Different Colleges and Different Rules about CLEP, AP, and Community College

It is difficult to weigh the pros and cons of CLEP, AP, and Community College. When colleges have different rules, how do you determine your plan of action?

I had a question about CLEP/Community College credit. When colleges have different rules, how do you determine your plan of action? One college has a whole sheet on AP and IB credits with a sentence about "taking one of their placement tests". At this point, the plan is to continue taking Community classes, perhaps take a CLEP or two, and take the college placement tests upon arrival. Other schools have charts linking their courses to the Community College to show how the credits compare, transfer and equate. Another school has told him, "We will let you know when you get here." The bottom line for us is to design our high school program around what we want, not the colleges. Any feedback is appreciated.
~Audrey

Every college has its own policy about CLEP and Community College and AP. It's really a moving target, and it's hard to determine in advance what will happen with each college. Each college may decide to use one method, or all three. It's impossible to guess on each policy.

College placement tests are usually quite different than CLEP or AP. They were developed for this generation of students that arrived at college with an accredited high school transcript but without the ability to do college level work. These placement tests are often given during or before the first week of college to determine whether students need remedial help in reading, writing, or math. They will assist the college in placing children in the proper level of foreign language or other subject area.

Those placement tests usually do not include college credit or the financial benefit of speeding the college degree. On the other hand, extremely poor performance may lengthen the time in college if remedial help is required. Again, these tests have become common as the result of the poor quality of high schools in general. If your child is reasonably well educated, I don't think you will need to worry about that.

Colleges admissions should know their policy when you apply in the fall of senior year. If they continue to imply their policy may change, then save their current policy on the website. It may require you to take a screen image of their website, so chance are your teenager will need to help with those technical issues, LOL! But with that online policy saved, if the college changes their policy you may be able to convince them to apply their previous policy to you, since you have proof that you were attending college based on their stated policy. That's complicated, I know.

An easier method is to decide which college is your favorite, number one college. Then do what THEY want you to do. If they prefer AP, then give them AP. If they don't accept Community College, see if your child can pass and AP or CLEP after each community college class. Do what it takes to meet the requirements of only your number one college.

Another option is to search for a college specifically because it will meet your requirements for AP, CLEP, or community college. That's a helpful technique with money is the primary concern.

Blessings,
Lee

Article Source: http://www.bizymoms.com/expert-advice

Let Lee Binz, The HomeScholar navigate you through the most common mistakes parents make when homeschooling high school. Learn how she and her husband helped their two boys earn full-tuition scholarships by providing them a superior homeschool education. Learn they did it on www.TheHomeScholar.com

Please Rate this Article

# of Ratings = 1 | Rating = 5/5

Click the XML Icon Above to Receive Homeschooling Articles Via RSS!