So I'm new here, and ready to give it another shot

[josebalius]

Hi everyone,

A little background on my situation: I was always a great high school student, and always thought college would be easy for me. I self taught myself how code in 7 different programming languages at the age of 15 and was able to get high paying jobs at a very young age. After starting college (while working), I quickly started to do bad in classes, especially with the general education classes which seemed easy but not worth my time when I could be home making money or teaching myself the skills to earn even more. Anyways long story short, i dropped out at 20 years old. Since then I still hold a good job and it has never been a problem for me to get jobs as i have needed them, my experience has always helped me quite a bit (i have been programming since 15, now 22). But I know that with a degree in my hand, I could achieve a lot more.

I have started to realize that if I want to demand more money for my skills, i need to have a degree. It is something that I know would make me more confident in pursuing raises or even other offers. I know mostly everything i'll ever need to know when it comes to Computer Science, but I don't have the degree to say so. This is something that has always bothered me and i want to change it. I turn 22 in 5 days, and i think it's time that I give this another shot and get it done once and for all.

I have read quite a bit on this forum, I have read the wiki (Degree Forum Wiki), I plan on subscribing to InstantCert, and start taking my CLEPs. I just wanted some advice on a couple of different things.

1. Do I have to apply to a local college before starting my CLEPs? I am more inclined to getting my degree straight from Thomas Edison State College, so could I just match up the courses that i need and take the cleps, and then apply to TESC and transfer those credits in, and then finish my degree there? Or apply to TESC first, then take the cleps?

2. If I do have to apply to a local college, I have found one fairly close to me, but I cannot find for the life of me what is the maximum amount of clep credits they allow. Here is the college info on CollegeBoard:

Broward College - South Campus - Accepts CLEP Credits - College Board | CLEP

I appreciate all and any input you guys may have, after all I plan on using this forum to guide my success.

thanks in advance

Jose

[rebel100]

You can just start CLEP/DSST etc... You don't have to be enrolled. Just make sure your tackling exams that will count to your degree.

As a rule Florida Public Colleges (CC's) accept up to 45 credits via credit by exam. You will find they are typically much more familiar with CLEP than DSST. Florida Universities vary a bit but generally accept 60-90 credits by exam (trickier though, very dependent on Major).

If you go TESC/COSC/EC you will have an easier time testing out completely (or nearly completely). They will also allow credit for other methods such as Industry Certs, Straighterline, ALEKS, etc...

[Publius]

Jose,

Welcome! Seeing as how you self taught yourself 7 different programing languages and at such a young age it appears you have a considerable amount of dedication and motivation! Both of which are extremely beneficial for obtaining a degree this way.

As Rebel said, you do not need to be enrolled in a college to take CLEPs. The CollegeBoard will keep your exams on file and then when you are ready to enroll, all you is send off a transcript request.

IMO, I think the best place you may want to consider starting is with the Information Systems and Computer Applications CLEP, the Management Information Systems DSST or the Introduction to Computing DSST since all of these are in the field where you are extremely familiar with. By taking these tests first you can familiarize yourself with the testing process and not have to worry about content (my bet is you could ace them cold).

Using TESC's Computer Science BA as an example, Thomas Edison State College: Computer Science, you can just start filling in the tests from there. It sounded like from your post that you want to go through one of the Big 3 (?).

Best of luck to you!