List of 10

College Courses or CLEPs to Include in your Plan

So your student is thinking about dual enrollment in high school, or you are considering adding CLEP exams to their high school studies.  Both will allow your student to accelerate their plans to earn a 4-year degree.  Which Exams or courses should he/she start with?

This List of 10 will certainly vary depending on your student’s college of choice, but for the sake of this discussion, it is a good example to show how a little bit of planning will be rewarded with even more savings in time and money.

The General Education requirements at a 2- and 4-year college are designed to expose your student to a broad body of knowledge (often many of the same subjects he studied in high school).  To achieve this goal, colleges require students to take courses across several disciplines.   For example, colleges may require students to take a course in History, as well as in Civic Responsibility/Ethics.  What you want to look for is ONE course that crosses both disciplines, versus taking two courses, one in each discipline.  At our local community college, one course that meets both requirements is US History (which they also grant credit for passing the CLEP).

Here is another example: students are required to take courses in the areas of Critical Thinking and the Environment.  At our local community college, one course that meets both requirements is Environmental Science (which they also grant credit for passing the DSST).

If you like playing Sudoku, you will enjoy this challenge as well!  If you are just starting to think in terms of Credit-by-Exam for your student, this List of 10 will also give you a guide.

10 College Courses or CLEPs to Include in your Plan
1 College Composition (Class or CLEP)
2 Speech (I recommend you take a Class vs. the DSST)
3 US History I or II (CLEP)
4 Intro to Psychology (CLEP)
5 Intro to Sociology (CLEP)
6 World Religions (DSST)
7 Chemistry or Astronomy or Physics (one science lab) (Class)
8 Environmental Science or Biology (ES is a DSST, Bio is a CLEP)
9 College Algebra (CLEP or Class)
10 Analyzing and Interpreting Literature or English Literature (CLEP)

Copyright©2012 Cheri Frame – All Rights Reserved

Category: Creating a Plan