Re:Ask HN: Getting a CS "degree" via MIT OpenCourseWare?
by hmsimha on Friday January 03, 2014 @12:04PM
(#7006508)
This is great, and something I looked into when I was pursuing my bachelors, but it's important to note this is something ONLY worth considering after finishing a relevant udacity/mit course, and then making sure the syllabus matches up with that of the local university's teacher's that will be administering the exam.
Also, at my school, which was a mediocre local university, I believe you still needed 70% to pass an examination for accreditation.
The two options I used, that covered one year of school for me, in about 4 months... CLEP and DANTES.
CLEP - http://clep.collegeboard.org DANTES - http://getcollegecredit.com
the tl;dr version: take exam on $SUBJECT, pass exam, get credit.
The fine print:
a. the exams cost money, typically $100 - 150
b. there is typically a limit on how many credit-by-exam credits a receiving institution will accept (for me, it was 30 semester hours, or 1 year's worth) - for how many and which credits you can get - you need to research with the receiving institution!!!
c. Usually, these are NOT easy exams, but the margin for passing exams varies, but typically it's a ridiculously low margin, like 50-60%. I guess the rationale is that the average college student retains only 50-60% of the material they were taught, at best. (my conjecture, not fact!)
TOTALLY doable!!!