CNA/NA 1 NC Community college or fast classes?

I took a weekends-only class at a private school (which I researched first to make sure its program was accepted by the BON and had a good first-time pass rate on the exam) and was finished with the whole shebang, including clinicals, in six weeks. Passed state exam first try. (They also offer full time weekday classes that last only three weeks.) Honestly, for the level of knowledge needed to be a CNA, I can't figure out what takes a whole semester. The faster you get certified, the faster you can get working. YMMV.

I went through a private vocational school after researching the CC programs and a bunch of VS programs. The CC programs took a full quarter, and were extremely inflexible, and very expensive compared to the private program I eventually chose. The tech school I went to has been around 30 years and has a very good reputation in the area, and I found it to be well worth the money, and the pace was just fine for me. (I already have some medical knowledge growing up in a family of health care workers, and having been a caregiver to family members before). If you have some knowledge already, have strong English skills, and a work ethic to sit down and get things done the short course is fine. It seemed like the CC course did a LOT of hand-holding... I don't think I could have handled that slow of a pace.

However RESEARCH the tech schools, there are a lot of programs in my area that are offered to train CNAs privately and they are not created equally. There was one right near my CC that I looked at, and was strongly thinking about, but a bit of digging and finding some former students who said it was a scam, told me to RUN. Very glad I didn't get sucked in by them. Try to find student reviews of schools when looking around, and look at the qualifications of the instructors.

I went to my local community college for na1 (did orientation at a medical place today for clinicals). I am doing the summer semester so it's a lot shorter than the fall or spring semester. There is also an option in NC to challenge the boards.

I went to my local community college for na1 (did orientation at a medical place today for clinicals). I am doing the summer semester so it's a lot shorter than the fall or spring semester. There is also an option in NC to challenge the boards.

What does it mean to challenge the boards? Are you able to register for the exam without taking a class?