Question(s)

[brianb]

Hello, I just recently decided that I want a change in what I'm doing and want to get a degree in Computer Science. Now I'm 29 years old, no other college courses taken and like many adults I work full time so I have limited time as to when I can go to school. I've came across this site and how you can test into classes. Now Computer Science is a lot of math and programming, for the programming part I want to take the full college courses but for the math and electives required for my degree, I like the concept of CLEP, one for the time it will save me and two for the money it will save. If i can get my electives and some of the math classes out of the way I think I might be able to get my BS in 2.5 years, 3 tops, which is great for me. Now the the math part, can anyone suggest were to start in terms of courses, since i've been out of school for 10 years, i'd say i have a 9th or 10 grade math level, some basic algebra and that's about it, I see there's a few other programs other than CLEP, so I'll have to see if the college(Univ. of Missouri, St. Louis) I plan to attend will take. With CLEP do you have to be registered in with your college first in order to get the college credit for your exams or can I take the exams w/no college in mind?

[chromo]

Hi Brian, welcome to the club! You do not have to be registered with any college to start taking CLEPs. When you are ready, you just pay a one-time flat $20 fee and they will send all of your CLEP scores to the school at once. No big deal. That's what I did... I had 33 CLEP credits done before I even applied to Excelsior. I've been doing this at my own pace for about 2.5 years now and I expect to be done early next year before my 26th birthday (yes, with a full-time job). It can be done and you will find (particularly if you have good time management and test-taking skills) that testing for credit is kind of fun and addictive. Best of luck!

[brianb]

Thanks for your help. I'll have to look into this, I'm hoping to get my BS in Computer Science in 2.5-3 years if that's possible.

[mapalo]

Hi, Brian, and welcome to IC!

It looks like the University of Missouri - St Louis accepts CLEP and AP exam credits for credit. (PDF here.) The exams are not evaluated for letter grades (and therefore not calculated into your GPA.) It looks like the testing center offers both CLEP and DSST exams, so their PDF may not include all acceptable sources of credit by exam.

There is also a Course Equivalency database you can use to plan your testing strategy.

I had to take actual courses to get over my math phobia, so I can't advise you there. Going by the course numbers on the degree guidesheet, it looks like Statistics is the beginner course here. I'd call the university and ask, though.

Good luck to you - you can do this!

Hi Brian
Welcome to the forum.
Just like you I not taken Math in about 10 years.
Since I am so bad in Math and just so afraid of it, I did not even try to test out of it.
I took the advice of people on the forum and registered with Pen Foster for Algebra. When my material came I read through two pages and got defeated.
For me a class was still not going to do a trick because I wanted much attention and one on one basis; above all flexibility and cost were major factors

I decided to get a private tutor.
Remember now Professor Private Tutors can be ridiculously expensive.
On the other hand if you can find another student for a example Majoring In Physics, Chemistry or Engineering; chances are they are very good in Math and are an Excellent source to Building your College Math skill and confident and can be affordable.
The best part is you can decided to meet at time that works best for both you for example mine comes to my home twice a week in the evenings (since I work full time) after which I drop her at her place when we are done. (Perfect for me).
Your sessions can only be up to the time you feel very comfortable and get the concepts or however much.
If you need more information let me know.
If you don't know where to start looking for a tutor you can to start looking at WyzAnt.com. Your One Stop Tutor Shop. then pick it up from there.
(Don’t be put off with the prices you get on the web most of these people’s prices are very negotiable)

So far this is working great for me I have only done it for few sessions, but I love it
Good Luck
Mapalo

[Daviddur]

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