G’day,

I have been fairly busy of late and haven’t been around the forum much, but I wanted to come back and post a little success story. I know that when I started my journey toward gaining a degree through an online college with a lot of CLEP and DANTES tests I was unsure of the legitimacy of this approach or whether the degree would be recognized by potential employers. Despite the many posts in this forum assuring me that it was all legitimate and that the degree would be recognized, there seemed to be almost as many posts questioning the value of an online degree. Now that I have completed the degree and put it to good use, I wanted to share my story in the hope that I may encourage those still on their journey as I was encouraged during mine.

When I started my online degree I was employed as a contractor for a global organization at $50k a year but without any benefits; no vacation, no sick leave, no insurance and no possibility of being hired as a permanent employee. I watched positions become vacant and found that without the degree I wasn’t even considered for them despite my 20+ year’s experience. That was until I finished my degree. I was fortunate enough that a position became vacant around the same time as I completed my studies. My application wasn’t automatically discarded; I made it through the interview and was offered the permanent position I was after.

A month after completing my degree I find myself in a new position with a base salary of $80k a year, all the benefits that come with being employed in a permanent position and with the opportunity of future advancement within the organization.

I won’t say that the degree got me the job because it didn’t. My work history, experience and industry certifications definitely played a big part in my being the successful candidate, but without the degree I would never have been able to showcase the rest.

I wanted to share this with you because I know that during my hours of study I had my doubts and suffered through times where my motivation was low, but thanks to the encouragement and the success stories of many of the forum members I stuck at it and now I am reaping the rewards. I hope my story helps you as the many success stories I have read here helped me.

Regards

__________________
Ron

Excelsior-BS Operations Management

Completed:
Excelsior Courses - 4 - 3 "A"s and 1 "P" - 10 Credits (3 UL)
CLEP Exams - 14 - 14 "P"s - 57 Credits
DANTES Exams - 5 - 5 "A"s - 15 Credits (3 UL)
APICS Exams - 5 - 5 "P"s - 15 Credits (12 UL)
Certiport (MOS+IC3) - 8 - 8 "P"s - 8 Credits

__________________
ShotoJuku +
A.S., B.S., M.S.

Always be ready to release your mind and be willing to listen to the advice of others. Remain flexible. - Gichin Funakoshi

That is wonderful news and perfectly written.

To be honest with you, one of the reasons I did not apply for new positions in my company was because of embarrassment over not having my degree yet (my own personal issue...I know!). When people change positions or are promoted at work, they send out a company-wide e-mail about the person's history with the company and........their educational background. Since I was one of the few employees without a degree, I couldn't stand the thought of that e-mail going out without any indication of higher education.

I am so glad that I will now feel confident enough to apply for new positions!

You must be thrilled. Congrats!

__________________
Charter Oak State College GRADUATE (I can finally say that as of 05/31/08)!!
Concentration - Psychology
Tests Completed:
CLEP: Introductory Sociology - 65
DSST: Drug and Alcohol Abuse - 61
Here's to Your, Health - 66
Fundamentals of Counseling - 67
Charter Oak Tests: Infant and Toddler Development
Child Developmental Psychology
Introduction to Early Childhood Education (all passed, worth 3 credits each)
Psychology GRE: 62nd percentile, 18 credits

Ron,
Congratulations!! This is the type of story that helps all of us! If it's ok with you, I'd like to copy your post to the TESC bulletin board - you, very eloquently, provided the solid reinforcement that will help many.
All the best!!

__________________
You can't fail if you never give up
- Some ridiculous Zach Braff movie, but what a cool quote!!

I'm the king of procrastination. I first submitted my app to TESC in 1993. THIS will be the year of my degree completion!

PASSED:
CLEP-Information Systems & Computer Applications: Scored 62; Nov 07
CLEP-Analyzing & Interpreting Literature: Scored 57; Feb 08
DANTES-Criminal Justice: Scored 54; Jan 08
DANTES-Fundamentals of College Algebra: Scored 47 (and 47 is the req'd pass score! ); Jan 08
DANTES-Drug & Alcohol Abuse: Scored 57; Feb 08
DANTES-Ethics in America: Scored 55; Feb 08
DANTES-Organizational Behavior: Score 54; Mar 08
DANTES-Technical Writing: Score 58; Mar 08

FELL SHORT OF A PASSING SCORE (I'll never say the 'F' word):
ECE-Organizational Behavior: Score D (but passed DANTES version 2 hours later! )

G'day,

I have no problem with you or anyone else for that matter using this to help others in their quest. That was the whole purpose in writing it in the first place. The only thing I would ask is that you acknowledge Instantcert as the source. I owe a lot to Instantcert and the members of this forum and while the success story might be mine, I didn’t do it alone. I did it with the help and encouragement of everyone here.

Regards

__________________
Ron

Excelsior-BS Operations Management

Completed:
Excelsior Courses - 4 - 3 "A"s and 1 "P" - 10 Credits (3 UL)
CLEP Exams - 14 - 14 "P"s - 57 Credits
DANTES Exams - 5 - 5 "A"s - 15 Credits (3 UL)
APICS Exams - 5 - 5 "P"s - 15 Credits (12 UL)
Certiport (MOS+IC3) - 8 - 8 "P"s - 8 Credits

Done & done.

__________________
You can't fail if you never give up
- Some ridiculous Zach Braff movie, but what a cool quote!!

I'm the king of procrastination. I first submitted my app to TESC in 1993. THIS will be the year of my degree completion!

PASSED:
CLEP-Information Systems & Computer Applications: Scored 62; Nov 07
CLEP-Analyzing & Interpreting Literature: Scored 57; Feb 08
DANTES-Criminal Justice: Scored 54; Jan 08
DANTES-Fundamentals of College Algebra: Scored 47 (and 47 is the req'd pass score! ); Jan 08
DANTES-Drug & Alcohol Abuse: Scored 57; Feb 08
DANTES-Ethics in America: Scored 55; Feb 08
DANTES-Organizational Behavior: Score 54; Mar 08
DANTES-Technical Writing: Score 58; Mar 08

FELL SHORT OF A PASSING SCORE (I'll never say the 'F' word):
ECE-Organizational Behavior: Score D (but passed DANTES version 2 hours later! )

My work history, experience and industry certifications definitely played a big part in my being the successful candidate, but without the degree I would never have been able to showcase the rest.
>>

I love this part of your story because so many (not all) of us here are mid-career adults who have "the rest"...but need the degree SO we can have "the rest" acknowledged!
For the young people- this is why you get the degree- not because someone owes you something for having a piece of paper, but because it removes a barrier to your own success.

Congrats on your new job!

__________________
Jennifer
ALM, Master of Liberal Arts, Harvard University, 2099 or sometime sooner
AA & BA, Social Sciences, Thomas Edison State College, 2008
AOS, Culinary Arts, Culinary Institute of America, 1990

How to do your own Unofficial Evaluation http://www.degreeforum.net/general-e...ighlight=alpha

InstantCert WORKS! http://www.degreeforum.net/general-e...g-members.html

"Brick walls are there for a reason....They’re there to stop the other people.” Randy Pausch

Awesome post Ron, and a big big congratulations on your raise!

__________________
--
Steve, Webmaster

hey, ABA law schools recognize degrees from EC and other online colleges. There was a guy that got into Harvard Law with a Empire State College degree.
As long as the degree is accredited by a real agency the degree is real.
I was kind of amazed when I looked through the EC brochure and saw they had a CPA program. My plan is to apply to law schools in the fall cycle. I'm just wondering how I'm going to explain how I completed a 4 year degree in 4 months lol

__________________
Passed A LOT lol


Some Study guides That Helped Also

Thank you for sharing your story. It is very encouraging. I found myself in much the same situation, however, I enrolled at Excelsior last week. They transferred 16 credits from 1978. I know I must complete my degree to be considered for future opportunities.
I'm hoping to finish it by the end of 2008. Does anyone feel this can be accomplished?