30-something, no post-HS education...

[burbuja0512]

Thanks for all the replies... In High School I remember not doing any of the daily or assigned homework yet passing tests pretty handily (3.8 GPA) by just paying attention in class to what as being talked about...

The CIS at TESC sounds like a good plan... I think I'll start with the Interpretting Literature CLEP and see what happens.

Where do I take CLEP tests? I'm assuming a university in my area?

Is there a list of CLEPs I can take that will benefit me in getting the CIS at TESC or is there just a bunch of research I have to do to figure out what CLEPs will count for credit and which will not.

Do I need to go ahead and apply to TESC now? Or just start taking the CLEP?

You should be able to use almost any university or community college testing center as most of them will offer their proctor services for a 20-50 dollar fee to any member of the community. If you have a particular institute that is nearby, you may want to check with them first.

If you don't have a favorite college in mind, google a few that are in your area and search for "testing center" on their sites. Call them and you'll want to find out a few things: First of all, for me, schedule is the VERY most important thing. If they aren't available at a convenient time, it makes it less likely that I'll be able to test when I'm ready. Proctor fee is another important thing - I was able to save 30 bucks per test by switching centers. The other thing that is HUGE is ease of scheduling. My first testing center that I found, in addition to being more expensive, was also very difficult to schedule. I had to go on to the testing center website 5 business days in advance, schedule my test and pay my proctor fee. If I decided that I was ready to take the test sooner or needed to postpone, I was out of luck. When I switched to a closer community college, I found that I could even call up a few hours in advance and they could usually accommodate me.

Once you've been to a testing center, keep in mind that if you're not happy, you may still have other options. While I have had good experiences with the proctors in the two testing centers I have used, this isn't always the case. If you find that someone is rude or the atmosphere is not conducive to testing, feel free to keep shopping around!

I would probably not apply to TESC right now, but there are pros and cons to enrolling sooner rather than later.

I made the choice to enroll at COSC and pay tuition as soon as I had made the mental commitment to testing (but before I had actually tested - thank goodness it worked out!). In retrospect, this was a bit risky, but I am 100% convinced that I probably wouldn't have rushed to finish if I hadn't had the threat of paying another year's tuition hanging over my head. Ironically enough, right after I rushed to finish to avoid paying more tuition, COSC responded by significantly lowering their rates, but it's all good DH is taking college classes and wants to enroll at TESC, his plan is to get within 6 months or so of finishing based on his testing pace and then enroll. I don't think that there is a single right answer, but it will depend on your finances and what motivates you.

Regarding the list of tests, yes I have attached one to this message and you should just be able to go in and compare the test to the requirement on the TESC site of course with help from TESC folks here if needed.

[dcan]

Thanks for all the replies... In High School I remember not doing any of the daily or assigned homework yet passing tests pretty handily (3.8 GPA) by just paying attention in class to what as being talked about...

Sounds familiar. Except homework/etc was part of our grades, so my tests were off the chart but my GPA was tanked. :mad:

Here's a PDF listing to help you plan for a TESC degree.

http://degreeplanners.com/media/TESC_Equ...Course.pdf