Deciding on an order/financial aid/new here

[gingermama]

Hi and welcome! Thank you!

I am going to give you a few tips, but there are many others here that are way more knowledgable.   I relate since I was just a little bit older than you and also had a housefull of kids when I got both my COSC degree and then my MBA.    (4 of my own and a special-needs stepdaughter.)  So, I can say from experience that this is very possible.   The kids will get used to your study and I personally felt like I was setting a good example showing my children that lifelong learning is admirable.

I sure hope so, lol!

The very first thing you should do is to have a degree plan.   There are tons on the site, but you can customize one to meet your needs.    The degree plan should serve as a guide for everything that you're doing.   It'll also help you avoid expensive mistakes like taking a test that you didn't need or accidentally skipping an important class.  Since you don't know what you want to study, I would suggest that you mention some preferences.  Do you have some background in a particular area?  What do you want to do with your degree?  Is there a job that you would love to get?  Are you terrible at something and want to avoid it?   And of course the most important on this forum, do you want a degree that you can mostly test out of or are you ok taking classes for a subject you really love?

So to answer these, my main goal is to put myself in a position to fully support myself and my kids, on my own... due to a potential marital status change.... so I want a BS or BA that will give me higher earning potential. I do have some what of a background in Marketing, and I held a WAH position doing digital and social media marketing for a year, and about a year running an at home business that relied heavily on social media marketing. I have been told that I have an "eye" for digital marketing as well. Prior to kids, my work experience was mainly administrative/customer service.  I also recently completed Real Estate School but haven't activated my license yet due to the costs and the fact that its a commission only business. So I think taking my strengths into consideration, I want my first degree to be in a business arena with a concentration on marketing if possible. That said, I would prefer to do this as quickly as possible.... so the ability to test out of the majority of classes is ideal. I don't like Math and science (I'm not bad at them but theres no joy there), and prefer English, history and liberal arts subjects so if I was able to get a BA instead of a BS, I would really prefer that because I think it would be more enjoyable. However, that aspect isn't as important with my end game being the ability to get a high paying job/career.  I do intend on continuing my education and getting my masters afterwards, but I have no clue what I would major in for that quite yet....

Regarding CLEP, you can see all of my tests in the signature.  I finished COSC back in 2011 before there were a lot of other options.   However, though my DS and DH, I have seen many of the newer options and I still prefer the tests - IF you consider yourself a fairly decent tester.    

I do consider myself a pretty good test taker, lol.

When I was testing, I went though a fairly strict routine.  First of all, I created a schedule and allowed myself only 10% deviation.  It's just too easy to postpone, so do allow yourself some leeway in case of an emergency, but not much else.    My schedule gave one week of study time for each test, but two for humanities (not difficult, but very broad) and maybe one of the other UL business courses.   My thought was that if I need more than a week or two to study, I should just take an online class and be done with it.

Good point! I agree with this, for sure.

When I studied, I relied heavily on the Instacert cards, but also VERY much on the feedback forum.   Just be careful and look at the dates on the feedback.    I would create notes for myself based on these two sources, then get out on the internet and research any concept they cover that I didn't know about.  

Regarding Straighterline and Shmoop (I can't speak about the others.)   I did take a couple of Straighterline classes and I found them to be ok.   My DS and DH and taking Shmoop right now and I will say that it is the cheapest source of credits.   $87 bucks a month for all the courses they have.   However, I have yet to see someone here that actually enjoys them.   From what I've seen, they are written in an extremely annoying manner (Yo - wanna learn some super cool history man?)  and their tests are challenging because it feels like things just pop up that weren't in the material.  However, for the price, you are allowed a retake of each test, I would say it's worth it to check them out since you're looking to go the cheapest way possible... even if you hate the experience, it'll pass, right?

I've been looking at the Saylor courses for credit classes, but I will check out these as well! Thank you!

Regarding federal aid, others can comment here.    I didn't use it for the undergrad.  I took out loans for my MBA, which was totally worth it, but SUCKS.   They're especially tough to pay off if you don't immediately use your new education to get a job to help pay for the loans.  But, I am not complaining, I've made more than enough of an ROI to pay.   Just make sure that you're clear on the post-school plan if you need loans.

I definitely don't want to use loans for my undergrad degree(s)


Lastly, because I am super annoying and extremely predictable (I constantly post this topic)  I will also VERY VERY strongly suggest that you start to create a professional profile and have a professional presence.    This is outside of the scope of this thread.  I think that everything you mentioned should be covered first, but that once you get on your way, make sure that your resume is up to date, create a LinkedIn account if you don't already have one, look for other opportunities to put something one your resume.  Having 6 kids is an incredible accomplishment, but in our day, employers don't really care, so women often have to be creative in making it look like there is no resume gap.   BUT - this is a talk for another day.  I just want to plant the seed so that all aspects of your future employment are covered.  It's not enough anymore to just get the degree.    But I and many others here can help if you don't already have that thought out.    And if you don't wish to work outside the home, there are still things you can do now to help raise your salary once you do decide to work.  OK, I'll shut up about the off-topic stuff now  :

Very good seeds! Thank you!  I do have a Linkdin but need to update it, lol.

Overall, you've picked a great forum.   I consider the people here that were active in the forum during my study years my fellow alumni and have stayed in touch with several over the years.   Everyone will genuinely try to give you the best advice and help as much as possible.    Don't worry if you have lots of questions!  We all did at first!

Thank you so much! I am so happy there are others who came before me and paved the way! Awesome advice too, thank you!