First of all, I DID do a search ;o)

I'd like to know your personal experience of Penn Foster.

Can you tell me about the structure of the courses, and how you liked/disliked them as compared to just testing (CLEP/DANTES/etc)

Also, can this be a less expensive option than testing?

Why do they say over the phone that you MUST sign up for a degree program, if I've seen mention of taking individual courses?

Thanks!

You have to talk to the correct department to be able to take individual classes. Talk to Marybeth at 800-233-0259. I really enjoyed the financial managment course I took with them. I am still waiting on the final for college algebra, I didn't finish it the first time I took it and have to retake it. You have 1 hour only for the final and since I am math phobic I had issues with the final I was too slow. I am hoping to pass the retest and move on my way with managerial accounting course with them. Which they won't send until I take my retest that was mailed on 11/21 that the proctor hasn't received yet. Other benefits pretty reasonable priced and they send everything you need for the class to include books and calculators to you.

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Judy -
AS - Computer Science - Andover college
BS - Mgmt Information Systems -June 08
MS - Info Systems Mgmt - Start Aug 08 - UMBC

Is there a CLEP/DANTES equivalent to Financial Management? If so, why did you decide on Penn Foster? What was the cost of the course? (I hear $55/credit)

I took the financial management course with Penn Foster because I hadnt had finance or math courses in so long. This gave me the books and the calculator for the $55 a credit so $165 in total in a structured format. I would have had to buy books for DSST Finance as well as a calculator, pay for the exam, and pay the test center proctor fee. I am not military so it costs me $70 to take a DSST test. I think for what I would have spent on prep materials for the exam the cost was close to a wash. The book that came with the course was excellant. I need to verify that course price it might have been $185. I will check when I get home and let you know, unless someone else knows for sure right off the bat.

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Judy -
AS - Computer Science - Andover college
BS - Mgmt Information Systems -June 08
MS - Info Systems Mgmt - Start Aug 08 - UMBC

Penn Foster charges $55/credit PLUS a $20 proctor fee. So your total would likely have been (55x3)+20=185.

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My name is Rob
So far, I have earned 142 credits (12 not used).

Excelsior College
- BS Psychology (5 courses/exams to go)
- BS Business (2 courses/exams to go)
____________
Upcoming: N/A
In-progress: CSU-Pueblo: Labor Relations course
Most Recently Completed: English Composition at PFC (97).
Exams/Courses Passed To Date (43):
- Courses (4): 1 ECE, 1 CSU-Pueblo, 2 PFC.
- Exams (39): 24 DANTES, 15 CLEP.
GPA: 4.0

I am still in the process of Penn Foster's Business Statistics course- waiting on the results of my proctored final exam. Being extremely math-phobic, and having taken College Algebra some 20 years ago, I found myself up against a proverbial wall with the Stats requirement for my General Business degree with 9 credits to completion. Penn Foster seemed the best way out for me. The course itself was very instructional, and I did very well on the 3 unproctored and untimed exams . However, the 1 hour timed proctored exam was terrifying for me! In fact, I was such a nervous wreck, I was physically sick for 2 days afterwards. This exam was not only timed, but was also not multiple choice. I'm not sure if I passed it or not, but I am confident that I will be able to pass the re-take if need be. Having said all that, I do not feel that I could not have fulfilled the statistics requirement any better way- and it was a very inexpensive course as well. If worse comes to worse and I do not pass the re-take exam, I'm pretty confident that the learning I recieved would probably suffice to get me through the DSST Statistics exam. So... I think it was very worthwhile in getting me to where I need to be. Additionally, I recieved very good support from the school with all of my questions.

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-Need 6 more credits for Excelsior College BS in General Business
-Tested out of 46 credits to date
Credits to finish:
Operations Mgmt-CSU-Pueblo MGMT 311
Business Policy- CSU Pueblo MGMT 485 or TESC exam???

I believe I read in here that if you did very well on the unproctored exams and you fail the proctored exam, you might still be able to pass based on your cumulative score (if it is high enough).

The thing I do like most about this is, there seems to be multiple options for credit by exam. If you fail one method, you more than likely have one or two other methods to seek out. (CLEP/DANTES/ECE/TECEP/PF)

Everything you said is true. I spoke with Penn Foster about failing the retake and they told me that it is possible to still get credit if your cummulative scores are high enough, and that was my strategy. I took my time with the unit exams and ended up with a 97% average. The final accounts for 1/3 of the grade, so I know that I can score pretty lousy (like a 40) on the retake and still end up with a C for the course. My problem is that I can figure out the answers, but am not fast in getting there. The course filled my need to get the roadblock of statistics out of my way so I can finish my degree. And, if all else fails, Penn Foster courses provide an inexpensive method of preparing for the proficiency exam if that is the goal.

__________________
-Need 6 more credits for Excelsior College BS in General Business
-Tested out of 46 credits to date
Credits to finish:
Operations Mgmt-CSU-Pueblo MGMT 311
Business Policy- CSU Pueblo MGMT 485 or TESC exam???

I'm sure you'll do fine! I'm chomping at the bit to get started, but have to wait for my evaluations. (YAY my 100th post, and you just had yours as well!)