I got my diploma in the mail over the weekend. I took my first CLEP about three years ago.
Thank you, everyone. Some of you have helped me directly over the years and many of you have helped me indirectly by asking great questions and providing great answers that I could find here in the forum. It wouldn't have been possible without this community and you all are fantastic. My family and I are truly grateful.
My exact degree plan isn't worth sharing, as it's based off an old catalog and includes courses that can't be used anymore, but it consisted of CLEPs, TECEPs, Straighterline, Study.com, Penn & Foster, and a few other minor sources.
I'm not enough of an expert to weigh in on most threads, so I thought I'd try to give back by offering some motivation and tips I've picked up:
Matt
Thank you, everyone. Some of you have helped me directly over the years and many of you have helped me indirectly by asking great questions and providing great answers that I could find here in the forum. It wouldn't have been possible without this community and you all are fantastic. My family and I are truly grateful.
My exact degree plan isn't worth sharing, as it's based off an old catalog and includes courses that can't be used anymore, but it consisted of CLEPs, TECEPs, Straighterline, Study.com, Penn & Foster, and a few other minor sources.
I'm not enough of an expert to weigh in on most threads, so I thought I'd try to give back by offering some motivation and tips I've picked up:
- You can do it. I had a lot of stops and starts over the last three years and there were a few times that I believed I'd never actually finish. Just keep putting in the work and it will be rewarded.
- Use your excitement at completing a course or test as momentum to sign up for the next thing. This was the best advice I ever got. I'd sign up for a TECEP/CLEP after getting good news and suddenly have a new deadline imposed that kept me moving.
- Research your test as much as possible at the start and develop an informed study plan. It's tempting to jump right in and not put in that work at the beginning, but I got better results in less time every time. The times I didn't prepare a good plan, it hurt and ate up unnecessary time
- Always have something cooking. I had a few phases after some big life events where everything ground to a halt. I regret not doing something with that time, even if it was just some minor study work. When I stopped making progress, it was really hard to start again.
- I'd recommend rationing out some of the easier CLEPs and courses. I did all the easy stuff up front, which sure was exciting when I was flying through things, but then I hit a wall that took me two years to get over. I had nothing easy to fall back on when life was busy and I still needed to make progress. You can get by without doing this, of course, but you won't regret breaking up the tough stuff.
- Develop a rapport with your adviser. I made an effort to always thank my adviser and keep in contact, after neglecting to do so for a long time and running into some issues (see below). She kept an eye out for me- heading off a few issues that would have developed- and gave me the confidence I needed to know my courses would receive credit and keep pushing.
- Stand up for your interests. It's tough for me to ask for special treatment or push against a decision that's been made, but I appealed two decisions TESU made about how some of my credits were being treated. In one case, my appeal was granted and that saved me a lot of time and money. In the other case, it was not but I can rest easier at night knowing that I did what I could. If it does come to that, be friendly and respectful!
- Don't let anyone cheapen or look down on what you're doing. I have some people in my life who don't see what I did as legitimate. You might too. Don't give those people time of day. You're completing work that a state university has deemed worthy of a diploma there are thousands and thousands of people in your shoes completing college online. What matters is you and your education and your career and why you're pursuing this.
Matt
![[-]](https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/images/collapse.png)