No gratification?

[Katterina]

My question was simply, does anyone else feel unfulfilled by the process? I was just wondering if its a common feeling, if you get used to it, if it goes away, etc.

I wondered if I was missing out while I was in the midst of testing. But after I started grad school, I was amazed at the foundation of knowledge in psychology that my exams afforded me.

I also have an AA that I completed at the local university and I actually retained much more from testing out, possibly because testing let me tackle the material on my own terms and time table.

I don't feel like I missed out on much, although I might have felt differently if I had been pursuing a natural science degree where I would need more hands-on experience for my field.

[PonyGirl93]

Arrrgh I typed out a nice long response and then my comp erased it >

Long story short: yes, I definitely feel unfulfilled at times. Especially since I'm basically a kid and my friends are starting to pick out colleges. But in the long run I'm sure I'll be happy with my decision. And it's really not so bad in the meantime either. I have actually, as I near the end of my 60 credit hour CLEP journey, decided that I might actually miss it occasionally :O

[Ruddigore]

I also never said that I was using only CLEPs for the degree!

Yeah, there are also DSSTs! milelol:

Sorry, couldn't resist. (Still reading the thread...)

[perrik]

I'd refer to you my .sig, but in case I change it someday - in a 3-month period, I ripped through one subject GRE and 11 DSSTs. This schedule did not leave a lot of time to go in depth to any of the subjects studied - and that's fine, because my intent was to accumulate credits and complete the undergrad degree so I could apply to grad schools.

There are two types of gratification in play here. One is the gratification of accumulating academic credits towards your goal of completing the bachelor's and applying for law school. If you're not feeling this, you should! Like you, I saw the bachelor's as a means to and end; the faster one completes the exams, the further one progresses towards that end. Completing each exam doesn't have to leave you giddy with glee - a simple moment of satisfaction is nothing to scoff at. Those moments add up, as do the credits. After the final exam I felt more exhausted than elated. That's okay. I did my big happy dance when I got the accepted to my top choice grad program!

The other is the intellectual gratification from the studying itself, and it sounds like you're regretting the loss of this type. If so, make some time for extra reading on the topics that interest you, either now or after you've completed your exams. Despite living near so many Civil War sites, I had never visited them or read much about the war; now I've taken what I learned for the exam, built upon it, and gone out to Gettysburg and Manassas and Fredericksburg. I've stood at the spot where Special Order 191 was discovered by a Union soldier. It would have been great to delve deeper into the subject right away, and to have classmates with whom to discuss what we learned. However, I've been a traditional undergraduate and cannot kid myself - we did not have long intellectual discussions about sociology and economics. Our deepest discussions were about preferred pizza toppings.

If the topic is something that truly interested you, the file will not be deleted. The concepts I picked up while studying for the Foundations of Education DSST, for example, stuck around in my long-term memory even though I replaced them in my short-term memory with other exam subjects. When I needed that knowledge for my current classes, it popped right back up. One of my classes is on adult learning where we discussed memory and schema theory and the like - I can bore you with the details, or just reassure you that you won't forget the stuff you don't want to forget.

[Ruddigore]

If the topic is something that truly interested you, the file will not be deleted. The concepts I picked up while studying for the Foundations of Education DSST, for example, stuck around in my long-term memory even though I replaced them in my short-term memory with other exam subjects. When I needed that knowledge for my current classes, it popped right back up. One of my classes is on adult learning where we discussed memory and schema theory and the like - I can bore you with the details, or just reassure you that you won't forget the stuff you don't want to forget.

Yes, this is just the sort of thing that came to mind when I read betch's initial post.

There's nothing stopping you from continuing to learn about a subject after you take the exam. You won't want to do this for most of what you study - I'm done with Algebra, thank you very much - but for some things, you'll develop an interest that carries beyond the Submit Scores button. My interest in literature spiked considerably after taking the GRE Lit exam, and I don't mind reading about Sociology now that I've passed the CLEP.

As for what you learn: I recall being pleasantly surprised by how much of my Humanities studying stuck with me when I prepared for the Literature in English GRE. Something I learned in the Intro to Computing DSST (which I used only IC & feedback for) served me well just last night.

This is the sort of education that is what you make it. You won't have professors giving you requirements to learn just so much, nor will you be held back by curriculum (you pick your own) or teaching deficiencies (no one knows how you learn quite like you).

In truth I could pursue this theme much further, but behold, I have said enough.
R.

[irnbru]

I'm attempting my BA withe COSC, trying to get it done in under a year (starting from 0cr) while working a full-time C-level job.
I have every test, every credit planned and I'm working my way through but..
2 months and 24 credits in, Im finding absolutely no sense of fulfillment or gratification from the testing. I mean hell yeah Im happy for the credits, and its a means to an end...but it feels like theres something missing.
For example, I'll study a subject for 2 weeks and pass the test. The day after I'll find myself wondering about different elements of the subject that I didnt learn, or elements I only know the summary of, and I have to tell myself to just forget it, delete the file to make room in my memory for the new subjects I'm on.
Anyone else experience this?

It's a mix of post-coital completionist/perfectionist attitude coupled with insta-rose-tinted specs. To be honest, I'd hazard that it's more to do with the kick one gets from passing a test, then during the dwelling-upon after period, the knowledge and associated apprehension of the impending next test.

"If I'd spent another week reading around that subject, I could have got another x%/answered questions on y more fluidly/given myself some background for test z/etc. Oh, and wasn't w quite interesting, oh woe, I wish I had learned more about that for the test I've already passed."

If you're genuinely interested in a particular subject, then there's nothing stopping you reading into it deeper. However, if you want some sort of barometer of progress, there won't always be some test to complete to measure progress (yet, post-grad study is the next, logical option). It's a bit like clicking through wikipedia, sometimes - you get out what you put into that kind of studying.

But, what is the objective? For most of us here, I think the primary goal is to get some sort of degree in order to tick a bigger box. That means getting credits and jumping through the hoops to get the right mix.

Back in the real world, I believe this process is actually pretty useful. Why? Because in terms of measuring various work-related activities, as they say, you're only as good as your last case/sale/stock analysis/project/mission/etc.

Looking back into academic work, it is something you do, and have to keep your hand in, for any particular subject. That means lifelong learning and keeping on top of things. Plenty people have forgotten what they learned in highschool, CLEPs et al are just a condensed extension of that experience.

The great advantage this system has over other options is the empowering, open capacity to take control of the process.