I’m Finishing My TESU Degree Without Debt or Burnout : Here’s Exactly How I’m Doing..

[LevelUP]

That’s awesome! ModernStates and CLEPs are such a game changer when you first discover them. Being able to knock out credits in a week really flips the whole idea of how long a degree should take. Once you see it working, it’s hard not to get hooked on the momentum.

Did you have a favorite CLEP or one that surprised you by how doable it was?

The Information Systems CLEP was quite easy for me and was the first one I took. I studied for only about five hours for that exam.

The College Composition CLEP was another quick and easy one. I studied for around 10 hours and earned 6 credits for it.

Many people don't realize that you can pass some of these CLEPs by getting only around 50% of the answers correct. They are much easier than Saylor exams.

Basically, if you can score around 70% on a practice exam, you will almost certainly pass the actual CLEP exam. The key is to find low-hanging fruit, leverage your existing knowledge, and study efficiently to make CLEPs work for you.

Would be interesting to know how others approached this too, whether you planned everything from the start or just figured it out as you went, maybe with help from someone who’d already done it.

I used a spreadsheet to plan out each course for my degree. Then it was just a matter of going through one alternative credit provider at a time to complete the courses.

Another thing to keep in mind is identifying which courses are likely to be difficult or time consuming so you can be prepared for them.

I have not seen it discussed much on DF, but a great idea is to journal your degree journey. For each course, you can write down your thoughts, such as frustrations, and most importantly, document your wins to use as motivation to keep going. That way, you will have a personal history you can look back on after you earn your degree.

I wish I had done more journaling myself. I really only recorded basic information, like how long each course took.

Another idea is that after you finish a course, pretend you are a teacher and have to explain the entire course in 10 minutes to someone else. Write down all the key concepts on a single sheet of paper. This is a powerful technique that can help you remember what you learned for a long time. That concept is similar to the Feynman Technique.

Also learn how to read properly.
https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/Thread-...ht=reading