Hi
I decided to take two EC online Couses, which both starts today MAT 113 and Criminolgy 324.

I had lost all my drive and zeal this year to study, so I am really hoping these two classes will help me get back on Track.

Has anyone taken these courses with EC before and what was your experience?
I hope I get past the Math, I registered for Penn Foster Tech, but could not get myself to finish especially that I changed from Business Degree to Liberal Arts, I am hoping this will be easier and doable.

Wish me lack, I can't believe at this point I could loose sight of my goal, but I refuse to quit

Mapalo

Thank you Cindy, that was helpful

Well, you've already begun your classes, so it's a little late for this, but here's my take on it:

The most difficult method of learning, in my opinion, is teaching yourself. That may not be true for everyone--but I believe that is true for most people. Testing out is best when you have some familiarity with the subject--either through prior learning or just because you're old like me and you can't help but pick up a little knowledge along the way. Some people can just read something once or "go over the flashcards the night before" and pass tests. I'm not one of those people and I suspect that your are not either. So, if you're facing any requirements for which you have no prior experience or interest, the order in which you may most easily obtain those credits from most difficult to least difficult is:

1. Testing out
2. On-line class
3. Hybrid class (on-line with a few required appearances)
4. Weekend classes (every or most weekends)
5. Full-time classes

I took Accounting as a hybrid class and most of my REAL learning, when concepts really came together for me, occurred in the one hour review we had with the professor right before each of our four exams. That was still difficult because the class was primarily on-line, but it reminded me of the value of having a competent and knowledgable human being standing in front of a classroom explaining and demonstrating concepts (as opposed to reading the same thing over and over alone in your house trying to figure it out).

Community colleges are usually a great source for all of these options if you need 100 and 200 level classes. Excelsior is a bit pricy (unless you have some kind of financial assistance or otherwise qualify for better pricing) and on-line classes are only marginally better than teaching yourself (in fact, they basically are teaching yourself--but they provide more structure than CLEPs and DSSTs). Community colleges in most parts of the country are very affordable. I think at least part of the reason you're having a tough time getting started this year is because you're beating your head against the wall trying to learn using the most difficult method--teaching yourself. Give yourself a break and get into a classroom for the tough stuff. Having weekly homework and a class for which you have to show up should get you going. Good luck.

__________________
Michael

CLEP - ISCA 68, Sociology 72, Psych 73, A&I Lit 61, HG&D 65, Ed Psych 70, Marketing 72, Management 69, Macroeconomics 63, Microeconomics 67
DSST - Intro to Comp 66, MIS 61, Supervision 67, Counseling 58 - no study!, Personal Finance 67, Statistics 60, Criminal Justice 57, Ethics 58, Finance 63 (All A's at EC)
COC - 2007 (Community College) - Acctg I&II 10c, Work/Study 4c, Intro to Research (Info Lit req) 1c, Society and Rock & Roll 3c, Fund of Music 3c, Guitar I & II 4c, Bass Guitar I 2c
ECE - Ethics (A), HRM (B), Organizational Behavior (B) | CSU - Operations Mgmt. (A) | TECEP - Business Policy 80 (CR)

My Excelsior Degree Journey

Bachelor of Science in General Business, cum laude
Excelsior College
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Hey thank you very much, for this, I actually needed to hear it, there are some things I can quickly learn by my self and some are just like ... just hitting in a block, but either way, I love the flexibility of online and testing out they have been my real hope to a degree. Thanks