Testing Out of College

try2pingit

Hey Guys! I'm quite new to posting in techexams, I've been lurking here for about a year now . This site is treasure!

I wanted to encourage you guys, especially the ones completing a college degree (or a cert). I was able to get ~20 college credits in 1 month by testing out through CLEP. Mind you, this takes about 2 semesters to accomplish in a classroom. Testing out is a piece of cake and can save you $$$$. I paid ~$90 for each exam, so that's $90 fee X 6 exams=$540. Now the tuition rate at the college I was at is $475/per credit. One of the tests I took was worth 6 college credits, but assuming they were 3 each...6 exams X 3 credits= 18 ...18 X $475=$8550!!! That's right! I saved $8010!

This is just some insight on alternatives to sitting in a classroom throughout the whole college curriculum. You could test out by taking CLEP, and/or DANTES exams. Both are standardized, but you could check with your college to confirm whether or not they accept those credits. So if you WGU students (or any other Uni) want to avoid taking a course in Humanities, clep it out!

Save valuable TIME & MONEY

Picture yourself knocking out 2 or more years of college by testing out in a matter of a few months. This is doable...no catch.

Here are the sites you could check out if you'd like more info..
About the College Level Examination Program (CLEP) (CLEP)
DSST - GetCollegeCredit.com (DANTES/DSST)

I wasn't paid for this

Cisco Inferno

you never mentioned which courses you tested out of.

erpadmin

CLEP is great if you attend a regular school. However, as far as WGU is concerned, the amount of effort you spend on a class vs. CLEPping is almost the same.

If I wanted to CLEP out of Algebra, for example, and I'm weak on math, I'd still have to spend the same amount of prep work that I would otherwise do for the Algebra course (QLC1). Plus, once a student enrolls in WGU, that student is forced to take WGU classes anyway.

Otherwise, it is a great idea to CLEP courses before one enrolls in a school like WGU. Alternatively, there are other alternatives such as www.straighterline.com where one could take a good deal of freshman courses and save money time that way. In my case, if I didn't have to worry about transferring my initial CompTIA certs before the 5 year deadline was up, I would have taken that route. However, I would have saved money, but not time....it would take just as long going that route for the amount of Gen-Eds I needed to take, as opposed to just getting them over with at WGU. I only have Math and Science left in that regard, and I plan on knocking those out my next term.

If you're at a more regular school though, CLEP/DANTES are a great idea though if you're in a situation where it'd be more financially beneficial to utilize them and not otherwise pressed for time.

try2pingit

@Cisco Inferno - I tested out of the following:
Analyzing and Interpreting Literature
Introductory Psychology
Introductory Sociology
College Mathematics
Principles of Management
Principles of Marketing

I'm currently studying for the Principles of Macroeconomics CLEP.

@erpdmin - your right about the effort it may take for a WGU course and a CLEP. But I think the difference is significant. In a college course you will still have to submit assignments, reports, projects and take tests and wait for your grades as usual, as opposed to taking 1 test for the instant credit. In addition, your tied down to the $2800 tuition for 6 months, it turns out to be self-paced for that duration only... like you said being pressed for time. No doubt, you could finish most of your WGU degree in one semester but that depends on the students aptitude and diligence. I'm not a math guy and I passed that test with only a few days of study. Since I'm collegeloanphobic and on a tight budget, I rather test out as much as possible according to my $ituation. Good luck on your graduation! It's right around the corner!

eansdad

You can find some info on this type of degree getting at BAin4Weeks.com. CLEP and Dantes are good and all but almost all colleges and universities require a certain amount of course work be completed at their school. Not to mention not all exams will transfer into course work that the school of your choice will require. If planned right and you have the time then these can be a useful tool to completing a degree fast.

Cisco Inferno

try2pingit wrote: »

@Cisco Inferno - I tested out of the following:
Analyzing and Interpreting Literature
Introductory Psychology
Introductory Sociology
College Mathematics
Principles of Management
Principles of Marketing

I'm currently studying for the Principles of Macroeconomics CLEP.

daaaamn how old are you and how did you get time to study for those?

petedude

Cisco Inferno wrote: »

daaaamn how old are you and how did you get time to study for those?

That's nothing. There are people at CLEP Forum - CLEP Study - CLEP Testing - Study Guide and Strategies putting away far more credits than that. Some exams may only take people a couple weeks and a review guide to finish, while others may take a couple months and some thick books.

I keep mentioning it, but the CLEP/DSST method is fantastic for people who don't want to go the WGU route, or need to get an associate's for transferring into WGU. I can certainly say I wish I'd known about it sooner. It can be a faster, cheaper and certainly easier to schedule way of getting college credit than slogging it out in dry classes.

try2pingit

@eansdad - I've been there before

@Cisco Inferno - I'm 22, I was actually unemployed at the time, but I assure you that I didn't spend all day everyday studying either

@petedude - You're right dude. There are people out there that tear these exams apart. I studied like 2 days for Sociology, its a breeze especially if you enjoy the material which I have so far.

My plan is to complete my Bachelors in Information Technology and then probably go B&M into New York University for an MBA. For some reason I'm willing to pay for the name... It's the top #3 school in NY, right after Cornell University, and Columbia University. Although, there shouldn't be anything stopping me from applying to the first 2... I want to get into deep Cisco stuff at the same time too, it's alot lol. If that was the case I should get a Masters specializing in Networks then...but not sure about that.

frank29

I am very interested in taking some CLEPs before i start at WGU but do you know if after i stat studying at WGU i can still take and transfer more CLEPs in or thats not possible.

DPG

So people are also dumping their way to college degrees?!

erpadmin

DPG wrote: »

So people are also dumping their way to college degrees?!

CLEP exams are a very legitimate and affordable way to earn college credits. A lot of people do it so they can save money.

The drawback to CLEPs is that you're (usually) only allowed certain amount of credits to CLEP-out.

CLEP - College Level Examination Program (CLEP) -Save Time. Save Money. Take CLEP | College Board CLEP Site