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Table Of Contents:
How it Started...............................................................................................................................3
Menu of Credits: AP, CLEP, DSST, and PSEO........................................................................... 5
CLEP and DSST:..................................................................................................................... 5
FREE COLLEGE While in High School — Post-Secondary Enrollment Option (PSEO).........6
Self-Studying Exams................................................................................................................... 6
Don’t Be A Perfectionist............................................................................................................11
Verifying if Credits Transfer......................................................................................................12
Plan it Out (My Plan Below)...................................................................................................13
Step 1: List out all credits you can earn.................................................................................13
Step 2: Find a college that would accept most of your credits with your desired program.... 13
Step 3: Be thoughtful with allocating your time......................................................................15
University Websites...................................................................................................................18
Remember to know your goals................................................................................................ 19
Results........................................................................................................................................21
Final Take................................................................................................................................... 25
Like these graduation frames? Get them here:
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https://www.notion.so/Graduation-Frame-Templates-791a36e89feb4
65eb719294b6e6df381
Imagine graduating college in one year.
In 2019, I graduated from high school, and soon after, entered my
freshman year of college as a senior, completing my undergraduate
degree in record time — Class of 2022. My story got some attention on
LinkedIn in 2022 and I’ve been requested by many to write a detailed
version of how I did it.
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Here’s my story…
How it Started
College is expensive. Coming from a non-affluent family, I knew
pursuing higher education was going to be a burden. As college tuition
rose at a rapid pace, a concern dwelled in the back of my mind — “was
college even going to be an option for me?”
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This chart shows how quickly college tuition has skyrocketed since 1980 — Business Insider
https://www.businessinsider.com/this-chart-shows-college-tuition-growth-since-1980-2016-8
At the end of HS freshman year, I learned that you could earn college
credits in high school. This epiphany led me down the road asking
myself this question… “How fast could I finish college?”
Over summer break, I invested time to create a plan that maximized
college credits earned while in high school. After finalizing my plan, I
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realized I could graduate in 1 year after getting all the credits I need for
a degree program.
Menu of Credits: AP, CLEP, DSST, and PSEO
After learning about AP exams, I went into a rabbit hole of discovering
other programs, including CLEP (College Level Examination Program)
and DSST (GetCollegeCredit.com). I learned that you can self-study
AP exams, along with all CLEP and DSST — This was huge! Why?
From my perspective, most classes were a waste of time. If you have
self-motivation and persistence, this is a home-run deal.
CLEP and DSST:
Both of these are similar programs. From my experience, they’re
easier than AP and I would recommend taking these if your
prospective college accepts them. It’s all multiple choice (at least when
I took them). With AP, there are written components and multiple
sections. CLEP and DSST are straight-forward tests with a time limit.
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FREE COLLEGE While in High School — Post-Secondary
Enrollment Option (PSEO)
In Minnesota we have PSEO [Read More]. It’s free college while you’re
a high school student — yes, free. Other states have similar programs
for students for dual enrollment. PSEO is an incredible program that
offers high school students free college.
Beware: high schools dislike PSEO because they lose portions of
funding when you leave high school for college. I hear countless
stories of counselors swaying students away from the program. In
most situations, it’s a better decision for you. Remember your best
interest at heart, not your high school.
Self-Studying Exams
Schools are inefficient and have antiquated methods of teaching. It’s
tough for teachers to meet the needs of all students — and I can’t
blame them. Some students can grasp it quickly, while others need
extra time. Expecting everyone to get funneled through the same path
is unrealistic. And the result? Many are left behind.
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Self-studying for an exam is oftentimes more efficient and
it’s not as hard as people make it out to be. You learn the
material at your pace. Plus, you eliminate the dreadful time
spent in class, on homework, quizzes, papers, tests, group
projects — shall I go on?
You’re already watching YouTube videos to study and figure out
assignments — right?
So instead of going through a class, why don’t you just study for the
big exam directly? Realistically, if you cut out all of the fat and
focus on the important items, you’ll get the concepts in a fraction of
the time.
Make sure to set deadlines. Parkinson’s law pushes you to get
everything done because of a deadline. Studying for that exam last
minute? How about that paper or group project? Deadlines will push
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you through that finish line. Over summer break, I knew I had to
complete 2–3 exams in order for me to accomplish my goal. Maybe
schedule a time with a testing center and that test date can be a
motivation driver.
If a subject has 14 chapters… you could probably get through a chapter
a day. Meaning, in 2 weeks you can master the material. FYI —
implement the Pareto Principle: 20% of the material account for 80%
of the exam. Learn the overarching concepts that tie into everything
else. That’s exactly what I did for most of my exams.
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Image Source:
https://blog.mailmanhq.com/how-to-use-the-pareto-principle-80-20-rule-to-succeed-in-your-life/
There are free practice quizzes and study material on Quizlet, and
other online resources. Even free exams if you Google it. Additionally,
there are a number of exam guides you can buy online. Literally, go
through those and you’ll be well equipped. Here are the ones I used
most frequently:
● Barrons — AP Exams
● Princeton Review — AP Exams
● REA for CLEP — CLEP Exams
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● PassYourClass — DSST Exams
Additionally, YouTube channels I recommend to binge watch study
material:
● Crash Course
● Khan Academy
Other Resources:
● Modern States — Free CLEP exams. Email them when you
take your CLEP exam. They also reimburse you for taking
CLEP exams!
● Free Clep Prep — This website saved me a lot. I’ve used it for
a number of practice exams and to understand the exams
before taking them.
● edX.org — They have countless AP courses.
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● Study.com — I used the site to prep for DSST exams.
Additionally, now with ChatGPT, it makes things even easier. If you
don’t understand something, you can have it as a personal tutor for
you.
Don’t Be A Perfectionist
You don’t need the perfect score. All you need is a good enough score
to get the credits. It may seem counterintuitive if you’re a
high-achiever, but the scores won’t matter when they show up on your
transcript. EXAMPLE: “number of credits earned from AP: 13.0,
CLEP: 16.0, DSST: 12.0”. Trust me, I don’t even remember my scores
on these exams. From my perspective (and your future employers), all
that matters is that diploma.
The reason I emphasize this is because, in the beginning, I wanted
high marks. A little later, I realized the weight of that doesn’t matter.
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The important question you should ask yourself is, “what’s my
outcome?” The answer: Credits.
Verifying if Credits Transfer
I had a friend that was in college who showed me this website
transferology.com — essentially verifying if AP, CLEP, DSST, or
college courses you’ve taken can transfer from one college to another.
Transferology.com
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Plan it Out (My Plan Below)
1. Make a list of all credits available — PSEO (local community
colleges), AP, CLEP, and DSST.
2. Find a college that would accept all (or most) of my credits,
and a program that had the fastest completion time.
3. Be thoughtful with allocating your time.
Step 1: List out all credits you can earn
I made a list of all the courses and exams that were offered.
FYI: If your school doesn’t have an AP exam, you can request them
to monitor and schedule the exam at the end of the school year. At
my high school, AP Biology and Economics (both micro and macro)
weren’t offered since they had comparable courses (e.g., Honors
Economics, IB Biology, etc.). I requested I take those AP exams, and
they scheduled everything for me — I was the only one in an exam
room with a test proctor.
Step 2: Find a college that would accept most of your credits with
your desired program
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This step isn’t hard. Transferology will tell you exactly the percentage
of your existing credits transfer. It can match the school or the
program.
Transferology.com
Important note: MAKE SURE THE CREDITS SATISFIES A
REQUIREMENT.
The worst thing you can do is to take a class or exam and it doesn’t
count towards anything. Don’t do that. Verify with Transferology.
Each class that doesn’t transfer is the equivalent of spending
$2,000-$5,000 and lost time.
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It’s a complete waste of time if you earn credits and it doesn’t even go
towards your degree. I’ve met many students who did an exam/class,
then later on realized they:
● Never needed it.
● It doesn’t transfer.
If your reasoning is to “learn” — maybe try these instead: Udemy,
Coursera, EdX, SkillShare, Khan Academy, and YouTube — trust me,
these are better, and it’ll save you time and money.
Many colleges have “generals” or liberal arts requirements that every
student has to go through. Make sure to tackle those first. Then start
working your way up.
Tip: If you’re already in college, maybe spend the summer taking a
few community college classes that are transferable. You pay a
fraction of the cost and complete your program sooner.
Step 3: Be thoughtful with allocating your time
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Eliminate all the unnecessary and focus on the credits you need.
You only have so much time before you start college. If your goal is like
mine, you need to plan this out thoroughly.
● AP exams are once a year.
● PSEO is whatever is available that semester.
● CLEP and DSST are anytime you’re ready.
Because of the time flexibility, I took more CLEP and DSST if the
option was available than AP. For example, I took CLEP
Macroeconomics instead of AP Macroeconomics because I could get it
out of the way faster and focus on another AP exam that could fit in its
place. Also, I had to take certain AP exams because the CLEP
or DSST options didn’t transfer as they should to satisfy
credits. This is important.
For example:
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● AP Macroeonomics -> ECON101 (Satisfies a degree
requirement)
● CLEP Macroeconomics -> ECON999 (Doesn’t satisfy
anything — just adds to the 120 credit requirement for your
degree)
With PSEO, I took classes that AP, CLEP, and DSST couldn’t satisfy
and I needed to take a class. Remember, classes are a longer
commitment. If you do the exams, you can expedite the process.
My high school also offered IB (International Baccalaureate), which
didn’t make sense for what I was doing. Spending two years on a
subject to earn credits which you could earn in a month or semester
didn’t align with my goals.
You may need a combination of AP, CLEP, DSST, and PSEO to
accomplish this. Depending on your situation you could just enroll in
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PSEO after freshman year. Though for my plan, I knew I had to do a
mix of these in order to hit my goal.
University Websites
Every university website has a section dedicated to credits awarded for
AP, CLEP, and DSST exams. Again, some colleges don’t accept
CLEP or DSST — make sure to double check.
A simple Google search: “[Your University] CLEP” and “[Your
University] DSST” will usually give your results. Otherwise, contact
the school and they’ll verify for you.
Remember to know your goals.
Don’t know what field of study to pursue yet? Start with the
exams/classes that every college requires. Again, most colleges require
“generals” or liberal arts requirements. Additionally, depending on the
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track you’re on (e.g., Business, Pre-med, Comp Sci, Engineering, etc.),
you’ll have degree program requirements specific to that track.
Business degrees tend to accept more credits, while STEM degrees will
generally accept less.
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Example table of courses my college requires for majoring in business. Source:
https://lsbe.d.umn.edu/bba
Your return on investment for knowing which path you’ll pursue
sooner will pay off tremendously. Leverage “Inversion Thinking”
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something used by Charlie Munger for investment decisions. Write out
all of the programs you don’t want to do. Now you’re left with the ones
you might potentially go into.
If you’re pursuing top-tier prestigious or ivy league schools, this may
not be an optimal path. Additionally, sports, full-ride scholarships,
and other reasons, may deter you from going this route. My best friend
got a full-ride scholarship at his university and he was an university
athlete. It made sense for him do all four years and to take advantage
of everything they offered.
You also don’t have to copy me. Get a few courses out of the way and
save on a semester of tuition. In my mind, I was going to be 3 years
ahead. And that goal motivated me.
Results
Because I did this, I freed up considerable time in high school.
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The college-level credits I was earning allowed me to satisfy high
school requirements, allowing me to not have to be in class, in turn,
freeing up my schedule. After you pass your exam, inform your school
administration and they’ll get the credits verified.
With this freedom, I pursued many extracurriculars while in high
school, including serving as president of four (4) different student
organizations. Many fear that you won’t enjoy the high school
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experience, but I disagree — it enhances it. You get more time to use
for more activities.
Some highlights from high school extracurriculars.
I didn’t have the follow the dreadful high school schedule of one class
after another. I got to do what was optimal to me. This also taught me
an important lesson for life: If you don’t create your own goals, it will
be assigned to you (by society, your peers, etc.). Having autonomy
and freedom is something I value above everything.
Additionally, I am very cognizant of doing things thoughtfully.
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Wasting time is my biggest pet peeve and I want to see my efforts
compound.
I entered my freshman year of college as a senior. After a year in
college, I was done. With scholarships and a fully executed plan — I
ended my undergrad with minimal expenses and amazing memories.
Thereafter, I went on to pursue graduate school at Harvard,
graduating at 21 with my master’s degree.
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Final Take
I want to end off with this, make sure college is the right
decision for you. In a new world of tech and abundant
opportunities, college may not make sense. Maybe pursue community
college for two years, then transfer to a university. Learn and develop
skills. Network with people. Hone in on your craft. Information is
abundant, you just have to invest time to absorb and apply it.
I do believe we’re entering into an era where the paradigm has shifted.
College degrees won’t be seen with the starry eyes they’ve been in the
past decades.
The price you pay in terms of time and money may not justify it
anymore, and only you will know that. If you’re taking on student
loans, this will stick with you for years to come. The only
reason I think college justifies the costs are the networking
opportunities. You’re going in with the intention to meet people. And
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if you’re doing it to experience “college life” , get an apartment near a
college and make some friends nearby — trust me, it’s cheaper.
Need more time to figure out life? You can spend that same college
tuition traveling the world for a few years, starting your own company,
and still come out ahead with unimaginable experiences and skills
from others that pursue the “traditional path.” Sure, it’s a “safe” path,
but that’s looking blurry now.
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