Diploma Mills

[Cheeseburrito]

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.