Need advice on going back to college

mamalove

I need some kind of advisor, are there professionals who can steer one the right way on these kinds of things? Or do I need to do the legwork and call a bunch of schools to see what is best? I have no problem doing it and have already got started, but I am very confused on the best path to take here.

My background is that I went to a business school in the later 90's. Did not finish my degree for obvious Jdub reasons.

But I have always worked and had good skills and have a full time job in corporate america. However, I have to at least get it on my resume that I am in school working towards my degree dammit. I have a job, etc. but would like to continue to advance and have started to look. My problem is that I do have good connections and they all seem a waste if I do not get my booty back at school.

Got my transcript from my old college. Have looked online at various schools. My aunt is a professer at a well known university and she told me iy has been too long for me and I would need to start over. This seems weird to me. I thought some credits would at least transfer. Would love to test out of classes....cannot afford crazy tuition, and also, this is the biggie, I have to do it all online if possible. I have my kids on opposite days each week and I could never be in a classroom at the same day each week unless I switched parenting times and my ex is so difficult he would make it hell for me.

So please, fellow smartie pants, help a girl out! Thanks!!

Lady Lee

Most colleges have an Academic Advising dept. They can test you to see where your strengths lie and help you decide what career path is best for you. That will help you narrow down what you want to do after you graduate so that you pick the program and courses that will best get you the skills you need

and it is free

Jadeen

You can also ask to CLEP some classes. I did that for a couple of mine and I think it was only $90 per test.

dssynergy

Focus on schools that cater to working adults or non-traditional students. As mentioned, you can test for credits with the CLEP, or there may be some credit for experience situation where you write papers for a specific number of credits.

I am in a similar situation - took over 90 credits (2 years of college). If I were to go to a traditional school, very little of that would transfer, but I did find a school that accepted all of my old credits, plus they have an online program that I'm going to attend. here is the link to the school: www.marylhurst.edu

If you talk to one of their advisors, they may be able to point you in the right direction either to find a school online or a school in your area that is liberal in the type of credits they accept.

Mary

If you went to school in the late 90s, you may still be okay to use some of your credits towards a diploma/certificate, but you'll have to talk to an advisor at the college who will want to see your transcripts. You may want to also consider applying for some PLAR's (prior learning assessment recognition) at the college. I'm not sure if they're called that in the USA, but you can take some tests at 50% of the cost of the tuition fees, and use it as credit towards your diploma. Some areas will let you use PLAR's towards 75% of your diploma. This can save you a TON of time and $$$ if you've got the experience.

Good luck!