I was able to earn a degree in Civil Engineering this past semester, to which i credit my frugality during my college time for why i was successful. I want to pass on these few tips to those still in college, primarily students in their first two years or super savvy seniors in HS looking to save a lot of money, but alot of time!
CLEP/DSST Testing:
I was fortunate to go to a university that accepted CLEP/DSST tests. After i realized my whole freshman year could have been CLEP'd, I went on a rampage and passed a total of 19 credits, (Eng composition, Biology 1 + lab & Biology 2 + lab, 400 level Humanities, & Statistics) saving me over a whole semester! These tests are so affordable, usually just 100 bucks. I went 4/4 on these test, having never failed because i waited till i was absolutely ready to take them! As a non-resident, i saved over $6000 off my education. Almost all these test require a score of 50 to pass, and instead of giving you a grade you get an Exempt. This helped my GPA alot because my B's and A's weighed more on my cumulative. If you have frugal money habits, you prolly have good study habits. I never took these tests during the semester, but instead would study during a summer/winter break and take it the first week back on campus. I wish i only did these when i was in HS and i could've started college as a second semester sophomore!
Summer School:
Again, if you are in your first two years and want to speed up your clock, GO TO SUMMER SCHOOL. Some people think its expensive, but what most people don't do is look at their local community college for coursework. I was able to transfer 10 credits from my local juco to my University by getting the transferability approved before i even signed up! And these two colleges i attended were several states apart from each other. For only 60$ a credit at my juco, i got two notoriously difficult math classes done fairly easily then if i would have carried a full schedule with them. My Nonresident tuition was $350 a credit, so saving almost $3000 was well worth it!
Conclusion:
The faster you get out of college, especially when you pay for your own place, the cheaper it will be. I chose to live in a shithole and share a room but payed only $200 a month, and since i was able to graduate a semester early i saved that $1200 in rent. Overall, i roughly estimate these frugal, disciplined and well planned decisions i made save me around $10k, but allowed me to take a manageable 12-15 credits each semester and still save 5 months of my life. I am no genius, but with only 4 classes (only took 5 twice) i was able to focus and get better grades thanks to basically choosing to go to school year round. 1/4 of my degree was earned by just chipping away at my degree flowchart each break, and as a result i saved 1/4 of the cost and 1/8 of my time there. Had i busted my balls and not played football, there is no doubt 3 years would have been possible. PM and i would love to send you the links to the free resources i used.
July 16, 2017 at 04:49PM
