Major differences between the 3?

[dfrecore]

I would also consider taking AP exams as your course "final", if you have that available. I have found where I live, more colleges accept AP scores than CLEP, and also that the number of AP exams is unlimited, but CLEP is limited to 30 units. I would research this in your area, and also in the schools that she may want to go to. For instance, most California State system colleges and junior colleges will accept an unlimited number of AP credits, but only 30 CLEP units. UC schools will also accept an unlimited number of AP exams, but NO CLEP credits.

Also, many of the AP exams are the same as CLEP (in name, and content seems very similar). Also, for something like US History, CLEP has 2 exams ($200 for 6 units), but AP is 1 exam ($80 for 6 units). Many of the AP exams count for more credit as well - Calculus BC might be 6 or 9 units at some schools, while the Calculus CLEP may only get you 3 credits. There are also 7 choices for AP languages rather than only 3 choices for the CLEP's.

[Prloko]

Whether or not a person makes a living in a field is a valid question, but having a degree doesn't' automatically provide that answer. Since she is a figure skater, she must have contact with at least 1 or 2 coaches. Those are the people she should get career planning advice from. If she can ask them what they did, what they'd do differently, and if they could offer a suggestion for her- she'll have a lot more insight that any of us here will.

Think of it this way: if your daughter wanted to start a small business, she could earn a degree "in" small business, but that doesn't automatically give her a job or propel her small business toward success- it gives her skills that may help her in small business, but a person can still be successful in small business without a degree; the two are not essentially linked.

To look at the other side of the coin, if she wanted to be a doctor, she couldn't do that without the degree and license, those two things are essentially linked.

So- my advice in cases where the degree isn't essentially linked to the field:

1) get advice from several people doing what you want to do (see above)
2) find out what the right training is for that field- in many cases it the type of education may not be a 4-year degree. CE or adult education, certification, apprenticeship, seminars, on the job training.
3) don't do something just to do something. Find out the right steps and do those instead.
4) do things consistent with your age and station. For example, 18 year olds are traditional students while 48 year olds are non-traditional students. 48 year olds don't live in dorms, 18 year olds do. It fits. No one thinks twice about a 48 year old earning a master's degree online. When an 18 year old has an associate's, bachelor's and masters...it looks fishy and millish (not that it IS, but not everyone is as enlightened as those here who make a hobby of it) There are perception issues to deal with when your actions don't match your age and station.


I also found this: Welcome to U.S. Figure Skating

U.S. Figure Skating appreciates the cooperation and understanding of all members to help implement these minimum requirements to ensure that the environment in all U.S. Figure Skating programs is as safe as possible for all participants. This will help give parents the highest degree of confidence that their children are not only receiving good care and proper instruction but are safe from improper conduct.

Five Requirements
1. U.S. Figure Skating Full Membership (either through a member club or as an individual)
2. Successfully pass the annual background screen
3. Verification of current coach liability insurance
4. Completion of CER Courses
5. 5. Additional requirement - PSA Membership if coaching in qualifying competitions only
Note: Non-compliant coaches who attempt to coach at a test session or competition are subject to disciplinary action by U.S. Figure Skating and/or the PSA.

CER courses here: Professional Skaters Association

As usual, spot on!

[cookderosa]

Thank you all so much for your input. Here is some more info--

My daughter and I are well aware of what she needs to do to become a figure skating coach and she has been paving the way for that. She has stated numerous times that she has no interest in going away to college. When people say that she'll "miss out on the college experience" she emphatically says, "why would I want that?" I understand that teenagers (and adults for that matter LOL) change their minds, so my husband and I are continuing to give her a college prep education so she'll have options (whether it involves more education or straight into the world field). If she decides to not do any college after high school, at least she'll have had an excellent high school education.

Of course, people are asking about her "plans for the future" and virtually everyone expects her to include college in her plans. So she is wondering whether there is something she could do to complement her figure skating plans. And when she learned that she could get college credit through CLEP for what she is studying now, she was very excited about the idea. She felt that, if she decided to pursue any college, at least she wouldn't have to "repeat" classes (that's why she took the biology clep as a "final exam" after she did biology this year--b/c she did not want to do it again). But we are not trying to graduate her out of high school early. She is just trying to get some general education class credits under her belt in case she needs them for the future--after all, those credits are hers for 20 yrs and who knows what she'll do over the next 2 decades?

My general advice is to keep doing what you're doing. Working toward coaching and taking CLEPs if or when they fit into your homeschool curriculum.
My specific advice is to look up your local community college's CLEP policy. If they accept CLEP in any real way (more than 18 credits, more than 30 would be better) then I'd suggest building a college transcript with them. The community college I worked at for 18 years accepted 45 credits of CLEP toward a degree, I didn't even know that until I'd worked there almost 10 years! But there are a lot of advantages to that option- she can continue to test, no GPA problems, and if she decides to earn a degree, all of the credit from CLEP and or dual enrollment would transfer into any of the 3 big at any point. It's a no-lose-plan.

[cookderosa]

I would also consider taking AP exams as your course "final", if you have that available. I have found where I live, more colleges accept AP scores than CLEP, and also that the number of AP exams is unlimited, but CLEP is limited to 30 units. I would research this in your area, and also in the schools that she may want to go to. For instance, most California State system colleges and junior colleges will accept an unlimited number of AP credits, but only 30 CLEP units. UC schools will also accept an unlimited number of AP exams, but NO CLEP credits.

Also, many of the AP exams are the same as CLEP (in name, and content seems very similar). Also, for something like US History, CLEP has 2 exams ($200 for 6 units), but AP is 1 exam ($80 for 6 units). Many of the AP exams count for more credit as well - Calculus BC might be 6 or 9 units at some schools, while the Calculus CLEP may only get you 3 credits. There are also 7 choices for AP languages rather than only 3 choices for the CLEP's.

Red is true (3200 US colleges award credit for AP while 2900 US colleges award credit for CLEP) but that's only important if you're trying to hit one of the 300 colleges in that group.

Blue is not true. What "most" colleges do is consider CLEP and AP the same type of credit. So, if a college caps non-traditional or exam credit at a certain number, then AP and CLEP will both be in that basket. It's possible about California- I'm not an expert on individual states.

Also, there is (as of 2014) a growing difference between AP and CLEP content. It used to be true that they were the same, but states have started implementing Common Core into their k-12 curriculum, and AP has started modifying their exams. AP American History 100% for sure has been Common Core aligned (and caused/causing a huge controversy about it) while CLEP US History 1 & 2 remain unchanged. For homeschool students, Common Core is a hot button issue- so something to think about.

There are lots of differences between AP and CLEP (I did a youtube video about them) but the 1 biggie that pushes CLEP ahead of AP for *me* is that all AP exams happen the same week, and many times you have to choose 1 exam over another. Here are the 2016 dates https://professionals.collegeboard.com/t.../next-year

You can't, for instance, take German AND American History in 1 school year- they are offered at the same time. You can't take Chem and Enviro Science same year, and the list goes on. There are restrictions that mean you could study all year and not get to test (if you don't look ahead and plan a year in advance) so this is a big thumbs down for me.

[dfrecore]

Which is why I recommended looking at colleges nearby where she lived since the student didn't want to go away to college. I did a ton of research on this for my area, because many of my friends have kids going off to college in the next year or so, and they asked for some help.

And here in CA, the 23 CSU schools have a pretty set way of doing things, and almost all of them accept up to 30 CLEP's, and the 10 UC schools have their own way - but none of those accept CLEP. They all have unlimited AP exams they will accept, but what starts to happen with that is you run out of space to put them all in the degree plan.

I just thought that it would be nice to give an additional source of credit that might work for her. And give her some info about what to look for when looking at the different schools in her area that her daughter might want to go to. Can't hurt to have the info.

[cookderosa]

Which is why I recommended looking at colleges nearby where she lived since the student didn't want to go away to college. I did a ton of research on this for my area, because many of my friends have kids going off to college in the next year or so, and they asked for some help.

And here in CA, the 23 CSU schools have a pretty set way of doing things, and almost all of them accept up to 30 CLEP's, and the 10 UC schools have their own way - but none of those accept CLEP. They all have unlimited AP exams they will accept, but what starts to happen with that is you run out of space to put them all in the degree plan.

I just thought that it would be nice to give an additional source of credit that might work for her. And give her some info about what to look for when looking at the different schools in her area that her daughter might want to go to. Can't hurt to have the info.

It is great that you provided additional info! Just keeping everything as accurate as possible.

[HomeschoolingUniversity]

Thank you all again. I really appreciate your effort and advice in helping me. cheersmate

The hardest part about planning for my DD is not having a solid destination for her after high school and not feeling sure that she won't change her mind. Homeschooling her through high school while keeping her options open can be tough. But I shouldn't let worry consume me...I need to pray.

Have a lovely day!

[sundrop]

Thank you PRLoko (Post #3) for the tip on Penn State. I asked a chat question about their limit on credit by exams and transfer credits and she said as far as she knew there weren't any. They have a handy chart for DSST and Clep exams. For each exam, you can check to see if they are accepted and if so, which PennState course they correspond to. I noticed that they do not accept US History I or II and they don't accept many of the English cleps. World History, Math, sciences, humanities, foreign languages and many DSST exams are accepted and have corresponding courses. Their requirements are that you earn from them at least 18 of your last 30 credits for an Associates degree and at least 36 of your last 60 for a Bachelor's degree. Another thing I noticed on their completely online school, PennState World Campus, they now offer a Master's in Electrical Engineering. 30 hours at $930/hour which makes it less than $30,000 for master's. Thought I'd share what I found out. Hope it helps someone.

[cookderosa]

Thank you all again. I really appreciate your effort and advice in helping me. cheersmate

The hardest part about planning for my DD is not having a solid destination for her after high school and not feeling sure that she won't change her mind. Homeschooling her through high school while keeping her options open can be tough. But I shouldn't let worry consume me...I need to pray.

Have a lovely day!

And one thing to remember, if she earns even ONE college credit in high school, she's ahead! Most students don't start college until after graduation, and most parents are totally hands-off. It's hard when you know short-cuts not to use them (I struggle with that too in my own home) but you're doing great. Direction will come for you both, and when you know your options, her changing her mind won't create chaos, just new directions.