLEP Intro to Management
- DSST Principles of Supervison
- CLEP Principles of Marketing
- CLEP Intro to Psychology
- CLEP Educational Psychology
Week 9
Information Literacy
This was probably already completed for those that like to work and plan ahead. However just in case, this is just a reminder to let those know that you cannot graduate from Excelsior without it. Nuff said.
CLEP Principles of Accounting
This one is important because even though there is a DSST version, it only covers financial accounting. The CLEP version covers both, financial and managerial. It is worth 6 credits! There may be TECEP versions, but trust me, the cost savings prove that the CLEP version in the one you want to pass.
Time is of the essence on this exam. If you are not sure of an answer after 1 minute, guess, mark it, and move on to the next one. You need to answer all the questions to ensure you maximize your chances of getting a passing score. But most of all, study! Make sure you know most of the basic concepts cold turkey. This CLEP is not assigned a letter grade, only pass/fail credit. Which was good for me because I got a 50 on it. You should have seen me in the testing center: I literally jumped up and hugged the proctor after I saw the score on the screen! Once again I dangerously tried to cram for 2.5 days straight (with sleep though) and then go in to test. I strongly discourage cramming for this one. Take the time to fully study the instantcert material and you should do fine. Some additional study tips for Accounting:
- Know all 9 accounting concepts and be able to apply them (this was about 10 questions alone)
- Know what accrued accounting is (your guide did not properly cover this, only covered accrued revenue from
what I remember, but I inferred)
- Know all the general accounting terms (both financial and managerial) and ratios.
- Know SPECIFICALLY what a cash-flow sheet, balance sheet, and an income statement.
* Know which side of the balance sheet the appropriate debt and credit go (to know this, you must remember what terms are considered 'credited' and what items are 'debited' and which is which according to whether it's an asset or a liability/owner's equity)
* Know the concepts so that you can do your calculations correctly and QUICKLY (and be able to do them WITHOUT the use of a (calculator).
- Know the different types of "costs" i.e. Total cost, manufacturering costs, etc.
- Know the difference between the periodic and perpetual inventory system (emphasis on the periodic).
- Know the different cost systems (job order, process, etc)
- Know how to budget your time. ANSWER ALL THE QUESTIONS no matter what.
- If you know most of the terms and their correct definitions, about half the time you can at least eliminate the wrong choices. This is also what consumed a lot of my time as I was trying to remember what the definitions of some of the accounting terms were so that I could PROPERLY apply them. The calculation questions were difficult because usually you cannot simply eliminate wrong answers right off the bat; you must actually calculate the appropriate numbers to arrive at the correct answer. And there was no calculator.
> > Perhaps you may have already considered getting an iStudySmart 12-credit-pack membership at this point. I used to discourage people from using their material because I thought the cost was too high. But after evaluating it, if you buy their bulk course memberships, it works out to be about $42 per test + textbook, which used may average around $60. So $100 per test for 12 tests (plus the exam fee, for civilians) still isn't bad. And their study material is very comprehensive. (as it should be for the price :) I wouldn't see any reason to go beyond the 12-credit-pack, as instantcert should cover for most of the study material you need.
This was probably already completed for those that like to work and plan ahead. However just in case, this is just a reminder to let those know that you cannot graduate from Excelsior without it. Nuff said.
CLEP Principles of Accounting
This one is important because even though there is a DSST version, it only covers financial accounting. The CLEP version covers both, financial and managerial. It is worth 6 credits! There may be TECEP versions, but trust me, the cost savings prove that the CLEP version in the one you want to pass.
Time is of the essence on this exam. If you are not sure of an answer after 1 minute, guess, mark it, and move on to the next one. You need to answer all the questions to ensure you maximize your chances of getting a passing score. But most of all, study! Make sure you know most of the basic concepts cold turkey. This CLEP is not assigned a letter grade, only pass/fail credit. Which was good for me because I got a 50 on it. You should have seen me in the testing center: I literally jumped up and hugged the proctor after I saw the score on the screen! Once again I dangerously tried to cram for 2.5 days straight (with sleep though) and then go in to test. I strongly discourage cramming for this one. Take the time to fully study the instantcert material and you should do fine. Some additional study tips for Accounting:
- Know all 9 accounting concepts and be able to apply them (this was about 10 questions alone)
- Know what accrued accounting is (your guide did not properly cover this, only covered accrued revenue from
what I remember, but I inferred)
- Know all the general accounting terms (both financial and managerial) and ratios.
- Know SPECIFICALLY what a cash-flow sheet, balance sheet, and an income statement.
* Know which side of the balance sheet the appropriate debt and credit go (to know this, you must remember what terms are considered 'credited' and what items are 'debited' and which is which according to whether it's an asset or a liability/owner's equity)
* Know the concepts so that you can do your calculations correctly and QUICKLY (and be able to do them WITHOUT the use of a (calculator).
- Know the different types of "costs" i.e. Total cost, manufacturering costs, etc.
- Know the difference between the periodic and perpetual inventory system (emphasis on the periodic).
- Know the different cost systems (job order, process, etc)
- Know how to budget your time. ANSWER ALL THE QUESTIONS no matter what.
- If you know most of the terms and their correct definitions, about half the time you can at least eliminate the wrong choices. This is also what consumed a lot of my time as I was trying to remember what the definitions of some of the accounting terms were so that I could PROPERLY apply them. The calculation questions were difficult because usually you cannot simply eliminate wrong answers right off the bat; you must actually calculate the appropriate numbers to arrive at the correct answer. And there was no calculator.
> > Perhaps you may have already considered getting an iStudySmart 12-credit-pack membership at this point. I used to discourage people from using their material because I thought the cost was too high. But after evaluating it, if you buy their bulk course memberships, it works out to be about $42 per test + textbook, which used may average around $60. So $100 per test for 12 tests (plus the exam fee, for civilians) still isn't bad. And their study material is very comprehensive. (as it should be for the price :) I wouldn't see any reason to go beyond the 12-credit-pack, as instantcert should cover for most of the study material you need.
Week 10
CLEP Introductory Business Law
Instantcert all the way. This one was relatively simple once you understood the basics of business law. I knew nothing about business law other than the stuff you see on television or some general stuff I've seen being in management positions. After instantcert, I scored a 61 on the exam.
CLEP Principles of Management
I scored a 71 on this exam, with my limited management experience and of course, instantcert. Nuff said. Very general in nature. Stick to the stuff outlined in the study guide and you should cut at least a 60.
Instantcert all the way. This one was relatively simple once you understood the basics of business law. I knew nothing about business law other than the stuff you see on television or some general stuff I've seen being in management positions. After instantcert, I scored a 61 on the exam.
CLEP Principles of Management
I scored a 71 on this exam, with my limited management experience and of course, instantcert. Nuff said. Very general in nature. Stick to the stuff outlined in the study guide and you should cut at least a 60.
Week 11
DSST Principles of Supervision
I got a 56 on this one, enough for an "A" Some of the material on this test mirrors that of organizational behavior and principles of mgmt. We'll once again, instantcert did it well. And I only studied about 2/3's of the sample questions.
CLEP Principles of Marketing
Yet another solid score: a 63. But Excelsior only gives you pass/fail credit for this one. (many of the cleps that I've done well on I've only gotten pass/fail...oh well :) And this was only studying 1/2 of instantcert's sample questions.
I got a 56 on this one, enough for an "A" Some of the material on this test mirrors that of organizational behavior and principles of mgmt. We'll once again, instantcert did it well. And I only studied about 2/3's of the sample questions.
CLEP Principles of Marketing
Yet another solid score: a 63. But Excelsior only gives you pass/fail credit for this one. (many of the cleps that I've done well on I've only gotten pass/fail...oh well :) And this was only studying 1/2 of instantcert's sample questions.
Week 12
CLEP Intro to Psychology
Honestly I didn't even use Instantcert. I had already taken so many psychology-related tests before this (including the GRE Psychology) that I was already prepared for it. But at this point, I have no doubt in my mind that instantcert's study guide would have done the trick. This test was very general in nature. Just make sure you know the main Psychology players Paiget, Ericson, Watson, Freud, etc. along with their underlying theories and some of the major debates such as cognitive vs behavoral development (that one is a huge psychological topic). The Princton Review's Cracking the GRE Psychology was enough to pass. I cut a 68 on it !)
CLEP Educational Psychology
Only studies about 1/2 of instantcert's questions and got a 67 on it.
All I can remember is that there were a lot of statistics-related questions (about 30). Some of the questions were exactly like how they were posed in the instantcert guide. I still felt confident with this test because I already covered so much psychology-related material. If you can pass intro to psychology, you should have no problem passing this one. Take them the same day, if you'd like. Also use Princton Review's Cracking the GRE Psychology, which I used to pass a bunch of other psychology-related exams.
Apply for Graduation
Don't forget you must apply for graduation. All this really means is paying the graduation fee. Take a minute to ensure all items on your transcript are correct. Since transcripts take up to 3 weeks for the college to receive, it may be another month or 2 before you actually graduate. In fact, at this point, your official review should have gotten back to you already.
Then you sit back and wait for your diploma in the mail. There is an annual graduation ceremony in Albany, NY in July if you want to attend the physical graduation.
Total credits this month: 24 s.h., lower level.
Overview of core requirements completed, weeks 1-4:
- Written English Requirement, WER 3 credits satisfied
- 6 additional credits credits in humanities
- 6 additional credits in social sciences/history
- 3 credits in math precalculus or above
- 12 additional arts/science credits
Weeks 5-8
- 3 credits Macroeconomics and 3 credits in Microeconomics
- 3 credits in Statistics
*** Arts and Science component (33 credits minimum) completed! ***
- 3 credits in computers
- 3 additional business credits (intro to biz)
Weeks 9-12
- 3 credits Financial and 3 credits Managerial accounting
- 3 credits Business Law
- 3 credits Principles of Management
- 3 credits Principles of Marketing
*** Business Component (21 credits minimum) completed!***
- 1 credit Information Literacy
***Additional credit component (7 credits minimum) completed!***
- 6 credits additional liberal arts. (2 clep psychologies)
- 3 credits business (supervision)
Total AS in Business applicable credits: 70 s.h.
Total BS in General Business credits: 70 s.h.
Recommended Booklist
- Accounting, Business Law, Management, Marketing, and intro/educational psychology Instantcert study guides. $20/month
-Cracking the GRE Psychology Test, Princton Review, $20 Amazon.com | Barnes and Noble
Total Month 1 Expenses = $1595.00
Total applicable military discounts: up to $1305 depending on enrollment option and where you take exams.
Total Month 2 Expenses = $780
Total military discounts available: $660 for exams and information literacy.
Month 3 Expenses
- instantcert - $20
- Princton Review's Cracking the GRE Psychology - $20
- 7 CLEP x $75 = $525
- Associate Graduation fee: $455 for civilians or $75 if military option
- travel/misc expenses - $100
Total Month 3 Expenses = $1120
Total military discounts available = Up to $900 depending on enrollment.
Total so far = Month 1 + Month 2 + Month 3 = $3495
Total applicable military discounts to date: up to $2865 depending on enrollment option.
Honestly I didn't even use Instantcert. I had already taken so many psychology-related tests before this (including the GRE Psychology) that I was already prepared for it. But at this point, I have no doubt in my mind that instantcert's study guide would have done the trick. This test was very general in nature. Just make sure you know the main Psychology players Paiget, Ericson, Watson, Freud, etc. along with their underlying theories and some of the major debates such as cognitive vs behavoral development (that one is a huge psychological topic). The Princton Review's Cracking the GRE Psychology was enough to pass. I cut a 68 on it !)
CLEP Educational Psychology
Only studies about 1/2 of instantcert's questions and got a 67 on it.
All I can remember is that there were a lot of statistics-related questions (about 30). Some of the questions were exactly like how they were posed in the instantcert guide. I still felt confident with this test because I already covered so much psychology-related material. If you can pass intro to psychology, you should have no problem passing this one. Take them the same day, if you'd like. Also use Princton Review's Cracking the GRE Psychology, which I used to pass a bunch of other psychology-related exams.
Apply for Graduation
Don't forget you must apply for graduation. All this really means is paying the graduation fee. Take a minute to ensure all items on your transcript are correct. Since transcripts take up to 3 weeks for the college to receive, it may be another month or 2 before you actually graduate. In fact, at this point, your official review should have gotten back to you already.
Then you sit back and wait for your diploma in the mail. There is an annual graduation ceremony in Albany, NY in July if you want to attend the physical graduation.
Total credits this month: 24 s.h., lower level.
Overview of core requirements completed, weeks 1-4:
- Written English Requirement, WER 3 credits satisfied
- 6 additional credits credits in humanities
- 6 additional credits in social sciences/history
- 3 credits in math precalculus or above
- 12 additional arts/science credits
Weeks 5-8
- 3 credits Macroeconomics and 3 credits in Microeconomics
- 3 credits in Statistics
*** Arts and Science component (33 credits minimum) completed! ***
- 3 credits in computers
- 3 additional business credits (intro to biz)
Weeks 9-12
- 3 credits Financial and 3 credits Managerial accounting
- 3 credits Business Law
- 3 credits Principles of Management
- 3 credits Principles of Marketing
*** Business Component (21 credits minimum) completed!***
- 1 credit Information Literacy
***Additional credit component (7 credits minimum) completed!***
- 6 credits additional liberal arts. (2 clep psychologies)
- 3 credits business (supervision)
Total AS in Business applicable credits: 70 s.h.
Total BS in General Business credits: 70 s.h.
Recommended Booklist
- Accounting, Business Law, Management, Marketing, and intro/educational psychology Instantcert study guides. $20/month
-Cracking the GRE Psychology Test, Princton Review, $20 Amazon.com | Barnes and Noble
Total Month 1 Expenses = $1595.00
Total applicable military discounts: up to $1305 depending on enrollment option and where you take exams.
Total Month 2 Expenses = $780
Total military discounts available: $660 for exams and information literacy.
Month 3 Expenses
- instantcert - $20
- Princton Review's Cracking the GRE Psychology - $20
- 7 CLEP x $75 = $525
- Associate Graduation fee: $455 for civilians or $75 if military option
- travel/misc expenses - $100
Total Month 3 Expenses = $1120
Total military discounts available = Up to $900 depending on enrollment.
Total so far = Month 1 + Month 2 + Month 3 = $3495
Total applicable military discounts to date: up to $2865 depending on enrollment option.
homepage
Degree Plans
- Introduction
- Is distance learning
for me?
- What colleges qualify?
- accreditation and diploma mills
- BS in 6 months roadmap
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6
- BS checklist
- proof of studies
Study Guides
- CLEP booklist
- DSST Dantes booklist
Final Words
About Us
- news
- special thanks
- privacy policy
- disclaimer
[new] links
- link to us
contact us
- faq
- message board
- biz opportunities
Site Map
Degree Plans
- Introduction
- Is distance learning
for me?
- What colleges qualify?
- accreditation and diploma mills
- BS in 6 months roadmap
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6
- BS checklist
- proof of studies
Study Guides
- CLEP booklist
- DSST Dantes booklist
Final Words
About Us
- news
- special thanks
- privacy policy
- disclaimer
[new] links
- link to us
contact us
- faq
- message board
- biz opportunities
Site Map
Copyright 2004-2005 123collegedegree.com and
Joshua A. Graham
Joshua A. Graham
