Online Degrees and CLEP and DSST Exam Prep Discussion
Diploma Mills - Printable Version

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RE: Diploma Mills - StoicJ - 02-07-2018

The difference is accreditation. If an accredited degree could just be bought at a decent price, then why would you NOT go that route? If you just want education, it´s absolutely incredible how inexpensive the options are.


RE: Diploma Mills - cookderosa - 02-07-2018

And with that, the world remains unchanged. People need credentials. This forum offers people a number of resourceful ways to work around the traditional route and come out on the other side with the right piece of paper in a fraction of the time for a fraction of the cost.

Will: See, the sad thing about a guy like you is, in 50 years you're gonna start doin' some thinkin' on your own and you're going to come up with the fact that there are two certainties in life: one, don't do that, and two, you dropped 150 grand on a f&ck$n' education you could have got for a dollar fifty in late charges at the public library!

Clark: Yeah, but I will have a degree. And you'll be servin' my kids fries at a drive-thru on our way to a skiing trip.


RE: Diploma Mills - posabsolute - 02-07-2018

You know,

Everything needs to evolve over time to stay relevant, I know this forum is more about helping people achieve their degree, but this is just one thread, started by you, and I honestly found interesting to get everyone opinion on this. Do you think your response is really warranted?


RE: Diploma Mills - cookderosa - 02-07-2018

(02-07-2018, 02:16 PM)posabsolute Wrote: You know,

Everything needs to evolve over time to stay relevant, I know this forum is more about helping people achieve their degree, but this is just one thread, started by you, and I honestly found interesting to get everyone opinion on this. Do you think your response is really warranted?

The copy/paste is a famous cut from Good Will Hunting, the movie. It's when the uneducated Will gets into a confrontation at the Harvard bar because he has the brains but not the piece of paper. I didn't think I was *that* old but it was 1997.... so maybe I overestimated the joke. My sincere apologies.


RE: Diploma Mills - jsh1138 - 02-09-2018

"The difference is accreditation. If an accredited degree could just be bought at a decent price, then why would you NOT go that route?"

yeah, if you see an old lady with a purse full of money, why wouldn't you take it? I mean no reason, other than ethics/pride/a sense of accomplishment, etc


RE: Diploma Mills - Cheeseburrito - 02-09-2018

There's certainly an ethical dilemma involved in pumping through a degree bypassing academic honesty policies.

For me, I am in my mid 30s and received a GED 3 years after my highschool class graduated. I dropped out to work during the internet boom in the late 90s as a programmer. I did that for a long time, having started at 13 years old.

When the economy bombed in 2008 I had no skills, no idea, and no money. I floundered for a couple of years and finally re-trained thanks to a government grant. I became a Paramedic and found my life's true purpose - helping people. I thrived in A&P, Bio, and practical skills. For the first time in my life everything felt right and made absolute sense.

Then I got married and realized that lifestyle isn't conducive to a happy marriage. The long hours had us drifting apart and I started to struggle with PTSD. My demons started to take over and I found myself becoming a shell of my former self. I spent time shadowing medical professionals, working on myself, and speaking with crisis counselors. I got myself back and knew what I wanted to do with my life. I wanted to be a top tier medical professional, either a Nurse Practitioner, or a PA. I spoke with my primary care Dr who pointed me down the PA line. Now the fun part starts.

I started to research degrees and schools that would work for me based on experience and transferable credits. I enrolled in a community college and started taking classes. What I didn't realize at the time is that I had 9 units from 2005 which weren't getting me anywhere in a hurry. I was taking classes I had no interest in to fill a degree plan that was 4 years from being completed. I'd be 40. 42 by the time I finished my PA. That just wouldn't work, as "my wife can't support me while I spend all of this time dicking around in books," I thought.

So I started to search online for ways to get credit faster. First came CLEP. I bought a bunch of books and started reading on Chemistry. During all of these online information binge sessions I somehow ran into this forum. Within weeks it changed everything for me. I realized I was spending a semester doing JUST enough to learn the information I need to pass tests. I'd put in the minimum to get the 90% I'd need for my A, but be checked out. So why am I spending hours a week in a moldy and stuffy old classroom with a bunch of stinky, lazy, headphone-wearing-while-prof-talks teenagers, when I can be at home studying and retaining information on topics I enjoy?

The SL/ACE/DSST/CLEP/ETC path might seem like a lazy way to go for some people. It may not shine as bright to a masters program seeing "Shmoop University" on a transcript. But what I think this does show is my determination to succeed and get what I want and need to reach my end goal. I can take several courses per month, get a great grade, and move on to the next project while retaining the same information from a community college as Straighterline about the middle of the Civil War 2 years down the line.

From my experience, first and second year CC are a joke anyway. Adjuncts pass out syllabuses with test bank questions which almost always appear on finals. There is a ton of hand holding, help, office hours, and curving.

It doesn't matter if you're in a physical classroom or not, I am receiving the same level of education from ACE as I would be if I was still enrolled in the local CC.


RE: Diploma Mills - StoicJ - 02-09-2018

(02-09-2018, 01:58 PM)jsh1138 Wrote: "The difference is accreditation. If an accredited degree could just be bought at a decent price, then why would you NOT go that route?"

yeah, if you see an old lady with a purse full of money, why wouldn't you take it? I mean no reason, other than ethics/pride/a sense of accomplishment, etc

Because theft?  Dodgy   

Geez.


RE: Diploma Mills - jsd - 02-09-2018

You shouldn't need a law or a rule to tell you that taking from an old lady is wrong. That's kind of jsh1138's point.


RE: Diploma Mills - bluebooger - 02-09-2018

(02-09-2018, 02:13 PM)Cheeseburrito Wrote: The SL/ACE/DSST/CLEP/ETC path might seem like a lazy way to go for some people.
...
 But what I think this does show is my determination to succeed and get what I want and need to reach my end goal. I can take several courses per month, get a great grade, ..
It doesn't matter if you're in a physical classroom or not, I am receiving the same level of education from ACE as I would be if I was still enrolled in the local CC.

its only lazy if the person makes it that way 
the same as being in a classroom 

I read 4 study guides to prepare for my Intro to Psychology CLEP 

https://www.amazon.com/Cracking-GRE-Psychology-Subject-Test/dp/0375764925

https://www.amazon.com/Barrons-101-Study-Keys-Psychology/dp/0786177365

https://www.amazon.com/CLEP-Introductory-Psychology-TestWare-CD-ROM/dp/0738600873

https://www.amazon.com/Psychology-Easy-Way/dp/0764123939/

and watched this videos series (and read the accompanying study guide) 
https://www.thegreatcourses.com/courses/great-ideas-of-psychology.html  

and watched this 
https://www.amazon.com/Standard-Deviants-Psychology/dp/B000VE4UII

and I didn't cram through the study guides. I actually took time reading them.

anyone can be lazy and do just enough to pass or they can put in some time and effort 

"I can take several courses per month, get a great grade, " -- yes, that shows you can reach a goal -- if your goal was to pas the exam -- but if your goal was to actually learn something then you probably failed 

as I said earlier, Microsoft certifications were long regarded as a joke because people could do several certifications per month with no experience, no real knowledge -- just buy some exam cram study notes, go in, pass the exam and forget everything 24 hours later 

the certificates looked great on resume`s (at first), but eventually all that accomplished was to lower the value of the certifications 
"oh, you're MS certified ... ha ha .. get outta here" 
eventually people who actually KNEW the stuff wouldn't even put the certifications on their resume because "know nothings" had given the certs such a bad reputation 

I'm a firm believer that CLEP, DSST and other sources are more than just a means to an end  -- the degree shouldn't be the goal .. the knowledge gained along the way is the valuable part  (if the degree is the only thing that matters then just do a diploma mill or some garbage school where you can coast through)


RE: Diploma Mills - StoicJ - 02-09-2018

(02-09-2018, 05:23 PM)jsd Wrote: You shouldn't need a law or a rule to tell you that taking from an old lady is wrong. That's kind of jsh1138's point.
I just don´t see how stealing is even REMOTELY comparable. There is nothing sacred about accreditation. Those bodies can set whatever standards they want.... and face the consequences. If they say ¨Hey, you can pay a waiver and bypass the whole learning thing¨, that´s their call. There´s no theft involved, no fraud. Of course, we all know what the value of that accreditation would be. Personally, I would like to see Calc 1 be a MINIMUM math requirement for ALL university degrees. That one can graduate from a university and not know CALCULUS just does not make sense, to me. Even if a school offers degrees in things like Criminal Justice or Homeland Security, if they call themselves a university Calc should be required.