trying to CLEP and major in visual art as quickly as possible

[horrorflicks]

hey everyone, I apologize if this is disorganized and clunky. 

a little bit of context, I graduated from being homeschooled k-12 in 2017 and planned on taking a gap year and due to unfortunate circumstances beyond my control, it snowballed into never going to college at all. I've changed my mind on that and would like to go now, because of being homeschooled I genuinely do not know the first thing about how any of this works, to the point of having to google the definition and difference between a major, minor, degree, bachelors, and associates. 

so I'm not even sure what to even begin to ask, I've never even taken an ACT/SAT test. basically my plan is to CLEP out as much as possible for the sake of saving time and money, enrolling into an in state college, and hopefully transferring to a different college to major in visual art. I assume part of this would be getting a BFA. I have no idea what classes are even required to major in art and I don't know where to go to find that out, I don't know if it varies college to college. my goal would be to do this as quickly and cheaply as possible. I also don't know the details surrounding CLEP and transferring out of state and how that would work. in short, this is my plan, I have no idea how to even begin to do it.  I would appreciate so much any advice or resources anyone has and again I apologize if this is a mess, I don't know what details to provide but please let me know if there's any more info I need to give. 

edit: after doing a little bit more research I have a specific question that I can't find the answer to through googling, and that is what general education credits are required across the board regardless of major and school? because those seem like the ones that should be CLEP'd out of first, and I can't find the answer to this anywhere.

[Ideas]

Major requirements do vary from school to school. There will be some basic courses that are nearly always included, of course.

CLEP is the same no matter what state you are from. You can get CLEP exams for free through Modern States.

Gen Eds will vary from school to school also, but you will have some electives so a lot of CLEPs will work at most schools.

[rachel83az]

All of this varies from school to school. How old are you? If you're at least 20 years of age, you might want to consider a cheap UMPI degree "for now" to get a degree that will help you land a job that will help you to pay for a second degree in Art, if that's what you really want. Whether that's in the form of good wages or educational reimbursement will depend on the job you land. You can see how UMPI works here: https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Un...esque_Isle A UMPI degree can be as cheap as around $3-5k, depending on the student and the desired degree.

Since you graduated from homeschool in 2017, I think your first stop should be the FREE Pierpont BOG Associate degree. This can be a great stepping stone to learning how at least some of the process works and a great confidence booster to see that YOU CAN DO THIS. You can read more about this degree here: https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Pierpont_C%26TC

You can get some FREE credits through The American Dream Academy. Most of these may not be of interest to you, but they are completely free and you may want to at least consider them for credit purposes. There is also a UX Design certificate, which may be a bit more up your alley. That one is worth 10 credits, or about 1/6th of the credits required for the Pierpont degree: https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Coursera

While you can use CLEP exams to get free credits through ModernStates, I would recommend Sophia.org as potentially being faster & easier. If you obtain credits through The American Dream Academy, you potentially only need 1-2 months of Sophia for both Pierpont and UMPI. Each Sophia course is usually only a few days, unless it has assignments. Once you're done, you have credits for your degree(s).

Contrast this with ModernStates, where it can take a week or more to go through the study courses - and then you still have to schedule the exam. The material is also generally insufficient to prepare you for the exam, so that takes even more time if you're not familiar with the subject. It can also take several more days to a few weeks for schools to receive CLEP information. Sophia is essentially instant.

If you're really DYING for an Art degree, and don't want to settle even temporarily for a different degree, one of the cheaper possibilities would be to go through TESU: https://tesu.smartcatalogiq.com/Current/.../BA-in-Art This would allow you to mix & match credits from multiple sources to get the cheapest possible degree. Unfortunately, it can be difficult to find these courses in the first place. And just because it's cheapER doesn't mean it's super cheap. I would estimate that this specific degree would cost $15-25k, depending on where you get the art credits. It will probably cost at least 2x as much at most other schools.

The cost can be lowered a bit if you qualify for financial aid, but an art degree is still going to be one of the more expensive degrees you could pursue.

I hope all of this hasn't overwhelmed you! Feel free to ask again if you have further questions.

[Jonathan Whatley]

you might want to consider a cheap UMPI degree "for now" to get a degree that will help you land a job that will help you to pay for a second degree in Art, if that's what you really want. Whether that's in the form of good wages or educational reimbursement will depend on the job you land. You can see how UMPI works here: https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/Un...esque_Isle A UMPI degree can be as cheap as around $3-5k, depending on the student and the desired degree.

Also note, the UMPI catalog offers minors in Art, Graphic Design, and Humanities. The first two can't and the third might not be able to be completed through UMPI's YourPace online competency-based courses. However, it might be possible to complete them through transfer credit and/or portfolio assessment, if pursued as an addition to a main program that is available through YourPace.

[bjcheung77]

@horrorflicks, My suggestion is relatively the same or very similar to what has been mentioned here.  You may want to complete the template and last page addendum on this link so we will get a better idea on your scenario or situation: https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/Thread-...Area-works - I would recommend deciding on the degree/school and focus on the requirements.  Here's a quick link from Coursera explaining what a BFA entails and which sub areas you can decide on, such as you mentioned, Visual arts (or something similar). Link: https://www.coursera.org/articles/bachelor-of-fine-arts

You should get the Pierpont BOG AAS and an emphasis similar to Visual Arts, such as Applied Design, Arts, or something you can find by following this search link: https://catalog.pierpont.edu/content.php...navoid=202  The difficulty would be finding enough alternative credit courses that can be transferred in relatively inexpensive and quickly.  Once your Pierpont BOG AAS is completed, ladder that up to UMPI BAS or BLS with a minor or two of your choice, again you'll have to find transferable courses. Link: https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/Thread-...or-Inquiry

[dfrecore]

First, homeschooling is not the reason why you don't know all of the things you listed - I help high school kids from public schools all the time, and they don't know a lot of those things either. Their parents know zero as well.

I homeschooled my kids K-8, and one did take the ACT and SAT, and one did not, and they're both fine. The one that did not take the ACT/SAT never planned on going straight to a 4yr school, so it didn't matter - you generally only need those if you're going into college as a first-time freshman. If you go as a transfer student, most schools don't require them, because your college-level work speaks for itself.

For CLEP, while it's great - not all schools accept it. So you're much better off beginning with the end in mind. So, what school do you want to go to? And then plan backwards from there.

Honestly, if you want a BFA from your local state school, then you're much better off going to your local CC and transferring in from there.

But if you're open to some other things, you might do better to get a degree in something else, and then working for a few years and then getting an MFA instead (I mean, $25k for a BFA, which generally will not lead to a job, is a lot to spend).

Think about some degrees at some of the schools we discuss here: TESU, UMPI, EU. There are other schools as well, that allow 75% transfer credit, including ACE, into something "artsy" like Graphic Design or Web Design or something along those lines. Wilmington University, UIU, SNHU, UMGC.