Am I overthinking this?

[dk4girlz]

I found this forum about a week ago and got excited, but all I have done thus far is come and read posts daily. I keep thinking that there is something that I am missing. I have 9 credit hours from a state school that are about 12 years old. English Comp, Child Development, and Interpersonal Communications. What do I do next? Should I pick a school? Should I pick a test and start studying? Please help I keep feeling like this all seems too simple. You know that saying if it seems too good to be true it probably is.

Should I start by selecting a school from the Big 3 and having my transcript sent or with selecting a test and studying for it?

[Lydia]

LOL, relax. It's not too good to be true. There are so many great people on this site who I know will respond and help guide you in the right direction. Here's my 2 cents: Since you've only taken 3 courses, there's not need to sing up at any of the Big 3 jsut yet. Take many exams to rack up more credit... There are many general Education credits that you'll need.

First off, what are your goals? What type of degree are you aiming for? After you decide that, then go to each of the 3 school and print out each school's class requirements for the degree you want. Then ake a list of the exams ou need to take to meet th requirements. Then search the Exam Specific Thread Section of this site, to get a feel for how to study for the exam. Start studying with IC and begin testing.

You can also do a search on here for the easiest exams, and start with those.

Hope that all makes sense....

[CLEP101]

I agree with Loredia. I felt the same way when I first found this forum and IC. Now I'm almost done with one of my degrees. Find out what you want to get your degree in. Check out what classes you have to take and try to test out of as many of them as you can. You should be able to take care of your first two years of college this way. Get all of the basics out of the way. After that I recommend you enroll with Excelsior, but that's just me.

[cookderosa]

I found this forum about a week ago and got excited, but all I have done thus far is come and read posts daily. I keep thinking that there is something that I am missing. I have 9 credit hours from a state school that are about 12 years old. English Comp, Child Development, and Interpersonal Communications. What do I do next? Should I pick a school? Should I pick a test and start studying? Please help I keep feeling like this all seems too simple. You know that saying if it seems too good to be true it probably is.

Should I start by selecting a school from the Big 3 and having my transcript sent or with selecting a test and studying for it?

>>


Do you know if you would like business or non-business? There are different tests for everything, but in a nutshell, you should narrow it down at least to business or non-business.
Once you know that, you'll get floods of support.
Since I don't know business, I'll just give you general non-business advise. In non-business (Bachelor of Arts) degrees, you'll need 60 general education courses. This is roughly going to consist of these at a minimum
6+ English Composition
12+ Social Science
12+ Humanities
12+ Natural Science/Math
12+ Electives from the categories already mentioned
Notice I said "roughly" as your school's break down is what you will use.
In any event, it gives you somewhere to start. Your classes will be fine, even after 12 years. Your English 101 will still require you to take 102, which you can get by passing the CLEP exam if you like. Your communications and child development courses might be humanities and psych if they were taken in an arts and science department (en route to an AA degree) - otherwise if they were taken as part of a trade or technical degree (AOS, AAS) they will be free electives. No matter at this point- you are a blank slate

My advise is really to just jump in and read as much as you can on this forum. There is so much here- it will help you sort everything out. You should decide on a degree, and then choose a school, and then choose your tests...but, you would be perfectly safe in any degree to take tests from the break down I gave you already.

WELCOME!!! Your in for a wild ride!

[Lindagerr]

I looked at CLEP exams several years ago and thought " I can't do this I only got a 60 on the practice test" That was cold no prep or study, I did't know then that I would have passed with that. So I got discouraged, put the book aside and gave up. Finally 18 months ago I decided to try again. This time I got more info and realized I could do it. I took 30 credits more than 20 years old and added CLEP, DSST and TECEP credits and here I am with my AA degree and now going for my BA. So I would go with The great advise above and Thank your lucky stars you found this site and didn't waste more years.

Good Luck and never hesitate to ask for advice. I may be one of the Senior Citizens on this site (see age survey) but I am a novice when it comes to knowing college. The good people on this site have been invaluable in helping reach my first goal and start toward the next.

[mlwilliamsiv]

Since someone already gave you their two cents, I'm going to give you my three cents!!!!!hilarious Forgive me....I haven't taken my pills yet!!!

On a serious note...if you just want a degree just to have a degree--go for the AA and Bachelor of Arts. That's what I'm going for. I am majoring in Communications and will be enrolling at TESC in September of this year.

I have attached at the bottom my degree plan that I created, which you could use as a sample and save/modify it to meet your needs.

If getting a degree fast is your goal, then I would choose TESC as your best option and here are my reasons why.

(1) TESC will accept up to 27 FEMA credits to satisfy your Free Electives category. You can take these exams through FEMA directly at Emergency Management Institute - FEMA Independent Study Program for free and TESC will accept them for transfer for free. Unlike Excelsior and COSC that require you to go through other institutions.

(2) TESC is more lenient with Upper Level credit requirements than Excelsior or COSC. TESC counts any course numbered 200+ as Upper Level, unlike EC or COSC.

(3) If you decide to take actual classes online, TESC is $165 per credit hour compared to Excelsior's $290 per credit hour...do the math.

The only con I believe TESC has is in the financial sector. They do not accept payment plans for tuition so tuition has to be paid up front, in full. Unless you're going to be doing financial aid. Enrolling in TESC is going to run you anywhere from $2,300 up to $5,000 depending on what enrollment option you choose. Check out their website for further information Thomas Edison State College

Hope this information helps you some. If there is anything else I can help assist you with don't hesitate to ask. That's what we are all here for...to help each other.

***Side Note*** If you plan on utilizing the FEMA credits (which I hope you do) let me know first before you start taking them so I can give you a list of the ones TESC granted me credit for already. I took 25 of them but you can take 27. I was only able to utilize 18 of my FEMA credits towards my Free Electives category because I have 3 CLEPS in that category already for 9 credits.***

Peace be with you.

From a loyal degree seeker,

Marshall

[dk4girlz]

The thing about choosing a major for me is that I have no real passion or burning desire to persue any particular career. I know that sounds terrible. I am currently a stay at home mom and I homeschool our 4 children. That is my chosen career. I would like to get my degree to set a good example for our girls and to be able to supplement my hubby's income should the need arise. He owns a business and things have been slow. So in trying to decide on a major I would be looking for something that has career paths that could be done from home or with flexible scheduling ie. overnight, part-time, evenings. I know that is probably the worse way to decide on a career path, but that is what it boils down to for me. So throw your ideas my way.

Thanks so much.

[bmills072200]

The thing about choosing a major for me is that I have no real passion or burning desire to persue any particular career. I know that sounds terrible. I am currently a stay at home mom and I homeschool our 4 children. That is my chosen career. I would like to get my degree to set a good example for our girls and to be able to supplement my hubby's income should the need arise. He owns a business and things have been slow. So in trying to decide on a major I would be looking for something that has career paths that could be done from home or with flexible scheduling ie. overnight, part-time, evenings. I know that is probably the worse way to decide on a career path, but that is what it boils down to for me. So throw your ideas my way.

Thanks so much.

It sounds like a liberal arts degree from Excelsior or TESC would be good for you...very general and you can test out of just about everything...good luck...start testing!!!

[cookderosa]

The thing about choosing a major for me is that I have no real passion or burning desire to persue any particular career. I know that sounds terrible. I am currently a stay at home mom and I homeschool our 4 children. That is my chosen career. I would like to get my degree to set a good example for our girls and to be able to supplement my hubby's income should the need arise. He owns a business and things have been slow. So in trying to decide on a major I would be looking for something that has career paths that could be done from home or with flexible scheduling ie. overnight, part-time, evenings. I know that is probably the worse way to decide on a career path, but that is what it boils down to for me. So throw your ideas my way.

Thanks so much.

>>


Why didn't ya say so!?! I'm also a homeschool mom but to my 4 sons! We might have to get together at some point hilarious

I have to share some of my story with you.

I started taking CLEPs and enrolled in college as a means of learning the process. I debated with myself about enrolling my oldest in high school because I worried that I would be an inadequate guidance counselor for him regarding college plans. I attended a college out of high school that was strictly culinary- there was nothing to decide. I knew what I wanted, it was the best school for me, everyone took the same classes, off I went- end of story. So, all the talk about bachelor of this or that, majors, arts and sciences, credits, SATs, etc had my head spinning. I thought- my sons deserve a college education, and I don't know if I know enough to get them headed into the right direction!

I read a book called Accelerated Distance Learning by Brad Voeller. He was a homeshooled boy who used CLEP and went to one of the "big 3" for his college. I think the book might be a little dated, but the information was VERY good. I decided that these tests might be something my children can take as they get older, but I hadn't learned anything about the college process.

I decided to take a CLEP exam to see how hard they were. I had never taken a single general education class in my life. I was 36. Once I passed Human Growth and Development, I thought if I earned a little extra $ here and there, I would take a test- but only as a hobby, I wanted to keep my family first. After 6months, I was full on dead-set that I would earn my bachelor's degree. I enrolled at TESC and fast forward one year....in 10 more days I will be FINISHED! This has been a nights and weekends type of degree for me, and I started from scratch!

So- am I sending my kids to high school? HECK NO!!!!! High school guidance counselors have no clue about how to maximize the options available to children. How to maximize high school/college credit, how to best spend time and money, how to choose flexible programs - no clue. They understand the process of mainstream college enrollment, but I have a bag of tricks that I can use now to maximize each and everything my kids do while being homeschooled through high school. I promise not to get up on my soap box about how kids are "tracked" by guidance counselors.

Highlights:
* My son's high school math classes will earn him college credit (ALEKS) and be done online at his own pace at home. These are classes he would have taken anyway. This will be around 15-21 credits in math/natural science.

* My children will take CLEP exams in all of the general subjects as well as many subjects that we study anyway (US History for example) I am estimating a minimum of 30 credits this way before graduation unless he wants to do more (fat chance).

* Senior and maybe junior year I will enroll him in one or more local online courses each semester. I doubt he will do a face-to-face class unless he wants to (fat chance). I estimate 12 credits this way.

* If I were to write a goal for them (understand that when they are older they can come up with their own goals- this is just one way) they can all earn bachelor degrees through a combination of exams, online courses, and use of college's like TESC to finish their bachelor degree one year outside of my homeschool program. If they walk away from high school with 60ish credits, it won't be difficult to earn the remaining 60 in one additional year. That can be the year they enroll somewhere (big 3).

* This way, they can leave home at around age 20 to earn their Masters at Harvard on campus. The extension degrees are open enrollment and less expensive than our local university! I would like all 4 of my sons to attend Harvard unless they have a good reason not to.

So..... you should earn your degree. It's affordable, and not as difficult as you might think! (I used to be so intimidated by those who had a bachelor degree :confused: ) But the best thing of all, is that you will become WELL EDUCATED in the process- which as a homeschool mom is the most important because then you will be able to lift up all of your children to earn a higher degree than you did. For me, that's the key.

Very few people will understand what you are doing, and trust me, you'll start to want to counsel other homeschoolers about all of these great credit-granting options....but very few will listen. That's ok though, as a homeschooler, I'm sure your used to some of that! I know I am!!

Welcome to the board!

[bobaloo000]

When I finally took the plunge many of my credits where over 20 years old! Don't let that stop you. I'm not sure I can offer more that what others have already said. Once you decide what you want to do you will know how to tackle it better. I'm a father of four daughters myself (I thought you may be my wife, but I don't own a business hilarious) Best of luck to you, this sight has some great people and I've picked up a lot since I started reading it a few months ago.