CLEPS to an Associate Certificate ?

[kerigenjaan]

Hi everyone,

I am under the age of 18 and I have a bunch of CLEPs and other ACE Credits from Sophia and Straighterline. I plan on applying for scholarships and I need your feedback :

1. Can you please advise on cheap easy routes to opt-in my credits and get an Associate certificate easily. ( General Education, Psychology, Information Technology, or IT Related)

2. I was told that having at my age will count as an advantage in scholarships. What are your thoughts on this?

Thank you so much.  Your advice can help me shape my educational life.

[Kab]

Hi there.
People here is very nice and sure will give you a hand.
1)Please say which courses you have, specific name and provider. This way they can give you a more tailored opinion. Which probably you will need.
Has been pointer out that usually bachelors have a very similar price to Associates. So maybe give this idea some time.
2)Another question is if you are over 2 years out of high school.
3)i guess you want the cheapest option, no? But have to ask.
4)NA or RA or is the same to you? I will recomend RA....



Sent from my NX591J using DegreeForum.net mobile app

---

I forgot... Do you speak any other language other than English well?
Could help get a bunch of credits for the degree.

Sent from my NX591J using DegreeForum.net mobile app

[kerigenjaan]

Hi there.
People here is very nice and sure will give you a hand.
1)Please say which courses you have, specific name and provider. This way they can give you a more tailored opinion. Which probably you will need.
Has been pointer out that usually bachelors have a very similar price to Associates. So maybe give this idea some time.
2)Another question is if you are over 2 years out of high school.
3)i guess you want the cheapest option, no? But have to ask.
4)NA or RA or is the same to you? I will recomend RA....



Sent from my NX591J using DegreeForum.net mobile app

---

I forgot... Do you speak any other language other than English well?
Could help get a bunch of credits for the degree.

Sent from my NX591J using DegreeForum.net mobile app

Thank you for the reply. I have almost every general education credit. From English Composition, public speaking, college Algebra, Calculus, Sociology, American Government, Ethics, Art history and computer science-related courses like Intro to programing and Networking credits.

I haven't finished high school yet, therefore, but I want to be ready with all the information and credits so once I graduate can enroll in a course and get a diploma.

NA credits are fine too since my main target is scoring a good scholarship. I believe the associate certification will be a bonus and prove that I am willing to push myself to new heights. A cheap fast option needed.

English is not my first language, but I have good TOEFL scores.

[rachel83az]

Getting an Associate degree is not a low-cost option when you are looking for a specific type of degree. There is a list of some of the most inexpensive options here: https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/As...7s_Degrees A generic A.A. or A.S. would generally be the most affordable option for you. If you choose an IT/Comp Sci Associate, there are generally fewer general education credits that can be filled by CLEP exams and more credits that must be taken directly at the school itself.

If you were older, you could get a Pierpont degree, but you're not. So that's off of the table.

To be honest, for only slightly more than the cost of an Associate degree, you could get a whole Bachelor's degree at Charter Oak (UMPI could be cheaper but isn't available to students younger than 20). It sounds like you are international. There are not a lot of scholarships available for international students - in general, they're targeted at American citizens who want to go to an American school. International students are expected to pay full price and more.

[dfrecore]

So, as far as scholarships go, the most numerous ones are for high schoolers going into college as a freshman; the good news is that 99% of the time, you are considered a freshman admit no matter how many college credits you get while you're still in high school. Now, that generally means actual credits earned in a college (so Dual Enrollment credit). CLEP and ACE will never count against you in that respect - you will still qualify for freshman scholarships.

What generally happens is that you apply as a freshman (rather than a transfer student, which is a totally separate thing); this also means that you will have to qualify as a freshman for admissions purposes - generally being your GPA, SAT/ACT scores, 2 years of a foreign language if the school requires that, etc. Every school is different. But, once you apply, are accepted, and then enroll, then you would send your CLEP and ACE transcripts, at which point the school can choose if/how much college credit to give you. It may bump you up to a sophomore or even a junior for credit purposes (so you'd get priority enrollment to choose your courses earlier than a freshman would), but for scholarship purposes, you'd still be considered a freshman until school actually started.

[ss20ts]

If you're an international student, there's rarely scholarships available. Most schools expect international students to pay full tuition in cash meaning not a student loan. That's why certain schools have a high number of international students.

Why do you want an associate degree? They're expensive for what they get you in life. They don't mean much except for specific jobs. You're usually better off getting a bachelor's degree. If you want to do the distance learning thing with earning most of your credits through CLEP and ACE sources, then Charter Oak State College is the school for you. It's usually referred to as COSC on here. Their website is https://www.charteroak.edu/ The other schools that have programs similar to this have age and/or work experience restrictions so you wouldn't qualify for them as a high school student. Excelsior College may accept you. They've had a few young people earn degrees, but I think they were in the US. Here is their website in case you're interested in them https://www.excelsior.edu/

[P226mem]

Emphasizing a part of dfrecore's reply and sharing personal experience side of what she's saying.

"you are considered a freshman admit no matter how many college credits you get while you're still in high school. Now, that generally means actual credits earned in a college (so Dual Enrollment credit). CLEP and ACE will never count against you in that respect - you will still qualify for freshman scholarships."

Emphasis on "while still in high school."

Over here, I took my CLEPs in a "gap year" (after graduating high school) and it was bye bye to my freshman scholarship at community college --it was a state grant for those with certain ACT score and within the first 16 months after high school graduation date. It wasn't a big grant or a deal breaker for me since I was only taking half time and I was aware that would happen. So it's not like I was shocked at the outcome. I didn't take CLEP in high school. So it counted against me for freshman scholarships even though not actual courses. And I wasn't enrolled yet at community college. Good thing I didn't need that $500. I would have liked it. But I knew the way I did CLEPs after graduation disqualified me. Maybe if I had sent the scores much later, it could have worked. But I bet eventually they would have figured it out and made me pay it back.

So make sure you understand the details at specific school of when to send scores if scholarships are part of it especially if you take anything after graduation from high school.

I'm not sure having Associates will help with freshman or transfer scholarships for international students eventually transferring to 4 year university in the US. I'm not as familiar as others on this forum with all requirements. Mostly wanted to give personal story about CLEP and after high school.