College Plus

[truth16]

Just wondering how many people are doing College Plus? It seams to me that a lot of people are doing it. so this poll is to see if you are doing college plus then rank that you are doing it and if you like it or dont.

[BrandeX]

Voted no, I wouldn't need to pay someone money to call TESC for me.

[cookderosa]

No way. I love Voeller's book, though outdated, it was the reason I started down this road. Since I thrive on the do-it-yourself, save money, think outside the box, you can imagine that I RAN to my first CLEP test.

His book TAUGHT a man to fish, his COMPANY feeds you fish for a day (for a hefty fee) and his philosophical flip turned me off. He could have impressed me if he updated his book, or opened a consulting business, or spent his time speaking at homeschool conferences....I'm all for making a living doing what you know and love....but he's a glorified travel agent for CLEP, making it seem like no one can do this WITHOUT HIS COMPANY "ushering" you through the big bad process! Really? Why on earth would someone think they need them to interpret what's already out there for the public? READ THE COLLEGE HANDBOOK or the website. Study and pass your CLEP. It's seriously the simplest thing ever. When you get stuck, ask here for free.

[MomOfMany]

I actually set up an appt to have a phone session with them about my son a few months ago. I thought the advisor was so unprofessional and ignorant that I wouldn't let him mentor for free, much less pay $1500 just in start up fees for it.

I swear if he called me by the completely unrelated name (Debbie?!) or used the phrases. "hey buddy" or "in English that means way cool" one more time I'd have reached through the phone and beat him with his end of it. And he didn't answer ANY of our questions. It was abundantly apparent he was reading from a cold call sales script. A poorly written one at that. And this was NOT a cold sale call. We had called expressing interest and scheduled an interview session, so trying to sell me at all, much less in such a poor manner, was completely unnecessary as we were obviously already sold on the idea of CLEP and distant learning. Biggest waste of 40 minutes ever.

[Elinor]

When I first started clepping, I thought that I might use CollegePlus for the last 30-60 credits. Once I passed the 60-credit mark, and then the 90... I decided that I could, with the help from the folks on this wonderful forum and a good friend who had already graduated from TESC, manage to graduate without paying the exorbitant price of CP.

I don't really know how CP works, so it's possible they could have laid out my tests in a slightly more efficient way that I did. However, I really don't think I've done all that bad by myself, and just being able to say that I laid out, went after, and achieved my testing and degree goals by myself (with a little help from my friends ) is something I'm really looking forward to.

Maybe CP could have allowed me to graduate even faster too, but as it is, or as I hope it will be, it'll only be 2 years from 0 to 120 credits. I cautiously started in January 2010, and I hope to meet the TESC December 2011 graduation deadlines. If TESC accepts everything (and I think they should - I'm gonna fight 'em if they don't!), and IF I don't fail this course I'm in the middle of, I should meet the deadline! I'm SO excited!

[burbuja0512]

I learned about College Plus probably from comments on this forum or perhaps comments from a CLEP for home school group I'm a part of.

I went to their website and immediately decided it was a waste of money for DS. Perhaps it would help someone that felt totally lost helping their kids through the testing process, but since I've done it myself, I feel very prepared to help DS. There's a lot that I don't know, but when I have a question, I come here and ask the wonderful people on this forum.

[cookderosa]

I actually set up an appt to have a phone session with them about my son a few months ago. I thought the advisor was so unprofessional and ignorant that I wouldn't let him mentor for free, much less pay $1500 just in start up fees for it.

I swear if he called me by the completely unrelated name (Debbie?!) or used the phrases. "hey buddy" or "in English that means way cool" one more time I'd have reached through the phone and beat him with his end of it. And he didn't answer ANY of our questions. It was abundantly apparent he was reading from a cold call sales script. A poorly written one at that. And this was NOT a cold sale call. We had called expressing interest and scheduled an interview session, so trying to sell me at all, much less in such a poor manner, was completely unnecessary as we were obviously already sold on the idea of CLEP and distant learning. Biggest waste of 40 minutes ever.

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LOL You make me want to call just to mess with them milelol: I love being called Buddy, that gives me a chance to tell him that I'm not his buddy, I'm Mrs. DeRosa. I also love asking questions that I already know the answer too! Oooooo I may save all that fun for Friday, I've already had fun today

[FinancialWorld]

Originally I was thinking about using CP, but my brother (who had already received his degree from TESC) convinced me to go at it by myself. I'm glade I did. It would have been so much more expensive to get my degree. I've learned so much more by figuring things out by myself. I believe it has educated me a lot more then if I paid someone else to figure it out for me. Now don't get me wrong, I know CP is great (I personally know some of the mentors and have read Voellers's book), but its not for me. I know many people that would benefit from using their service, because they won't figure the stuff out for themselves, I can get by without it (Praise the LORD $$$$ milelol: ).

@MomOfMany. That's to bad about the mentor that you talked to. It's not good on the company's reputation. Most of the mentors I know are very bright, but I still wouldn't use CP.

All in all, CP is a great concept, with a very good business strategy, but it's really not needed. I don't mean to be negative, but that's just my perception of CP.

[truth16]

Just to get a couple things strait. I did not mean anything against CollegePlus when I posted this thread. I just wanted to see what the personal views out there were. Now for my view. I love some of the services that CollegePlus offers. The Learning network for one. I am not a current student but use the learning network all the time to study for cleps. They offer it from their sister network Speedyprep. Look in to it if you still have basic cleps left. The fact that they are a Christian company is great! I would definitely recommend it for anybody that may need some direction!

[burbuja0512]

The fact that they are a Christian company is great! I would definitely recommend it for anybody that may need some direction!

This is actually one piece I was wondering about. My family is non-religious so it doesn't matter one way or the other to us, but there were a couple of thoughts I had after reviewing their website.

First of all, there is a very wide variety of thought within the Christian community and I didn't see that they made their perspective very clear. For example, within the Christian homeschool world, there are very divided opinions about evolution and other social topics. I've seen everything from the extremely liberal to extremely conservative and everything in-between. I would be curious what their views are. Are they a Christian company due to honest values, or is their coaching and curriculum based on a certain view point?

Also - one word of caution from someone who used to sell advertising to businesses. (thank goodness I got out of ad sales) Some of the best, most hard working people I ever spoke to advertised their company as Christian, but also some of the sleaziest did as well. Since there is no official criteria for advertising as a Christian company, no one can really check up on this.

I know I'm getting a little off topic here, but just wanted to bring it up... It's always good to do research and be cautious before spending money anywhere.

Sorry! I'm getting a bit too serious I don't think anyone took the thread topic as either for or against College Plus. I'm not sure that you'll see a lot of College Plus users here simply because if we can make our way through the forum, we'll find a lot of the answers on our own that CP will have us pay for. I still think that paying someone to help you through the testing process will save you time and money versus going the traditional route regardless of whether you use CP or some other method.