Studying on a Schedule, week by week

[RedBeardVII]

Hi all.

Between Fast, Cheap, Easy, I'm opting for Cheap. Here is the rough calculation of what I'm attempting: 1 class every 1.5 weeks (approx 8 CH/month), done in 15 months.

I guess what I'm asking is, "OK, but how do you -really- do it?" Step by step.

So, when I log into my class on Modern States or Saylor (the only two that I have experience with) they want to force me to watch every video, read evey slide, page by page, do all the quiz questions, etc. All the way to about 60 hourse worth of content before I can access the Final Exam/CLEP and get my credits. Even watching videos at 2x it would still take plenty of time. As a working adult, how do I possibly get through all that in a week and a half? Or am I just missing something?

Is the Test-Study-Retest method applicable to these two websites? Or is this the price that I pay for trying to keep everything inexpensive - as opposed to Sophia.com or something?

(Or am I just procrastinating, as I've not touched my classes yet this morning? Ha Ha.) 

Thanks in advance.


TLDR: How do you -really- pass your classes so quickly? Do you watch all the videos? Read the syllabus then study from a library book and go directly to the Final Exam? Or study differently, depending on the source / provider?

[Pats20]

I don’t think you’re required to watch the videos in Sophia. Although I may be wrong, it’s been a year since I’ve taken any. I’m going to be honest here, there are some super information processors on this forum that can knock out a degree in a year, but that’s not going to be the norm. It’s probably gonna take 15-20 hours per week for 2 years If you’re a working adult with a home and family. That’s still an amazing feat. Bachelors degrees take most people 4-5 years so consider 2 years a job well done. Now if you have an extensive background in your chosen degree field you may be able to cut that down. Everyone is different. Everyone has different circumstances.

[rachel83az]

Yes, being forced to watch/read all the content at ModernStates/Saylor is the price you pay for trying to keep things "cheap". Once you take that into account, Sophia.org courses are actually more affordable. After all, how much is your time worth? With Sophia, an adult can reasonably complete most of what they offer in 2-3 months. 4 at the outside. 90-ish credits for $316 (4 months) works out to less than $4 per credit. Until the change to the new proctor at Saylor, that's even cheaper than Saylor is! English Comp at Sophia should be avoided. As should Public Speaking if you're going to TESU.

As Pats20 said, you're not REQUIRED to watch any of Sophia's videos. We do strongly recommend it for Statistics, but the others can be watched (or not) as desired.

If you're going to TESU or COSC, the part that will take you the most time will likely be obtaining the RA credits.

[Pats20]

It took me approx 350 hours to complete English 1&2 and public speaking through Sophia. They were definitely much more difficult and time consuming than my kids community college ra versions. No joke.

[ss20ts]

It took me approx 350 hours to complete English 1&2 and public speaking through Sophia. They were definitely much more difficult and time consuming than my kids community college ra versions. No joke.

I started Eng Comp 2 and submitted all the way up to the 6th paper. The grading was HORRIBLE for this class and took WEEKS to come back. you can't move on until your papers are graded either. I ended up dropping it. I spent all 60 days on and was almost done with my first extension and still had yet another paper to write, submit, and be graded. I ended up completing Eng Comp 2 at UMPI is 3 days....that includes reading all of the course content, writing my rough draft, submitting my rough draft, my rough draft coming back with noted changes to make, making those requested changes, submitting my final paper, and being graded. 3 days! Sophia was on something day 74. It was so stressful and time consuming. I never recommend Sophia's Eng Comp courses to anyone. You're really better offer finding the courses at a college. You'll do less work. The grading has to be better!

[ReyMysterioso]

Do Sophia. (Except Eng comp I & Ii and public speaking requirement.) You'll like it a lot.

[Pats20]

I don’t regret taking them through Sophia. I feel like I learned a lot by doing so. I felt the grading was fair for English 1 and public speaking. The grading for English 2 was a bear, and very unreasonable. I had to use extensions for all 3 courses. I didn’t think about doing these through study.com or another source since Sophia at the time was free and I really didn’t know Other sources would’ve saved me time. My wife took English 1 at community college 10 years ago online and the syllabus said that “ you will do far more reading and writing in my online class  than if you were in my traditional class. “ that was no joke. Tons and tons of reading and writing. 10 page written final that took her 18 hours straight to complete. So I figured a large time commitment was just part of the process. 
Fast forward Now I hear that some other sources are much easier. My two kids in community college now barely did anything in their English 1&2. 200-300 word essays maybe a 500. Not 1500- 2000. No joke they’ve got it made.

[bjcheung77]

For lower level, it's CLEP/MS & Sophia.org combo that I recommend, for UL - Study.com, if you need RA credits it's a different story. Take TECEPS or UEXCELS for exams, or TEL/ONU for courses to get RA credits instead of ACE recommendations for credit.

[LevelUP]

So, when I log into my class on Modern States or Saylor (the only two that I have experience with) they want to force me to watch every video, read evey slide, page by page, do all the quiz questions, etc. All the way to about 60 hourse worth of content before I can access the Final Exam/CLEP and get my credits. Even watching videos at 2x it would still take plenty of time.


TLDR: How do you -really- pass your classes so quickly? Do you watch all the videos? Read the syllabus then study from a library book and go directly to the Final Exam? Or study differently, depending on the source / provider?

I can't comment on every single ModernStates course, but for the English Comp (which was 6cr 2 classes worth of credit), it only took me around 5 hours to go through the ModernStates course watching all videos 2x speed. Most of the videos were short 2min videos. 

I was using a combo of ModernStates, Peterson Test/Guides, Quizlets, and Instantcert.

I don’t think you’re required to watch the videos in Sophia. Although I may be wrong, it’s been a year since I’ve taken any. I’m going to be honest here, there are some super information processors on this forum that can knock out a degree in a year, but that’s not going to be the norm. It’s probably gonna take 15-20 hours per week for 2 years If you’re a working adult with a home and family. 

You don't have to watch the Sophia videos, the transcript is the same thing word for word, and you can read faster than you can hear information. However, some videos were interesting, so I did watch some. 

I wouldn't say there are super nerds here, just people using efficient studying techniques.

15-20hrs per week is a good pace. You should be able to do at least 1 class per week.

As Pats20 said, you're not REQUIRED to watch any of Sophia's videos. We do strongly recommend it for Statistics, but the others can be watched (or not) as desired.

The problem with doing a speedrun through Modern States is:
#1 You must score 75% or higher to get a voucher. 
#2 You must pass the CLEP exam

It took me approx 350 hours to complete English 1&2 and public speaking through Sophia. They were definitely much more difficult and time consuming than my kids community college ra versions. No joke.

Quote from the book, How to Win at College, 
"You must avoid bad courses at all costs.  They will make you unhappy, they will upset your academic momentum, they will sap your will to achieve, and they will hurt your grades."

This is where learning from other student's experiences here on DF can help you choose the best path to take.

[dfrecore]

Honestly, I think that using a variety of course providers and exam will be the key to getting through quickly. For instance, if you think you can pass specific exams without studying, take those in whatever format without studying to save time. I took English Comp I in CC, then later took the English Composition II TECEP exam with no studying. While I was at it, I took the Technical Writing TECEP as well. I took math through ALEKS (Beginning, Intermediate & College Algebra) and then took the Applied Liberal Arts Math TECEP after those. I took the Intro to Computing DSST exam and then the Computer Concepts & Applications TECEP.

Study.com has some of these kind of built in, especially for the BSBA: since you need Financial & Managerial Accounting for instance, it's pretty easy to also do Intermediate Algebra afterwards, and a lot of your lessons will already be completed. If you take BUS 120: International Business and BUS 102: Principles of Marketing for the core, it makes sense to take BUS 308: Globalization and International Management and MARK 303: Global Marketing for the AoS. Knowing about things like this are very helpful.

Now, if your goal is to save money, then you could take Financial Accounting through Sophia - but that's not going to yield as many benefits as if you took it through Study.com for the above reason.

So my advice is to look for ways to save TIME as much as money. I personally didn't have much of either when I was going through, so I did what I could, but if I could have planned it out for optimal speed, I would have done so, and saved up in between months when I took several overlapping courses/exams.