Help me set a game plan...

[gcalvin]

Wow! That's amazing! Do you know what scores you've received? Are you aiming for a certain GPA or just passing everything?

I do want a high GPA, but it's mainly for me -- I don't expect it to be important to anybody else. So far I have one B (in Labor Relations) and I think I'll live with it.

If I'm going for a high, actually-reported-to-the-law-school-GPA what are the best types of exams to take? BTW, I've read that the CLEPs aren't normally good for this, but that somehow Excelsior gives a grade for them? Could someone clarify this for me?

No grades for the CLEPs at Excelsior -- they are strictly pass/fail. They do award grades for the DSSTs and for their own ECEs. I believe I read that their new policy will be to have one Excelsior GPA and also an overall GPA (which would include the DSST exams) printed on the transcripts.

So, what's the best way:
Take all the CLEPs, then enroll at Excelsior, or enroll first, then take the tests? I can't imagine (hope not, anyway) taking more than a year to finish so I'm not concerned about the risk of another $500 yearly fee... aside from this, is there any other dis/advantage?

If you are sure you want to get your degree from Excelsior (and from what you've said, it does seem like a good plan for you) then I would say go ahead and enroll now. They do have some helpful features on their web site, like the Virtual Library, that are only available to enrolled students. But meanwhile you can go ahead and start taking CLEPs. Get yourself a paper copy of the CLEP Official Guide and the Princeton Review Cracking the CLEP. You'll probably find several exams you can pass without any study -- go ahead and take them. Basically, if your raw score on a practice exam in either of those books is over 60% (some say 50%) then you can take the real exam with confidence. Remember, they're pass/fail anyway, so a 51 is just as good as a 79.

If you haven't seen it yet, take a look at the bain4weeks site, but keep in mind that it is more than three years out-of-date now. There is still a lot of good information there, though.

Good Luck!

-Gary-