Unofficial Excelsior Eval. How does this plan look?

[Greggy_D]

(Yes, I did send this to Excelsior's Advisors. I'm just waiting for an answer.)

BS in Liberal Studies

OK....here's what I have remaining:

Section I

3 credits English
6 credits General Humanities (LL)
3 credits SS/History (LL)
21 Upper Level Credits

Section II

38 Lower Level Credits
2 Upper Level Credits


Here's my plan of attack:

Section I

English....currently taking ENG101 at Schoolcraft College in Michigan.
6 credits Humanities......Either the Analyzing Lit CLEP or American Lit CLEP
3 credits SS/History.....Intro to Sociology CLEP

21 Upper Level Credits (choosing from the following tests):
DSST Civil War
DSST Rise and Fall of the USSR
DSST Drug and Alcohol Abuse
DSST Money and Banking
DSST Principles of Finance
ECE Abnormal Psych
ECE Foundations of Gerontology
ECE Psych of Adulthood and Aging
ECE Social Psych

Section II

38 Lower Level Credits....already complete via FEMA courses (awaiting TESC transcription), Information and Computer Systems CLEP, and DSST Intro to Computing.
2 Upper Level Credits.....will be covered by UL exam from Section 1.


Anybody see any flaws in this plan? Any suggestions to make it better?

[sky_light]

I'd sub DSST MIS with one of your other U/L exams listed.

-Sky

[Greggy_D]

Already took that one.

[Basket Weaver]

Looks very familiar to what I needed, here's what I took & my scores using just IC for all but World Population. Be sure to do good searches on the forum for each test, this will help prepare you for what each has to offer. Good Luck! Lee

A&I Lit (B), Intro to Sociology (B), Ethics In America/Theory & Practice (B on both) Drug & Alcohol (A) MIS (A) World Pop (C) Adulthood/Aging (A) Gerontology (B) ECE HRM (C) Info Lit (P) Abnormal Psych (B) Freshman Comp (A) Research Methods in Psych (A) Social Psychology (B)

[barcotta]

I would DEFINITELY take the CLEP A&I Lit over American Literature--unless you have sufficient existing knowledge in American Lit. For me, that's not even a close call. Most people didn't study at all for A&I Lit. I spent several hours doing CLEP and Petersons practice tests and that prepared me well. Also, if by chance you don't pass, you can still take American Lit so you have nothing to lose. (I'm taking your word for it that it's also a six credit exam).

[Greggy_D]

Originally Posted by barcotta

I would DEFINITELY take the CLEP A&I Lit over American Literature--unless you have sufficient existing knowledge in American Lit.

Good idea. I forgot that Amer Lit is a tough exam. I'll schedule A&I for next week. Thanks! And yes....it is a 6 credit exam at Excelsior (I just checked).

[Greggy_D]

I received a response yesterday from an Advisor. Not exactly the detailed response I was looking for. Seems I have to wait for my "official" evaluation in 6-8 weeks:


Good afternoon Greg.

Welcome to Liberal Arts. I see that you just enrolled on May 24th. It takes approximately 6-8 weeks for your initial evaluation to be completed. Until then we can't provide official course approval. I will tell you how we would classify the exams listed below and if you feel comprtable taking an exam prior to your initial evaluation being completed, then that would be at your discretion. Once your evaluation is complete, you will receive an email letting you know it is complete. You can then view your stauts report and evaluation summary on-line and contact us for specific course approval.

I hope this information is helpful. Please feel free to contact us should you need any further assistance.

Looks like I'll just keep plodding ahead with my plan until the eval is complete.

[Matymus]

Wait a sec....lemme get this straight. You submit your app to Excelsior....wait 6-8 weeks for your 'unofficial' evaluation, then enroll...then wait another 6-8 weeks for your 'official' eval?? That makes no sense. I mean...is it that much harder for an official eval?

[Kiwi Lover]

Originally Posted by Matymus

Wait a sec....lemme get this straight. You submit your app to Excelsior....wait 6-8 weeks for your 'unofficial' evaluation, then enroll...then wait another 6-8 weeks for your 'official' eval?? That makes no sense. I mean...is it that much harder for an official eval?

Hi guys,

I think Excelsior gives the standard "6-8 weeks" timeline to everyone to allow them some leeway, but for the most part, I think they usually get these done within 3 weeks at the most. I think it also can depend a little on what time of the year you are applying. How long did you have to wait for your "unofficial evaluation" Greg?

I had both of my evals done last August within 2 weeks, so hopefully you won't have to wait longer than that. And like you said, you can keep working on exams in the meantime that you KNOW will work in your degree plan.

JoAnne

[Greggy_D]

Originally Posted by Kiwi Lover

How long did you have to wait for your "unofficial evaluation" Greg?

I applied on 4/30. I received my unofficial eval on 5/24. But the reason for that is because Microsoft took their sweet time sending out my transcript. In reality it only took 1 week after Excelsior received my Microsoft transcript (which was the last one they were waiting for).

I certainly hope you're right about the shortened time to send out the official eval. If it really does take 6-8 weeks that's about 2 months out of the year I can't use their services (which I paid $1000 for). Regardless, I'm still going to take tests that I absolutely know will count.

I also need to nail down my two depths. Psych will be one seeing that I need Upper Level credits and the ECE Psych tests will cover those. I want to use my Microsoft MCSE certification as the second depth since that is done already. I can't even get an answer about that since the official eval isn't complete. So....I'm still a bit up in the air about a couple of things.