{Review} Extreme College 101: How to Aggressively Fast-Track Your College Degree by Applying Your Already-Acquired Life Knowledge by Eli Caplin

ISBN #: 978-1482711998

Page Count: 118

Copyright: May 3, 2013

Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform

Book Summary:

(Taken from back cover)

Power your way to your college degree by applying your already-acquired life knowledge.

Using the strategies and methods explained in Extreme College 101 you will discover how to:

• Create college credits from work, hobby, and other life experiences
• Dramatically reduce or eliminate traditional classroom hours
• Save thousands in tuition dollars

Before writing Extreme College 101 author Eli Caplin personally tested the approaches reported in these pages.

Yielding highly successful results Caplin amassed thirty college credits in five short months and saved several thousand tuition dollars in the process.

Mandy's Review:

As an on-again off-again college student, I was curious about this book and how I could possibly eliminate the need to take classes. Any shortcuts on receiving college credits sounds ideal, especially if it'll save me money in the long run. I'll admit that I was a little dubious about earning credits without taking any classes. Apparently there are several options in getting this goal accomplished.

If you've taken Advanced Placement (AP) classes in high school, there's a good chance you'll be able to bypass some of your college courses by simply taking the College-Level Examination Program (CLEP). I don't know about your college, but mine administers these tests for $100 for civilians (free for Military personnel) and only on Mondays by appointment at the Testing Center. That sounds like a lot for one test, but when you compare that to the $250 per credit hour for one class (with most classes being around 3 credit hours), I think I'd rather pay the $100.

The author also discussed creating a Life Learning/Experience Portfolio. This option will take you some time (we're talking up to six months here) and dedication, but looks as if it would be well worth it ... especially if it saves you money.

The key to utilizing the options in this book is finding a college that will honor a person's life experiences and allows them to use those experiences towards college credits. I feel that most accredited colleges would offer this option to their students, but don't quote me on that. Be sure you look into this thoroughly before you apply for admission.

While everyone going to college could benefit from this book, I think there are specifically two main types of people this book would be great for: adults entering back into college (or going to college for the first time) and high school seniors who have taken multiple AP classes. Eli Caplin provides the reader with links to various useful websites along with a step-by-step guide from start to finish, which is wonderful for people who never knew earning college credits without taking the class was possible.

*A paperback copy of this book was provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.