Got my unoffical review from Excelsior

caliotter3 · Sep 29, 2010

Have you taken online courses before? Generally people say that they tend to be more work than regular classes. My first online course turned out to be more work than the three units was worth in my opinion. If it were me to do over, I would try to CLEP everything, one at a time. If I didn't do well on a CLEP test, then I would consider taking an online class or even a regular class. That is how I see it. For regular classes, look into the summer sessions or winter sessions. Sometimes you can knock out classes in four, five, or six weeks.

little miss redpatch · Sep 29, 2010

You should be able to test out of most of that.

I suggest:

Humanities: 3.5 - Test out! (Unless you love it...)

Humanities Core: 2.5 - Test out! (Unless you love it...)

Life Span: 2 - You can CLEP this. I wish I had. I took the class online at my local community college. (What a pain in the butt!) A whole lot of work for not a lot of knowledge. It's such basic stuff. Take the test. Save money and frustration.

Sociology: 2 - I used CLEP for this. My mom and brother took the class. They said it was dry and did not really enjoy it. A lot of this test was about key people and key words/concepts.

Additional Social Science: 2 - I took a couple of Psychology classes online. Lots of quizzes and some writing. Not bad. You can test out, though, and be done with it.

Science of Supportive Nursing: 2 - I took the Biology CLEP after studying for 5 days and got a good score. I love science, though. I also have 3 Biology college credit hours. Both ways are good. This CLEP was tough, but you can do it.

In case you are wondering about retaining it for later, a lot of it really does stick with you. I'm am usually at the top of my class in all my regular classes. After all, you still have to study and review before you take the test. You just aren't wasting time and money. You study what you will need.

I used instantcert.com and the REA guides for a lot of my CLEP tests. The instantcert flashcards are great. Make sure to read the explanations. Instantcert also has a good online forum where you can read how others prepared for their exams and it's very distance education friendly.

All of these have a CLEP/Dantes test that will work for you.

For these:

A&P: 4

Microbiology: 2

Excelsior has exams for these. I am still working on doing these, so I can't say which is better. Testing out is the path I have chosen. Others have had success taking the exams.

I look at it this way - Where do I want to be next year? Doing the same thing? Making the same amount of money? WISHING I had just buckled down and done the work?

If you take the classes, it can slow you down, but it does keep you going at a certain pace. If you are not self-motivated, a class is good. If you can sit down, study a bit and knock out a test, go for it.

Think about this example: Study a week or two (or more, if needed) for an $80 Biology CLEP vs a year of reading a textbook, driving to class, gas, hundreds of dollars for tuition and your books, on and on. Both ways count for the same amount of credit in the end.

Side note: I took more classes mostly because I had financial aid. Online classes do tend to be more work than regular classes. I did it that way because I often work overnight, 24hrs, or 2 days straight on short notice. I may also have to leave town for my job. For some reason, "online" usually means a LOT more writing.

Murse901, MSN, RN · Sep 29, 2010

I would echo the suggestions above, with a couple of changes. CLEP/DSST anything you can, so long as you're good with standardized testing. It's much faster and cheaper to take a CLEP. Not necessarily easier, though.

1) Instead of taking the CLEP for Lifespan, I would recommend taking DSST. For one, you can get a letter grade instead of a Pass. The DSST version is supposed to be easier than the CLEP version (I had read quite a bit of posts on the subject at degreeinfo.com). If you can take it and get an A instead of a Pass, it'll boost your GPA (if you care about that kind of thing).

2) I would recommend taking A&P and Micro at a local community college instead of the EC exams. If you plan on ever transferring to a BSN program, they may require your A&P and Micro courses to have a lab component. EC's exam has no lab, of course. Additionally, these courses pack in a LOT of information, and you would probably have to spend almost as much time studying independently as you would spend just taking a community college course.

3) Info Lit. See if your community college offers a course similar to EC's Info Lit course. I took a 1-credit course at my local community college called "Academic Success". It only ended up costing $125 (since it was 1 credit) and was very easy.

Good luck!

jamienR · Sep 29, 2010

Awesome advice everyone, thanks! I will take A&P and Micro for sure at a community college or at the very least an online one with labs. Do I need to take A&P 1 and 2 or just 1? I am also taking college level math in case I do eventually want to get my BSN or MSN. Figure I may as well take it now so I don't have to later.

Conqueror+, BSN, RN · Sep 29, 2010

You will need A&P 1 and 2 for EC. Their exam is 6 credits which covers 2 semesters of theory.