My Journey

[perrik]

I can't add much to what Geezer said. But I will anyway.

You have so many options, it's hard to know where to start! Taking CLEPs towards a community college AA or AS and then transferring to a 4-year university is one way to do it - the entirely sensible, entirely traditional, and painfully slow way.

Many of us here are students at what we call the Big 3: Excelsior College, Thomas Edison State College, and Charter Oak State College. The Big 3 are regionally-accredited institutions which were created by state university systems in the early 1970s (Excelsior is now private, but TESC and COSC remain public) as a flexible alternative to traditional university programs. To graduate from a traditional college, you must meet its residency requirement, meaning that you must take a certain percentage of your degree coursework at that college while enrolled at that college. The University of Michigan is a typical example - you may transfer in up to 60 credits, and then must take at least 30 of the final 60 credits at U of M. The University of Maryland's University College is geared specifically towards working adults and will accept up to 90 credits from other sources (including up to 60 credits earned by exam); however, you are then required to take 30 credits from UMUC.

The Big 3 don't have residency requirements. Technically, Charter Oak and Excelsior's School of Business are 2.5%-residency programs, as each requires a single 3-credit course to be taken in residence. Otherwise, you may transfer in all your degree credit from other sources. All three offer coursework, but many students graduate without taking a single credit from their alma mater! (my degree is through Excelsior, but none of my credits were earned from Excelsior)

So, what does this mean for you? If you are capable of self-directed study, you can pursue credits from a variety of sources and then transfer them to one of the Big 3 towards your undergrad degree. Traditional semester-based classes are one option, but there are many self-paced classes available (options include Louisiana State University, Brigham Young University, and Ohio University). Ohio University, Excelsior, and TESC offer their own for-credit exams in a wide variety of subjects, and of course there are the standardized CLEP and DANTES exams. Excelsior and COSC also accept GRE subject exams for credit.

As a potential grad student at a traditional program, you may want to take at least some of your upper-level credit through regular coursework rather than through exam or self-paced coursework. SMU is typical in that grad school applicants must submit three letters of recommendation from those who can attest to their academic potential. Professors are handy for that sort of thing. :p