Introduction & CLEP/DSST Success Story

[heimer]

Hi, I'm Thomas and I've been lurking on this forum for some time. Back in 2006 & 2007 I embarked on a journey to finish my bachelor's at UMUC. At the time I had 37 credits from Villanova University to transfer. I set off to finish my degree by taking a few classes online, completely unaware of the examination options out there. After a few classes, I caught wind of CLEP and DSST (probably from bain4weeks.com). I started with DSST and then moved to CLEP. All told, I took eight DSST exams and four CLEP exams. I went on to pair that with UMUC's excel program (credit for prior learning) and accelerated the completion of my degree. Since then I've been telling all of my friends about exams and life experience credit, helping several drastically reduce their courseload.

It's funny, very few colleges (or advisers maybe) want to tell you about testing options, even though they have policies which support credit by exam. Many people with whom I work who are currently attending UMUC are shocked when I mention what I did with testing. So, I've become a mini-crusader and I've set out to tell people about the available options for earning credit. I recently created a web site dedicated to alternative methods for earning credit (College On Your Terms).

Here's the "success" part of the story: after completing my degree at UMUC, I went on to earn a master's degree at Georgetown University. I went from CLEP & DSST to finishing a graduate program at a top-25 university. Most days, I still can't believe it. :coolgleam: