Thread: degree deadline

I have a narrow window to get a FLE job, but I need to finish my degree within the nine months. Is this even conceivable (sp)? Or should I wait and try later ??

I have about 60 credits

Any suggestions would be great

You say you have a "narrow window"... I'm guessing by your user name ("kid") you're not at the 37 year old cut-off age. So I'm really not sure what the small "window" is to get into a federal job. Might help if you expanded on that a bit. The question you ask is not easily answered. Just because you have 60 credits already, does not mean you are half way to a BA/BS degree. Even though a BA/BS degree requires 120 credits, (units), your 60 must *ALL* apply to the degree requirements for a BA/BS or else you're not even half way there.

Many people (myself included) had 70+ units before transferring to get our BA/BS degrees. I am bad at math, so I had to take a lower level math class to work my way up to the level needed for a BA/BS degree. Those units were good to get my AA, but not for my BA/BS. Same thing with electives. You might have a lot of elective credit and not the "core" of what you want your degree in. So you can see where the difficulty in answering such a question arises.

It is *POSSIBLE* to test out for many units. Do a google search for a Roger Habeck BA degree in less than a year, or just search for BA degree in six weeks or whatever. I have found several people online who claim to have obtained accredited degrees by taking the CLEP, DANTES, GRE, etc series of tests to test out for credit. Some schools that allows this are: Charter Oak State College, Excelsior College, Thomas Edison State College..Do a search for those schools, distance learning, etc. You'll get the info you need to decide if *YOU* can get a BA/BS done in 9 months. My guess is that even if you hammer away, it's going to be very difficult as well as it takes time to audit your records, check your new credits, and audit you for graduation. 9 months is a stretch...

Kahuna

(Don't even consider schools that aren't regionally accredited. Thomas Edison State College, Excelsior College-- formerly Regent's College-- and Charter Oak State College are all regionally accredited.)

It's possible if you test very, very well, and:

- IF you have the time & have a nearby test center that administers the CLEP and DANTES exams pretty much on your schedule;
- IF you have the $$ to throw at one of the aforementioned schools (collectively known as "The Big Three" among DL junkies);
- IF you kick into high gear right now.

But as Kahuna noted, you're under the gun. For example, to graduate from TESC in December, you'd need to apply for graduation in October. It'll take about a month to enroll and for your transcripts from prior schools to arrive at Trenton, and roughly a month for a program advisor to prepare your plan (essentially distributing your existing credits into different areas, and determining what's still needed.) Best case, that leaves about four months once you have an approved program plan to take every standardized test and course you need.

It HAS been done, but on your timetable there's almost zero room for error. If you're going to try that route, get moving NOW.

PM me if you'd like some non-commercial links.

It depends. Like DennisNJ said, you might be able to test out of some credit. I just found out that since i tested out of two years of a language when i started college, I get a free 10 credits for those classes I didn't have to take. When you enrolled in college, did you have to test into any classes? If so, you might be able to get some credit for those you tested out of. As i found out from experience, sometimes the advisors don't even tell you about this extra credit unless you go in and see them.

Your best bet would be to speak with your college advisor, and also register for a very strong course load for the summer and next semester.

Finally, if you can get an internship or directed study, sometimes those can be worth 8-9 credits too.

Good Luck!