Credit by Exam vs Self Paced Courses

[paulieb]

I'm new to the forum but have been reading hundreds of threads over the past 2 weeks to get caught up on the general information.

I have a question comparing the methods of getting credit for a course between getting credit by exam from one of the many sources such Saylor.org, Straighterline, Study.com, Ed4Credit.com, Shmoop.com, Sophia.Org vs going to a self paced course school such as WGU. 

I know some of the differences are obvious but I'm wondering why some students that go to a self paced course school still try to get extra credits before they join, I'm wondering what are the motivations of that? 

My thinking is that if I can knock the class out in a week or two anyway at WGU, why study for a test just the same? I can guess a few ideas:

• Credit by exam does not hurt you if you fail by showing on a transcript (most of the time you can take the test again very soon)
  
• There is only 1 test to pass, no assignments or quizes
  

Are the classes at WGU more work to test out of? I'm really interested to know what accelerating through a class quickly at WGU is like.

Are there any reasons I'm not thinking of? I'd like to see a few points of view on this as I am about to sign up at WGU and I'm in need of quite a few credits and wondering if it is worth going the route of earning credit before I start.

[xjarhead1999]

I understand your thinking as I have been doing the same. I believe it's more about getting your money's worth. I'm currently enrolled in a college but wanting to go to a school like WGU that's on your own pace.
I look at it this way. If I pay for one term and get almost everything except a couple of classes then I would have to pay for another whole term just to get the handful of credits needed to finish. If I can go other routes and knock out a bunch of required items beforehand then I may be able to finish in just one term. I can't remember WGUs cost right off the top of my head but say it's $3k a term. 2 terms means I would be spending $6k. There are plenty of options to get a whole lot of required credits just as fast but cheaper than 2 terms.

[davewill]

Xjarhead1999 hit it. It's mostly about money. If you need 30 credits in GenEds and can get that for $600 outside of WGU, your chances of finishing WGU in one term goes up. It wouldn't be so bad if WGU would let you transfer courses in after you start, but once you enroll, you pretty much have to keep going (and paying) until you graduate. Also, if a course ISN'T going to be so speedy for you, there's a big advantage to taking it somewhere that doesn't charge you so much or doesn't charge by calendar time.

That said, if you have your path mapped out at WGU and are confident you can get everything done in two terms, then that might indeed be a better path. For one thing, you won't find yourself having to do all upper level AOS courses back to back to back because they've all been left for the end. Also, if those courses that you HAVE to take at WGU are going to end up taking you two terms anyway, you may have plenty of time left for other courses.

[Sapientes]

Are there any reasons I'm not thinking of? I'd like to see a few points of view on this as I am about to sign up at WGU and I'm in need of quite a few credits and wondering if it is worth going the route of earning credit before I start.

Just my two cents. Everyone's situation is different. For some of WGU's classes, there might be better alternatives available through Straighterline or Study.com. I've seen some negative reviews of their English and College Algebra classes (note: not ALL reviews were negative, just some.) Some of those reviewers specifically mentioned Straighterline as a better alternative for those classes. You should take a look at the WGU Reddit . You'll find a lot of good information about WGU specifically over there. The typical WGU student doesn't have a lot of classes transfer in as their programs often have few general education classes. I believe they also do not permit any transfer classes for their masters programs (just an aside.)

[paulieb]

Thank you, there has been some solid information posted above. I appreciate the various points. I had figured that those attempting credits prior to usually also had the ambition to graduate in 1 term. That makes total sense.

For me, I'm in a situation that it would be a similar cost of 1 term vs 2 terms in the fact that:

I have Post 9/11 GI bill which should cover 60% of the WGU term so it would cost me about $1400 - $1500 per term. If I went 2 terms instead of 1 + the cost of exams it could work out close in cost. if I pay for various credits online through passing the exams, adding those fees up they won't quite reach $1400 but may come close to $800 or so, so for me the value to attempt to knock the degree out in 1 term goes down as the cost is not that different when weighing in the cost of each of the exams to earn credit.

[xjarhead1999]

Thank you, there has been some solid information posted above. I appreciate the various points. I had figured that those attempting credits prior to usually also had the ambition to graduate in 1 term. That makes total sense.

For me, I'm in a situation that it would be a similar cost of 1 term vs 2 terms in the fact that:

I have Post 9/11 GI bill which should cover 60% of the WGU term so it would cost me about $1400 - $1500 per term. If I went 2 terms instead of 1 + the cost of exams it could work out close in cost. if I pay for various credits online through passing the exams, adding those fees up they won't quite reach $1400 but may come close to $800 or so, so for me the value to attempt to knock the degree out in 1 term goes down as the cost is not that different when weighing in the cost of each of the exams to earn credit.

Then you just have to weigh your options against time. Money still can come into play though. College I'm currently in won't cost a dime for me. It's due to some leadership grant they have with my employer. Once I reach the tuition reimbursement amount, all other fees are waved. Drawback is that I have to do the time and work. Each class is 5 weeks long. I'm wanting to speed things up so I will have to pay out of pocket for some classes.
I'm still staying with me school the rest of the year. Next year though I want to put my tuition reimbursement to better use. I'm planning for next year and trying to knock out as many classes as I can so that I can get things done in just one term at a place like WGU.

[paulieb]

Thank you, there has been some solid information posted above. I appreciate the various points. I had figured that those attempting credits prior to usually also had the ambition to graduate in 1 term. That makes total sense.

For me, I'm in a situation that it would be a similar cost of 1 term vs 2 terms in the fact that:

I have Post 9/11 GI bill which should cover 60% of the WGU term so it would cost me about $1400 - $1500 per term. If I went 2 terms instead of 1 + the cost of exams it could work out close in cost. if I pay for various credits online through passing the exams, adding those fees up they won't quite reach $1400 but may come close to $800 or so, so for me the value to attempt to knock the degree out in 1 term goes down as the cost is not that different when weighing in the cost of each of the exams to earn credit.

Then you just have to weigh your options against time. Money still can come into play though. College I'm currently in won't cost a dime for me. It's due to some leadership grant they have with my employer. Once I reach the tuition reimbursement amount, all other fees are waved. Drawback is that I have to do the time and work. Each class is 5 weeks long. I'm wanting to speed things up so I will have to pay out of pocket for some classes.
I'm still staying with me school the rest of the year. Next year though I want to put my tuition reimbursement to better use. I'm planning for next year and trying to knock out as many classes as I can so that I can get things done in just one term at a place like WGU.

Nice, that sounds like a solid deal. Yes I agree, the time portion for me will carry the most weight. I will take a look at the classes I have left and see which ones I feel comfortable with knocking out by exam before I finish my application process with WGU as that is the likely candidate school for me.

[eriehiker]

It also *might* make a difference if the credits are being used for a purpose different from a degree. I am a teacher and will try to use credits to add to my certificate. In some situations, credits earned within a degree program are viewed differently than those earned independently afterwards. I haven't actually tested the proposition, but I have set my TESU graduation as the finish line in terms of earning extra undergrad. credits so that they are part of my degree program and not random later credits.

[dfrecore]

Thank you, there has been some solid information posted above. I appreciate the various points. I had figured that those attempting credits prior to usually also had the ambition to graduate in 1 term. That makes total sense.

For me, I'm in a situation that it would be a similar cost of 1 term vs 2 terms in the fact that:

I have Post 9/11 GI bill which should cover 60% of the WGU term so it would cost me about $1400 - $1500 per term. If I went 2 terms instead of 1 + the cost of exams it could work out close in cost. if I pay for various credits online through passing the exams, adding those fees up they won't quite reach $1400 but may come close to $800 or so, so for me the value to attempt to knock the degree out in 1 term goes down as the cost is not that different when weighing in the cost of each of the exams to earn credit.

You're going into it assuming that each class with take you a week, but that may not be the case.  If (with grading) classes were going to take you 2 weeks or more, then you might end up needing a 3rd term or something crazy like that.

I would never go into a degree program like WGU assuming that everything was going to go perfectly according to plan, because in my experience, rarely does that happen!  Life happens in a 6-month term, lots of life, and many things can derail you.  If you had enough courses completed beforehand to where you were left with few enough that even in the event of some issues coming up, you could complete them easily during the term, then it would certainly be easier to deal with.  If you don't give yourself enough time/space to plan in issues, and thought you'd be getting through by the skin of your teeth, it would be very stressful (to me anyway).