Study.com - Are 2 course completions a week achievable?

[natshar]

That might be possible but that is A LOT. I've heard a lot of people on this fourm getting through six courses a month and even that is a lot. I don't recall anyone getting through a two week, maybe some people on this fourm had, but not many. Study.com courses can take a while even if you know the subject simply because of the number of quizzes you still have to do. Maybe take CLEP or DSST for some of them especially if you are familiar with the subject? Why do them all from study.com? I'm not sure if this is the most efficient way.

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That said, people burn through WGU courses as fast, or faster, than people can get through SDC/SL courses or CLEP/DSST exams. I'm curious why you're looking to use ACE courses to accelerate your WGU progress instead of just accelerating your courses via WGU. There are a number of examples of people completing their entire bachelor's degree at WGU in a single term, so it is just as doable there and doesn't require paying SDC $619 for 8 courses each month.

Cost. I'm paying out of pocket. I haven't seen anyone ( so far ) complete this particular degree in one term. Paying 619 a month is cheaper than paying 3400 up front. Even if you go on a payment plan with WGU it's over 900 a month because you have to pay it off in 4 months ( not 6 like term length)

I get that, except that you'll still need to pay the $3400 after taking these courses, so you're effectively paying twice. Unless you know for sure it'll take two terms to finish and you want to complete one of those terms before enrolling at WGU.

To finish a bachelor's degree at WGU in one term from 0 credits requires bring able to complete 6-7 courses per month. So if you're aiming to complete 8-10 courses per month using ACE, you could probably do the same via WGU and finish under 6 months.

Either way will get you there. I'm just looking at the financial differences.

Good points

[lalacabore]

That might be possible but that is A LOT. I've heard a lot of people on this fourm getting through six courses a month and even that is a lot. I don't recall anyone getting through a two week, maybe some people on this fourm had, but not many. Study.com courses can take a while even if you know the subject simply because of the number of quizzes you still have to do. Maybe take CLEP or DSST for some of them especially if you are familiar with the subject? Why do them all from study.com? I'm not sure if this is the most efficient way.

---

That said, people burn through WGU courses as fast, or faster, than people can get through SDC/SL courses or CLEP/DSST exams. I'm curious why you're looking to use ACE courses to accelerate your WGU progress instead of just accelerating your courses via WGU. There are a number of examples of people completing their entire bachelor's degree at WGU in a single term, so it is just as doable there and doesn't require paying SDC $619 for 8 courses each month.

Cost. I'm paying out of pocket. I haven't seen anyone ( so far ) complete this particular degree in one term. Paying 619 a month is cheaper than paying 3400 up front. Even if you go on a payment plan with WGU it's over 900 a month because you have to pay it off in 4 months ( not 6 like term length)

I get that, except that you'll still need to pay the $3400 after taking these courses, so you're effectively paying twice. Unless you know for sure it'll take two terms to finish and you want to complete one of those terms before enrolling at WGU.

To finish a bachelor's degree at WGU in one term from 0 credits requires bring able to complete 6-7 courses per month. So if you're aiming to complete 8-10 courses per month using ACE, you could probably do the same via WGU and finish under 6 months.

Either way will get you there. I'm just looking at the financial differences.

Good points

I'm considering Study.com because there is no center close to me for taking DSST at all and for Cleps a center is over an hour away from me so that's why I'm asking specifically about Study.com. I would be able to complete course at home since I'm not near testing Centers. I work in Clinical Research running clinical trials so I travel for work but have the balance of working from home

[MNomadic]

Merlin has made some excellent points and since you mention cost being a factor, how about you start trying to CLEP some of those courses for free with modernstates and other free/cheap resources? These courses should have corresponding CLEPs:
College Algebra
Survey of United States History
Introduction to Psychology
Marketing Fundamentals
Microeconomics
Macroeconomics

Then if you still want to finish some more with study.com before you begin at WGU you could still knock out a bunch of the easier ones in a month or 2 like:
Introduction to Communication
Introduction to Probability and Statistics
Business Communication
And a few others.

[lalacabore]

Merlin has made some excellent points and since you mention cost being a factor, how about you start trying to CLEP some of those courses for free with modernstates and other free/cheap resources? These courses should have corresponding CLEPs:
College Algebra
Survey of United States History
Introduction to Psychology
Marketing Fundamentals
Microeconomics
Macroeconomics

Then if you still want to finish some more with study.com before you begin at WGU you could still knock out a bunch of the easier ones in a month or 2 like:
Introduction to Communication
Introduction to Probability and Statistics
Business Communication
And a few others.

I really wanted to do Clep and Strayer University is the closest to me. I called Strayer yesterday and I was told their centers was no longer open to any student it will now be limited to current students only. I get this is not the best option but I have to use the options I actually have and it sucks lol

[MNomadic]

That is really unfortunate. Sorry to hear. Study.com would probably be your best bet then. Like others said, probably start off with the shorter/easier courses, ones you already have preexisting knowledge in, and ones that have a lot of overlap. It's definitely doable for courses that fit those criteria. For harder/longer courses that you're learning from scratch, may be more difficult.

[dfrecore]

If any of the courses you want have a pretest/placement test, make sure to take that multiple times - you can get through a lot of a course that way.

[lalacabore]

Thank you everyone for your feedback.

[bjcheung77]

Hmm, interesting, have you thought about a StraighterLine and a Study.com combo to get the courses you want?
The reason is simple, you get the StraighterLine courses or credits for cheaper/easier/faster than Study.com...
I usually recommend taking courses at StraighterLine and Study.com as some courses are offered by one or the other...

Let me explain further, WGU offers a bursary/scholarship for individuals who take 4 StraighterLine courses or more.
They also have an equivalency chart for StraighterLine courses telling you which course can be used for transfer.
And then, there is an opportunity to get those courses for FREE and more courses for FREE in the long run.

StraighterLine is $99/month and $59/course, if you take 4 courses it'll be $99 + ($59x4), total: $335
If you get a coupon for $50 membership and $50 off a course, and another $50 for a second course, it'll be $185 for 4 courses.
With the SL/WGU partnership, the bursary/scholarship is $50/course x 4 - you get $200 off your first term
Thus, you profit $15 for taking SL courses absolutely free and you can finish 1 course in exactly 1 day, hahaha!

Moreover, there is a StraighterLine scholarship worth $2000 over 4 terms, I tell people to apply to it as almost everyone who applied gets the award. You don't get $2000/term, it's $500/term, and I tell them not to bother extending it. That $500 will pay for all your StraighterLine courses! If you pay for another month of SL and get a coupon for membership and get more coupons for courses, you can practically get all your SL for FREE.

[dfrecore]

There are people on here who have done a ton of courses in a short amount of time (eriehiker comes to mind), but it's not the norm. I think people are more like 2-4 courses per month. Now, there are times when you can get more done; I personally took 2 CLEP exams and 2 DSST exams on a single day once. But things like that usually happen in bursts - you cram a bunch in, then take a break as life/work/school/family obligations take over. I know of very few people who have NO obligations for a long period of time where they can do this for an extended period - but it is very possible for most of us to cram/take a lot of courses over a short period of time (like a month or two).

[lalacabore]

Hmm, interesting, have you thought about a StraighterLine and a Study.com combo to get the courses you want?
The reason is simple, you get the StraighterLine courses or credits for cheaper/easier/faster than Study.com...
I usually recommend taking courses at StraighterLine and Study.com as some courses are offered by one or the other...

Let me explain further, WGU offers a bursary/scholarship for individuals who take 4 StraighterLine courses or more.
They also have an equivalency chart for StraighterLine courses telling you which course can be used for transfer.
And then, there is an opportunity to get those courses for FREE and more courses for FREE in the long run.

StraighterLine is $99/month and $59/course, if you take 4 courses it'll be $99 + ($59x4), total: $335
If you get a coupon for $50 membership and $50 off a course, and another $50 for a second course, it'll be $185 for 4 courses.
With the SL/WGU partnership, the bursary/scholarship is $50/course x 4 - you get $200 off your first term
Thus, you profit $15 for taking SL courses absolutely free and you can finish 1 course in exactly 1 day, hahaha!

Moreover, there is a StraighterLine scholarship worth $2000 over 4 terms, I tell people to apply to it as almost everyone who applied gets the award. You don't get $2000/term, it's $500/term, and I tell them not to bother extending it. That $500 will pay for all your StraighterLine courses! If you pay for another month of SL and get a coupon for membership and get more coupons for courses, you can practically get all your SL for FREE.

Thank you for this information!

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There are people on here who have done a ton of courses in a short amount of time (eriehiker comes to mind), but it's not the norm. I think people are more like 2-4 courses per month. Now, there are times when you can get more done; I personally took 2 CLEP exams and 2 DSST exams on a single day once. But things like that usually happen in bursts - you cram a bunch in, then take a break as life/work/school/family obligations take over. I know of very few people who have NO obligations for a long period of time where they can do this for an extended period - but it is very possible for most of us to cram/take a lot of courses over a short period of time (like a month or two).

Ok thank you!