This board is so full of information and knowledgeable people, so I figured I'd ask my questions here. I apologize in advance if my questions are too basic and I should know this info already! I'm interested in completing my degree that I haphazardly started fresh out of HS. I sort of did things in a backwards way and went to a 4 year school, then flunked out and went to 2 yr. community college. I have about 20 credits from my 1st school and 12 credits from the CC. Only 9 of those 12 credits can be transferred, though (got a D in one of the classes). Right now, since I am a very busy mom of 2 children under 2, I am just looking to finish my associates. Unfortunately, I cannot obtain transcripts from my first school because I have a financial hold at that college that I was recently reminded of when I applied to Charter Oak and Excelsior. My transcript from the CC lists the courses/credits from the first school, but do not list the letter grades I received at the first college. Unfortunately, most of those 20 credits were things I don't want to take CLEPs for -- English and Math. I don't know what my choices are other than to take CLEPS for everything and start all over again with the 9 transferable credits, or go back to the county college that "holds" those credits from my first college (make sense?). Do county colleges generally accept a lot of CLEP tests for credit? I'd want to take tests for History and Science... And if I were to obtain my Associates degree from the CC and attempt to get a BA from Charter Oak, wouldn't I run into the same problem of not being able to transfer those courses? Or do they just look at the AA and go from there? One more issue... I'm scared to death of taking CLEP tests. I registered and quickly cancelled my subscription to Instacert because the questions were just too hard for some of the subjects. I'm decent at multiple choice tests, but actually giving an answer is hard for me. If I cannot even get through Instacert, how the heck can I pass the real test? This makes me think that maybe I need to go back and take classes, which I don't have much time for unfortunately. It would take FOREVER to finish my degree. Sorry to ramble on so much... I'm just looking for some general guidance with what to do. Thanks in advance for any insight.
Why not just resolve the financial hold and get your transcripts released? Most colleges want official transcripts from all the schools you've attended, so you'll need to do this anyway. Most CLEP Tests are multiple choice. I don't know why InstantCert tries to prepare you with fill-in-the-blank questions, as no CLEP test I know of makes use of that style of question. Some CLEPs require an essay, but you'll know that going in. There's no reason to be scared of CLEP tests. A few nights of solid preparation should be all you need to pass most any CLEP. I'm not a huge fan of InstantCert, but it does work well for some people. I usually just score a textbook or study guide from a library for a few days and read it cover-to-cover, keeping in mind the topics covered by the exam (which you can get from http://www.clep.com). I've found that a quick read generally gives me what I need to pass most exams (5 CLEPs taken, lowest score was a 65, all the rest were 70+).
I have a financial hold at that college... *** Find a way to clear the financial hold - for lots of reasons. I don't know what my choices are... *** You need to do some organized research on the Internet. The more organized you are the more easily you will be able to pick it up and put it down when your family needs you. Look for all the schools that have a schedule that will work for you, then find out which ones of those have the program you are interested in taking and work from there. Do county colleges generally accept a lot of CLEP tests for credit? ...wouldn't I run into the same problem of not being able to transfer those courses? ***These questions can only be answered by an individual school. That is why you need to lay out your entire plan and work, well, sort of backwards. I'm scared to death of taking CLEP tests... ***Classes are better for some people so keep an open mind. This may be in the category of schedule availability. Keep looking. Write everything down in a clear, organized way. Once you have eliminated several hundred schools things will become clearer. Whenever you have a particular question about whether a school will accept credits - call them and ask. If you stay with this and go step by step you will do great. It may look like it will take forever but when you get to the other side you will see that it wasn't really so long.
Thank you for the replies so far. I know I should clear the hold at the first college, but to tell the truth, money is so tight for my family right now that I just want to circumvent repaying them at this time. Repaying them would take a while, and I guess I'm impatient about this entire process taking a long time. My game plan changes from hour-to-hour, it seems, but my goal is to get a degree. Not for job purposes, but just to say, yes I finished and I did it. Silly, but I feel I have never really finished anything in my life. After posting this morning, my plan has changed once again. I can gradually pay off my debt with the first college while taking tests in the other subjects (history, sciences, etc.), then matriculate at Charter Oak....
That sounds like a plan. I think what you're doing is great. When you're trying to get a degree quickly, you have to stay adaptive, as you are.
Don't let the CLEP and DANTES tests intimidate you. Take one of the tests in a subject you're most familiar with and see how you do. If you fail, you're out about $50, but if you pass, you will have 3 semester hours and more confidence for the next test. And if you like history, I recommend reading Stanley Karnow's "Vietnam: A History" and then taking the DANTES Vietnam exam. And Excelsior is a good choice, because I'm pretty sure the school does not require you to send all your transcripts. So, there's no reason to put your degree on hold. Good Luck!
I spoke to someone at Excelsior and was told that they might accept the transferred credits from the first school only if the letter grades were listed along with the course titles. Unfortunately, they are just listed with "T" next to them where there would normally be a grade, so no dice. And of course, Excelsior doesn't offer financial aid...or at least a Stafford loan, which is what I'm looking for at this time.
Yes, but you can still be admitted and begin working toward your degree without the other school's transcripts. Some schools would not admit you without all other transcripts in hand.
Ah, ok. I misunderstood. But I cannot imagine why a school - traditional or distance learning - would not admit you without transcripts. Couldn't you just start over from scratch?
