I'm Finished! BS at COSC Completed...

I have completed my BS (Individual Studies Pyschology/Organization Management concentration) from COSC. I received my final exam grade today and I have completed all requirements for degree conferral. I am posting this note in the hopes of sharing my experience to both make things easier for anyone trying to get their degree through examination and to motivate you that it can be done!!! This is my story of how I turned 12 hours of credit into a BS from COSC.

Started my journey in 1989 by trying to go to school at night part time. Earned 12 hours of credit in a year of (bored stiff) classes and decided to heck with this. Fast forward to 1997, read a book on accredited shortcuts to college degrees. I then scheduled an ACT/PEP Regents Exam for Human Resource Management (my profession). Knocked the test out in conjunction with earning a Certification for Professional in Human Resources. Earned 3 UL credit hours and thought, WOW that was easy, I think I might be able to work out a degree by this method. I was promoted shortly after this test to a job that required me to travel and work very long hours. I dedicated my self to the job and promptly put my dreams of fulfilling a degree by Distance Education on hold. Fast forward to 2002, many assignments and projects later and found myself in a Vice President’s position and being asked where did you graduate from on a frequent basis… After seeing the questioning look in my peer’s and employee’s eyes on many occasions when I would come up with the reply of; I didn’t, but it hasn’t stopped me yet! I realized that I was very fortunate to A) have progressed to the level I am currently at and B) that I certainly was not going further without the educational credentials I was constantly being asked about. Time for plan B. Found Degreeinfo.com and was very motivated by the many posts on successes of testing out. Put my compass on true north and decided that I certainly knew as much as any average 21 year old college student and committed myself to testing. I tasked my self to finish as quickly as possible, while still maintaining quality of life with family. I ended up finishing in 2.5 years. Here are the exams, credit hours and my notes/study sources on each one. (difficulty on a scale of 1 easy to 5 hard) Credits 1st then difficulty level. Example 6, 1 = 6 credit hours, 1 Level of difficulty
Exams
Clep Humanities 6, 4 use CLEP general study guide. I would not take this one as my first CLEP general exam. It is not an easy one to pass by any means...
CLEP Social Science 6, 2 use CLEP general Study guide. I would take American Gov CLEP in conjunction with this one as they cover similar material. Take CLEP Macro before this one as there will be some economics questions involved on this exam.
CLEP Intro Mgmt 3, 1 Anyone with any business background should be able to pass with light review. Used Barrons EZ guide to Management.
CLEP Natural Science 6, 2 If you paid attention in High school Biology, you will find this easy. Used CLEP general Study guide
CLEP Intro Computers 3, 2 Anyone with any knowledge of computers go to 1 difficulty. Barrons EZ guide to computers.
CLEP Principles of Acctg 6, 4 Broad questions on accounting. Used McGraw Hill 36 hour accounting course.
CLEP Macro 3, 3 used Princeton Review. Know the formulas outlined in the book and you will breeze through
CLEP American Govt 3, 1 used Princeton Review. Easy if you know anything about US government. Take it after Social Science as material is similar
CLEP Intro Bus Law 3, 4 Used Barrons Business Law. Another broad based exam. Study the higher % topics and make sure you know them well.
DANTES Environment & Humanity 3, 1. Review the test topics on the internet. Mostly common sense
DANTES Intro Law Enforcement 3, 1. Ordered one of the text books recommended in the Dantes Material. Mostly common sense.
DANTES Here's to Health 3, 1. This one is a steal. Common sense and a knowledge that Cigarettes and alcohol are bad...
GRE 18, 5 Princeton and Kaplan Review. Study hard, the answers on this one contain a lot of almost right verbiage, so you can't do much process of elimination. YOU HAVE TO KNOW THE MATERIAL. I scored a 53% and studied hard for 8 weeks.
DANTES Drug Alcohol 3, 2 go to about.com and study the topics outlined in materials. Use common sense and pass.
DANTES Fundamentals Counsel 3, 2 go to internet, look up topics, use common sense and pass.
DANTES Ethics In America 3, 3. Ordered recommended textbook, studied philosophers. There are Make the right choices on the ethical questions on test.
Excelsior HR Management 3, 1 (for me I work in HR) I would guess 3 for a person with no knowledge. I can't tell you what to use for studying as I took this one cold.
Excelsior Organization Behavior Same as HR Managemnet
Human Growth & Development 3, 1 take this one immediately after GRE as most of the material is similar
Analyze & Interpret Literature 6, 1 This one is a steal. If you can read and comprehend, you will pass with ease and feel like someone just gave you a free pass..
Sociology 3, 1 take this one immediately after GRE as most of the material is similar
Public Speaking 3, 1 test is very easy, but the speech part cannot be discounted. Be sure to practice speaking on a topic for at least 4 minutes. Test requires a 3-5 minute recorded speech to pass.

My thoughts on this process after reflecting on the last 3 years.
• Most of the CLEPS and DANTES don’t require much study if you have experience, common sense, are well read and have any familiarity at all with the subject. I overstudied and took too few tests the first year and wasted a lot of time. Take the easy ones first cold, even if you fail you can retake them 6 months later if necessary. Here is the logic: don’t waste time studying for easy ones as you can take them again later in your degree plan. If you pass 80% of the easy ones in 6 weeks, you are way ahead from a time standpoint.
• CLEPS are pass/fail at COSC. Doesn’t matter if you get an 80 or a 50, so study the main topics with the highest percentage of questions to ensure a 50+.
• DANTES and Excelsior are graded exams at COSC. I probably would have taken more DANTES as electives if I had known this earlier. You need the graded ones to come up with a GPA.
• Start with the easy CLEPS first to build up your confidence. Then pair up easy with hard and accelerate your testing schedule.
• Look at all of your experiences carefully for credit. I had certifications (CPP and PHR) that ended up being worth 12 and 6 credits respectively. Any certification that you hold may be eligible for credit through ACE. Military is another source, I had 7 credits from CCAF that I didn’t realize until I started my research.
• Don’t waste what you have by duplicating credits. I duplicated 4 credits of the CPP, 3 credits of the PHR, and another 3 DANTES credits by bad exam selection and wasted time and effort.
• GRE Psych was very DIFFICULT. Hours are well worth the effort, but do not underestimate the effort and time required to get it.
• I could have done this whole thing in 12-18 months easily if I had been more disciplined, less afraid to take more than one test at a time, and more confident in my ability and knowledge. Again, the tests are geared toward an average 18-21 year old college kid. I think that most of us know more than them…
• Use this board. There is a wealth of historical knowledge to search through and all the members have very sound advice. This board is a great resource to keep you motivated and to find info you need to be successful.
• Read the degree requirements out of the manual and schedule your tests accordingly. Take lower levels before upper levels. Delay your enrollment until you are in the last year if you feel confident in your ability to build your own degree plan. Then you only have to pay for your final year, transfer of credits to the final year. Then get advising during final year for UL, Concentration courses and remaining electives to fill. Saves you a lot of tuition money. Of course, if your employer is paying or you don’t feel confident in your ability to plan a degree, you should sign up and take advantage of the academic advising.
• Don’t ever give up your dream. You are never too old, too busy, or too late. The dream is realized by taking your first step and not stopping until you are at your destination. Keep the faith and good luck to all of you in the pursuit of your goals!!!
Special thanks to the creators of Degreeforum.com and Degreeinfo.com. These boards are what inspired my journey and were a significant navigational aid. I found lots of advice and more importantly, tons of motivation by reading through the posts.

May all of you be blessed with the conviction, strength, wisdom and determination to complete your own personal educational goals.

 

Great Job!

Congratulations JHastings,
Well done. The longest journey began with a single step, or a bunch of Cleps, Dantes and a few others. That's awesome that you stuck with it!!! Great job. Are you going to continue with Grad school?

Great tips for the other DL students too!

 

Congratulations on a job well done!

 

Thanks for sharing those very helpful facts and opinions, and congratulations on your achievement.

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Ultimale writes, "The longest journey began with a single step, or a bunch of Cleps, Dantes and a few others."

Wouldn't that be a great slogan for the exam people: "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single CLEP."

 

Jhastings01,

Congratulations for completing Bachelor degree at Charter Oaks State College. And thank you for sharing the story with us. Hope you'll step up for Master degree or something....

 

Congrats on the degree. I have seen a lot of Organizational Management degrees out there. Can you tell me what type of study in encompassed with this type of degree?

 

Congratulations JHastings-

It is great to read success stories like yours.

 

Congrats on a job well done.

 

This is just waaaaaaaayyyyyyy too cool. Congratulations Jim. I'm so happy and pleased for you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You are such an inspiration for all of us. Thanks for all the information. Lori

 

Congratulations and thanks for the story of your journey.

 

Congratulations!!!

 

Awesome! Great job!

Cheers,
Mark

 

Congratulations!

 

I've long considered better, the original Bearism: A journey of a thousand degrees starts with a single CLEP. So much so that I purloin it at every opportunity.

.

 

I will be completed with my BS in General Business officially on Sept 17, 2004. I completed all degree requirements in appx 6 months (about 10-12 months when you include the Georgia State University transfer credits)

I built a website that would show others.

www.123collegedegree.com

 

Cool!

Way to go! I managed mine last May! Keep it up bro.
Dan B

 

Congrat!!!

hey- CONGRATS !!! feel real happy 4 u bro. keep on climbing. remember- learning is a lifelong process- from birth to death! u go till u cant go no mo. ok yeah- u can smile--- at least i am.