Straigherline + CLEP

[JohnnyHeck]

My daughter-in-law needs to retain options for which school and major she will select to take her degree. She is a stay-at-home mom with a 1.5 yr. old. She has just started to take online and hybrid classes at our local CC. She is young and very new to college education. I feel at this stage that she needs course content and structured delivery for her to succeed. She found it very stressful to work at 2 fixed schedule simultaneous classes last semester, C in Bio I w/lab, and B in Med. Term. I am thinking that the self-paced SL with concentration on one class at a time could really help her to stay-the-course. However, her local CC and so many possible others in our state will not accept ACE reqs. but will accept a modest amount of CLEP.

So, what if she takes SL and does at least say 85%+(PSYCH, Human Growth & D, Sociology, American Govt., perhaps others), can she then pass the corresponding CLEP? Besides a practice test or two, will she likely need other test prep like Instantcert or SpeedyPrep? Will this vary a lot among SL courses? Has anyone out there done this? What was the correlation of your SL grade to your CLEP score? Thanks.

[Leherself]

Honestly, if you don't need the ACE credit, I wouldn't bother with Straighterline. You're paying way too much for the priviledge of watching slideshows and taking quizzes.

Study.com has a couple of less expensive monthly subscription services - you want the cheapest one, since you're not taking the classes for credit. They've got material aligned with almost every CLEP out there. Better yet, check out Saylor, which is completely free.

Heck, if what you're looking for is the experience of taking college level classes, but without the pressure of passing, you could also look into Coursera, edx, etc. ASU partnered with Edx for their global freshman project - it's silly expensive if you want to take it for credit, but if you just want to experience college level work and use it as a study resource then just take the free version.

(Generic "you", btw, since you're actually asking for someone else).

And, for what it's worth, while I haven't taken CLEP and Straighterline for the same course, I have taken a variety of CLEP and SL at this point and my experience has been that SL is very textbook specific - they're specifically looking for answers foulnd in the particular book they've chosen, so even if you have prior knowledge of a subject, it often doesn't help much. On the other hand, CLEP is very generic - they try to create a test that can be passed if you've prepped with any subject appropriate materials. If you go through the effort of studying SL's material in depth, then yeah, it's probably enough to pass a CLEP, but if anything it's overkill. It's making it way more difficult than it has to be.

One idea you may not have considered - there are regionally accredited colleges with self paced classes for credit. Some of the bigger ones are University of Idaho Independent study, CSU-pueblo, BYU independent study, etc. It's more expensive than Straighterline, but it's real college classes from an actual university, which will have much broader transfer acceptance than even CLEP - and you'll get things like a GPA, which CLEP doesn't help with. Those three all offer IS classes for around $500 for a 3-credit class.

[JohnnyHeck]

...while I haven't taken CLEP and Straighterline for the same course, I have taken a variety of CLEP and SL at this point and my experience has been that SL is very textbook specific - they're specifically looking for answers foulnd in the particular book they've chosen, so even if you have prior knowledge of a subject, it often doesn't help much. On the other hand, CLEP is very generic - they try to create a test that can be passed if you've prepped with any subject appropriate materials. If you go through the effort of studying SL's material in depth, then yeah, it's probably enough to pass a CLEP, but if anything it's overkill. It's making it way more difficult than it has to be.

Thanks for this insight. I am appreciative of the time you took to go beyond the basis of my original query. I am familiar with all of these issues having guided my son through BA Music, TESC 2013. And a now guiding a friend through a BSAST RRT at TESU. My limitation as mentor is that although I am aware of most, I do not have personal experience with all the methods of instruction and CBEs. I have to rely on kind persons like your self to provide me their insightful experience to find the best solutions for my educationally bruised students. They can do the work, they just need the TLC to build-up enough confidence through success to keep on flying on their own like you have learned to do. As far as overkill is concerned, I agree with Jenifer, aka cookderosa, that a young student, without the benefit of years of life experience, should approach their education beyond the realm of a "ticket punching" goal. Thanks again.

[dfrecore]

While I agree with Leherself about SL being a more expensive option to study for a CLEP, it's not a terrible idea. I am actually considering buying the "freshman year" bundle for my daughter for her senior year of high school, and having her go through 10 courses that she's going to need for college (she's thinking she wants to be a nurse). THEN, she will actually go to our local CC and take those classes "for real." I am looking to give her some confidence before she starts college, plus the nursing programs around here are VERY competitive - her GPA in certain courses carries a lot of weight on a scoring system, so she really needs to get A's if she can on everything she takes.

Yes, $1200 is expensive, but I think it will help her tremendously. She is not a strong student (has had some learning issues since the beginning), and she just needs that extra boost that she will get from taking college courses, doing well, and then getting really good grades at the CC. That is worth the $1200 to me!

So if paying for SL courses will make your DIL have a more successful college career going forward, it may be worth the cost. At worst, she will have those ACE credits, and can go to one of the Big 3. At best, it will make her confident in her abilities to do the college-level work and propel her forward.

Good luck to her! And it's nice she has someone looking out for her like that. Everyone needs someone in their life that believes in them!

[JohnnyHeck]

While I agree with Leherself about SL being a more expensive option to study for a CLEP, it's not a terrible idea. I am actually considering buying the "freshman year" bundle for my daughter for her senior year of high school, and having her go through 10 courses that she's going to need for college (she's thinking she wants to be a nurse). THEN, she will actually go to our local CC and take those classes "for real." I am looking to give her some confidence before she starts college, plus the nursing programs around here are VERY competitive - her GPA in certain courses carries a lot of weight on a scoring system, so she really needs to get A's if she can on everything she takes.

Yes, $1200 is expensive, but I think it will help her tremendously. She is not a strong student (has had some learning issues since the beginning), and she just needs that extra boost that she will get from taking college courses, doing well, and then getting really good grades at the CC. That is worth the $1200 to me!

So if paying for SL courses will make your DIL have a more successful college career going forward, it may be worth the cost. At worst, she will have those ACE credits, and can go to one of the Big 3. At best, it will make her confident in her abilities to do the college-level work and propel her forward.

Good luck to her! And it's nice she has someone looking out for her like that. Everyone needs someone in their life that believes in them!

Thanks for letting me know I might not be crazy! Good luck to you and your daughter.

[mednat]

SL is not a good method for CLEP prep. I am a huge fan of their courses and highly recommend them for those who are going to schools that accept the ACE recommendations, however it will not adequately prepare one for a CLEP. The courses are very textbook specific and do not match the CLEP material.

The study.com videos recommended are an excellent choice and were made to align with the material on the CLEPs. If it were my money, I'd go this route.

[dfrecore]

SL is not a good method for CLEP prep. I am a huge fan of their courses and highly recommend them for those who are going to schools that accept the ACE recommendations, however it will not adequately prepare one for a CLEP. The courses are very textbook specific and do not match the CLEP material.

The study.com videos recommended are an excellent choice and were made to align with the material on the CLEPs. If it were my money, I'd go this route.

Don't forget that there is a great deal on homeschoolbuyersco-op.com for study.com - $359 for a year for the premium edition, and $990 for a year for the College Accelerator edition. The premium edition is for studying for CLEP/DSST/UExcel's, and includes quizzes and tests in addition to the prep materials including videos. The College Accelerator edition includes premium PLUS 2 exams per month.

For your needs, the Premium edition would be perfect.

[JohnnyHeck]

Don't forget that there is a great deal on homeschoolbuyersco-op.com for study.com - $359 for a year for the premium edition, and $990 for a year for the College Accelerator edition. The premium edition is for studying for CLEP/DSST/UExcel's, and includes quizzes and tests in addition to the prep materials including videos. The College Accelerator edition includes premium PLUS 2 exams per month.

For your needs, the Premium edition would be perfect.

https://www.homeschoolbuyersco-op.com/study.com/?c=1#
Wow, what a deal! No matter how my DIL ends up utilizing the service, at this price, I don't see how I will not get my money's worth. Thanks so much.