My journey and, issues. :)

[cookderosa]

I understand CLEP doesn't have anything to do with ACE I should have re-read and changed what I wrote to make that distinction. I was interested in using the TEEX courses and possibly ALEKs at the local CC's. But that won't work. (failed to mention that at all in the original post, my fault for writing it and going AFK for awhile to come back and hit submit )

I appreciate the advice you've given and you do have a very good point about having a finish line goal. I have two big issues basically in the sense of going to a traditional school or going to a more test oriented school like the big three. The second is the toss up between the two majors.

In terms of Traditional / Test oriented I've never attended college. I was home schooled, graduated and we had deaths in the family that kinda rocketed things off course. I'm pretty good at picking up material and I imagine I can do fairly alright on CLEP / DSST exams as long as I put a bit of study time in. I don't really want to spend the full four years seeking a degree, so in either case I'm wanting to test out of as much as I possibly can. From what I've seen most CCs, Unis, as well as the test oriented schools will accept CLEP exams at the very least. So I was hoping to fill out some of the GE core via CLEP regardless of where I went. The only one that I've noticed personally from reading around where this doesn't apply is that Excelsior does not accept English Composition CLEP, while I think the rest do.

The toss up on degrees is because both of those majors (Comp Sci / IT) are something I'm interested in, but haven't quite decided on one or the other. At most schools I've noticed they share a lot of common requirements, so I was hoping that I wouldn't have to pick right away and could work on the common requirements. Perhaps I need to give that more thought.

your plan will work to some degree- I mean everyone needs English 1 and 2, everyone needs some math, everyone needs a science, etc. I still suggest thinking of the end first. I'd also suggest, deciding if you want the AA first. There are a few pros and cons, and there is no right answer. It isn't necessarily faster, and it can create some obstacles in a few situations, but many people suggest it as a means of getting encouragement along the way. I did that at TESC on my way to my BA for my own reasons- but I bring it up because if you do want an AA first, you'll be dealing with 100/200 level classes which are all that community colleges offer. In the use of CLEP exams, they result in 100/200 level credit- so if you only want to test, you'll get more testing opportunities through one of the big 3, where a community college will restrict CLEP credit to some amount (as low as 15 credits, as high as 45). If you DON'T want to mess with the AA, then my suggestion is to focus on where you'd like to earn your bachelor's degree.

I don't mean to take a year, I mean to take a week. Think about it, read the threads from other IT people here, and see what feels right. At that point, let's kick butt!