Starting with 0 credits. Quickest roadmap to a degree. Any guidance?

[cavelady]

I'm 34 and I've just decided to go for my college degree. I have zero college credits. I've been reading the forums and they are great!

I have always loved to learn. Especially on my own. Since high school I have done a lot of self-directed learning so I feel like I already have a pretty solid education. (Especially in English, Spanish and Fitness/Nutrition.) So at this point I'm mostly just looking to get a degree to increase the number of doors open to me.

Since I love to study on my own and at my own pace, testing out of courses really appeals to me. I'm also be interested in affordable classes that can be completed in as little time as it takes for me to complete the requirements. (I've seen that some self-paced classes still have a min. time limit, like at least 6-8 weeks. I'd like to avoid any limitations like that, if possible. Especially when I already know a particular topic well. I don't know if anything like this exists.)

My top priority is finishing in the shortest amount of time possible. Expense is also very important but if I had to pay an extra $1k to get it done faster, I would probably opt for that.

Any suggestions on the fastest (and most affordable) route to any degree? (I know this question has been asked lots of times before but I couldn't find anything up to date for someone starting from scratch.) I'm pretty open to any route that will get me there quickly.

You guys help soooooo many people on these forums. Thanks in advance for taking the time to share your hard earned wisdom with me.

[12save]

Where do you live? Do you qualify for financial aid? Some states have better financial aid than others - if you qualify

What is your professional/work background? Depending on things you have done, certain tests or earning credit by portfolio for prior learning might work.

I am new to the forum, but believe there are other more knowledgeable and experienced people who could help you figure out a plan. I only know to tell you to look at the study materials for tests such as Spanish or English, or whatever tests you think you would be able to pass with the least amount of study. Would a degree help you to advance in your current job? Is there anything in particular that might "want to do when you grow up" (lol). I think more info would help the experienced degree hackers on this site to give you information specific to your life.

I am a former English teacher. My one piece of advice that I give to older teens who want to go to college but have no clue what they want to study is to get some sort of business degree because it will open the most doors after graduation if you have no particular strong interests.

[Prloko]

cavelady,

The best advice for someone looking for general information is to first visit the wiki page degreeforum.wikia.com. The site has the most up to date info.

Then review the degree plans and the websites for the "Big 3" Assessment Colleges, Thomas Edison, Charter Oak and Excelsior. After you have made yourself a general plan, we can help you fill in the gaps. The current theoretical "quickest" degree possible is probably TESCs BSBA General Business degree because it is the only degree plan with a capstone you can test out of. The others have a capstone course that must be taken to graduate which will add about 3 months to any degree plan. But the speed and the cost is totally up to you as there are many factors.

Your biggest advantage is that you have a clean slate with 0 credits which gives you endless possibilities to complete the degree. If you want to get started while you are still deciding, everyone would agree that CLEP Analyzing and Interpreting Literature is probably the best test to start out with, 6 credits and a large majority of the people who take it pass it. If you are fluent in Spanish, that is another easy 6 to 12 credits (depending on your score). So for about $200 you can have 12 to 18 credits in your first week!

For some inspiration, here is a story from a recent forum member who just completed 100 credits in 6 months. http://www.degreeforum.net/general-educa...onths.html

[JTP]

Nevermind ^ Prloko has got you covered

[LaterBloomer]

I second Prioko's post, but direct you to the advice on scheduling yourself. It will keep you on track. I don't recall where the post is, but some fellow living/working in Asia came to the States and did like 5000 credits in 3 minutes. With planning and determination, you can be posting an "I'm done" post soon.

Have you joined Instacert? It might help you figure out what your strengths and weaknesses are if you play around with the flashcards. Also, Free Clep Prep.com is helpful when trying to determine the order of test taking as there's advice about which tests feeds off of studying for previous tests.

Welcome, and good luck.

[cavelady]

Thanks so much for the info! Very helpful!

Looks like the BSBA in General Business from TESC might be a good option for me.

I also started looking into the following degrees:

Psychology (not sure which school)
Health Sciences with a concentration in Health and Wellness (from EC)
English

Any thoughts on trying to test out of the above degrees? I think I'm ok with having to take the capstone.

From what I read on the forums, English is a tough one to test out of? Does that mean that TESC doesn't have tests for many of the UL classes either?

I would also be interested in Humanities but I've been told Humanities isn't a very well respected degree.

Thoughts?

[clep3705]

Since you are willing to do a capstone, a TESC degree in liberal studies is test friendly. But if you don't want a humanities degree, a liberal studies degree is almost the same thing. If you can find 8 TECEPs that you can pass, doing so would significantly reduce the cost of a TESC degree.

[dbwdb]

If you are fluent in a foreign language, you could also do the NYU Foreign language exam. It is somewhat expensive but without having to study at all, I did 28 credits in one morning taking 2 language exams and applied it to my TESC Liberal Studies degree. Some of it transferred as UL credits.

[cookderosa]

Where do you live? Do you qualify for financial aid? Some states have better financial aid than others - if you qualify

There isn't any financial aid in any state that pays for CLEP exams.


You have 3 "financial aid" options:

1) Scholarships- TESC has a few but in general they'll only cover classes even if you win them.

2) Pell Grants- this is a "gift" grant of up to $5500 per year that you can use if your income qualifies. Again, doesn't pay for exams, but you can use it for classes.

3) Student Loans- debt



My suggestion is to pay cash. This is one of the only degree paths that makes it easy to do. You literally pay as you go.

[iwant2stalku]

For some inspiration, here is a story from a recent forum member who just completed 100 credits in 6 months. http://www.degreeforum.net/general-educa...onths.html

102 credits, but who's counting? :-)