Why are you earning credit this way?

[blaczkowitz]

I found this community a long time ago, and it blew my mind.  I remember taking my first CLEP exam and thinking that I'd found the best loophole in the whole wide world, and I'd better hurry up and finish my degree before the colleges got smart and quit letting people use CLEP.  It really changed my life.   So, I'm curious, why are you here? What attracted you to the forum and the way people here DIY a degree?

Save time.  Save money.  Prove initiative. (I got to brag 'I completed 25 credit-hours in one semester' which impressed my college appeals board - years ago I had problems/bad grades, and I showed them a hell of a turnaround this fall)  Knock some boring 'liberal arts and sciences' classes out of the way so that my money is being spent on classes I want instead of ones i'm forced to take.

I don't really think it's a loophole at all - you DO have to know the material.  Some material is easier to learn than others is all.

Lots of college already limit CLEP credit - those in my state of Minnesota seem to only let you get 30 credits max (one year), places like Harvard only allow 16 credits (half a year), although there are places allowing far more credit they may or may not "be as good" as degrees from elsewhere... just like do you recognize an engineering degree from MIT or Caltech as being no better than one from Rural City, Arkansas?  Places that allow CLEP already seem to semi-limit based on criteria relevant to their individual standing already.