04-19-2011, 07:36 PM
Hello Everyone,
Like lots of people, I started college directly out of high school. (Fall 1994). I went to high school and had decent grades, but I was involved in a 1/2 day magnet school that taught advanced computer and AP classes for our district. I've always known I wanted to be a "computer programmer", probably prior to even having an Atari. Back then when I was a junior, I had already exhausted all of the advanced programming classes, pascal, PC assembler, and began working on Novell networks. By the time I graduated I was a very advanced system admin and I started college at the large public B&M university in my city.
Being that I had already self educated on most of the computer skills I had, I found that the university system was way behind reality when it came to computers and the curriculum.
Now that I'm older, I realize that the most of the University environment has no chance when it comes to educating technology students because of the rapid pace of change. I would imagine that the curriculum of most schools is out of date the second its approved. Not to mention the enormous capital expenditures needed to keep pace which they just arent prepared for financially.
To make that story short, I ended up learning how to code java/HTML in the early days of the internet (think Netscape 2.0). Shortly after I joined a bank in New York and began my career.
In 2009 I decided to take the next step in my career I needed to get a degree to open up my opportunities. I had my former University send me my transcript and it had an abysmal 1.9 GPA. I then started looking at the local community college catalog that night and went to sleep. I had a nightmare I signed up for a class I never went to, went to the wrong class on the wrong day (anyone else have those?) and decided college just wasn't in the cards. Plus I only had 41 credits so I was a long way from finishing. My current company pays for tuition reimbursement, so this year in January I finally got the nerve to reapply to my old university and look into correspondence classes to boost my GPA. Now that I dont live in the same state, the tuition rates are rediculous, but i was prepared to start working on it.
I had the form filled out and was going over my plan, when I started looking into transferring my credits to a local university here once my GPA was up to snuff and found out most of my credits wouldn't transfer. So I typed in to google 'Finish Bachelors degree fast' and the first site that came up was 123collegedegree.com. I read through the text on that site probably 100 times and decided I'd apply to Excelsior (I did not do research on all of the big 3, I just went for it). I got the university to send them a transcript along with Microsoft who had some of my certifications from a while ago. Once my degree evaluation came back I found out they would take 26 credits.
26 down and 94 to go! That was January 19, 2011 my friends and I am typing today 3 credits to go in the capstone course at Excelsior for my Bachelors of Science in Business Administration.
On the 123collegedegree website the first thing on there was "SIGN UP FOR INSTANTCERT". So thats just what I did. It also said buy "Cracking the CLEP" by the Princeton Review, and with that it was on!
I remember calling around to find the testing center, and a new Strayer University opened up just 10 minutes from my house, and the best part? They administered tests from 1PM-10PM Monday-Thursday, so I didn't have to take off work!
Though I was a bit nervous, I called first, then went over and the proctor started me on my first CLEP - Social Sciences and History. I remember the software being a bit dated like the old MCSE exams, and I had studied the IC flashcards and Cracking the CLEP, but I was still a bit nervous. I was extremely pleased to find out at the end not only did I pass, I scored a 66!
I was a bit apprehensive to take the DSST exams, because I started on CLEP and I was comfortable with it, however that would change and I became proficient in DSST. What better way to open it up than starting with Introduction to Computing, because hey if a computer professional with years of experience cant pass that, we've got a problem!
The next major milestone was getting my official eval from Excelsior once I paid the enrollment fee. When going over my degree plan, I remember telling the advisor "Already took that, its on the way to you" for SEVERAL exams. A this point I was the CLEP/DSST addict thats been outlined in another post here in the forums.
I kept reading all the forum posts, people talking about 24 credits in 2 weeks, and thought one day, i'm going to write one HUGE post about my experience! (That day is today).
Here is my testing summary:
01-19-2011 CLEP Social Sciences and History 66
01-26-2011 CLEP Humanities 69
02-02-2011 CLEP Analyzing and Interpreting Literature 68
02-02-2011 CLEP Natural Sciences 72
02-09-2011 CLEP Principles of Macroeconomics 67
02-15-2011 CLEP Principles of Management 70
02-15-2011 CLEP Principles of Microeconomics 62
02-17-2011 DSST Introduction to Computing 470
02-17-2011 DSST Introduction to Business 469
02-17-2011 DSST Management Information Systems 477
02-24-2011 DSST Principles of Statistics 471
02-28-2011 DSST Principles of Supervision 437
02-28-2011 DSST Personal Finance 437
02-28-2011 CLEP Information Systems and Computer Applications 78
03-03-2011 CLEP Principles of Marketing 68
03-03-2011 DSST Organizational Behavior 58
03-08-2011 CLEP Introductory Business Law 71
03-16-2011 DSST Business Law II 62
03-16-2011 DSST Business Ethics and Society 462
03-24-2011 CLEP Introductory Psychology 64
03-24-2011 DSST Here's to Your Health 442
03-28-2011 DSST Principles of Finance 454
04-19-2011 DSST Money and Banking 60
In order to benefit others who might read this, note I also had to do the following classes: (which differed from the plan on 123collegedegree which is a bit dated)
3/14/11 - 3/22/11
Straighterline Accounting I - A (transferred as Pass)
Straighterline Accounting II - B (transferred as Pass)
4/2/11 - 4/17/11
CSU Pueblo Operations Management - A
I would have taken the Accounting clep, but Straighterline had a 2 for 1 and I had to buy the book anyway so I did both accounting classes there.
Seeing the transcripts roll in to Excelsior, checking the forums, studying for the next exam, posting my feedback and scores... it was AWESOME!! I even shared the experience with others who work for me and they couldn't believe it. Some were jealous they spent so much on their college undergrad degrees, which made it even more satisfying.
To those who follow me as I have followed others for a business administration degree:
LEARN STATISTICS FIRST!!! I spent the most time studying statistics, and I even thought I failed when I hit submit, but as it turns out I got a very high score. That PAID OFF HUGE. There are statistics questions on virtually every exam, Intro to Psych through Principles of Finance. It was a lucky move on my part. I would also say that a good foundation in Micro and Macro economics is also worth many more points down the road, and not just the memorization, the concepts behind it. Even the Operations Managment course at CSU, it helped to have that foundation in statistics.
I wanted to tell everyone here good luck, keep to your degree plan and you will succeed! I am living proof this can be done, and done quickly if you have a good attitude and you're motivated!
Thanks to everyone, especially burbuja0512, and billyshrs.
Like lots of people, I started college directly out of high school. (Fall 1994). I went to high school and had decent grades, but I was involved in a 1/2 day magnet school that taught advanced computer and AP classes for our district. I've always known I wanted to be a "computer programmer", probably prior to even having an Atari. Back then when I was a junior, I had already exhausted all of the advanced programming classes, pascal, PC assembler, and began working on Novell networks. By the time I graduated I was a very advanced system admin and I started college at the large public B&M university in my city.
Being that I had already self educated on most of the computer skills I had, I found that the university system was way behind reality when it came to computers and the curriculum.
Now that I'm older, I realize that the most of the University environment has no chance when it comes to educating technology students because of the rapid pace of change. I would imagine that the curriculum of most schools is out of date the second its approved. Not to mention the enormous capital expenditures needed to keep pace which they just arent prepared for financially.
To make that story short, I ended up learning how to code java/HTML in the early days of the internet (think Netscape 2.0). Shortly after I joined a bank in New York and began my career.
In 2009 I decided to take the next step in my career I needed to get a degree to open up my opportunities. I had my former University send me my transcript and it had an abysmal 1.9 GPA. I then started looking at the local community college catalog that night and went to sleep. I had a nightmare I signed up for a class I never went to, went to the wrong class on the wrong day (anyone else have those?) and decided college just wasn't in the cards. Plus I only had 41 credits so I was a long way from finishing. My current company pays for tuition reimbursement, so this year in January I finally got the nerve to reapply to my old university and look into correspondence classes to boost my GPA. Now that I dont live in the same state, the tuition rates are rediculous, but i was prepared to start working on it.
I had the form filled out and was going over my plan, when I started looking into transferring my credits to a local university here once my GPA was up to snuff and found out most of my credits wouldn't transfer. So I typed in to google 'Finish Bachelors degree fast' and the first site that came up was 123collegedegree.com. I read through the text on that site probably 100 times and decided I'd apply to Excelsior (I did not do research on all of the big 3, I just went for it). I got the university to send them a transcript along with Microsoft who had some of my certifications from a while ago. Once my degree evaluation came back I found out they would take 26 credits.
26 down and 94 to go! That was January 19, 2011 my friends and I am typing today 3 credits to go in the capstone course at Excelsior for my Bachelors of Science in Business Administration.
On the 123collegedegree website the first thing on there was "SIGN UP FOR INSTANTCERT". So thats just what I did. It also said buy "Cracking the CLEP" by the Princeton Review, and with that it was on!
I remember calling around to find the testing center, and a new Strayer University opened up just 10 minutes from my house, and the best part? They administered tests from 1PM-10PM Monday-Thursday, so I didn't have to take off work!
Though I was a bit nervous, I called first, then went over and the proctor started me on my first CLEP - Social Sciences and History. I remember the software being a bit dated like the old MCSE exams, and I had studied the IC flashcards and Cracking the CLEP, but I was still a bit nervous. I was extremely pleased to find out at the end not only did I pass, I scored a 66!
I was a bit apprehensive to take the DSST exams, because I started on CLEP and I was comfortable with it, however that would change and I became proficient in DSST. What better way to open it up than starting with Introduction to Computing, because hey if a computer professional with years of experience cant pass that, we've got a problem!
The next major milestone was getting my official eval from Excelsior once I paid the enrollment fee. When going over my degree plan, I remember telling the advisor "Already took that, its on the way to you" for SEVERAL exams. A this point I was the CLEP/DSST addict thats been outlined in another post here in the forums.
I kept reading all the forum posts, people talking about 24 credits in 2 weeks, and thought one day, i'm going to write one HUGE post about my experience! (That day is today).
Here is my testing summary:
01-19-2011 CLEP Social Sciences and History 66
01-26-2011 CLEP Humanities 69
02-02-2011 CLEP Analyzing and Interpreting Literature 68
02-02-2011 CLEP Natural Sciences 72
02-09-2011 CLEP Principles of Macroeconomics 67
02-15-2011 CLEP Principles of Management 70
02-15-2011 CLEP Principles of Microeconomics 62
02-17-2011 DSST Introduction to Computing 470
02-17-2011 DSST Introduction to Business 469
02-17-2011 DSST Management Information Systems 477
02-24-2011 DSST Principles of Statistics 471
02-28-2011 DSST Principles of Supervision 437
02-28-2011 DSST Personal Finance 437
02-28-2011 CLEP Information Systems and Computer Applications 78
03-03-2011 CLEP Principles of Marketing 68
03-03-2011 DSST Organizational Behavior 58
03-08-2011 CLEP Introductory Business Law 71
03-16-2011 DSST Business Law II 62
03-16-2011 DSST Business Ethics and Society 462
03-24-2011 CLEP Introductory Psychology 64
03-24-2011 DSST Here's to Your Health 442
03-28-2011 DSST Principles of Finance 454
04-19-2011 DSST Money and Banking 60
In order to benefit others who might read this, note I also had to do the following classes: (which differed from the plan on 123collegedegree which is a bit dated)
3/14/11 - 3/22/11
Straighterline Accounting I - A (transferred as Pass)
Straighterline Accounting II - B (transferred as Pass)
4/2/11 - 4/17/11
CSU Pueblo Operations Management - A
I would have taken the Accounting clep, but Straighterline had a 2 for 1 and I had to buy the book anyway so I did both accounting classes there.
Seeing the transcripts roll in to Excelsior, checking the forums, studying for the next exam, posting my feedback and scores... it was AWESOME!! I even shared the experience with others who work for me and they couldn't believe it. Some were jealous they spent so much on their college undergrad degrees, which made it even more satisfying.
To those who follow me as I have followed others for a business administration degree:
LEARN STATISTICS FIRST!!! I spent the most time studying statistics, and I even thought I failed when I hit submit, but as it turns out I got a very high score. That PAID OFF HUGE. There are statistics questions on virtually every exam, Intro to Psych through Principles of Finance. It was a lucky move on my part. I would also say that a good foundation in Micro and Macro economics is also worth many more points down the road, and not just the memorization, the concepts behind it. Even the Operations Managment course at CSU, it helped to have that foundation in statistics.
I wanted to tell everyone here good luck, keep to your degree plan and you will succeed! I am living proof this can be done, and done quickly if you have a good attitude and you're motivated!
Thanks to everyone, especially burbuja0512, and billyshrs.
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!
