Hello! I've been lurking on these boards for quite a while now, and finally felt the need to post as I've decided to start my "Odyssey" as it were. I've got a few questions, mainly one...I'm interested in going to one of the Big Three, and earning a majority of my credits via CLEP. The actual degree means little to me (So long as its a BA/BS) (ie, area of concentration.) I'm not too worried about that. My reason being is I attend another college as a non-degree seeking student just to take art classes. My goal is to be an art teacher at the elementary level...but I know if I go to a traditional four year college, I will hurt people because I will be bored out of my mind! (No offense to anyone who has gone to a B&M...its just not my thing) I need to earn a BA/BS degree in ANYTHING from a regionally accredited school...I've got the art requirement finished according to my states statutes. I had one general question to be getting on with... I'm interested in the Big Three, as I said. However, financially, I'm not too sure if I can afford the tuition at this moment. Can I begin CLEPing and DANTEing, and then (at a later date) apply the CLEPS/DANTES to the school I want to go to? Or do the Big Three Only let you CLEP/DANTE's count if you were enrolled when you took them? Thanks in advance! I look forward from learning from all you "old salts!" Adam
Yes, you can begin testing prior to enrolling/applying at one of the big three. Your best bet is to check out www.bain4weeks.com I am sure others here will chime in as well. Good luck and welcome! Abner
I used this page from COSC - http://www.cosc.edu/Advising/StandardizedExams.cfm and just started taking exams (electives and gen ed) to fit into a program then enrolled. COSC was great about answering all questions before I enrolled. Good luck
I believe that http://www.cosc.edu and http://www.tesc.edu offer federal financial aid and loans excelsior does not so maybe you could apply for aid?
Ah, I fall in that horrible bracket...I earn too much to get a good amount of grant money, yet don't make enough to be able to write a check for the fee's they charge. I will, however, apply for a grant again this year, and see what happens. I just, firstly, wanted to thank everyone for answering my question! I'm sure I'll have more of them. I think I'll start studying and just knock a few tests out. Where I work is SUPPOSED to pay for my Optician liscence, assuming I'll go to school for it. I want to CLEP on my own, though, because the Optician liscence program does not have many general ed's that will transfer to my BA degree.
The down side is that you almost invariably have credit that will not apply as you had anticipated. I was very careful to avoid this and still ended up with probably 2 DSST tests that I didn't really need (which says a lot; you should see my Excel spreadsheet!). Nevertheless, I amassed 91 hours before enrolling. I found Excelsior to be the most generous in terms of awarding credit for both DSST and CLEP exams of similar content (eg. computers, supervision/management) and in not requiring a certain sequence. (I have heard that TESC and COSC will not award credit sometimes depending on the order in which the tests are taken.) My plan was to wait to enroll until I was confident that any remaining credits could be completed in under a year, so as to avoid paying for a second year's advising fee. Feel free to shoot me a PM if you have any questions. My best advice is to just get started!
Hey LiveFrom, Just out of interest, which exams ended up being thrown out as duplicates in your degree plan?
Too many applied professional credits. For Excelsior business degree, these include DSST Personal Finance, Drug & Alcohol Abuse, Here's to your Health, and Introduction to Law Enforcement. This could have been avoided had I requested the Student Guide to Credit by Examination sooner, or if Excelsior simply listed it under their public view. However, a passing grade wasn't assured so even in hindsight I would probably do it this way again (and just submit the highest grades for credit).
I see we are of like mind! That's basically the same principle I'm working under. Where I take college classes (Traditional classes) is relatively inexpensive, so I enjoy taking a few classes there...but I just get MUCH too bored in lecture based classes. I find distance learning/independent learning the only way for me. (I suppose its coupled by the fact that, for high school at least, I was homeschooled.) I find learning independently to be much more rewarding in the long run, for some reason. Thanks for the advice! I think I'll register for the Freshman Comp. CLEP as soon as possible. I know that I won't need to study for that one too much. English is my strong suit!
I've also been looking at the LSU Independent Study Courses. They are relatively inexpensive, and they start at any time. I've been thinking of taking those. Does anyone know if they transfer to "The Big Three"? I assume they do as they are offered by LSU.
Should be ok because LSU is RA. It would be good to email or call just to make sure. Usually, COSC will answer questions even if you are not enrolled with the yet. Abner
I just enrolled in their Psy 2000 via distanc e edu, but I checked with FHSU first to make sure they accept LSU's courses; FHSU was fine with Intro to Psy/Soc; College Algebra and English Comp I but nayed the English Comp II ... so just double check with whatever school you plan on going with. BM
I recently completed my AS business at Excelsior and did most opf my exams (CLEP and DANTES) before enrolling. They will accept it, no problem. The only thing to worry about is that while you are un-enrolled they might change the requirements for the degree (That happened to me because I had been enrolled many years back and just recently re-enrolled and meantime my Clep English composition , for example, wasn't accepted to cover the written English requirement).
