getting college degrees, explain this to me

[IceBergSLiM]

Lets say someone has a B.S. in communications from their time at traditional accredited 4 year university. This person has been working for a few years now and decides they want to learn something completely unrelated from the communications field.

For the sake of argument this person wants a degree in math.

Now, most schools require around 120credits or so for a 4 year degree.

Does this person have to take all those credits again or will some of his previous "elective courses" fill in the blanks allowing them to only study the "math" courses.

 

[Gibson486]

they will just transfer (as long as they meet requirements) so he will not have to take those courses again.

 

[CRXican]

Some of the GEs should fill in the blanks. I haven't confirmed that 100%.

I've considered going back for a Bio degree after having earned a totally unrelated degree. Problem is I didn't take any real math courses.

 

[destrekor]

This is a very interesting question.

I too wish to know the answer.
If I could take half of my courses from my recent degree to fulfill the base requirements of a new degree, I wouldn't mind spending two years fulfilling the requirements for a new major. Of course, part-time it would turn into 4 years or so... but that is something I might consider a few years down the road, to do when I'm not working. I don't think my B.A. is going to do much for me on it's own.

 

[dfuze]

I think it depends on each school and what each one will accept but I'd be sure that some should at least transfer. On top of that, each school will require you to take a certain number of classes there before they will give you a degree.

 

[Gibson486]

I think it depends on each school and what each one will accept but I'd be sure that some should at least transfer. On top of that, each school will require you to take a certain number of classes there before they will give you a degree.

That too, schools will not let you transfer 114 credits so you just have to take 6 more credits to graduate.

 

[polarmystery]

The courses (mainly basics and some electives) should transfer. I had a few friends back in my college days switch colleges and degrees and their basics and a few elective courses transferred. Some colleges are more stingy in what they will let transfer however...

 

[ElFenix]

my mom went back to school at about 45 to get her teaching degree. university of houston accepted her old ohio university coursework for transfer. of course, not everything is applicable and there are usually requirements like 'last 30 credits need to be taken at this university"

 

[Saint Nick]

You won't need to take a lot of your general education requirements. Usually you'll just have to take the courses that are most relevant to the major -- somewhere around 48 hours, sometimes more.

 

[IceBergSLiM]

You won't need to take a lot of your general education requirements. Usually you'll just have to take the courses that are most relevant to the major -- somewhere around 48 hours, sometimes more.

probably best to work out details with admissions.

 

[Farang]

Usually its just like if you were still in school and are switching your major. So the question is just what courses do you need on top of what you've already taken to earn the new degree? Some exceptions
1) minimum number of credits for a new degree
2) minimum number of credits for a degree from a new university

This applies to 99% of colleges in my experience. If you're doing a degree in a new field, those exceptions you don't really have to worry about because they're usually ~45 credits and you have to do that much anyway.

 

[Corporate Thug]

Depends on the school. For example, the UC system schools here in CA will not let you come back to get a second degree at all. Either you double major or go into a grad program if you are coming back.

 

[Saint Nick]

probably best to work out details with admissions.

Indeed!

Send them an e-mail, tell them your goals, and they will tell you exactly what you need to take, and when to take it.

Depends on the school. For example, the UC system schools here in CA will not let you come back to get a second degree at all. Either you double major or go into a grad program if you are coming back.

Thats kind of shitty.

 

[MrColin]

Once you have been admitted to a school they will look at your transcripts from other schools and then let you know what credits will transfer to fill whatever requirements. The GE credits are probably the most lax ones out there.

 

[DT4K]

It depends on the school.

I have two BS degrees from two different schools, but both are part of the Oregon public university system, so that may or may not make a difference.

When I went to get my 2nd degree, I did NOT have to take any of the general ed requirements. It wasn't a matter of transferring specific courses. They considered a previous bachelor's degree as equivalent to meeting all the general ed requirements. So I just had to have a minimum number of credit hours at that school (I think it was about a year's worth) and of course, I had to take all the required courses for my major. Going full-time, it took me 2 years to get my BS in Computer Science.

 

[Capt Caveman]

Post Baccalaureate. I was a finance major and now have a MBA. I may go back and get a post bac in premed and then go to med school.

 

[dullard]

I never understand the logic for getting two (or more) BS degrees. Even in the best of cases, you'll need two years of schooling to go back for the second BS degree in an unrelated field (2.5 to 3 years if you run into issues like additional general education requirements that the first degree didn't require).

Why not just get a master's degree in the unrelated field? That would take 2.5 years or so (1.5 years for the masters level classes and one year for selected undergraduate level classes that your advisor thinks you should have). The time is about the same, the cost is about the same (possibly far less if you get a TA or RA during your master's degree), and you'd have a graduate level education on your resume.

 

[Spoooon]

I never understand the logic for getting two (or more) BS degrees. Even in the best of cases, you'll need two years of schooling to go back for the second BS degree in an unrelated field (2.5 to 3 years if you run into issues like additional general education requirements that the first degree didn't require).

Why not just get a master's degree in the unrelated field? That would take 2.5 years or so (1.5 years for the masters level classes and one year for selected undergraduate level classes that your advisor thinks you should have). The time is about the same, the cost is about the same (possibly far less if you get a TA or RA during your master's degree), and you'd have a graduate level education on your resume.

Depending on where you want (or need) to attend, may be much more difficult getting accepted into the program with an unrelated undergrad degree.

As people suggested, contact the school. At Texas Tech, x number of courses must be taken at Tech to graduate, any freshman and sophomore level courses will transfer if there is a TTU equivalent. Basically, most general requirements will be squared away, leaving you with major/minor specific courses.

 

[IceBergSLiM]

I never understand the logic for getting two (or more) BS degrees. Even in the best of cases, you'll need two years of schooling to go back for the second BS degree in an unrelated field (2.5 to 3 years if you run into issues like additional general education requirements that the first degree didn't require).

Why not just get a master's degree in the unrelated field? That would take 2.5 years or so (1.5 years for the masters level classes and one year for selected undergraduate level classes that your advisor thinks you should have). The time is about the same, the cost is about the same (possibly far less if you get a TA or RA during your master's degree), and you'd have a graduate level education on your resume.

I'm trying to understand how someone with a comm degree with almost no mathematics background would be able to jump into masters level math classes.

 

[Capt Caveman]

I'm trying to understand how someone with a comm degree with almost no mathematics background would be able to jump into masters level math classes.

Depends on the school. Some will accept you into a graduate program but will require you to complete a number of prereq classes first. Others will require you to just take particular prereq classes before allowing you to apply. Some may require a specific bac and/or postbac.

 

[ViviTheMage]

probably just have to take core courses for the degree, and/or at least 30 credits at the school.

 

[DT4K]

I never understand the logic for getting two (or more) BS degrees. Even in the best of cases, you'll need two years of schooling to go back for the second BS degree in an unrelated field (2.5 to 3 years if you run into issues like additional general education requirements that the first degree didn't require).

Why not just get a master's degree in the unrelated field? That would take 2.5 years or so (1.5 years for the masters level classes and one year for selected undergraduate level classes that your advisor thinks you should have). The time is about the same, the cost is about the same (possibly far less if you get a TA or RA during your master's degree), and you'd have a graduate level education on your resume.

It comes down to individual circumstances. If you can get accepted into a a graduate program and get the graduate degree in the same amount of time (or just a little longer), then by all means, go for it.

In my case, there is no way I could have completed the required undergrad level courses in 1 year. I had no computer science courses in my first undergrad program, so whether I chose to get a graduate degree or not, I was still going to be spending 2 years full-time to take all the needed undergrad courses.