Beginner...and currently a junior in high school. Need advice :)

[dfrecore]

Also, I know some folks will tell you to "make sure" that your future college accepts exam credit. I don't subscribe to that perspective. If you're interested in it, I think you should study it. If you can get potential credit- awesome. If you change your mind later, that's okay. No pressure. If, however, you're certain about your future plans, then it's prudent to go ahead and map everything out so you have a perfect transfer of credits from high school into community college. If you were my child, I would do that with you NEXT year, not this one; but talk to your dad, he seems to know how all this works.

P.S. you can earn a degree and pay cash. A student loan burdens you and your future spouse, making staying home difficult to impossible if you have student loan payments. You are quite wise

I agree that you should STUDY anything you're interested in - I just don't necessarily think that you should pay good money for a CLEP test if you don't have to. For instance, none of the 2-year or 4-year colleges in our area accept the College Composition CLEP test. They may accept the 6 credits, but they don't apply them to your College Comp I & II requirements, and they don't accept them towards your general education. So, even if you enjoyed the subject, it might not make a lot of sense to take the test. On the other hand, if you're good at English Comp, the Analyzing and Interpreting Literature CLEP is accepted at all of the colleges, and count towards 2 different subject areas for 6 units. So it would totally make sense to take this exam instead.

All I'm saying is that you should do some research on the CLEP tests at local colleges you're thinking of going to, and make a plan that makes sense for your goals.

I also think that you can try to line up what you're doing in high school with some CLEP tests that would make sense to take. If you've taken AP World History and you're going to take American Government as a senior, it would make a lot of sense to study for the US History and American Government CLEP's. If you're taking Chemistry this year, you might be able to pass the Chemistry CLEP exam without much additional study after the school year is done. There are a lot of CLEP exams that cover what you're taking in high school already, but maybe at a deeper level, and you just need some additional study time to go take the test.

It is fantastic that your dad has you doing this, you will have such a head start, and to graduate with no debt is the biggest gift you can get! When you don't have debts to pay, you have so many options open to you.

[clep3705]

Also, you don't have to take AP classes to take AP exams. People who haven't taken AP classes pass AP exams. If the subject is something you feel like you know, take the exam.

[cookderosa]

I agree that you should STUDY anything you're interested in - I just don't necessarily think that you should pay good money for a CLEP test if you don't have to. For instance, none of the 2-year or 4-year colleges in our area accept the College Composition CLEP test. They may accept the 6 credits, but they don't apply them to your College Comp I & II requirements, and they don't accept them towards your general education. So, even if you enjoyed the subject, it might not make a lot of sense to take the test. On the other hand, if you're good at English Comp, the Analyzing and Interpreting Literature CLEP is accepted at all of the colleges, and count towards 2 different subject areas for 6 units. So it would totally make sense to take this exam instead.

All I'm saying is that you should do some research on the CLEP tests at local colleges you're thinking of going to, and make a plan that makes sense for your goals.

I also think that you can try to line up what you're doing in high school with some CLEP tests that would make sense to take. If you've taken AP World History and you're going to take American Government as a senior, it would make a lot of sense to study for the US History and American Government CLEP's. If you're taking Chemistry this year, you might be able to pass the Chemistry CLEP exam without much additional study after the school year is done. There are a lot of CLEP exams that cover what you're taking in high school already, but maybe at a deeper level, and you just need some additional study time to go take the test.

It is fantastic that your dad has you doing this, you will have such a head start, and to graduate with no debt is the biggest gift you can get! When you don't have debts to pay, you have so many options open to you.

You quoted me and and then you said you disagreed with me by arguing the exact thing I just said. ...no matter, I have a headache and it appears as if the OP isn't here anymore.

[GoodYellowDogs]

I noticed that too - but it's NYE and I have other things to do today. You rock, Jennifer!

You quoted me and and then you said you disagreed with me by arguing the exact thing I just said. ...no matter, I have a headache and it appears as if the OP isn't here anymore.

[dfrecore]

Sorry Jennifer - not trying to cause trouble. I was quoting your quote (I think it was from my previous advice) that "some folks will tell you to "make sure" that your future college accepts exam credit. I don't subscribe to that perspective. If you're interested in it, I think you should study it."

I was agreeing that you could study anything that interests you, but then disagreeing with the perspective that you don't need to make sure your future college accepts exam credit before taking an exam. I would not want to spend my hard-earned money on an exam that my college was not going to accept.

Again, not trying to cause trouble, I agree with you about 99% of the time and love your advice on homeschooling for college credit, as I will be doing that in a few years for my homeschooled kids.

[clep3705]

AP and CLEP are administratively different. It is difficult to take AP exams after leaving high school. Even with uncertainty over whether the future college accepts AP, I would advise a high school student to take AP exams on the grounds that they probably won't be able to take the AP exams later. It's a once in a lifetime opportunity for most people. Yes there are exceptions, but it is generally true. Additionally, AP exams are more likely to be accepted than CLEP exams. CLEP exams can be taken any time, so they can be delayed until it is known if they are accepted. What is right depends on the person. Different people will looks at the pros and cons and draw different conclusions.

[cookderosa]

Sorry Jennifer - not trying to cause trouble. I was quoting your quote (I think it was from my previous advice) that "some folks will tell you to "make sure" that your future college accepts exam credit. I don't subscribe to that perspective. If you're interested in it, I think you should study it."

I was agreeing that you could study anything that interests you, but then disagreeing with the perspective that you don't need to make sure your future college accepts exam credit before taking an exam. I would not want to spend my hard-earned money on an exam that my college was not going to accept.

Again, not trying to cause trouble, I agree with you about 99% of the time and love your advice on homeschooling for college credit, as I will be doing that in a few years for my homeschooled kids.

In the second sentence that followed the one you quoted, that's exactly what I said. you're certain about your future plans, then it's prudent to go ahead and map everything out so you have a perfect transfer of credits from high school into community college LOL Seriously - no worries, and you're not causing trouble, our opinions are equal.

I want to elaborate just a bit on my position, because the situation in a homeschool differs from that when an adult is pursuing credit. Homeschool kids are IN SCHOOL at home. They are not in college, so their relationship to college credit is different than those of us who come here to earn college credit. Their parents are required to educate their kids in some way until their compulsory age is reached (17 in most states). Their education usually involves books, multimedia, curriculum, web resources, lectures, etc. These kids have to take classes so they can graduate high school... so the goal isn't on earning college credit. The parent has to focus on the child's high school education, not their college credit.

Let me be super generic, but statistically, homeschooled kids are scoring in the upper percentile on standardized tests (obviously not all kids- but bear with me) so it is possible that these kids are ALREADY capable of doing language arts at the 101 level. In fact, it's highly likely. Since the study of English/Language Arts is happening for 4 years *most people here might study for that exam only a week or two* by NOT taking the exam, they are leaving potential credit on the table. In my experience, MOST homeschooled high school teens are absolutely capable of passing an English Comp class (or CLEP) not AFTER graduation, but BEFORE it.

The adjunct to this point, is that homeschooling is considered by many to be illegitimate learning. (gasp) So having outside verification through exams like CLEP (and SAT, ACT, AP, etc.) are very helpful when a teen is transitioning into college - ESPECIALLY- if it's traditional college. So what if they don't get college credit upon graduation? $80 to validate 4 years of language arts is cheaper than any curriculum out there, and you can't assume that because a teen STARTS college that they'll finish. CLEP credit is valid for 20 years, so if my daughter graduates homeschool, attends college for a year or two but then gets married and starts a family, her college credit will wait for her to return.

What I wouldn't suggest, typically, is that parents throw $$$ at things like Straighterline English credit; because in these cases the only way you can really be sure that counts is if you're already working a degree plan. It's not going to have the same utility as CLEP or AP. As transferability level goes down, I get less excited about suggesting it unless the parent is ok with it just being high school credit and college credit would be frosting. But dual enrollment, CLEP, and AP have excellent transferability levels, using them as part of a complete high school curriculum is very wise.

[jgbenjamin]

That is so cool HSjunior; I wish I was like you; yep, I am a junior too; im homeschooled and live in GA(southeasr near savannah). You are just blessed to have it all made!