The Duggars and CollegePlus

[Cyrus]

I'm pretty much done with the CP debate --- that dead horse is starting to smell. However, I think the side debate on recent high school grads going the test out route is pretty interesting. I'm pretty much in agreement with Publius.

The advantages of being able to earn a degree cheaply and quickly are just as strong a draw to the young as the old. Every year not in school is a year you can be bringing in a real salary, and you can be earning a salary without a ton of debt sitting over your head. I also agree with his assertion that earning a BS or BA a couple years quicker than grads with whom you are competing can be an asset instead of liability in terms of finding a job. If I were hiring an entry level position, I'd be pretty impressed with an 18 or 19 year old kid who has already earned a bachelors. This goes doubly for an intern position where I have little risk in trying him out for a couple months. The way I see it is not so much that he is knocking the traditional student down (as someone else stated), but he is setting himself a apart by proving that he can accomplish a goal (earn a degree) faster and cheaper than other students. [As a side note, I actually am quite impressed with Publius. I thought he was much older. He writes and argues his position very well.]

When I really was 18 (it was a while ago) I joined the Army, because I pretty much hated school. Plus, I wanted to be a computer programmer, and I was able to get a guarantee from the Army that they would train me as a programmer. I also believed that having 4 years experience working as a computer programmer in the Army would give me an edge over people who only had degrees. I was absolutely right. The Army trained me to be a programmer; I did the exact same job as Army civilian programmers; I was just was paid a lot less than the civilian programmers. Four years later, when I got out of the Army, I had no problem finding a job, because I had lots of experience and plenty of people to use as references. It was the smartest thing I ever did.

If I were doing it all over again today, I would start testing out of college courses while I was still in high school. I'd do everything I could to earn my BS while I was still in high school. Then after I graduated I would go into the service as an officer this time around, but I'd probably go into the Navy, and I'd probably make it a career (officers make decent money and have great retirement benefits).

This kind of career appeals to me, but I'm sure it doesn't appeal to everyone. However, even if I had other career aspirations, I'd still take advantage of testing out as much as possible. If I were going for a STEM field I would try to find a college that would accept an AA or AS from one of the Big 3 so that I could get my real degree a couple years early. If I were trying to get into Med school or a big name grad school, I still might even do the Big 3 test out route followed by a year long Post Bacc program at a state university. If I were in high school and trying to get into Harvard, Stanford, Princeton, or Yale then I'd still be taking advantage of CBEs to help me standout against my peers.

People 18 and younger have used CP and gotten their Bachelors, and gone on.
Yes... the army was a good way to do it and get experience, but that is not an option. That funding has been cut so that we can supply Muslims in Egypt with American Military Aircraft... something is wrong there but I wont go into that....
With CP, and the internships and job shadowing that they get you into, you get the same experience, and have the same cutting edge, as well as being able to get into the work force faster than others going through traditional college routes... hey don't get me wrong. I know and look up to several people who are doing the traditional route, and graduating well, and have a job right off... but I also know people who waste money on college, studying this and that until they find something they like, and make it through college with their degree...