[QUOTE=joestuart]Hi all,
I am taking a leave of absence from work to focus all of my energy on earning an associates degree through Excelsior– with the intent of pursuing a bachelors degree afterward. My plan is to test out, earning 51 credits within 3 months.
Would anyone care to share “testing out” study techniques/schedules which have brought forth proven success? I do understand study habits/schedules are arbitrarily dependent on the person.
(FYI: I’m am using instacert along with REA Clep guides)
Any input would be highly appreciated.
Thanks.>>
Joe,
Have you read the schedule at
Online degrees by distance learning. BA in 4 Weeks and bain4weeks.com - online BA degrees and online graduate degees by examination. ? That is the extreme vision for finishing your entire degree in a month, and a great starting point. Talk about motivated!! It is perfect for someone taking time off work in my opinion.
1. Since you have the time- I would also suggest grouping exams and stocking up on your REAs so you are ready to go without delay. Sometimes waiting for a book to arrive in the mail eats weeks of time.
2. Schedule exams at a slower pace at first to get in the grove- then you can pick up speed. (2 per month is nice for part time study- I would say 4 per month would allow you to pass with high scores) Personally, I like taking 2 exams in a day- others say no, but I figure once I am there, I am in the zone- so I almost always scheduled 2 at a time until the end when I started to get brain fried :eek: One easy + one hard works well. I did 3 once, but it ended up not being faster in the long run because it took me several weeks longer to study.
3. Now, here is an IMPORTANT observation that is important since you are going for your associate degree- lets say you are studying for psych, soc, history 1, and history 2. That is 12 social science credits- but you only need 6 for your Associate degree social sciences requirement, and you plan to use the remaining 6 for your gen ed electives. Good- now, the social science and history exam is darned near as close to a blend of those 4 exams as anything else- you would be foolish not to take it. It will give you 6 extra credits that you won't need for your associate degree- but you can (and in my opinion SHOULD) take it while the info is fresh. Just save the credit for your BA later.
4. Math suggestions- take the hardest math you can pass, then go back and take the easier ones for freebie electives. Math exams are huge- 6 credits each, if you can pass calculus, you can also pass everything leading up to calculus and net around 18 extra credits for later. Any business degree is going to require pre-cal and stats. Associate Science degrees want pre-cal usually too, or college algebra at a minimum depending on what it is.
5. If you kinda know a foreign language, get a review tape to listen on your ipod or in the car. Even a modest score is 6 credits, kick butt and your looking at 12 more.
6. Finally, whatever area interests you- take all the exams. Why not? If you are a history buff, there are 10 CLEP and DSST exams that can really really add to your pile. (33 credits possible!)
7.
Get your associates, but don't pass up chances to earn the coordinating credits along the way. This may slightly off-set your schedule (maybe you don't need anymore social science- what you need is math) but in the long run you'll thank me!
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