Online Degrees and CLEP and DSST Exam Prep Discussion
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Oh no, another Newbie thread - Thatch - 01-24-2014

Yup, it’s another “I’m new here, what do I do?” thread. I have to apologize in advance for that but I’m 45 years old with a decent career in IT but no education to speak of. There are really no undergraduate programs that remotely interest me as a ‘educational experience’. I actually love learning and constantly study things online but every educational program I see that interests me is actually a Masters program, not a Bachelors (but for the vast majority you need one before the other… obviously). The other issue is that while I have work now, every time I’m either out of work or just looking for something new the lack of degree becomes a problem again and my hunt is much longer and jobs I really want are often times lost even though I’ve always eventually found something, it would be nice to have that issue resolved as well. So, having said all that, the meat of the issue is, I need a Bachelors. My career experience means it doesn’t have to be in IT, I’ve got the experience that says I can do the job, just not the sheepskin that makes HR departments happy. I want it as fast as humanly possible since as I stated before, while I like learning I need this to clear off that BS/BA checkbox for jobs and/or Masters programs that require it. Finally, because this falls into the fast checkbox satisfying degree pursuit I’d rather get it as inexpensively as possible so I can put my money into a more engaging masters program.

I have read through these forums a fair amount. I’ve read the wiki and other sites and realize that ‘the big 3’ route is most likely my best shot. The problem comes in the wealth of information and opinions on this site. As soon as I think ‘ah, this is what I should do’ I realize I don’t actually know what to do at all… suddenly there is thousands more in expenses than I thought, or there’s credit that doesn’t apply or another institution comes up. This is a great forum but I’m kind of lost in its greatness, if that makes any sense. I’ve tried to research ‘the big 3’ and have looked through what seems like hundreds of other online universities but the end result is really just confusion. I just learned about Patten University today and started yet another set of bunny trails that are probably for naught. So I’m here with a ‘I’m new here, what do I do?’ thread to ask for a bit of help from the folks that obviously have a much better handle on the intricacies of this than I.

I suppose it’s a bit like starting to climb a mountain, It looks too daunting to even start, especially when you’re not even sure which mountain you are supposed to be climbing…. You just need that ‘mountaineer’ title so you can climb the one mountain you really want.

So in short, what’s the fastest, cheapest, easiest, most straight forward route to an undergraduate degree considering the following….

Something vaguely ‘techy’ would be good, but really I would consider anything.

Consider me ‘starting from scratch’ because if there is credit to be had, it’s not much and any certs I have had are not current.

I am located in Germany supporting the US Army at Wiesbaden, so while we have a CLEP test center other physical resources are limited, so the more things online the better.

I am a bit confused on the whole testing, admission, and credit timeline… meaning, I see ongoing costs with being registered with a college or within certain programs within certain colleges so do you do all your CLEP testing before registering with a college? Don’t you have to have an institution to send your CLEP results to before you take them? Isn’t there a fee if you choose to send that information to a school after the fact? The whole process timeline is a confusing part for me. What do I do when?

I don’t have a huge amount of money available at the moment because I just started up a rather expensive 1 on 1 German language course to help me in my daily life here and hopefully get me in shape to test for credit on that as well.

So, I’m kind of at the ‘Just tell me what I need to do and when and I’ll do it’ stage. Not a natural place for me to be but after all this time it seems the only solution. I’m sure I left out some important details, but this post is already too long, especially for a first post.

Any help you good folks could provide along with your patience would be greatly appreciated.

Oh no, another Newbie thread - Jonathan Whatley - 01-24-2014

Welcome!

Thatch Wrote:I am a bit confused on the whole testing, admission, and credit timeline… meaning, I see ongoing costs with being registered with a college or within certain programs within certain colleges so do you do all your CLEP testing before registering with a college? Don’t you have to have an institution to send your CLEP results to before you take them? Isn’t there a fee if you choose to send that information to a school after the fact? The whole process timeline is a confusing part for me. What do I do when?

This is a common source of confusion. When you take a CLEP or DSST test, if you're currently an enrolled student or have an active application in process at a school, you can choose that school from a menu in the testing program, and the CLEP or DSST services will send your score to the school free of charge.

Also, whether you send this free score report or not, the CLEP or DSST services will retain your score: CLEPs for 20 years, DSSTs I think indefinitely. Later on for a single fee, currently $20 for CLEPs, $30 for DSSTs, the services will each one transcript each including all of your test scores with them to an institution. In this sense, they 'bank' scores for you.

Thatch Wrote:I don’t have a huge amount of money available at the moment because I just started up a rather expensive 1 on 1 German language course to help me in my daily life here and hopefully get me in shape to test for credit on that as well.

Awesome! The German Language CLEP could be one of your tests. A high enough score can earn 12 semester hours at the Big Three (and a lower score, but still above a certain cut, will still earn 6 semester hours).

Oh no, another Newbie thread - defscarlett - 01-24-2014

A BSBA at TESC is typically considered to be the fastest because everything can literally be tested out of . A lot will depend on what access you have to the internet and what CLEP/DSST tests are available at your testing center. TESC also is the most expensive because of the high enrollment fee.

ETA:

If you have a specific Graduate program in mind I would also look in to the Pre Reqs for that program just to make sure you incorporate them in your degree plan for which ever degree you choose.

Oh no, another Newbie thread - Thatch - 01-24-2014

Thanks for the input so far.

The clarification on the test taking / results banking is quite helpful. So I just need to put together a degree plan and start taking tests? If that's the case I can start right away. The test center is about 200 yards from my office. The only thing I have to figure is according to the CLEP site my test center is 'closed' indicating you have to be a member of the particular university to take tests there, but as this is a military installation there is in fact (I think) 4 universities represented here and it would be unlikely they would not allow tests to be taken for the other universities as well. I'll have to go in an talk to them about this and hope I get a clear answer. They have been more than a bit unreliable up to this point.

Good to hear about the language CLEP. I'll post a second thread on that subject as I was hoping to get some information on the parity between the European Framework levels and the CLEP scoring to get a basic idea of what it takes to get CLEP credit.

Thanks for the comment on the TESC BSBA. I'll look further into that. It's hard to figure out the general costs involved to finish out these degrees in the various colleges. I don't mind investing in this, I just don't want to invest in the wrong thing and have to turn around and spend more to effectively 'redo' the same thing elsewhere. Is there a write up that describes things like costs for one of the TESC degrees here or in the Wiki that you know about?

Thanks again. More input is always welcome

Oh no, another Newbie thread - sanantone - 01-24-2014

This thread compares costs, but it only looks at TESC's Per Credit Tuition Plan.
http://www.degreeforum.net/excelsior-thomas-edison-charter-oak-specific/20035-tesc-cheapest-now-cost-breakdown-big.html

Oh no, another Newbie thread - corpsole2 - 01-24-2014

Thatch Wrote:Yup, it’s another “I’m new here, what do I do?” thread. I have to apologize in advance for that but I’m 45 years old with a decent career in IT but no education to speak of. There are really no undergraduate programs that remotely interest me as a ‘educational experience’. I actually love learning and constantly study things online but every educational program I see that interests me is actually a Masters program, not a Bachelors (but for the vast majority you need one before the other… obviously). The other issue is that while I have work now, every time I’m either out of work or just looking for something new the lack of degree becomes a problem again and my hunt is much longer and jobs I really want are often times lost even though I’ve always eventually found something, it would be nice to have that issue resolved as well. So, having said all that, the meat of the issue is, I need a Bachelors. My career experience means it doesn’t have to be in IT, I’ve got the experience that says I can do the job, just not the sheepskin that makes HR departments happy. I want it as fast as humanly possible since as I stated before, while I like learning I need this to clear off that BS/BA checkbox for jobs and/or Masters programs that require it. Finally, because this falls into the fast checkbox satisfying degree pursuit I’d rather get it as inexpensively as possible so I can put my money into a more engaging masters program.

I have read through these forums a fair amount. I’ve read the wiki and other sites and realize that ‘the big 3’ route is most likely my best shot. The problem comes in the wealth of information and opinions on this site. As soon as I think ‘ah, this is what I should do’ I realize I don’t actually know what to do at all… suddenly there is thousands more in expenses than I thought, or there’s credit that doesn’t apply or another institution comes up. This is a great forum but I’m kind of lost in its greatness, if that makes any sense. I’ve tried to research ‘the big 3’ and have looked through what seems like hundreds of other online universities but the end result is really just confusion. I just learned about Patten University today and started yet another set of bunny trails that are probably for naught. So I’m here with a ‘I’m new here, what do I do?’ thread to ask for a bit of help from the folks that obviously have a much better handle on the intricacies of this than I.

I suppose it’s a bit like starting to climb a mountain, It looks too daunting to even start, especially when you’re not even sure which mountain you are supposed to be climbing…. You just need that ‘mountaineer’ title so you can climb the one mountain you really want.

So in short, what’s the fastest, cheapest, easiest, most straight forward route to an undergraduate degree considering the following….

Something vaguely ‘techy’ would be good, but really I would consider anything.

Consider me ‘starting from scratch’ because if there is credit to be had, it’s not much and any certs I have had are not current.

I am located in Germany supporting the US Army at Wiesbaden, so while we have a CLEP test center other physical resources are limited, so the more things online the better.

I am a bit confused on the whole testing, admission, and credit timeline… meaning, I see ongoing costs with being registered with a college or within certain programs within certain colleges so do you do all your CLEP testing before registering with a college? Don’t you have to have an institution to send your CLEP results to before you take them? Isn’t there a fee if you choose to send that information to a school after the fact? The whole process timeline is a confusing part for me. What do I do when?

I don’t have a huge amount of money available at the moment because I just started up a rather expensive 1 on 1 German language course to help me in my daily life here and hopefully get me in shape to test for credit on that as well.

So, I’m kind of at the ‘Just tell me what I need to do and when and I’ll do it’ stage. Not a natural place for me to be but after all this time it seems the only solution. I’m sure I left out some important details, but this post is already too long, especially for a first post.

Any help you good folks could provide along with your patience would be greatly appreciated.

I know the feeling you have of the goal of a college degree seeming to be a mountain too high to scale. I was in your shoes three years ago. Now, I am at the summit with my degree. It's possible to do!

Can I give you some advice from stuff I learned the hard way? It's best to not go off on bunny trails, as it will only confuse you. Also, the Big Three is sufficient and the best way for you to get a degree that is cheap, that can be earned quickly, and where you can make the most of earning credits in the situation you are in.

To get your feet wet, first of all, do something like apply at one of the Big Three so you can be in their system and you can talk to the advisers. If you were to do as I did and apply at Thomas Edison State College, they charge $75 for the application. What this does is establish your account, sets up your degree evaluation based on the degrees you are looking at, and gives you access to the advisers and financial aid offices. And should you decide to go ahead and start taking CLEP tests, you can then have them transferred to the college without being enrolled.

After that, try out a few FEMA courses. TESC accepts most of them for credit. They are free to take from the Emergency Management Institute, and often can be done in an hour or two. You can read the .pdf that comes with each course, and it is possible to have the book open while you test (dirty secret). I only got six credits this way, but some on here have received thirty. It's free credits, man, which is unparalleled.

I don't know what your time constraints are, but you might want to check out Straighterline courses as well. They are $49 per course, and $99 per month. The subscription gives you access to tutoring and proctoring among other services. They directly transfer to the Big Three, and indirectly through the American Council on Education (ACE) to over two thousand colleges. I took 26 courses for 78 credits with them, for a cost of about $3200 total. Once I got on a roll and figured out the system, I'd often do a course a week. So that is an alternative that you can do at home in the evening if you don't want to do the testing center.

Finally, I'd say: just get started! Choose a test like CLEP Humanities, take as long as you need to study, and take the test! This test was my first foray into the whole distance learning arena, and I got 6 credits for the effort. Once you get familiar with it, settle on another one. Most of the CLEPs you choose will fill in your General Education requirements anyway, the same with Straighterline.

So the only thing really is decide which test you want to start. Don't worry about the major quite yet. Wait to choose it when you enroll. For now, just focus on piling up the credits. And as you do, I promise you will start gaining confidence and feel as if you are climbing Higher Education Mountain. Believe me, it is great at the summit to look back and remembering how I thought I'd not make it. It will be the same with you.

Oh no, another Newbie thread - KayV - 01-24-2014

Here is a plan for an Associate of Arts in General Studies at TESC that will work as a stepping stone for either a future Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Science in Business Administration. This might be a good place to start, as you get an idea of which classes you like best. This is a mix of CLEP, DSST, ALEKS, and Straighterline (SL), but you can find alternatives in lots of places (College Composition through CLEP or through SL, for example). Good luck and happy studying!

CLEP College Composition- 3 Composition, 3 Writing Intensive Coursework
ALEKS Intermediate Algebra- 3 Math
ALEKS College Algebra- 3
SL Business Communication- 3

CLEP Social Science – 6 Social Science
CLEP Analyzing/ Interpreting Lit – 6 Humanities
DSST Intro to Computing- 3 Science
DSST Environment and Humanity or SL Intro to Environmental Science- 3 elective

CLEP or SL Introductory Sociology- 3
DSST Human/ Cultural Geography- or SL World Religions- 3
SL Business Ethics (TESC PHI-384) or DSST Business Ethics-3

DSST Technical Writing- 3
SL Macroeconomics- 3
SL Microeconomics-3
CLEP or SL Intro to Psych-3
ALEKS Intro to Statistics-3
DSST Management Information Systems-3

Oh no, another Newbie thread - publius2k4 - 01-24-2014

Thatch Wrote:Yup, it’s another “I’m new here, what do I do?” thread. I have to apologize in advance for that but I’m 45 years old with a decent career in IT but no education to speak of. There are really no undergraduate programs that remotely interest me as a ‘educational experience’. I actually love learning and constantly study things online but every educational program I see that interests me is actually a Masters program, not a Bachelors (but for the vast majority you need one before the other… obviously). The other issue is that while I have work now, every time I’m either out of work or just looking for something new the lack of degree becomes a problem again and my hunt is much longer and jobs I really want are often times lost even though I’ve always eventually found something, it would be nice to have that issue resolved as well. So, having said all that, the meat of the issue is, I need a Bachelors. My career experience means it doesn’t have to be in IT, I’ve got the experience that says I can do the job, just not the sheepskin that makes HR departments happy. I want it as fast as humanly possible since as I stated before, while I like learning I need this to clear off that BS/BA checkbox for jobs and/or Masters programs that require it. Finally, because this falls into the fast checkbox satisfying degree pursuit I’d rather get it as inexpensively as possible so I can put my money into a more engaging masters program.

I have read through these forums a fair amount. I’ve read the wiki and other sites and realize that ‘the big 3’ route is most likely my best shot. The problem comes in the wealth of information and opinions on this site. As soon as I think ‘ah, this is what I should do’ I realize I don’t actually know what to do at all… suddenly there is thousands more in expenses than I thought, or there’s credit that doesn’t apply or another institution comes up. This is a great forum but I’m kind of lost in its greatness, if that makes any sense. I’ve tried to research ‘the big 3’ and have looked through what seems like hundreds of other online universities but the end result is really just confusion. I just learned about Patten University today and started yet another set of bunny trails that are probably for naught. So I’m here with a ‘I’m new here, what do I do?’ thread to ask for a bit of help from the folks that obviously have a much better handle on the intricacies of this than I.

I suppose it’s a bit like starting to climb a mountain, It looks too daunting to even start, especially when you’re not even sure which mountain you are supposed to be climbing…. You just need that ‘mountaineer’ title so you can climb the one mountain you really want.

So in short, what’s the fastest, cheapest, easiest, most straight forward route to an undergraduate degree considering the following….

Something vaguely ‘techy’ would be good, but really I would consider anything.

Consider me ‘starting from scratch’ because if there is credit to be had, it’s not much and any certs I have had are not current.

I am located in Germany supporting the US Army at Wiesbaden, so while we have a CLEP test center other physical resources are limited, so the more things online the better.

I am a bit confused on the whole testing, admission, and credit timeline… meaning, I see ongoing costs with being registered with a college or within certain programs within certain colleges so do you do all your CLEP testing before registering with a college? Don’t you have to have an institution to send your CLEP results to before you take them? Isn’t there a fee if you choose to send that information to a school after the fact? The whole process timeline is a confusing part for me. What do I do when?

I don’t have a huge amount of money available at the moment because I just started up a rather expensive 1 on 1 German language course to help me in my daily life here and hopefully get me in shape to test for credit on that as well.

So, I’m kind of at the ‘Just tell me what I need to do and when and I’ll do it’ stage. Not a natural place for me to be but after all this time it seems the only solution. I’m sure I left out some important details, but this post is already too long, especially for a first post.

Any help you good folks could provide along with your patience would be greatly appreciated.

For IT, Western Governors University has one of the best programs around. If you have industry certifications, they give you college credit for them. If you do not, they include the price of the certification exams in the price of your tuition.

Online IT Degree | Information Technology Degree | WGU College of Information Technology

These are the certifications that are included in your program:

  • CIW Web Foundations Associate
  • CIW Web Design Specialist
  • CIW JavaScript Specialist
  • CIW Database Design Specialist
  • CompTIA A+
  • CompTIA Network+
  • CompTIA Project+
  • CompTIA Security+
  • Microsoft Technology Associate (MTA) Windows OS Fundamentals
  • Microsoft Technology Associate (MTA) Windows Server Admin Fundamentals
  • Microsoft Technology Associate (MTA) Networking Fundamentals
  • Microsoft Technology Associate (MTA) Security Fundamentals
  • Microsoft Technology Associate (MTA) Software Development Fundamentals
  • Microsoft Technology Associate (MTA) Database Administration Fundamentals


Oh no, another Newbie thread - clep3705 - 01-24-2014

I encourage people to get an associate's degree on the way to getting a bachelor's degree. Life can unexpectedly get in the way. If it does, it's better to say that you just finished an associate's degree instead of saying that you've completed about half of a bachelor's degree. Test out of an associate's degree, take free FEMA exams, and now you're 3/4 done with a bachelor's degree.

Oh no, another Newbie thread - Getiton1 - 01-24-2014

I agree with pretty much all the advice everyone else has given. Especially the part about trying to stick to one bunny trail. I would say sticking to one trail will get you to a destination the fastest....and speed, time and money are concerns you stated, and you like the online method...so congratulations! You found one of the BEST resources out there for online learning and maps to help get you to your ultimate destination which is a bachelors degree...worry about the Masters after your first few CLEPs/DSST's are over with. I do think it's wise to have an idea of WHICH masters program you want to go into post graduating one of the big three and what they require to get in (For example, I always knew I wanted the Bachelors of Science in Nursing because I need it to advance in nursing, but I didn't know that about 1/2 the masters degree programs I am looking into require statistics or advanced statistics, so that kind of changed how I plotted taking my Math and Gen Ed Credits.)

This would be my "To do" list for anyone not sure of what they wanted to do that was new to the whole testing out, CLEP, DSST, Straighterline, ALEK's, etc. route:

1. Take an EASY CLEP, the website for CLEP is: Get Started With CLEP | CLEP
How do you know what an "easy" CLEP is? Trust your gut, and do a practice test on a free website like "free clep prep"

- Clep Exams - Free CLEP Study Guides at Free-Clep-Prep.com (for the actual free CLEP test, note, they have DSST's too which are also great, just make sure whichever school you pick actually takes CLEP, DSST's or whatever testing out method you are using)

- Clep Difficulty List - Free-Clep-Prep.com (I pretty much agree with the guy that runs this website about the degree of difficulty he lists in this link. I also agree that Analyzing and Interpreting Lit or Humanities are good tests to start off. To be sure about that yourself? Try one of his practice exams, you have nothing to lose by trying it out for free, and when you find the one you feel good about taking, walk that 200 yards and register for your first exam (most people on here like Analyzing and Interpreting Literature, Humanities and any of the managment or supervision CLEP's. I am not that experienced with DSST's, but there is a whole thread on which exams are easy. Trust your gut and take a test to prove it to yourself, once you get more than 65 % you can pretty much book your exam and then study the exams, and use the flashcards on this website as well as any of the other resources people put down on their "I just passed the @*($8^@946 exam!" thread. Those threads are one of the most valuable parts of the membership here. I have never failed any exam I used the tips from these threads, and I doubt you will have a problem if you follow the wisdoms of people before you either. PS, In case you didn't know, I think CLEP's are still free for military folks. Not sure what your role is there, but it's worth of shot to ask how things work, especially since it's only 200 yards away from you Big Grin

2. BOOK THE TEST! As I mentioned before, once you get to a point where you feel you can pass the test (CLEP is usually a minimum of a 50 score to pass, and it's NOT based on 100, it's scored kind of weird and the number of questions is different for each CLEP exam). If you don't know where a testing center is, ask or use the CLEP website link I provided above to look around for testing sites. Many county colleges offer this and since you are overseas and military, I bet that testing center will be approved as a testing site. My brother was Air Force and he has had a testing facility close to where he was stationed pretty much every time.

3. Use the flashcards on this website. Once you do a few runs of them take note of your weak areas and try to study the those concepts again more deeply. There are LOADS of free websites to learn/practice a skill, here's a few I like and have used:

- List of All Free Online College Courses & Video Lessons - Education Portal (GREAT for the audio/visual learner...these can take a while to get through so give yourself time)
- That's Why Carbon Is A Tramp: Crash Course Biology #1 - YouTube ("Crash course" on You Tube goes pretty wicked fast, but if you have a short attention span, and like nerdy stuff, you'll probably like this guy and his brother who tackles English and literature stuff
- Khan Academy (Khan Academy...where was this when I was a dorky 5th grader stuggling with mixed fraction division! This site is the best one I have found to learn math and all it's gazillion rules, he also does videos for other subjects, but I actually think his BIO videos are boring, the Math stuff is GREAT though. I owe passing College Math/Algebra to Sal Khan and his team, you even get to earn points and badges...I know...I am still a dork)

4. Get a good nights sleep and know where you are going to test and give yourself lots of time to get all your stuff together before you leave (they usually ask for your ID and some sites even scan your palm/finger), the tests everyone mentioned on here are super easy if you allow some time to hit all the concepts LISTED on the CLEP SITE: History of the United States I | CLEP (it's basically telling you the breakdown of what to study...but like I said, read the threads of people who recently passed the same exam and listen to their study tips. Don't get overwhelmed if you can't do ALL of them...just get to a place where you are passing 1. The Free CLEP prep test 2. Passing the IC flashcards at least around 90% (IC = InstantCert is this website...don't worry you'll pick up on the lingo the more you are on here).

5. Start Narrowing down your choice of the Big 3. If you are sure you want to go that route. Most of us here have. I go to TESC and I am ALMOST done, and I don't regret it one single day! I started last April. Once you get to your 4th of 5th CLEP you can see what subjects you are naturally better at. Then you have to think... what do I WANT to study that I am still pretty good at?

6. Apply to 2 of the Big 3. It's money well spent, because you will "see" which program will take the most of your life experience and transfer credits which will ultimately save you a load of money. I went to Excelsior College (EC) for my AAS (RN School), and Thomas Edison State College (TESC) for my BSN. I liked them both. TESC and Excelsior are SLOW to reply. But my experience is that TESC cared more about me than Excelsior. And they just seemed to have their act together more than EC. Since you are more into computers and work with the military there are others more qualified than I am to give you input on which school of the big three might be the most military friendly. Some colleges let tech people from the military transfer in crazy amounts of life experience credits. For example, I had a friend who was a Nuke guy from the Navy, and he was done in less than a year. They took so many of his certifications for college credit. I am sure someone will pipe in to help you out if you have specific questions. But the main point is, after you start earning at least 4-5 CLEP's or DSST's apply for the 75.00 it takes for the school to give you an idea what lies ahead. Now, applying is different than ENROLLING. That's what people are trying to tell you. You CAN wait to line up all your testing out credits so you don't have to pay as many fees (this is particularly true of Excelsior, because they charge you every year the enrollment fee). So for that College, I would line up as many CLEP's as I could then enroll. You can always send score to any college and that's free at the time of your CLEP exam. I pretty much always did this because I was pretty much sure I was going to pass and I didn't want to keep paying 20.00 for each test. But that's my opinion, check out the threads of people that did their college fast and cheap (like around 5,000) and you will see other ideas and perspectives. Because I am a nursing major I HAD to take TESC courses and in a certain order, but for the degree plans so nicely laid out for you by the members on here...you can see that there are options to completely test out of your degree. Watch out for changes both at TESC and EC and I would bet the other college as well. There are things like "residency requirements" which can be costly. Also there are more global diversity classes in the new curriculum too. And of course some degrees require a "Capstone" project which is like a mini-thesis. So if you are not into writing (and somehow I get the feeling you like to write Big Grin)...you might want to take at least one TESC course so you know what to expect as far as "APA writing style" and using statistics and such to make your point. That was the hardest part of my TESC initiation was learning to do all the formatting for the APA style. Again, I am in nursing (only 2 classes away from graduating), and there might be different rules for other majors, but since I am sharing my experience, and what I wish I knew going into it...maybe it will help you out. If I am wrong, someone please correct me if the other majors require writing papers in APA style?

7. Pass the test and pay it forward by posting your results, what you studied and anything else (except actual questions) you think the next person testing will need to know.

Best of luck and welcome to the best little online learning family you'll meet Smile
Tara