A couple a days ago i went to the library and got myself the clep barrons to take some mock tests just to know where i stood. In the social sciences and humanities I could not anwer even a few questions correctly.

Do not yet despair. You’re probably not generating accurate scores.

Before you do anything else, test again, this time using the official CLEP guide published by the College Board and the Princeton Review, “Cracking the CLEP”. For an accurate assessment of your current competencies, you must practice test using the Official Guide. This is THE definitive practice test – ACCEPT NO SUBSTITUTES.

“Cracking the CLEP”, (useful for the general exams), comes close to the official guide in terms of question content and level of difficulty. I read one recent review that urges students to eschew the official guide in favor of “Cracking the CLEP”. You should not do that (and could not, where the CLEP subject exams are concerned). Again, the premier text for practicing the CLEP exams is the Official Guide. Augment this, in the case of the general exams, with “Cracking the CLEP”. Use this latter work to bone-up on targeted question content (Cracking the CLEP provides detailed answers to each question in each subject).

Pay attention to the suggested CLEP threshold pass scores, for the practice tests, detailed in BA in 4 Weeks. Compare your performance with those benchmarks.

Re-read BA in 4 Weeks, “Testing Out”, STARTING POINT - OBJECTIVE ASSESSMENT et al.

Lawrie

I have 129 credits completed and need a degree , which of the big three is the fastest?

Well, I’d say Excelsior or TESC. It can take up to twelve weeks to get the initial evaluation from Excelsior, but given your existing pool of credits, that may also be your last evaluation. Excelsior now also have the requirement for the 1-credit computer literacy “course”.

COSC are going to require a "reflective essay" about your degree and concentration, before consideration of conferral. There is also a requirement that NEW STUDENTS ENROLLING POST JULY 2004, answer some questions delineating goals and explaining the "focus of [their] concentration" (which I parse as explaining the focus of their focus - ??). Oh, and you need to submit a resume.

From your point of view, looking for a quick exit and already (more than likely) possessing credit covering all required degree competencies, it may seem most of this is unnecessary, time consuming, BS (jumping through ritual hoops).

Bottom line: Excelsior/TESC with TESC edging it. 

Lawrie

Where do I go to take an ECE exam without being enrolled at Excelsior? I called the Sylvan Learning Center and they didn't know what I was talking about.

You'll need to register and pay for the exams and receive an "authorization to test", from Excelsior. You then go to the Prometrics web site and book a place at your preferred test site, and test dates.

You can register for the ECE exams through the excelsior.edu web site or via phone, toll free, at 888-723-9267.

Lawrie