Online Classes, Community College, AP, and CLEP?

How do you choose between Online Classes, Community College, AP, and CLEP?

Hi, Lee!  Your blog is amazing and has already helped me so much (as well as your ebook, DVD, and gifted kids CD!). Just wondering if, knowing what you know now about community colleges, would you recommend on-line college courses or AP courses or just seeing if your child can pass some CLEP Exams to minimize the number of classes he would have to take in college.  I’m starting to go in circles about this!
Thanks,
Elise

Dear Elise,
Thank you SO much for the positive feedback!  Choosing between community college, AP courses , CLEP exams , CollegePlus and other options depends on your child.  From time to time I have recommended each different method, so I can’t really say which one is right for you.  I do remember what it felt like to worry around in circles, though!

Recently I gave a one hour webinar for my Gold Care Club Members on “What’s Next” and I talked for a long time about the pros and cons of each option.  If you are a member, let me know and I can send you a link to the audio recording of that webinar.  (It’s a membership site, so the link won’t work for non-members, sorry!)

When you’re making the decision for your family, take a step back and think about what your goals are for your child.   Some really need to save money on college more than anything – consider CLEP or AP.  Other families are mostly concerned about providing college in an environment that supports their world view – consider CollegePlus.  Some families have fallen far behind in school and need to quickly get foreign language or math or science into their 18 year old – consider community college.  You can see how each family might get a difference answer.

To help you answer for yourself, it can help to think about your goals for college.  Decide what college your child wants to go to.  Contact them and ask about their policy on CLEP, AP, Community College, and Distance Learning.  That can tell you a lot! If all methods are acceptable to the college you want, then look into the  college major.  It’s difficult to use distance learning for science and engineering classes, but easier to use it for liberal arts and introductory classes.  Students considering graduate degrees (law and medicine for example) will need to find out if their application to law or medical school will be affected by their choices.  In general, engineering degrees are not shorted by CLEP or AP, but they can be made slightly easier if you can eliminate the core freshman courses with CLEP or AP.  Engineering classes may be available to high school students through community college, however.  Students interested in law school or medical school may need to complete their undergraduate degee on a college campus, rather than online, particularly to go to a competitive university.   And in general, if a student wants to go to a highly selective or Ivy league school, going the traditional high school to college route is preferable.

Always check with your college choices, though.  Their policies vary significantly.

You can get the Total Transcript Solution here. Then all you have to do is implement!

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