Easiest and cheapest way to complete core curriculum?

[Kintsukuroi]

My CC awards credit of the American Government CLEP to Federal Government (2305). It shouldn't really matter whether a CC awards it for Federal Govt or Texas Govt because if you take the government class that the CLEP was not awarded credit to and then transfer as core complete to a 4yr university the 6 credits of government classes will be locked in regardless of what they were. It should only matter which class the American Government CLEP gets awarded credit for if you transfer without being core complete.

Kajkulahi, you have all the info you need at the link clep3705 provided. You have a lot of good options for CLEPing.

[Kajkulahi]

Be careful with this assumption. The first two years of an engineering degree are very different from the first two years of a liberal arts degree at my local university.

Since you've mentioned it now, I'll be sure to be careful now onwards.

Do not base your decisions for your life on what someone tells you.
Do not base your decisions on what I tell you.
Do not base your decisions on what you read in this forum.
Do not base your decisions on what an advisor at your school tells you.

Read your school's general catalog and thoroughly educate yourself on the rules.

You can download Austin Community College's general catalog from here: Austin Community College Catalog | Austin Community College District

I advise downloading it because I wasn't able to search it online. Searching the downloaded copy reveals this on printed page number 23 (page 24 according to my pdf reader):

"Credit by Examination: Non-Institutional Credit You can earn up to 30 coursework credits through noninstitutional credit-by-exam programs such as Advanced Placement (AP), the College Level Examination Program (CLEP), International Baccalaureate (IB), and Certified Professional Secretary (CPS). Of that total, only 24 credits from IB and 24 credits from CPS are accepted."

I recommend to all Texas students do not take the American Government CLEP because two government courses are in the Texas core and schools do not agree on which of the two courses the CLEP test gives credit for. I also advise caution with the CLEP Information System and Computer Applications exam because it may not transfer. Some universities consider it a "workforce" course, something I have no need to research. The marketing CLEP might fall into the "workforce" category. But don't take my word for this. It's your life and you need to research the rules for your situation.

Going back to what UptonSinclair and I have said about the first two years of college NOT being the same for all majors: Depending on the major at the university, you could transfer in to the university as a junior and still need four full years to complete certain majors. Going from liberal arts at the community college to STEM or architecture is likely to take longer than two years at the university. Certain STEM majors and even some business majors have to start taking specific courses in the major beginning in the first semester of college in order to graduate in four years. Find out all of the rules that apply to you.

That's great! I can CLEP 30 credits and the rest I can do at the community college. Following the requirements and doing the specific courses that are mentioned at the university for the specific major you're doing, would be the best thing to do in community college. Otherwise, you can just give 42-credits and find out that half of them don't apply towards your majors and then you're doomed and all your effort, time and money goes to waste.

But my guess is that if you follow the same specific major courses throughout community college and once you've transferred into university, I don't think it would be a problem then.

I appreciate your incredible responses towards my questions, thank you!

[JohnnyHeck]

Be careful with this assumption. The first two years of an engineering degree are very different from the first two years of a liberal arts degree at my local university.

UptonSinclair is spot-on here. To have a chance at completing a BS Stem degree in 2 years at almost any senior institution will require as pre-requisites that you have completed math thru Multivariate Calculus and Differential Equations (At least 3 sequential semesters beyond Pre-Calc.) along with some kind of programming/modeling course in the field. I suggest you find a four year plan for you degree at the target senior institution. Then look at the pre-reqs for each course in the final two years and any other courses in the first two years that are not taught at the CC. Then work backwards to making sure your junior college plan will include these pre-reqs and the all the available STEM courses in the 4 year plan for your field by the time you transfer. If there are some specialty courses not available at your CC talk to the curricula advising office at the senior institution. Perhaps you could do them online or in the summer before you start your final two years. Good luck.