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Soon to be 47 yr old starting from scratch!
#1
I failed out of college when I was 20. Sadly college was free because I was a ward of the court, (foster kid) but I was such a mess I failed to take advantage of it. 
My life now is pretty good. I'm married, no kids, have a house, car, work from home as does my wife, making decent money. But I'd like to do something working with and helping people. I've been a hospice volunteer for the last 3 years and have found it rewarding, I've worked with drug addicts in the past and have always loved therapy as it has helped me greatly in my life.
I recently had a health scare (I'm fine!) and was terrified for 5 weeks and realized I really want to do something more with my life than just make myself comfortable. I began to look at going back to school. I found out about CLEP exams and then Modern States (free CLEP vouchers!) and live 30 mins from a testing center. I just finished Intro to Psych class and am in the middle of Am Lit on Modern States. 
My dilemma is I've taken a few practice Psych CLEP tests and just barely pass with 66% or so. The video classes on Modern States are a bit thin. So I guess I need to read all the online text? 300+ pages? 

I've poked around IC forum and this seems to be an incredible resource that has me excited about actually being able to get a degree and maybe become a counselor before I'm 60! 

My Questions
1. The Wikia's seem to be down. Is there a new place with all the basic consolidated info? I don't wanna waste anyone's time with redundant questions.

2. Anyone go the Modern States route? They still offer free vouchers. I just got my Intro Pysch voucher (yet to take the test - I don't wanna waste it failing) Any tips on supplementing Modern States vid classes? I have the official 2019 CLEP Study Guide, but I've read the actual questions are different on the test.

Thanks much for your time and thanks for such a wonderful resource. 
Life is short! And I don't plan on retiring so I might as well do something that interests and feeds all of me.

Jade
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#2
Welcome!! You're not too old and it takes less time than you think. I started with zero credits (you might have credits from your first time in college - if you passed, they are probably still valid) and it took me only 6 months to accumulate my first 60 (associate degree) and then 12 months to do the last 60 for my bachelor's - so 18 months all in. While you think about your career goals, just keep moving forward.

Modern states is a great way to get a voucher, but your first CLEP is always scary. You can check if your library has the REA CLEP Psychology guide- if not, Amazon has it. That will give you a "Cliffs Notes" style summary of everything you need to know and 3 practice tests that tell you why an answer is correct. It's my favorite book hands down, and I used them for most if not all of my exams. Before starting Am Lit, pull the trigger on psych. Get that first win under your belt and you'll become a more efficient studier and tester with each exam.
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#3
(01-25-2019, 09:21 AM)jadebos Wrote: Anyone go the Modern States route? They still offer free vouchers. I just got my Intro Pysch voucher (yet to take the test - I don't wanna waste it failing) Any tips on supplementing Modern States vid classes?

I personally took 8 CLEPs via MS. In addition to their courses, I used Youtube videos and Wikipedia articles as supplements. I started pretty much from scratch at 43, and just finished a bachelors this month, so it definitely can be done
Up next:  WGU MSCSIA - Early 2023
Dropped:  WGU MSITM - Wasn't my cup of tea
Completed:  WGU BSCSIA (started 10/1/2018, finished 01/11/2019), Pierpont BOG AAS (5/2018)
Journey Thread (MSITM): https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/Thread-...TM-Journey
Journey Thread (BS):  https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/Thread-...ersecurity
Degree Spreadsheet (BS):  https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/attachm...p?aid=2602

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#4
I don't think Modern States is a great way to learn all new material - it's better if used as "test-prep" meaning you already know a lot of the material, and it's just getting you focused on the test. You need to learn the material another way.

Lots of people here use InstantCert ($20/mo I think), plus there are free ways to learn a lot of the material on the internet (iTunesU, YouTube, Khan Academy, etc.).

Another good thing to do is go to the 4 schools we talk about most on here and look at the degrees they offer, and see if there's one you want to go to: Thomas Edison State Univ (TESU), Charter Oak State College (COSC), Excelsior (EC), and Western Governor's University (WGU). You need to start focusing on what you want to do, so you know which CLEP exams you need to take. I would take a look at COSC and TESU for their BALS degree (BA in Liberal Studies), and think about getting a master's degree later.
TESU BSBA/HR 2018 - WVNCC BOG AAS 2017 - GGU Cert in Mgmt 2000
EXAMS: TECEP Tech Wrtg, Comp II, LA Math, PR, Computers  DSST Computers, Pers Fin  CLEP Mgmt, Mktg
COURSES: TESU Capstone  Study.com Pers Fin, Microecon, Stats  Ed4Credit Acct 2  PF Fin Mgmt  ALEKS Int & Coll Alg  Sophia Proj Mgmt The Institutes - Ins Ethics  Kaplan PLA
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#5
New link for the Wiki page(s) https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Degree_Forum_Wiki
Amberton University
- MS Human Relations and Business - 2022
Thomas Edison State University (TESU)
- BSBA General Management - 2018
- ASNSM Computer Science -2018

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#6
As a homeschooler some free resources we use are:

http://www.free-clep-prep.com
        He has recommended study materials and subjects to cover all the CLEP and DSST exams you will likely need

http://clepprep.tripod.com/cleplessonplans/id4.html
         Homeschool lesson plans to prep for CLEP test taking

https://www.khanacademy.org
        In addition to math, they teach economics, government, history, computing, and sciences (biology, chemistry, physics)

https://thecrashcourse.com/courses
        tons of subjects are covered

Once you get going on testing, you will figure out what method of studying works best for you.
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#7
(01-25-2019, 01:03 PM)Carnation Wrote: https://thecrashcourse.com/courses
        tons of subjects are covered

Holy CRAP!!! Thank you, I didn't realize they had them ordered like this!!
Up next:  WGU MSCSIA - Early 2023
Dropped:  WGU MSITM - Wasn't my cup of tea
Completed:  WGU BSCSIA (started 10/1/2018, finished 01/11/2019), Pierpont BOG AAS (5/2018)
Journey Thread (MSITM): https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/Thread-...TM-Journey
Journey Thread (BS):  https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/Thread-...ersecurity
Degree Spreadsheet (BS):  https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/attachm...p?aid=2602

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#8
(01-25-2019, 09:21 AM)jadebos Wrote: I failed out of college when I was 20. Sadly college was free because I was a ward of the court, (foster kid) but I was such a mess I failed to take advantage of it. 
My life now is pretty good. I'm married, no kids, have a house, car, work from home as does my wife, making decent money. But I'd like to do something working with and helping people. I've been a hospice volunteer for the last 3 years and have found it rewarding, I've worked with drug addicts in the past and have always loved therapy as it has helped me greatly in my life.
I recently had a health scare (I'm fine!) and was terrified for 5 weeks and realized I really want to do something more with my life than just make myself comfortable. I began to look at going back to school. [...]

Welcome to the forum!

I was in a similar position to you. I dropped out of college when I was 17-18 to focus on working and then didn't look at college again until I was in my 40s. Once I discovered this forum in 2011 I immediately went out and completed 4 CLEP/DSST exams and scored 15 credits, but then life ended up getting in the way (cross country move, pregnant wife, medical issues, etc.) so I wasn't able to restart my college plans until early 2018. Now in my early 50s, I have completed the balance of credits I needed (95) in less than a year, with the more than half of those credits earned in 3-4 months. Now I'm all done and just waiting to graduate. I'm also jazzed about continuing my education... I already plan on at least one masters and maybe additional credentials beyond that.

My point is that age doesn't matter. I know of folks who are 20 years older than me or you who have done this as well. IMO, this is the time to get those life goals taken care of, while there is still some time to take advantage of them. For me, I've been successful in my career as a technology executive and computer game developer, but I'm thinking about eventually going into teaching. That is something I've always been good at and interested in but never had the academic credentials to qualify for.

This is also a great place to get advice and encouragement to stick with it. Smile

Good luck!
Working on: Debating whether I want to pursue a doctoral program or maybe another master's degree in 2022-23

Complete:
MBA (IT Management), 2019, Western Governors University
BSBA (Computer Information Systems), 2019, Thomas Edison State University
ASNSM (Computer Science), 2019, Thomas Edison State University

ScholarMatch College & Career Coach
WGU Ambassador
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#9
I have found the textbook on Modern States more helpful than the lectures. I skim read the textbook watching for bolded terms. If the term makes sense in the first sentence and the second sentence is just an expanded explanation, I skim to the next bolded section/term. If the term doesn't make sense, I read the whole paragraph and make notes.

Psych is all terms and definitions or matching people up with their theories. If you can hear part of something and immediately know it's Maslow or immediately know it's Freud or Skinner then that's the right amount of prep. If you took Peterson practice tests, those are usually harder than the actual test with some exceptions. I would suggest subscribing to the InstantCert flashcards not just for the flashcards but also for the access to the forum with specific feedback on the individual tests. I go through those and try to find posts where someone posts their score and also their Peterson's practice test score so I can guess what score I might get.

Remember that only the first time you take the test really counts because after that you remember some of the answers from your previous attempt and it skews your results.
Enrolled in WGU MAcc - Start Date 12/01/2019
B&M State College (90 credits 3.57 GPA)
Modern States CLEP  (27 credits) Analyzing and Interpreting Literature (64)  Introduction to Sociology (65) Information Systems (71) Principles of Management (68) Principles of Marketing (73) Principles of Macroeconomics (70) Principles of Microeconomics (53), Introduction to Business Law (60)
Sophia(2 credits)
Straighterline (9)American Government, Western Civilizations I, Introduction to Religion
WGU (71): Organizational Behavior, Spreadsheets, Global Business, Principles of Accounting, Accounting II, Managerial Accounting, Principles of Finance, Business Strategy.. graduated Oct/2019
WGU MAcc (30) Graduated Apr 2020
121 credits earned Dec 23, 2018-Feb 24, 2020 Smile 
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#10
Thanks everyone for all the great info and advice! 

I ended up joining InstaCert. The test specific threads are a gold mine. It's just people who have taken the test saying what's really on it, how it compares to the practice tests. PLUS some of em share their notes & personal study guides, some of which they tweak after the test. 
I think this will be the bump I need to feel a little better going in. 

Again, this is a great resource and a great community!

Thank you all  Smile

Jade
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