Is getting a BA from this school even worth my time?

May 25, 2006 11:49 PM

If I get a Bachelors of Arts from Excelsior University (formerly Regents College), am I going to have a problem getting into a grad school? I was specifically thinking about a psychology major.

They are accredited by Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools, but this being an obvious non-traditional degree - I am curious about problems I would have getting into a conventional grad school.

I want it to be worth my time and my money.

posted by bigmusic to education (8 comments total)

Grad schools typically love people with 'non-traditional' degrees. A friend of mine who majored in Spanish and Music easily got into medical school. He just had to do some of the pre-med required courses (chem, bio, physics), then pass the MCATS. I know a lot of med schools and law schools are actively encouraging people that did not major in biology or political science to apply. I know this because a friend of mine is a student admissions rep at Notre Dame, and he specifically said this was the case.

I would first talk to an admissions counselor at a grad school you are interested in and see what pre-requisites you need, if your GPA is up to snuff, and what he or she personally thinks of non-traditional majors.

Next I would see how much time and money it would take to do any pre-requisites as well as study and take the GRE.

What is your BA in, if yo udon't mind my asking?
posted by tweak at 12:35 AM on May 26, 2006

Umm, tweak, it appears as though he is planning on getting a BA in psychology.

I'm not really sure what your question is here, bigmusic - are you worried that the accreditation won't be recognized by other grad schools? The Middle States Commission accredits Columbia University, so I'd say they're pretty reputable.

If you're worried about whether or not grad schools will reject you because it's not a big, ivy league school, it might matter to some schools. But if you ace your GRE and you have a good GPA, it will matter much much less.

What type of grad school are you planning on doing?
posted by antifuse at 1:44 AM on May 26, 2006

'If get' read as 'I got' when I looked at the question. Damn font! Yes, I can blame the font, he won't fight back.

People get into top-tier grad programs all the time from small or relatively obscure schools, to reiterate antifuse. However...

Excelsior doesn't appear to even appear to be ranked by Oops. US News, for example.

I would still recommend doing research on actual grad school requirements and even calling and admissions office. June isn't a terrible time since most applications to grad school happen half way through senior year, aka not in the summer. Talk to a real person and ask them how much going to a place like Excelsior affects your chances. Ask them to be honest.

Admissions people spend their lives in the higher education system - it is their job to know about as many schools as possible, they know what's going on. Even though Excelsior is not ranked by US News and doesn't have great marks, that is only one part of a much larger picture - GPA, GRE score, community service, a strong letter of intent, good letters of recommendation, a good interview, and the impression that the applicant is a well-rounded person with diverse interests. You just might have to work a lot harder than someone at Brown or Harvard who has the seemingly automatic advantage of name recognition. It's not insurmountable.

However, if it really does shorten your odds that badly, I would think about doing as much work as you can at Excelsior and then trying to transfer to another school with a better rep and look into state and federal funding options. Most colleges and universities require you do the majority of your credits there in order to get a degree. For example, if you don't have the scores to get into SUNY Albany or somesuch, put up really good scores at Excelsior for a while and it might be possible to transfer. Their in-state tuition is pretty good.
posted by tweak at 2:59 AM on May 26, 2006

how the FUCK did Oops get over there? time to reboot Firefox.
posted by tweak at 3:00 AM on May 26, 2006

I got a B. S. from Excelsior and I'm now at Empire State College doing a Master's. Employers tend to be very impressed when I state that 80% of my undergraduate coursework was independent study.

You should know that most of Regent's grades are pass/fail (or at least they are when you're testing out of course requirements.) A deep reading of your transcript will reveal this, so a high grade point average might not be as effective as you might like.

I think tweak has good advice - identify where you think you want to go to grad school and ask the admissions people there for advice.

I think the Excelsior website or literature has some success stories as well.
posted by chocolatepeanutbuttercup at 3:21 AM on May 26, 2006

What type of grad school are you planning on doing?

Specifically, what type of degree: MBA? PhD in something? Medical school? And why?

Also, what quality of school are you looking for? There are hundreds (thousands?) of schools that offer an MBA; often the requirements aren't much more than a not-to-bad GPA and a not-too-bad graduate (GRE?) test scores. On the other hand, getting into a PhD program in a top-tier school is out of the question for a large majority of students, regardless of where they got their BA from.
posted by WestCoaster at 6:55 AM on May 26, 2006

The truth is, name recognition helps. Yes, people who went to lesser-known colleges get into great grad schools all the time, but people who went to big-name colleges get into those great grad schools much more easily.

I agree that it depends a great deal on the graduate program you are looking to enter.

I second the recommendation to get great grades, try to make yourself stand out, and then transfer. That's not to bash your school. But name recognition of one's college, while just one of a mess of ingredients that grad schools admissions people look it, is one of the biggest factors.

If you really love your school, by the way, ignore this advice. It would be stupid to leave somewhere you really enjoy just to up your odds a bit.
posted by fugitivefromchaingang at 8:19 AM on May 26, 2006

I'm only familiar with Excelsior from friends who have received their degrees from their after having taken coursework elsewhere. Depending on the grad school, you ought not have difficulty competing with other potential applicants.

Have you already accumulated credit from other schools, and are looking at Excelsior to tie the bow?
posted by Avogadro at 9:54 AM on May 26, 2006