CLEP Forum - CLEP Study - CLEP Testing

barcotta · #10 (**permalink**) 06-17-2008, 09:27 AM

Well Cindy...where to start? First off I'd like to complement you on successfully unearthing some negative "press" on EC. Part of the reason I chose EC was because despite my best efforts--I wasn't able to find ANY bad press. So--it appears you are leaving no stone unturned--which is good. However, whoever wrote that review seems a little....well....green. I mean, she just uses a lot of CAPITALIZATION and EXCLAMATION POINTS to describe some otherwise NORMAL COSTS AND TRANSACTIONS!!

I'll just hit a couple obvious points quickly. First off, anytime you sign something agreeing to divide a cost into a series of payments--you are almost always, in fact, obligated to make all of those payments. If you could find reviews of other products from this person, they would probably sound something like:

...and when I signed a piece of paper dividing the cost of my car into 36 payments of $400 each, I had no idea I would have to make EVERY PAYMENT! ON TIME! I got sick shortly thereafter and stopped making payments--but they didn't care and charged MORE INTEREST and sent me to COLLECTIONS!!

What she refers to as the "admissions fee" is the cost of the first year's tuition--so it actually covers a year's worth of semesters and no one should find it shocking that you are, in fact, obligated to pay that. After the first year, you pay about half of that each subsequent year. However, that was written before Excelsior received their Title IV status so now you can use federal loan programs if you choose. However, they also expect you to pay them!

Based on her account alone, they didn't ask for any medical records at all. They just asked for a doctor's note stating her diagnosis and the length of time she would be disabled. Nothing wrong that. I don't know why she's YELLING about PRIVATE MEDICAL RECORDS--but, like I said, it appears that she may have crawled out from under one of those rocks you've been overturning!

In any event, I would be interested in reading any other "nasty reviews" you've seen--so please keep them coming. I applaud your tenacity and would encourage you to thoroughly search this forum in particular to make a fully-informed decision.

As far as the issues raised here, you should not let any of that "information" influence your decision. Any of the "big 3" will be just fine based on what I've learned--but you shouldn't let long accreditation descriptions or uninformed financing rants guide your decision. The "Cinderly synopsis" in this thread is a great place to do a rough comparison for costs. Just keep in mind, if you plan to follow the testing route and use as many CLEP and DSST tests as you can, the costs of courses at any of these colleges are not nearly as important as the other factors.

Good luck!