My journey and, issues. :)

[Drakemoore]

I'm aiming for BS in IT or Computer science.

Currently prepping for CLEP Mathematics, Algebra and English Composition. Then I'll likely take other CLEPS such as American History, etc to round out the rest of the GE requirements. Eventually work my way up to Calculus.

I was planning to go one of the two community colleges here, and then later to university or possibly one of the big three. WGU also seems pretty appealing.

I am running into snags in regards to the local CCs. One is listed in the ACE network but won't accept ACE credit recommendations except on a 'military transcript' I don't know why but they apparently will give military a preference in regards to it and won't accept a civilian ace transcript. Still waiting to hear back from the second CC on that. Neither college will grant the full 6 credit recommendation for CLEP Mathematics, just 3 credits in one math course or 3 credits in another, both courses are required for associates degrees in respective majors.

[cookderosa]

I'm aiming for BS in IT or Computer science.

Currently prepping for CLEP Mathematics, Algebra and English Composition. Then I'll likely take other CLEPS such as American History, etc to round out the rest of the GE requirements. Eventually work my way up to Calculus.

I was planning to go one of the two community colleges here, and then later to university or possibly one of the big three. WGU also seems pretty appealing.

I am running into snags in regards to the local CCs. One is listed in the ACE network but won't accept ACE credit recommendations except on a 'military transcript' I don't know why but they apparently will give military a preference in regards to it and won't accept a civilian ace transcript. Still waiting to hear back from the second CC on that. Neither college will grant the full 6 credit recommendation for CLEP Mathematics, just 3 credits in one math course or 3 credits in another, both courses are required for associates degrees in respective majors.

I think if you focus in on a few things, the process will become a bit easier. I have a few comments, and then suggestions.
1. CLEP doesn't have anything to do to with ACE, so if they accept CLEP, then you'll be fine.
2. If you're going to a university or one of the big 3 later, you should pick BEFORE you start. The reason for this, is because there are different strategies that you can use to maximize your efforts depending on the path. If you're going to a university, you'll want to lock into an articulation agreement with your community college, and that will involve some careful planning before taking any exams. If you're going to one of the big 3, you'll want to see that your CC classes will transfer and count in your big 3 degree- they don't accept an AA as fulfillment of 2 years requirements, so you could run into trouble if you don't choose carefully. Further, if you're sure you're going to the big 3, there is no advantage to enrolling and or completing an AA first, as you can simply take classes at your CC in addition to your CLEP exams and everything will transfer in on the bachelor's degree.
3. People using test out can complete a full 4 year degree (120 credits) in well under 2 years, infact, I would say more than 75% are doing it in a year or less. Adding the CC degree could make the process longer- not shorter- for you.
4. For big 3 only: if you decide to attend, then the number of credits your CC awarded for exams like the math (3 instead of 6) won't matter because everything is evaluated from scratch- so you will absolutely 100% get 6 credits EVEN IF the CC awarded you 3. This does not apply to university. University transfer articulations use their own policy for loose credits (those not part of your degree) and use the CC policy for credits rolled into a written articulation agreement (AA degree intended for transfer). So, in that case, your math would show up as 3 no matter what the university policy was, but if you finished the AA and then while at university you took the calc exam, the university policy would apply to THAT exam.

My suggestion- don't just test, you'll use valuable money and time. Pick your finish line/goal, and then work backwards. There are tons of ideas that are excellent in one situation, but only so-so for another. In order to get the best advice, most targeted toward your objective, you really need to pick the finish line FIRST. Good luck with whatever you decide!

[Drakemoore]

I understand CLEP doesn't have anything to do with ACE I should have re-read and changed what I wrote to make that distinction. I was interested in using the TEEX courses and possibly ALEKs at the local CC's. But that won't work. (failed to mention that at all in the original post, my fault for writing it and going AFK for awhile to come back and hit submit )

I appreciate the advice you've given and you do have a very good point about having a finish line goal. I have two big issues basically in the sense of going to a traditional school or going to a more test oriented school like the big three. The second is the toss up between the two majors.

In terms of Traditional / Test oriented I've never attended college. I was home schooled, graduated and we had deaths in the family that kinda rocketed things off course. I'm pretty good at picking up material and I imagine I can do fairly alright on CLEP / DSST exams as long as I put a bit of study time in. I don't really want to spend the full four years seeking a degree, so in either case I'm wanting to test out of as much as I possibly can. From what I've seen most CCs, Unis, as well as the test oriented schools will accept CLEP exams at the very least. So I was hoping to fill out some of the GE core via CLEP regardless of where I went. The only one that I've noticed personally from reading around where this doesn't apply is that Excelsior does not accept English Composition CLEP, while I think the rest do.

The toss up on degrees is because both of those majors (Comp Sci / IT) are something I'm interested in, but haven't quite decided on one or the other. At most schools I've noticed they share a lot of common requirements, so I was hoping that I wouldn't have to pick right away and could work on the common requirements. Perhaps I need to give that more thought.

[cookderosa]

I understand CLEP doesn't have anything to do with ACE I should have re-read and changed what I wrote to make that distinction. I was interested in using the TEEX courses and possibly ALEKs at the local CC's. But that won't work. (failed to mention that at all in the original post, my fault for writing it and going AFK for awhile to come back and hit submit )

I appreciate the advice you've given and you do have a very good point about having a finish line goal. I have two big issues basically in the sense of going to a traditional school or going to a more test oriented school like the big three. The second is the toss up between the two majors.

In terms of Traditional / Test oriented I've never attended college. I was home schooled, graduated and we had deaths in the family that kinda rocketed things off course. I'm pretty good at picking up material and I imagine I can do fairly alright on CLEP / DSST exams as long as I put a bit of study time in. I don't really want to spend the full four years seeking a degree, so in either case I'm wanting to test out of as much as I possibly can. From what I've seen most CCs, Unis, as well as the test oriented schools will accept CLEP exams at the very least. So I was hoping to fill out some of the GE core via CLEP regardless of where I went. The only one that I've noticed personally from reading around where this doesn't apply is that Excelsior does not accept English Composition CLEP, while I think the rest do.

The toss up on degrees is because both of those majors (Comp Sci / IT) are something I'm interested in, but haven't quite decided on one or the other. At most schools I've noticed they share a lot of common requirements, so I was hoping that I wouldn't have to pick right away and could work on the common requirements. Perhaps I need to give that more thought.

your plan will work to some degree- I mean everyone needs English 1 and 2, everyone needs some math, everyone needs a science, etc. I still suggest thinking of the end first. I'd also suggest, deciding if you want the AA first. There are a few pros and cons, and there is no right answer. It isn't necessarily faster, and it can create some obstacles in a few situations, but many people suggest it as a means of getting encouragement along the way. I did that at TESC on my way to my BA for my own reasons- but I bring it up because if you do want an AA first, you'll be dealing with 100/200 level classes which are all that community colleges offer. In the use of CLEP exams, they result in 100/200 level credit- so if you only want to test, you'll get more testing opportunities through one of the big 3, where a community college will restrict CLEP credit to some amount (as low as 15 credits, as high as 45). If you DON'T want to mess with the AA, then my suggestion is to focus on where you'd like to earn your bachelor's degree.

I don't mean to take a year, I mean to take a week. Think about it, read the threads from other IT people here, and see what feels right. At that point, let's kick butt!

[Drakemoore]

Yeah. I was thinking of working towards an associate's first primarily for the fact that it would give me more employment opportunities initially. But I understand where you're going with in terms of time and efficiency for lower level and upper level courses. I need to research around on the forum where various CS / IT managed to acquire their UL.

Another part of the issue is that I'm mostly relying on FAFSA at the moment for tuition and fees wherever I go. I can come up with the money for something like a CLEP, DANTES and so on bit by bit. But I can't maintain funding currently for attending TESC on my own on a credit by credit basis. Although from what I've read very few people actually take a lot of courses through TESC. They mostly bring in enough credits so that they only have to take a semester or so worth to graduate.


For the local CCs I can bring in up to 45 credits. That works out fine for an AA degree such as Associate of Arts in Computer Science. It does not work so well at all for something like the AS:CS / IT degrees because while they do allow up to 45 credit transfer, there really isn't 45 credits that one can scrounge up to fulfill the degree requirements since they only accept CLEP and limited DANTES.


From what it looks like at least with TESC the general rule of thumb is that they require at least 18 UL credits for each program and I believe at least one DSST can be used there for the IT degrees but none of the CS.

[JTP]

Really plan out what your end goal is.

I have all but 4 classes for an Associates in CIS at a local community college. The issue I'm running into trying to get a CIS/IS/CS bachelor's degree is that none of those credits will count for UL. Even though I have most of the requirements completed at COSC for a IS degree I still need all but 2 of the UL requirements. So I will either have to retake the marjority of the coursework or go for a different degree (currently what it looks like).

[Drakemoore]

Really plan out what your end goal is.

I have all but 4 classes for an Associates in CIS at a local community college. The issue I'm running into trying to get a CIS/IS/CS bachelor's degree is that none of those credits will count for UL. Even though I have most of the requirements completed at COSC for a IS degree I still need all but 2 of the UL requirements. So I will either have to retake the marjority of the coursework or go for a different degree (currently what it looks like).

Is that because the UL courses that you need have other prerequisites, so you can't actually take them?

And yeah I understand none of the associate level classes will mean anything for UL at a place like TESC. But wouldn't the credits earned in an associate degree apply as topic of study electives? E.g. I take an associates of science in computer science, then go to TESC. Wouldn't the credits earned in the AS apply to the 30ish or so computer science electives that are required? Admissions at TESC suggested that they probably would, just, not for the 18 UL credis. I would think that would apply in general for the programs at TESC.

[JTP]

No I got direct credit for classes, and knocked out most of the IS major requirements, but They weren't considered UL. Like my Network Security class gave me credit for the Networking requirement but it was just 3 normal credits. So I could take some other networking class that was UL and get UL credit that way.

I'm sure you're fine if you would be getting your AAS also from TESC.

[Drakemoore]

Wouldn't AAS from TESC still be considered LL?

[cookderosa]

Yeah. I was thinking of working towards an associate's first primarily for the fact that it would give me more employment opportunities initially. But I understand where you're going with in terms of time and efficiency for lower level and upper level courses. I need to research around on the forum where various CS / IT managed to acquire their UL.

Another part of the issue is that I'm mostly relying on FAFSA at the moment for tuition and fees wherever I go. I can come up with the money for something like a CLEP, DANTES and so on bit by bit. But I can't maintain funding currently for attending TESC on my own on a credit by credit basis. Although from what I've read very few people actually take a lot of courses through TESC. They mostly bring in enough credits so that they only have to take a semester or so worth to graduate.


For the local CCs I can bring in up to 45 credits. That works out fine for an AA degree such as Associate of Arts in Computer Science. It does not work so well at all for something like the AS:CS / IT degrees because while they do allow up to 45 credit transfer, there really isn't 45 credits that one can scrounge up to fulfill the degree requirements since they only accept CLEP and limited DANTES.


From what it looks like at least with TESC the general rule of thumb is that they require at least 18 UL credits for each program and I believe at least one DSST can be used there for the IT degrees but none of the CS.

If you have FAFSA Pell Grant, take the most you can at your school while avoiding a loan. For example, if your award is $5000, and your college charges $100/credit, then you can take 50 credits for no out of pocket cash! This is free (but not fast). If you're not eligible for the Pell, then don't enroll at TESC until you're very near completion- within 12 months. In the time from now till then, you can scratch and save to fund your clep exams. Pay cash, if it adds a year to your degree plan you'll be MUCH happier than having Sallie Mae add 10 years to your brokeness.