Starting DL with no Previous College Credits

HI DL GURU's,

I have a friend with no college credit, DL or otherwise. How does she get started? She has an interest in real estate and has Real Estate Licensure...that's it. I have been working on her portfolio with her (I have no idea of exactly what I am doing!). I graduated from TESC but I had over 90+ Semester hours in Traditional B&M Courses, plus Military & professional licensure prior to applying. My question is:

How does she get started/Accepted? She does not take tests well and has bombed several cleps thus far. Please help!!!

Mike

 

Accompany her to the bookstore and assist her in her purchase of Bears Guide. Point out to her that there are many, many choices, most of which have nothing to do with developing a portfolio. She can go to the websites of the schools that look promising and do more in depth research that includes emailing the schools with specific questions. Finally, make a selection and apply for admission. Study hard. Frame diploma.
Good luck to all.
Jack

 

I would suggest that she start by taking some general education courses. Probably just one at first. That way she can sort of test the waters, and get used to the idea of being in a college class, studying, dealing with the DL medium and so on.

What degree level is she interested in? I believe that there are associates degrees in real estate, specifically. But I don't know if any of these are offered by DL.

She gets started by defining what her objectives are and why she wants to study. Does she have a career objective? A proposed major? Or is she just interested in studying a variety of stuff and sort of feeling her way depending on how she does?

If she has a clear objective, she should look for suitable DL programs in that field or in a cognate area (business for real estate, for example). If her goals are less well defined, I'd look for some general ed classes she could later use in a variety of majors.

I don't think that she should be attempting portfolios or credit by examination right now. She should be starting at the beginning and deciding what it is that she wants to do. Once she has a major in mind, she can look at the classes that such a major will require. Then she can try to decide (realistically!) whether she already has equivalent knowledge of the material covered in any of those classes. If she has that kind of knowledge in a good number of required classes, you might consider TESC, COSC or the like, that accept lots of examination or portfolio credit.

But given her background, I'd suspect that she should be thinking in terms of actually taking her classes and not challenging most of them. That would expand her options to many more schools that might offer more appealing programs.

So she needs to decide on a major, then start looking at all the DL programs that offer her subject, checking out enterance/graduation requirements, classes offered, delivery media, residency requirements, course scheduling, cost and stuff. That kind of analysis will probably narrow things down to a handful of programs that she really likes. Then she probably should contact them.

 

If she doesn't take tests well, perhaps she'd do better with a combination of portfolio assessment and taking actual courses, rather than trying to take more CLEPs.

She could check out Thomas Edison State College Portfolio Assessment Policies
and the Charter Oak State College Overview of Portfolio Assessment for some info on how to proceed with this.

Also, here's my regular plug for community colleges -- most have day/evening/weekend/distance courses at reasonable tuition. She should talk to advisers at the community college nearest to her.

 

Thanks for the info...

I will try to definitize her goals without being too specific:

She is a single-mom of three trying to make a little more income to take care of her family. Real-estate is a lucrative career when things are going well but at this point it cannot accommodate her. She cannot take B & M courses because she is working nearly 16 hours per day and continuing to raise her kids. Her goal is to get at least the GENERAL EDUCATION REQUIREMENTS, i.e. english, math, history, etc., behind her and during that time determine what major will best suit her when it comes to career.

In my opinion real estate is a spring board to getting her started. My question (her question) from this point is:

1. Is there a school that will allow her to take the basics via distance learning without taking placement exams and the like? (many schools make you take the CPE for the state in order to take english and mathematics).

And once she has the basics then she can start to determine where she wants to get her major and look to TESC, COSC in order to get her Baccalaurette Degree.

Again, Thanks for the info,

Mike

 

OK, since you didn't seem to like my first sugestion too much, I'll make another. Try Eastern Oregon University. It's RA, has a number of undergraduate major options, $95 per credit, no extra charges for out-of-state students, overall a pretty good deal. BTW, you seem determined to get this person into TESC. You may want to keep in mind the fact that just because it worked for you doesn't mean it will work for her. If she takes courses somewhere and it's going OK, why switch?
Jack

 

In the same vein as Eastern Oregon (in my opinion, one of the most interesting but often-overlooked programs out there), Chemeketa Community College -- and one or two others that I can't think of right now -- would also be good choices for basic, general education type stuff.

Can't beat the price of about $35/credit hour, it's regionally accredited, and a pretty large offering of DL courses.

 

Ah! the art...

DL is exactly like any liberal arts college learning--learning HOW to learn is just as important as doing the learning!

I'd suggest getting a book by Walter Pauk, like _How To Study in College_(or whatever's in print right now.
This Cornell University gem has tough me HOW to study most any subject I've attempted, or else has sharpened my learning skills after the fact. He explains not only the what, but the why (e.g., he backs up his rules with psych studies' results), and thus is convincing.
He can also help anyone become an expert test-taker.
Especially useful is his (now in print again, I believe)
_A User's Guide To College_.

Good Luck.
--Orson