Do graduate schools ask for your CLEP/DSST scores?

[zapproximator]

Hi! I'm in 8th grade and beginning to take a few CLEPs. I heard that CLEP/DSST was reported as Pass/Fail, but in case I go to graduate school, does anyone have experience with them asking for your CLEP/DSST scores?

Thanks for your help!

[cookderosa]

Hi! I'm in 8th grade and beginning to take a few CLEPs. I heard that CLEP/DSST was reported as Pass/Fail, but in case I go to graduate school, does anyone have experience with them asking for your CLEP/DSST scores?

Thanks for your help!

It is possible but unlikely. If you use a CLEP exam to meet one of your grad school's PREREQS that you could get into a pickle if the school is exceptionally picky. Some, not all, want grades for prereqs- if that's the case, then a CLEP won't do. Furthermore, if you take the CLEP outside or after your degree, and it doesn't appear on your degree transcript, then probably yes.

So, this question is a great question- it shows you're thinking, and that's great. It shows you're planning, and that's even better. But this is a micro-issue. IF a school puts up a roadblock, just pick another school. There are plenty.

[dfrecore]

So, this question is a great question- it shows you're thinking, and that's great. It shows you're planning, and that's even better. But this is a micro-issue. IF a school puts up a roadblock, just pick another school. There are plenty.

I agree. I also think that if by some chance you got into grad school somewhere that you REALLY wanted to go, and they wanted a grade for a course where you got a Pass, you could easily just go take the course somewhere before the new semester started. A few hundred bucks max.

[Decius73]

I was asked for my CLEP and DSST scores by the three Cal State universities that I applied for as well as by West Texas A&M and LSU Shreveport. I was ultimately accepted by each and every one of their MBA programs.

[zapproximator]

Nice! Good to know.

[keepsingin]

...this is a micro-issue. IF a school puts up a roadblock, just pick another school. There are plenty.

It would be so awesome if there was a thread similar to the beginners guide thread for prospective graduate degree seekers... something like a dummies guide to getting your ducks in a row for grad school. It's about as daunting figuring out the grad school thing as it was when I first started researching online undergrad degrees. The thread could include a list of schools preferable to online degree holders, schools categorized by their different gpa requirements, by general prerequisites, by cost, by accreditation, by online or B&M... I know it takes forever and a half to research this sort of thing, so of course this is more just wishful thinking. With a big batch of undergrads graduating this year, maybe in a year or so we'll have more grad school testimonials.

Something I've wondered, how much should we worry about grades? For most of these online courses and test-out courses, almost everyone talks about what you need to do to pass and get those credits, nevermind if it's a C in real life, because it's the credits that matter, a pass is a pass, etc. When I first started, I thought the same thing, that if some course like CLEP exams transfer in as a C-equivalent, why work your tail off when your grade won't even be recognized...yada, yada. Now that I'm looking at some nearby prospective grad schools, maintaining good grades, primarily in AOS and other UL courses, has become way more important. Watching different friends and family attend local CC, seeing them work their tails off for every single point on that gpa has also made me wonder, is it smarter to not have to worry about a gpa or is it lowering the bar and contributing to the bad rep department of online degree seekers?

Decius73
I was asked for my CLEP and DSST scores by the three Cal State universities that I applied for as well as by West Texas A&M and LSU Shreveport. I was ultimately accepted by each and every one of their MBA programs.

From what I've read it seems like anyone with a lot of alternative credit in their undergrad degree could not go to a grad school with a gpa requirement higher than 2.6ish; I wonder, is a 3.0 possible?? Do those schools have gpa requirements; if so, what were they?

[zapproximator]

I agree! That would be really helpful.

[dfrecore]

From what I've read it seems like anyone with a lot of alternative credit in their undergrad degree could not go to a grad school with a gpa requirement higher than 2.6ish; I wonder, is a 3.0 possible?? Do those schools have gpa requirements; if so, what were they?

All schools have different requirements, some don't have a GPA requirement to get in (automatic admission) but then require a certain GPA when you're in and doing classes there.

GPA is calculated on the grades you get for graded courses. Whether you take 1 class where you get an A, or 40 classes where you get all A's, your GPA would still be a 4.0.

Courses that you take for credit do not count in your GPA calculation. So no C or B or even A there, just a CR or P(ass), and those courses are pushed to the side when calculating your GPA.

[keepsingin]

Courses that you take for credit do not count in your GPA calculation. So no C or B or even A there, just a CR or P(ass), and those courses are pushed to the side when calculating your GPA.

What do "courses for credit" include? On other threads regarding online-earned undergrad degrees with no official gpa, I've read that most grad schools request individual transcripts from each institution "attended" and then they calculate a gpa from those, regardless of the gpa stamped on your official degree transcript. Is there any way to know for sure which courses would potentially be involved in that calculation? Would it just be the prereqs? For some of the schools I've looked at, some of the prereqs included some LL courses like princ of marketing, etc which would be a CR in my case.

[sarg123]

I took a lot of cleps for my Asssociate's degree, and they were not counted as part of my GPA. My school had CR next the the cleps, and some of them were degree requirements, but they did not seem to care. (For example, I took a Marketing clep which was required for a Business degree). I don't know if all schools have this policy, however. I did see on this forum that some schools put the cleps in as letter grades, but I think the vast majority of schools don't. I transferred to TESU, and it says CR, but I'm not sure about Excelsior - I heard that they do count as letter grades?

I do know that when I was thinking of transferring from CC to a four year college, each college I applied to wanted the CLEP transcripts, and the transferred CR was not enough. I don't know if they checked the scores, or just wanted to see if I had actually taken the test, I just don't know. I'm assuming graduate schools might want the CLEP transcripts as well, but I'm not there yet, so I'm not sure.