What Are The Alternatives to Attending Traditional College Classes in Getting Your Degree
By Larry Slater When it comes to getting your college degree, don’t just follow the crowd. Be creative about finding ways to get your college degree. Whatever you do, don’t let a seeming roadblock defeat you. Always look for options to taking the traditional college class route. I remember the old Western “Paradise” featuring Lee Horsley as gunfighter Ethan Cord. When trouble would come around, and it always did, someone would say they had no choice as a way to excuse their actions. To that Ethan Cord would say: “There are always choices.” That’s one of the truest statements I’ve ever heard. Moral: Before you take action find out what are your choices or you will just have to live with the consequences. PRE-REQUISITES If you want to take a college class that has certain prerequisites that you don’t have, don’t count yourself out just yet. Go talk to the professor first. They may be able to come up with something to get you up to speed so you will be able to take that class. Sometimes they are so desperate to get enough students in the class that they are willing to bend quite a bit just to have to in it. Or there may be an alternative class that’s going to be offered later that is more to your liking, but you would not know that unless you had gone and talked to the professor first. So just because it’s not written down in the course catalog doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. That’s why you have to ask. But if you don’t ask you’ll never know. SUMMER CLASSES Many students simply see Summer as an opportunity for fun-in-the-sun or for the more frugally minded, a chance to get a temporary job. For those who really want to make the most of Summer, check out the Summer Course Schedule. The classes during the Summer Session are condensed so you can get done much quicker than during the regular Fall or Spring Semesters. And since they are shorter you are forced to concentrate more and will probably get more out of them; and get a better grade to boot. That may be just what you need if you tend to “drift” during a long semester. If you work it right you can get quite a few credits during the Summer Session in a relatively short period of time. While studying the Summer Course Schedule at my university I saw listed several internships and practicums in the History and Political Science departments. Not knowing what they were I asked the department heads about them. After some negotiation, hard work, and a very full Summer, I was able to satisfy 9 credits in Political Science by working part-time for the U. S. Census Bureau and 3 credits in History working at a local historical site. In addition to the work I had to do some collateral reading, keep a diary and write a paper about each experience. The best part was that I got paid for doing it. To top things off I took a couple of Economic classes to put my total for the Summer at 17 credit hours and earned several hundred dollars. Now that’s what I call a productive Summer. INTERNSHIPS/PRACTICUMSSo what are Internships and Practicums? Basically they are on-the-job experiences related to a particular subject and include some added academic work to better integrate them with your degree requirements. You may have skipped over them in the your college course catalog because you didn’t know what they were. But let me tell you, they are the best options for getting college credits you can find. Why? First you get on-the-job experience which is very hard to get unless you are actually being hired by the company or organization in the first place. These experiences are worth their weight in gold as you can later put them on your resume to make you look even more attractive to a potential employer. Next you are able to develop your network of contacts within the work world that will be invaluable to getting hired into your dream position. It has been written that third person references are the best way to get hired. When someone actually knows you and your work habits, they make a much bigger impression than a cold, dry resume. And the best part about internships and practicums is that you get paid for doing course work. Yes Virginia, you CAN get paid for taking college classes. Talk about turning the tables on your college expenses. Now if that isn’t the best deal you have heard in a while, I don’t know what is. If you don’t see an Internship or a Practicum being offered in your subject area, talk to your advisor to see what is available or what could be arranged. Sometimes a professor is just waiting for someone to suggest a good Internship or Practicum for their students to get their “foot in the door” of a particular profession. And just maybe you might be able to negotiate college credit for that part-time or summer job you already have lined up, or even better, the current job you are working at, thus killing two birds with one stone. Remember, it never hurts to ask. CLEP TESTS What are CLEP Tests? They are College-Level Examination Program tests administered by the College Level Examination Board and are a series of examinations, each 90 minutes long, that allow you to demonstrate your knowledge in a wide range of subjects. You can choose from five General Examinations and 29 Subject Examinations. Approximately 2,900 colleges and universities across the country grant credit for CLEP exams and about 1,400 of those colleges also administer CLEP exams. Find out if your school is one. For each exam you take you may earn from 3 to 12 college credits toward your college degree. That means you could earn up to two semesters (60 credit hours) worth of credit just by taking CLEP tests. But maybe you are interested in receiving a course exemption and/or advanced placement in your degree program? By taking CLEP tests you can do so even before your freshman year on campus. But by all means check with your advisor first to be sure what tests apply to your degree. Then get the registration/admission form and instructions you need before you begin. Simon, who is Hispanic, took the Spanish language tests in order to satisfy his foreign language requirement. He only missed one question and earned 17 credits towards his degree. When I talked to him last he said he was thinking of taking the French tests as well. EXTRA TIME If you are having trouble with a college class and you are just not getting it, maybe all you need is a little more time. Learning isn’t instantaneous and sometimes it takes you more than the usually allotted time during a semester to put it all together. If so then simply take an Incomplete for the class and finish it after the semester is over. When you finish with your other semester’s classes you will be free from their distractions and can really concentrate on the material that was giving you so much trouble. But be sure you finish the class. Don’t let it just hang there. It’s just too easy sometimes to procrastinate about finishing a class and that will only exacerbate your problems later. “W” Another last-ditch option when you just can’t get a class is to cut your loses and drop the course. As a result, a “W” (for withdrawal) will appear on your record. Sometimes you can even withdraw from a course on the last day of class; with special permission of course. It can save you from lousing up your transcript. But do this only as an absolute last resort. One teacher wrote on the board before every test: “This test is not the sum worth of your value as a human being.” The same goes for one class. It is, after all, only a class. As a absolute last resort you can simply accept failure. Failure may be your best way to learn what you can’t do. But then you can always go back and take the class again later when you are better prepared. Develop your college study skills and increase your chances of college success by visiting the College Study Skills web site. There you will find many other skills that are necessary for you to graduate with your college degree. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Larry_Slater http://EzineArticles.com/?What-Are-The-Alternatives-to-Attending-Traditional-College-Classes-in-Getting-Your-Degree&id=346703 no fax payday loans how long before school starts receive loan money xtra cash payday loan buying a cash advance
