Usm Va Advisement: Fill & Download for Free

I was a c…occasionally a b student in high school…I only got an A in history. I joined the Navy at 17. After completing the Navy’s A school in weather observing and then 6 years later their B school in weather forecasting I was looking to get promoted to Chief Petty Officer and asked a career counselor how to improve my chances. He advised taking some college courses. I visited the Educational Service Officer who explained that if I joined the University of Maryland College (almost any other regular college works as well) I could receive credits for my Navy schools and training. THEN..the ESO told me about the CLEP, College Level Examination Program which is accepted by almost all bonafide colleges. CLEP is a test/exam based program. You look at the course(s) you wish to take, work with the college advisor, order the test, the university administers it and if you pass it…you earn 3 or sometimes 6 credits. So I ordered the 5 general exams offered. (they were free for me …the Navy paid) but you will have to pay for each one. I took all five in one day…against the ESO’s strong objections…a month later…wham I had earned 30 lower level college credits…basically one year of college…in one day. It whet my appetite…I ordered more “subject CLEP exams and…in the next three months I earned another 45 credits! Then, the University added in the military service school credits and experience and within a 4 month window…I had over 90 bonafide credits towards a degree. I wanted a degree in business but…..I had to take an actual, in person, in the classroom course load of at least 30 credits taught by the University of Md. to earn any type of degree. I ended up taking the last course before transferring …and I settled for a BS in Psychology with a minor in Business…I just wanted the “paper” to show the Navy. It worked…I was advanced to Chief Petty Officer…(a big deal in the Navy) and made Senior Chief the very next time I was eligible. Total time to earn a legitimate 4 year degree…from a “on the level” University…15 months. Total cost…about $600. Now…even if you are not in the military and do not intend to go into the service…YOU CAN STILL TAKE THE CLEP EXAMS…also…as an adult learner…go to the online/adult learner/ distance learning center/correspondence course supervisor…whatever it is called at the university near you…sit with them and they can help you with…weekend condensed classes…correspondence courses their university will accept…from their university and others…signing up for the CLEP program/courses and awarding you life experience credits….I can assure you…even without any military connection…you can get a 4 year degree in about two years…at a fraction of the costs a “traditional degree will cost at a public college. Over 20 years…I helped scores of people do so. The University of New York runs a program as well you might wish to look into. Now…did my “shortcut degree” actually mean anything…did it help me after I left the service? YES…I was hired by the University of Southern Mississippi as a social worker working with Vietnam Vets who had been exposed to agent orange and who had children with disabilities. I help them get services and support from the social security administration and the VA. I did that for 4 years. Then…based on my degree and 4 years experience as a “unlicensed social worker” And my 28 years of military service I was hired to become the director of a non profit that was just opening a 12 bed emergency shelter for abused/neglected children who had been removed from their homes by State social workers. The State gave me a waiver, based on my degree, the “extra” CLEP exams I had taken beyond the degree requirements and my training/experience at USM..and wham…I was a licensed social worker and the Director of a non profit for 20 years…that served over 3,000 children and helped kids in foster care go to college…helped families in crisis…etc. AND…IT ALL HAPPENED…BECAUSE SOMEONE TOLD ME ABOUT THE CLEP PROGRAM AND POINTED ME IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION…NOW I AM POINTING YOU IN THE SAME DIRECTION…GOOD LUCK.