Looking for help on where to start

[Andersota]

I became an entrepreneur right out of high school, and consequently, I have little understanding or orientation with respect to post-secondary education.

I have personal life goals that include pursuing a juris doctorate.

I have spent a good deal of time looking through this forum, and have found it somewhat helpful. I have read the "Beginners Guide To Getting Cheap/Fast College Credit" a few times through, including the supporting links.

However, I am still unclear about where I ought to start. I have no credits and no school selected. Do I need to complete generals first? 

What is the optimal path for someone starting from scratch?

Thanks in advance for any help.

p.s. I did some searching on here but was unable to find answers that helped my understanding.

[MNomadic]

If I was you, I would start knocking out as many of the free sources of ACE credit as possible from the wiki.

-The TEEX ones expire may 31( they may get extended but don't count on it)
-There is one NFA course available still approved for ACE credit
- 2 free sophia courses plus potentially 3 more https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/Thread-...ns-courses
- the institutes course
-sign up for the study.com guardian scholarship and you can get 6 courses from that
-modern states can get you some free CLEPS
- if you can find a free proctor, saylor courses are free, otherwise they are only $25

There are many spreadsheets floating around the forums that show peoples plans towards various degrees. Most of the big 3 colleges' degree paths have roughly the same gen ed requirements so I would use the free sources to knock out as many of those as possible while you decide on a major and college.

[dfrecore]

The problem with testing out of a degree is that you don't get many graded credits, which will impact your ability to get a JD. So, this is a case where you need to work backwards from what you ultimately want to end up with, and make sure that you get the credits/grades that you need for the JD that you need.

Although you may still end up with a Big 3 degree, there will be a portion that HAS to include graded credits - it's just a matter of how many (30, 60?) and which courses.

[cookderosa]

I was in your shoes too. Start with 1 credit - you can do a freebie from the list or choose a course or CLEP. I chose a CLEP back when I found a discarded college textbook. I read it in my free time and took the test. The best way to get your brain around "how" is just to do one. Then a second. You can do degree planning once you've gotten some confidence that you CAN do this path and a taste of how it works. Jump in, the water's fine.

[davewill]

Yes, the best way to start is to start as noted above. In parallel, make a short list of schools you would like to attend for your JD. In particular, research their admissions policies, both on their official websites and on social media with actual students, to see what you need to focus on. Separately, search for stories of people who have gone to one of the Big3 or WGU or any other school you considering and who got into ANY law school. Ask them what their path looked like.

That will help you narrow down exactly what bachelor's you'd like to earn and whether you need to get a certain number of graded credits which will in turn help you decide what school to get your degree from.

With that said, don't get stuck on a path you won't finish. For instance, if you know you simply won't finish 60 butt-in-seat credits at a CC, then don't accept a plan that requires you to do that. In the end, know that you can probably completely test out of a degree and find a law school SOMEWHERE, that will accept you.

[gremlinbrawler]

Yes, great advice. This might take some time but the peace of mind will be well worth it!

Like davewill said you can probably find a law school SOMEWHERE that will accept you so you might want to just consider how picky you are about the school that you attend. If you just want to get it done, then testing out is probably the way to go. However, if you think you are going to be particular about your law school then maybe not.

In my opinion, community college is so frustrating (and so few cc students actually graduate in a reasonable amount of time) that it is probably worth it to test out even if that limits your law school options. But that's something you should decide for yourself!

[dfrecore]

In my opinion, community college is so frustrating (and so few cc students actually graduate in a reasonable amount of time) that it is probably worth it to test out even if that limits your law school options. But that's something you should decide for yourself!

Totally off-topic, but 2 reasons CC's have low graduation rates is that many (maybe even most) students don't actually want to graduate.

1) If they're seeking job skills, they don't need to get an AA to get those, so they take what they need and move on (in CA, you don't need a full AA to get an RN from a CC, nor do you need to get an AA to become an EMT or Paramedic - and those are just the ones I've looked at).

2) If they're transferring to a 4-yr school, they don't need an AA to do that either (at least here they don't).  Once you get your full complement of IGETC/CSU transfer requirements (somewhere between 34-52cr), they can transfer to a 4-yr school.  Why get an AA which includes PE, Counseling, and some other stupid courses, when you don't need to get them.

[gremlinbrawler]

Yes, the best way to start is to start as noted above. In parallel, make a short list of schools you would like to attend for your JD. In particular, research their admissions policies, both on their official websites and on social media with actual students, to see what you need to focus on. Separately, search for stories of people who have gone to one of the Big3 or WGU or any other school you considering and who got into ANY law school. Ask them what their path looked like.

That will help you narrow down exactly what bachelor's you'd like to earn and whether you need to get a certain number of graded credits which will in turn help you decide what school to get your degree from.

With that said, don't get stuck on a path you won't finish. For instance, if you know you simply won't finish 60 butt-in-seat credits at a CC, then don't accept a plan that requires you to do that. In the end, know that you can probably completely test out of a degree and find a law school SOMEWHERE, that will accept you.

In my opinion, community college is so frustrating (and so few cc students actually graduate in a reasonable amount of time) that it is probably worth it to test out even if that limits your law school options. But that's something you should decide for yourself!

Totally off-topic, but 2 reasons CC's have low graduation rates is that many (maybe even most) students don't actually want to graduate.

1) If they're seeking job skills, they don't need to get an AA to get those, so they take what they need and move on (in CA, you don't need a full AA to get an RN from a CC, nor do you need to get an AA to become an EMT or Paramedic - and those are just the ones I've looked at).

2) If they're transferring to a 4-yr school, they don't need an AA to do that either (at least here they don't).  Once you get your full complement of IGETC/CSU transfer requirements (somewhere between 34-52cr), they can transfer to a 4-yr school.  Why get an AA which includes PE, Counseling, and some other stupid courses, when you don't need to get them.

Yeah, I guess the actual graduation rates can vary for a lot of reasons but at least in my area even getting a couple classes is very difficult. But like I said, that is just my opinion. I suppose CC is better than testing for some people.

[dfrecore]

Yes, the best way to start is to start as noted above. In parallel, make a short list of schools you would like to attend for your JD. In particular, research their admissions policies, both on their official websites and on social media with actual students, to see what you need to focus on. Separately, search for stories of people who have gone to one of the Big3 or WGU or any other school you considering and who got into ANY law school. Ask them what their path looked like.

That will help you narrow down exactly what bachelor's you'd like to earn and whether you need to get a certain number of graded credits which will in turn help you decide what school to get your degree from.

With that said, don't get stuck on a path you won't finish. For instance, if you know you simply won't finish 60 butt-in-seat credits at a CC, then don't accept a plan that requires you to do that. In the end, know that you can probably completely test out of a degree and find a law school SOMEWHERE, that will accept you.

In my opinion, community college is so frustrating (and so few cc students actually graduate in a reasonable amount of time) that it is probably worth it to test out even if that limits your law school options. But that's something you should decide for yourself!

Totally off-topic, but 2 reasons CC's have low graduation rates is that many (maybe even most) students don't actually want to graduate.

1) If they're seeking job skills, they don't need to get an AA to get those, so they take what they need and move on (in CA, you don't need a full AA to get an RN from a CC, nor do you need to get an AA to become an EMT or Paramedic - and those are just the ones I've looked at).

2) If they're transferring to a 4-yr school, they don't need an AA to do that either (at least here they don't).  Once you get your full complement of IGETC/CSU transfer requirements (somewhere between 34-52cr), they can transfer to a 4-yr school.  Why get an AA which includes PE, Counseling, and some other stupid courses, when you don't need to get them.

Yeah, I guess the actual graduation rates can vary for a lot of reasons but at least in my area even getting a couple classes is very difficult.

In my area, I can go right now and take all kinds of courses, and they're CHEAP ($46/cr).  Getting an AA here at a CC is ~ $3000, plus books.  So maybe $4000 out the door.  And that's not even including the grants that are going on, so local kids who graduate from a list of public schools get free tuition and books for a year.  There are several CC's in CA that are doing this (and not on the government's (our) dime which is a nice change).

[Andersota]

If I was you, I would start knocking out as many of the free sources of ACE credit as possible from the wiki.

-The TEEX ones expire may 31( they may get extended but don't count on it)
-There is one NFA course available still approved for ACE credit
- 2 free sophia courses plus potentially 3 more https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/Thread-...ns-courses
- the institutes course
-sign up for the study.com guardian scholarship and you can get 6 courses from that
-modern states can get you some free CLEPS
- if you can find a free proctor, saylor courses are free, otherwise they are only $25

There are many spreadsheets floating around the forums that show peoples plans towards various degrees. Most of the big 3 colleges' degree paths have roughly the same gen ed requirements so I would use the free sources to knock out as many of those as possible while you decide on a major and college.

Thank you for your help!

I was a not sure if it made sense to start taking classes before taking other steps. I did not know what the other steps might be.

But I will get started with classes.

---

The problem with testing out of a degree is that you don't get many graded credits, which will impact your ability to get a JD.  So, this is a case where you need to work backwards from what you ultimately want to end up with, and make sure that you get the credits/grades that you need for the JD that you need.

Although you may still end up with a Big 3 degree, there will be a portion that HAS to include graded credits - it's just a matter of how many (30, 60?) and which courses.

This is a great tip and one I may not have thought about immediately. I will look into this.

---

I was in your shoes too.  Start with 1 credit - you can do a freebie from the list or choose a course or CLEP.  I chose a CLEP back when I found a discarded college textbook. I read it in my free time and took the test. The best way to get your brain around "how" is just to do one.  Then a second.  You can do degree planning once you've gotten some confidence that you CAN do this path and a taste of how it works.  Jump in, the water's fine.

This is very encouraging. Thank you.