OnlineDegree vs SDC vs Shmoop vs Other Options?

[rvm]

if your daughter is 16 years old then she's too mature for Shmoop

the only course I ever tried at Shmoop was the finite math course and the material was like it was written for 11 year olds

I had to quit after a few lessons because I just couldn't take it anymore LOL

Bluebooger, I had read a similar review about Shmoop videos, so to satisfy my curioisty, I watched a few Shmoop videos last night.  They made me drink a double dose of hard cider and I rarely drink!  I could have drink another round after stupidly watching a third video in hopes of finding just one that wasn't overloaded with super-cheesey, childish one-liners.  

The price is very attractive, especially for those who can get through courses rapidly, but, I wish the course creators would have minimized their brand of humor.

[graduatesoon]

Study.com has the premium program    for $60 so you can take your time watch the videos and take the quizzes and when you are ready take the final for an extra $70. If this helps your study style you can try it at your own pace without final pressure.

Currently, with the Premium Plan  you would have to switch to the College Accelerator plan for $199 (2 exams included)  to get college credit finals.  The $70 is for additional exams after the first 2 of the month.  A total of 5 exams are allowed for the 30 days of College Accelerator.

My bad. I used the $199 plan to take my tests and have just been using the $60 plan to study and prepare for other tests. The price would work out the same $59.99 plus 2 $70 tests would be $199.00 . Less hectic and pressure preparing for a final. I just stress over the essays. I may go back to the ECE exams.

[rvm]

Yes the free Sophia courses are the perfect starting point! They are very quick, easy and straight forward so they're the perfect introduction to online alternative credits. Additionally, there is a $50 Student Success course that you can take for free after getting a $50 promo coupon! Have your daughter take the developing effective teams and essentials of managing conflict courses for free and then after receiving the $50 promotion code, immediately buy the student success course. All 3 of these can be done in under a day each(maybe all 3 in one day if you're fast   ). So at the end, you'll have 3 free credits and have an idea about whether the Sophia platform will work for you.


https://www.sophia.org/online-courses/student-success

Unfortunately, it would be too difficult to rank the difficulty of all the various classes on all the various online platforms since they're constantly adding new courses, changing the course materials, and retiring old courses. This guide would be a good starting point, though:


https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/Thread-...YOUR-input

I had no idea about the Student Success course offered by Sophia.  Three college credits in a short amount of time should boost my daughter's self esteem.  Thanks for the info and the link.

After I asked about the courses, I realized that was a somewhat ridiculous question to try to rank them.  Thanks for the link to the thread of reviewed courses.  I had forgotten about that.  It's getting bookmarked!

[armstrongsubero]

@rvm it isnt ridiculous. Some providers are easier than others. If I had to rank based on my experince eith them I will rank as follows from hardest to easiest:

Shmoop
Aleks
The Institutes
Straighterline
Sophia (paid)
TEEX
Study.com
Sophia (free)

This is based on me watching people complain about various providers. Some platoforms are easier than some to earn credits.

[rvm]

Yes, I also recommend doing the Sophia courses first - all 3 of them.  Work the Ethics course and then the CLEP options before the CLEP vouchers run out from ModernStates.org - I would also recommend doing the TEEX Cybersecurity courses if she can.
See link for the free/cheap options: https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Fr..._of_Credit

Also, in regards to exclusively homeschooling your daughter, I would reconsider, is she having issues with the 9th grade level courses?  Most schools have programs for students, such as a career prep or trades program, she may be interested in those.  I would use homeschooling to supplement or accelerate/compact her educational goals.

The main thing is getting her past high school, the extra AA or BA during high school is the icing on the cake...It's great that you're discussing things with your hubby and coming to a conclusion that the local CC/Uni's and Big 3 may be options.

Thank you BJ!  What a wealth of knowledge you are along with the other regular group members!

Btw, I guess I was a little too harsh in describing my daughter's situation.  While she does have moderate to severe dyslexia, she can read, write, think and function in an academic setting.  She needs more time than most.  She also struggles quite a bit with math but that is because she lacks the foundation necessary to be successful in high school and college math courses.  She's agreed to be tutored to get up-to-speed.  It will definitely be a challenge to get her through her math and some science courses but I think she can get through the other courses without a huge challenge.  No doubt she will need more than the alloted time of one semester for some high school and some college courses.  That's where I hope non-trad credits will have more value than my husband will currently admit they have.

[rvm]

From the Clep website:

"Accommodations for Students with Disabilities
If you have a learning or physical disability that would prevent you from taking a CLEP exam under standard conditions, you may request accommodations at your preferred test center. Contact your preferred test center well in advance of the test date to make the necessary arrangements and to find out its deadline for submission of documentation for approval of accommodations. Accommodations that can be arranged directly with test centers include:

• ZoomText (screen magnification)
  
  
• Modifiable screen colors
  
  
• Use of a reader, an amanuensis, or a sign language interpreter
  
  
• Extended time
  
  
• Untimed rest breaks
  

If the above accommodations do not meet your needs, contact CLEP Services for information about other nonstandard options at clep@info.collegeboard.org or at 800-257-9558 before you register through My Account."

That's perfect, Natshar!  That was one on my list of things to research.  You saved me some time and perhaps helped someone else with this question.  Kudos!

[natshar]

Here are dsst accommodations:

https://www.prometric.com/en-us/for-test...ations.pdf

CLEP which is basically what I just sent you but if you need the link:

https://clep.collegeboard.org/earn-colle...g-the-test


Alternative credit stuff don't have accommodations because everything is at your own pace to begin with. The proctored final exams are usually to prevent cheating and I don't see a way around that. Based on my research I don't really think there is anything as extra accommodations you can or need to ask for study.com, StraighterLine, etc. You can replay the videos as many times as you want and most of the quizzes (non-final) are open book and untimed. Your daughter can even have someone else read her the material or use a screen reader. However, I will say Sophia has really good customer service and they can give you more time to complete the courses when you run out if you need that. But most of the courses through other providers don't have this issue and you can take as long as you want.

But that's why I suggested CLEP and DSST because I believe those are the only ones that offer true disability accommodations. However, if you can make study.com, shoomp, whatever, etc. work for you then that's great too.

[rvm]

Study.com has the premium program    for $60 so you can take your time watch the videos and take the quizzes and when you are ready take the final for an extra $70. If this helps your study style you can try it at your own pace without final pressure.

Recently, I was thinking SDC could be so much more successful if they changed their business model to allow access to their course content for longer periods of time without a $200 penalty per month, which is what their business model is for people who have learning disabilities and need much more time than super smart or average people who can knock out 2-3+ courses per month.  For people with LDs, one course in something they struggle with may take months to complete.   None-the-less, it's still a positive change in the right direction.  Kudos to SDC for thinking logically.  They should certainly knock SL off the mountain with this much better model - though still not as good as Shmoop's All-You-Eat for $88 per month.  

I understand Shmoop courses are more difficult than SDC and SL, etc.  I wonder what the record is for someone completing the most number of college courses at Shmoop in one month?

[rvm]

Currently, with the Premium Plan  you would have to switch to the College Accelerator plan for $199 (2 exams included)  to get college credit finals.  The $70 is for additional exams after the first 2 of the month.  A total of 5 exams are allowed for the 30 days of College Accelerator.

@TwinMom, it seems the net of this is that SDC's premium plan for $60 per month, allows access to the course content and perhaps the quizzes/tests, however in order to take the final exam to get credit for course, we must subsequently upgrade to the college accelerator plan for $199 for 2 exams and $70 for each additional exam.  Is that correct?

[allvia]

Currently, with the Premium Plan  you would have to switch to the College Accelerator plan for $199 (2 exams included)  to get college credit finals.  The $70 is for additional exams after the first 2 of the month.  A total of 5 exams are allowed for the 30 days of College Accelerator.

@TwinMom, it seems the net of this is that SDC's premium plan for $60 per month, allows access to the course content and perhaps the quizzes/tests, however in order to take the final exam to get credit for course, we must subsequently upgrade to the college accelerator plan for $199 for 2 exams and $70 for each additional exam.  Is that correct?

Correct - you can pay take up to 5 exams in the month with Study.com college accelerator plan (2 included, then 3 more for $70 each).  The premium plan gives you access to everything but the exams. I found doing a month (or two) of the premium was a good way to get a head start at a lower cost, and then once you start taking the exams (at least 2 a month) you never really have value in dropping back down to the premium - after all you do want to take the exam(s) as close to the time you finish the course as possible while the information is still fresh in your mind.

Regarding Shmoop - it is not what I would call difficult more that it is extremely painful to get through (hardest 70 for a pass I ever received for US History I). I personally wouldn't recommend it for anyone even if it was free - its only benefit for awhile was they offer English courses that are just not available anywhere else through alternative means.