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+--- Thread: How did you end up here? (/Thread-How-did-you-end-up-here)
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How did you end up here? - thecontrarian - 12-18-2021
I'm really be interested in how or why everyone is here. Obv this thing we do isn't mainstream. I'm sure everyone has a different background or story on how they landed here. Its like the cantina on mos eisley but chill. Please don't take this as flex bcoz I messed up myself big-time so I'm all part of it too. Its genuine question jus bcoz I'm intrested.
Financial problem?
What went wrong in HS?
Go college and drop-out?
Other things that happen ...
What you're goal is?
RE: How did you end up here? - rachel83az - 12-18-2021
I had no interest in spending years of my life and going tens of thousands into debt for a traditional college degree. I originally came here after stumbling on BAin4Weeks. Even at that point, it was a bit outdated. But the concept of "testing out" of a degree intrigued me.
RE: How did you end up here? - ReyMysterioso - 12-18-2021
I grew up poor. I lived in a low income rural area. Tiny working class "village." Working class family. I was "the smart one," in my family. Very nerdy, academic whiz kid and my family believed I was the one destined to be the first to go to college. We were banking on scholarships because of my academics. When I hit my mid teens I ran into bout of undiagnosed depression. Grades went to crap, I got very unmotivated and disengaged from participating in life.
Ended up working in factories for over a decade. Arrested development. Drifting through life. Somewhere along the way I stumbled on BAin4weeks and got really interested in the idea of it a degree without a 4-year and gigantic financial commitment was a possibility. But Lawrie Miller's methods were really impractical for my situation.
Revisited the idea about 5 years later and that's when I found degreeforum. But the process of tracking all your credits and signing up for all the different accounts you need to sign up for and trying to figure out a degree plan seemed very overwhelming. I couldn't find the motivation to really get started.
Fast forward another 3 years. After getting into a relationship what is now my current wife, and her daughter, she told me about how she got pregnant, got unaddicted to drugs, went back to juco and got a nursing degree while also being a single parent and working at a restaurant.
That seemed like such an improbable feat that my laziness and inertia seemed like weak excuses in comparison - and were.
Wanting to be a better provider for them was all the motivation I needed to get off my duff, start grinding and never stop until I FINALLY 20 years late, I did what I was meant to do. Go to college and get a degree.
RE: How did you end up here? - Holmes - 12-18-2021
A decade ago or so, I was forced to dropout from the college (it was an Electrical Engineering degree, where I finished 3 out of 5 years) and leave my country altogether. I did not care that much back then because I had bigger problems in life, but eventually I faced many limitations because I don't have a bachelor's degree.
I don't like the conventional path nor do I have time for it, so I knew it must be an online degree. I read before about "DIY degree" and "The big 3", and somehow I had this forum (and the other one, degreeinfo) in my bookmarks. So I ended up here as a member.
RE: How did you end up here? - Alpha - 12-18-2021
With a classroom-based Bachelors and Masters in my pocket, I'm investigating the possibility of a "personal enrichment degree."
RE: How did you end up here? - bjcheung77 - 12-18-2021
Long story short: Over two decades ago, I was looking into continuing my education, read the Dr. Bear's books to see which schools interested me, stumbled upon BA4weeks, and decided to check out DegreeInfo/DegreeForum (lurker for years). The Big 3 were all correspondence schools that allowed 100% transfer and didn't feel "real" to me, for some reason I thought they were diploma mill'ish because of that and I wanted slightly better (yes, by 2000 I was eyeing U of Phoenix, luckily, cost was the drawback and I couldn't afford them)...
Waited another decade, by 2012 I was looking at WGU and was going to jump in as the Big 3 instituted the cornerstone/capstones for their degrees, and I thought that they had "lost that image" of being degree mill'ish... but the two degrees I wanted no longer was offered the following year (BA NSM/Social Science double major). After a vacation to Hawaii in December of 2015, I was fed up with no degree, my "get it done attitude" got me started in registering an account and "documenting my journey and keeping myself accountable"...
RE: How did you end up here? - P226mem - 12-18-2021
At end of high school, I realized traditional full time on campus route was not something possible with my specific learning difference (disability). Heard about the study cards on the IC side of things through homeschooling contacts. After passing CLEP exams and one class at a time local community college online sections (pre covid) I was able to get an associates (from CLEP and courses). That encouraged me enough to keep checking back here on this forum to see if bachelors was possible with more ACE credits. slow and steady process.
RE: How did you end up here? - carebear_007 - 12-19-2021
I had either heard of or read about "CLEP"ing out of courses. I've asked relatives who went to the traditional route about it and none had heard of what I was talking about. I even said to my sister, "can you imagine if you could test out of courses you already know?". Then I started to get more and more serious about it and doing research. I found out that the local junior college would accept a limited amount of CLEP credits. So I started looking into where to take the test. I found out that Cal State had a testing office. I felt like I was getting closer to figuring things out. Is it really possible to get a degree and not spend years and tens of thousands of dollars? Because I still didn't know anybody who had successfully done it, I went to YouTube. I found Nathan Young's "Bachelor's degree in 1 year" video diary. My plan went to the backburner for a few years because of life. Then the pandemic happened and I got back into it. I went back to researching online on how to study for CLEP courses, which lead me to the CLEP subreddit and posted several questions on the forum and someone directed me here. And now, about a year later, I'm waiting for my bachelor's to be conferred
RE: How did you end up here? - dfrecore - 12-19-2021
I had 72cr from 3 different schools earned from 1988-2000, and was trying to figure out how to cobble together a degree with them. I stumbled onto BAin4Weeks, which led me here. I started with ALEKS math, then CLEP/DSST exams, because back in 2011 there weren't all of these awesome options. Got lots of free credits through the years (FEMA courses back when the Big 3 accepted them in 2011; Kaplan's PLA course in 2014; Sophia's free course and The Institute's free Ethics course in 2015; Ed4Credit offering me a free course and Study.com's 6 free courses over 3 months in 2017). Figured out how to get some old UL credits from the ACA (work training in 2000/2001) to get onto my ACE transcript. Managed to enroll at TESU in 2014, and put together a degree plan, and took advantage of the ability to use TECEP's for residency (no longer available). Managed to finally get it all together and get the degree finished and graduated in 2018. Stuck to my plan the whole time, and was able to JUMP on a course at my local CC when they offered the final course I needed for the HR/OM concentration (I really wanted that but couldn't afford it and thought I'd have to do Gen Mgmt instead).
I was a homeschooling mom during all this time, with a husband who traveled a LOT, so I wasn't able to even consider things like CBE's, and we didn't have a ton of money to spare for courses. The $200 I spent on PF's Financial Management was HARD to scrape together. It was the most I spent on a single course the whole time!
All in all, having a degree plan, but being flexible enough to be able to take advantage of opportunities that presented themselves was key.
RE: How did you end up here? - jsh1138 - 12-19-2021
5 or 6 years ago one of my friends was talking about finishing her degree and how she couldn't afford it and I was googling around trying to show her she could do it and I found a site about getting your BA in 30 days and then that led me here.
Next month I will be starting the capstone to my 3rd degree since then. She still hasn't finished the degree she was talking about finishing.