Newbie in Need of Tips!

[geekette]

Hey, Ok so here's my story... I'm 20, took a year of college in high school, via distance education so now I have 24 credits, and a year has passed. I've thought about it for awhile, figured I should study some more, watch some of the Teaching Company Dvds I have as well as take advantage of Open Course Ware (MIT, etc.)
Today I decided to seriously take a look at testing out of college credits to save time and money, via CLEP...etc? What else is there? I'm going to study testing out of college, I know there are schools like Thomas Edison out there to provide credit/degrees.

Is anyone here willing to offer me some great links, tips, strategies, and/or suggestions to get me started and well on my way to a degree?

I greatly appreciate it.

Thank you!

[geekette]

p.s. is it too hard to test out of college, do I need to be a genius? I am a self-motivated learner And I see the great resources on the NEWBIE post. J/w if anyone can offer me a little bit of encouragement ?

[radeonator2048]

This forum is you best bet but here are a couple other sights.

123collegedegree.com

bain4weeks.com

You can really finish all or most of your degree with clep's etc. do some searches on this forum and you should get vast amounts of the info you need. send me a pm and I'd be glad to advise you. I'm 4 tests away from completeing my BSLS in admin/mgmt and psych through Excelsior College in less than a year. In the message just let me know what degree you are wanting and what kind of help you are looking for. This forum plus the IC flashcards can help you plow through a degree and save you a ton of time.

Aaron

[CouchPotato]

Note my forum name... I am lazy and watch a lot of TV! I am passing about 1 exam every week. I believe I can finish my Business degree (all 120 credit hours) from Excelsior in 1 year. I was nervous at first too, and thought I'd need more than 1 week to pass a test, but it's actually not that hard. Of course I'm only 36 credits in and haven't gotten to my hard business exams yet. :o

You can definately do it. Everyone is different and it may take you 1 week to study, 3 weeks, or 1 day (my co-worker can pass everything after studying for only 1-2 days... curse them!). BUT it's better than sitting in a classroom for 5, 10, or 15 weeks going over the same material and getting the same 3 credits!!

1. Decide which school to enroll in: Excelsior, Thomas Edison, Charter Oaks
   
2. Decide which exam sounds like it's the most interesting or easiest.
   
3. Look at the Specific Feedback section on these forums and see what people suggest using to study
   
4. Sign-up for InstantCert flashcards
   
5. Go through flashcards
   
6. Look up everything else from the Feedback Section on the internet, i.e. Wikipedia or Answers.com - Online Dictionary, Encyclopedia and much more
   
7. Call your local college (University of Phoenix is good but any will offer) to schedule to take the exam
   
8. TAKE THE EXAM. PASS THE EXAM. REALIZE YOU FINISHED A COLLEGE CLASS IN A VERY SHORT AMOUNT OF TIME!
   
9. Become addicted to taking exams
   
10. Graduate!!!
    

If you are motivated and can learn on your own you can do this!