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[KeepItSimple]

Hi!

This is my first day here, so I am a bit lost. We are just beginning our journey, and hopefully getting a jump start. We homeschool, and our youngest would be in 8th grade next year in traditional school. He is very much interested in design (think LEGO), so we are looking at various engineering degrees (mechanical, civil), but also perhaps marketing/business.

I would like to do high school while at the same time taking CLEP/DSST/FEMA as credit towards a degree.

I have read (and will read again) Jennifer DeRosa's book 'Homeschooling for College Credit,' which at this point has made this undertaking seem possible instead of daunting.

I would love any helps/suggestions for where to begin exactly. I am leaning toward the Math, English, and Foreign Language would be taken after learning the material, but some tests could be done as more a learn for the test type approach. Am I off base?

Has anyone done a business/marketing or engineer degree while doing high school? Should we focus on getting an associates degree first?

I'm having a brain disconnect on when to actually enroll in a school - and whether we should do a community college first for an associate's or straight to one of the schools that are mentioned here most frequently.

Thanks!

(Forgive any typos and misspellings)

[cookderosa]

I just want to take a moment to WELCOME you to the forum! It's a fantastic place, and you'll get tons of great advice. There are lots of homeschoolers here too. I also appreciate you taking the time to complement my book- that's so great, I love hearing that you enjoyed it. You'll get lots of great help here, but just so you know, you don't have to do anything yet. Just observe, learn, plan, and you'll get the hang of it in no time!

[KeepItSimple]

Thank you for the welcome, Jennifer!

Browsing again today to see if I can find threads that relate to our situation!

[HorseManiac]

Hi!

This is my first day here, so I am a bit lost. We are just beginning our journey, and hopefully getting a jump start. We homeschool, and our youngest would be in 8th grade next year in traditional school. He is very much interested in design (think LEGO), so we are looking at various engineering degrees (mechanical, civil), but also perhaps marketing/business.

I would like to do high school while at the same time taking CLEP/DSST/FEMA as credit towards a degree.

I have read (and will read again) Jennifer DeRosa's book 'Homeschooling for College Credit,' which at this point has made this undertaking seem possible instead of daunting.

I would love any helps/suggestions for where to begin exactly. I am leaning toward the Math, English, and Foreign Language would be taken after learning the material, but some tests could be done as more a learn for the test type approach. Am I off base?

Has anyone done a business/marketing or engineer degree while doing high school? Should we focus on getting an associates degree first?

I'm having a brain disconnect on when to actually enroll in a school - and whether we should do a community college first for an associate's or straight to one of the schools that are mentioned here most frequently.

Thanks!

(Forgive any typos and misspellings)

Hello! First off, let me say welcome to the forum. You will find tons of great information as well as great people here!

Okay, so to start, I don't know much about engineering degrees, but I am working on an business degree in Accounting myself. I'm a senior in high school and I've been homeschooled my whole life. I started taking CLEP/DSST when I was a sophomore and now have 77 credits. I'd be happy to help with whatever I can. I'm glad to see that you've read Jennifer's book. It really has great info.

You are totally correct in thinking that you can test after studying a subject as well as study just to test. I've done that exact thing myself. After completing English, Algebra, Geometry, Biology, Chemistry, Western Civilizations and US History for high school, I took the corresponding test/course to gain college credit. However, I also studied for many subjects that weren't part of my high school courses just for the college credit (Natural sciences, economics, civil war, etc).

As far as whether to get an Associates first or not, I can't really say. Hopefully, the more experienced members can help you there. I am just going for a Bachelors. There are several members on here who completed business degrees while still in high school or just out of high school, so yes it is very doable.

To get started many people suggest taking Analyzing Literature as a first test if your child is good with reading comprehension. It's worth 6 credits and not overly difficult. Once you decide which school you want to earn the degree through, you can start forming a degree plan. Feel free to post it here for others to look at and help you plan courses. If you decide to go with one of the Big 3, most people encourage you not to enroll until you have accumulated a significant amount of credits.

Besides CLEP/DSST/FEMA, you might also want to look into ALEKS. I used this program to get my math credits. I got a homeschooler 2 month free coupon code and was able to complete all the math credits I needed in those 2 months. ALEKS -- Assessment and Learning, K-12, Higher Education, Automated Tutor, Math

I'm not an expert on this by any stretch of the imagination, but hopefully you can find some of this info helpful!

[EI2HCB]

Welcome to the Forum,

There are some good books around that explain how testing out can assist you in eliminating some if not all general education requirements at regular colleges which would leave more time for your student to study engineering proper as save significant financial resources. Cookedrosa for example has a new book aimed at home schoolers ( I haven't read it yet! sorry jennifer) along with some others on this forum. Amazon Kindle carries at least three books dedicated to this including Jennifers book. You may also want to have a look at the Wiki page dedicated to credit by exam and the early entries of my blog College Credit for Less which also explain how the whole thing works. For more details check out, How to test out of your first year of College by Andrew Thomas via Amazon. Some people also find that the provider of this forum has tools to help you succeed

Keep taking small steps on your Journey, We are all here alongside you and most are delighted to help

[KeepItSimple]

Thanks, horsemaniac! I am plotting the course now to see where we get. What high school curriculum did you use that helped prepare you? I don't want to spend a year with an English class to find it didn't really help, which I'm sure you can appreciate!

You said in two months you completed the ALEKS math classes - I'm counting five of those. How much math background did you have prior to those tests? He has completed pre-algebra, starting Algebra next year.

Thanks again!
Camille

[KeepItSimple]

Welcome to the Forum,

There are some good books around that explain how testing out can assist you in eliminating some if not all general education requirements at regular colleges which would leave more time for your student to study engineering proper as save significant financial resources. Cookedrosa for example has a new book aimed at home schoolers ( I haven't read it yet! sorry jennifer) along with some others on this forum. Amazon Kindle carries at least three books dedicated to this including Jennifers book. You may also want to have a look at the Wiki page dedicated to credit by exam and the early entries of my blog College Credit for Less which also explain how the whole thing works. For more details check out, How to test out of your first year of College by Andrew Thomas via Amazon. Some people also find that the provider of this forum has tools to help you succeed

Keep taking small steps on your Journey, We are all here alongside you and most are delighted to help

Thank you for the welcome.

I have read Jennifer's book. Will be reading it again to take proper notes. I have Andrew's book saved to my wish list. ...and now will be heading to the link you provided!

Blessings,
Camille

[rebel100]

Thanks, horsemaniac! I am plotting the course now to see where we get. What high school curriculum did you use that helped prepare you? I don't want to spend a year with an English class to find it didn't really help, which I'm sure you can appreciate!

You said in two months you completed the ALEKS math classes - I'm counting five of those. How much math background did you have prior to those tests? He has completed pre-algebra, starting Algebra next year.

Thanks again!
Camille

If engineering is a realistic goal for him I would be cautious about the Math and science courses...its fine to use ALEKS to learn/homeschool....and I would take the credits to ACE as a just in case....but an engineering program is likely to want to see a pretty serious math progression and I doubt there are very many who will accept an alternative like ALEKS (I'm not knocking ALEKS...just pointing out that an engineering degree will likely have very specific requirements).

I would explore the dual enrollment options of your state, take advantage of those as much as you can. Find out which engineering programs will let you use CLEP/DSST for credit. Some may not.

If you can pull of the dual enrollment that would provide a place for the Physics and Chemistry with a lab that he's sure to need.

[sanantone]

I don't know much about homeschooling, but have you considered AP exams? Those have an even wider acceptability than CLEP.

[KeepItSimple]

If engineering is a realistic goal for him I would be cautious about the Math and science courses...its fine to use ALEKS to learn/homeschool....and I would take the credits to ACE as a just in case....but an engineering program is likely to want to see a pretty serious math progression and I doubt there are very many who will accept an alternative like ALEKS (I'm not knocking ALEKS...just pointing out that an engineering degree will likely have very specific requirements).

I would explore the dual enrollment options of your state, take advantage of those as much as you can. Find out which engineering programs will let you use CLEP/DSST for credit. Some may not.

If you can pull of the dual enrollment that would provide a place for the Physics and Chemistry with a lab that he's sure to need.

Rebel,

We do have a dual enrollment option, but there are some reservations on our part. First, is the cost to taxpayers that's the biggest drawback. Now that may sound all high and noble - but other circumstances make it easier to say. The closest school is nearly an hour away and we live on the Pacific NW making road conditions a bit sketchy in winter months. Also, the local school isn't that great to work with on taking part in the program which is how it works here from what I understand.

After looking around, it appears any engineering degree at the bachelor level requires a physical presence at the school, so we may aim for a marketing degree and later an engineering degree if he decides to go that route. We may do some mechanical drawing type classes to see if it interests him. Perhaps a CAD class along the way as well.

Right now we are in the forming stages looking to an associates degree, if that is wise, and then determining the bachelors in a few years.

He is very good at math, but he doesn't like math. He floors me with the computations he can do in his head, but I agree that Math will have to be done the old-fashioned way. The good news - we have about 5 years - so that should give us time for him to learn and understand the math.

Things are starting to be a bit daunting again - time to go back and read Jennifer's book! :-)

Blessings -
Camille

PS - How do you use a signature?