Bibby Wrote:So I finally graduated with my A.A. degree last Sunday, although I technically finished the program during the summer term. Needless to say, passing 14 CLEPs was a huge help in reaching this goal. Coming in, I was unsure I'd ever be able to make this college thing a reality, and it feels great to have reached this milestone - especially since I was one of a tiny number of graduates who maintained a perfect 4.0 GPA.

I'm now beginning a bachelor's program in Information Technology Management, which I chose after some lumps in the road at another university I was originally planning to transfer to. I chose this program because it seemed to offer a wide range of relevant, real-world skills at a sane price. Since I have no idea what will happen next in this shaky economy, and since many majors at public universities seemed awfully narrow for my taste, selecting a bachelor's program came with at least a little anxiety.

I'm going to miss taking CLEP exams every few weeks - I can't recall a more motivating feeling than walking into a test center and acing a test that hardly anyone else ever takes, and coming out with a printout that's equivalent to an entire semester of work. By the time I took my last CLEP, everyone in the testing center knew me on a first-name basis. I honestly believe I retained as much - or maybe more - from my CLEP studies as I did taking regular classes, so I wasn't just cramming stuff and dumping it out of my brain the next day. I'll miss my time taking CLEPs, although I haven't ruled out taking English Literature or American Literature in the future to apply towards an English degree (which is really getting ahead of myself, since I'm not sure if there's any college where I could earn an English degree taking just 15-18 credit hours after transferring, although I could always go for a master's in English).

I discovered this place after I'd begun preparing for my CLEPs, but you've still been quite helpful for me. I'll keep visiting here in the future - you've got some great resources and some amazing people here, and I exhort you to keep up the good work. Cheers.