Help me !!!!

[Rousseau]

Choose a degree from either Excelsior or TESC. Test out of most of it using Instacert and the advice from this forum (if you are fully employed and work 40-50 hours a week, then it will take approx 1 year and 6K total to get your BA/BS)

Then you can enroll in a Harvard Masters program here Degree Programs: Harvard Extension School (will take a couple of years and cost $20K

So for the amount of money and time that you would normally spend trying to get a bachelors degree in Washington (approx 25K and that's if you stick with it), you could get a Bachelors degree then a Masters from Harvard.

or you could just spin your wheels for another few years...

This is realistic to get a BA in about a year starting with minimal credits (approx. 16) just by testing out of the majority of courses? wow

You will take the CLEPs there (the school doesn't maintain the records Prometrics does) and then you would have them transferred in. THAT is why you would take them there even though you can't use them there.

Yes that was already the plan, of course I would take the CLEPs here if I went to one of the "big three", that's a given.

I'm just looking for advice on the "big three"... someone else suggested I didn't know much about my local area (which is frustrating because I clearly know more about the policies at local colleges here from trying to make it work and that's the whole reason I'm here asking about the "the big three") and that I should earn my degree locally and use CLEP credits (which I can't)... then I corrected them because, no, I cannot earn a BA locally using CLEP credits like I already stated... and I think that's where you got confused and joined in the extraneous exchange to tell me in a condescending way that I don't know what I'm talking about and why should anyone help me and some other irrelevant stuff about me supposedly making up excuses for not having enough resources (which I never said) blah blah blah... So I reiterated the fact that I cannot use CLEPs to earn a degree locally (and god-knows-why but somehow that made you think "Oh, they don't know that they can take CLEPs at a local testing center")... but it's all good, thanks anyways!

Here is my recommendation:

Search the "big three" website's and locate the required courses needed for your desired degree. Then compare them, finding the common classes. (I would print them out, sit down with a highlighter to mark, and jot these common courses down on another paper to keep track).
Reason for doing this: you do not need to commit to any of them right now, just work towards gathering as many credits as possible first. By going after the common ones, you will be able to make the final decision when you are within "striking distance" of the degree to save on those yearly fees!

Then I would cross reference the CLEP and DSST test list and see which ones can be tested out of and start testing. I know with the CLEP, you do not have to identify a college to send the scores to, I am unsure of the DSST since I have never taken one. They will just "hold" them until you request a transcript from them at a later date, max 20 years. (As previously stated, Prometric is the "holder" and "keeper" of the test scores, NOT the college or test center you go to). To locate the nearest testing center, go to the websites below and enter your local information to see your closest test centers (I would assume both CLEP and DSST centers are the same, but for clarification, here is the search for both):
CLEP: CLEP Test Center Search
DSST: DSST - GetCollegeCredit.com

I would then find a local CC that has semester hours NOT quarter hours. Quarter hours transfer differently, and could ultimately mess up your "blueprint" to finish quickly. Going to a CC with semester hours makes it a lot "prettier"/ eaier to see the entire picture and know what the transferred hours will be. I would look into taking the classes that you cannot take a CLEP/DSST for here. There may still be a few classes that you NEED to take at one of the "big three" just because they have their degree plans arranged so that you cannot get it certain classes fulfilled anywhere else, which is usually true for all colleges.

Just because you are "early" in your college endeavors, don't let that stop you from obtaining your goals. The fact that you are already sick of college indicates that you have a high likelihood of dropping out of the traditional setting of brick and mortar.....that was my life story 20 years ago. I finally just completed all requirements through TESC and thoroughly enjoyed the experience (mainly because I didn't have to interact in person with people I have no connection with and didn't care about and was able to do be "in class" at any time of the day instead of a set time).

If you are a good test taker as you indicated, you should be able to get a good jump on a lot of the basic required classes that are the ones that seem to bog students down into boredom and dropping out.

Good luck on mapping this all out....no one said it would be fun or easy....but it will be tedious and time consuming until you graduate!

Thank you! that was definitely very helpful!! I see, because of the yearly fee it makes since to take all the possible CLEPs and DSSTs for the degree beforehand as well as the rest of the courses elsewhere before enrolling.

Since all my local CCs and colleges are on a quarter system here (and like you said it's better for transfer if they are on semester)... I'll probably just take some BYU Distance courses because they are nice and cheap.