BA online path for busy single mom

Discussion in 'CLEP, DANTES, and Other Exams for Credit' started by Kjblue, Oct 24, 2019.

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  1. Kjblue

    Kjblue New Member

    Hi!
    I’m a single mother of 3 and work full time (9-5). My kids are with their grandmother during the day.
    I was hoping someone can recommend me a path to earning a BA in less than a year or even 6 months through life experiences or CLEP?
    Any of the big 3 schools will be okay. Any kind of degree too just so I can keep my job for 14 years. They are now going to be requiring a bachelors and warned me I could be laid off in 8 months due to me not having this. I am panicking..... and I know it’s impossible to get a degree that quick but I found this amazing site with great insights.

    if someone doesn’t mind guiding me, I would very much appreciate it. I am willing to spend anything less than 10k through fed loans and regardless of any type of degree although if I were to choose liberal arts would be good choice...

    I also heard about Ashworth life experiences but don’t know how much I can take advantage of that. I work in tne medical field and do computer work all day.

    I have also been away from school for 20 years so I am scared of taking these exams but I’m willing to take the risk. I’m just worried of the study time if it will take months before I can attemot to pass a CLEP exam.

    I do speak French if that helps at all with any CLEP exams?

    Sorry if my questions have been answered elsewhere I tried looking but didn’t find much I needed...

    I hope there is still a chance I can make it through these hard times with all your help.

    Thanks!
     
  2. Steve Levicoff

    Steve Levicoff Well-Known Member

    Welcome, Kj… (May we call you Kj, for brevity?) In order to help us help you a bit better, can you fill in a few details?

    First, what part of the country are you in? And do you want the option of being able to touch base with your school in person on occasion, even if it’s only to buy a t-shirt or two?

    Second, exactly what do you do in the medical field? Do you have any specific training, such as coding or functioning as an M.A.? Also, what is the nature of your computer work? A canned program filling in blanks, or is there any writing involved? In other words, what skills do you have, if any, that can be translated into college credit by prior learning.

    Next, how well do you speak French, and is it classical French (as opposed to Joual or Franglais)? In other words, if you can speak French as well as, say, someone who has taken four semesters of French in school, you may be able to pull off more credit by prior learning (which you called life experience) than by CLEP.

    Finally, do you have any previous credits at all an, if so, in what subjects? Some subjects have a demonstration-of-currency requirement, others do not. Do you have a head start of any level, or are we talking about starting from scratch?

    Finally, and this is an initial reaction, if you’re willing to explore going through one of the Big 3, I’d recommend dumping Ashworth from consideration. We have quite a few Ashworth grads here on DI, but if you read about them on Wikipedia, you’ll learn that they have a bit of a sordid history and they are not regionally accredited like the Big 3 are. Earning an Ashworth degree may be honorable, but it can bounce back and bite you on the butt later down the road. And don’t take anyone’s word for how good they are – those that have graduated from there will be the first to defend their credentials, and everyone tends to speak most highly of the schools from which they graduated.

    As far as your current position, I wouldn’t worry too much – stay networked with the people in power, and you may find that the time factor is easier than you think as long as you are making continuous progress. FWIW, it took me 1 year and 10 months to get my B.A., and that was with a whopping six credits going in. Is it possible to pull off a B.A. in six months? Theoretically, yes, but for most people, highly unlikely. Just be prepared to show that you’re making good progress. And keep your eyes open to the job market if you feel that the folks for whom you work are being unreasonable.
     
    newsongs likes this.
  3. Kjblue

    Kjblue New Member

    Thank you so much for your reply. Please call me however you like. kJ is fine too :)

    I do coding and some documentation but that was through reading books and learning experience.

    Unfortunately, I don’t have any prior credits ): never went to college.


    I’m located in tne east coast and prefer 100 self pace online courses. I speak standard fluent French at home and took it in High school as well. Will that help me pass a chunk of CLEP In French?

    thank you, Steve!


     
    Last edited: Oct 24, 2019
  4. AsianStew

    AsianStew Moderator Staff Member

    Hi kjblue, there is already a plan I have created for everyone on my Beginner's Guide. I would highly suggest you to copy that spreadsheet/template and use it exactly. There maybe two differences to that I would suggest, do not use NCCRS options such as Coopersmith, Davar, onlinedegree.com just in case they go out of business, there is no registry.

    I only recommend ACE which is Sophia, StraighterLine, Study.com etc. The second thing is, add/change two courses - Info Literacy, it's a required course from TESU. And also change one of the UL to the TEEX Death Investigation course as that's non proctored, you can also change a few of the other proctored courses to any TEEX ACE course recommended for credit. You may also want to do the CSMLearn course vs the ALEKS courses.

    The templates are on my signature link to the Beginners Guide post #28/#31. TEEX link is here https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/Thread-...nt-courses - go crazy with these courses as they're cheap and non-proctored.
     
  5. Years go when I did Excelsior I got 12 credit hours with CLEP French. I had 4 years of French immersion in school - 20 years previously. You should have no problem if you go the Excelsior route.

    I don’t know of any bachelor’s degree that you can get entirely via CLEP, which usually are lower level. When I did my General Business degree it took me around a year and 34 or so exams, but this was when I was able to do the capstone via exam which they don’t allow anymore.
     
  6. copper

    copper Active Member

    Don’t you think attempting a bachelors degree in one year with no college is a massive undertaking? I was looking at the Excelsior website and the Associates in Liberal Arts may be more realistic but still challenging with a one year goal!

    https://www.excelsior.edu/
     
  7. copper

    copper Active Member

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