It has been a long time since I last even opened my blog. The last post I made was over 4 years ago and, my goodness – how life has changed. Three short months after my last post, I dropped out of college and drove my Toyota RAV4 back across the country to Pennsylvania. Pepperdine will always hold a special place in my heart – it will always be where I spent most of my college career and where I got to travel the world. I don’t for a second regret my 2+ years at Pepperdine – they were beautiful and challenging all at the same time and I am forever grateful for my stints in Malibu, Buenos Aires, and Washington, D.C.
Today, much has changed. I am married to my best friend, I work as a program director/supervisor at a local youth center, I live 8 minutes from my parents and grandparents, and I am a college grad. When I officially dropped out of Pepperdine in 2018, I thought for sure I was saying goodbye to my April/May 2020 graduation date. I had taken an average amount of courses, but I had done minimal summer work and had no AP credit to act as a buffer. I came home with no alternate plan.
On December 6, 2019, three years ago today, I walked out of my final undergrad class at West Chester University. Having dropped out of college mid semester, I wasn’t sure how I would pull my credits together to graduate. Looking back, there were 3 key things that made my early graduation possible.
1. Community College – The up-and-coming underdog
When I returned home, I looked into Delaware County Community College – my local community college. DCCC offers split semester courses, so they had courses starting the week after I arrived home. I packed in a full course load for the second half of the semester. I opted for all online asynchronous courses to accommodate my part-time nannying job, but in person classes were widely available as well. I will say, online courses require a discipline that I’m not sure I still have. However, I was incredibly motivated at the time. Despite the low qual rap that community colleges had amongst my peers, I thoroughly enjoyed my courses with DCCC. I took a majority of my missing gen eds – so English 101, English 102, Intro to Computer Science, Psych, Developmental Psych, Public Speaking, and History of Music. I found the majority of the professors readily available for questions, office hours, etc. I received quality feedback, was able to write about and discuss my faith in several of my courses (a norm at Pepperdine), and developed good repour with professors even though I never had the chance to meet them in person – all at a fraction of the cost. Plus, DCCC offers courses to high schoolers at a further discount and all their courses transfer directly to PA state schools.
2. CLEP Tests/Modern States – The secret that shouldn’t be a secret*
Prior to my “drop-out” adventure, I’d never heard of CLEP. Today, I am the biggest fan! CLEP, or College Level Examination Program, is much like the Advanced Placement, or AP program. College Board, the organization that organizes AP tests and SAT testing, also oversees CLEP tests. CLEP tests are available for a majority of general education courses. Like AP tests, you need to surpass a certain score to receive college credit, but if you score well enough, you are golden. When I first looked into CLEP, I found that College Board sold PDF handbooks for each test. These come with lessons to study through as well as a practice test to prepare for the real thing. Right before purchasing the College Board official study guide, I came across Modern States (https://modernstates.org/). Modern States offers free online courses taught by college professors to prepare for CLEP tests. The courses are full of relevant info and practice questions. The real kicker is that Modern States will also pay the $90 for your CLEP test once you complete the free course. Credit wise, you could complete 1-2 years worth of college credit at no cost – just through CLEP tests.
*something to note – not all colleges/universities accept CLEP credit
3. Transferring Schools – The hardest, most tedious part
Over the course of my college career I went through the transfer process 3 different times. I transferred my Pepperdine credit to DCCC, got it all transferred to Penn State when considering their Brandywine Campus, and then all of that collective credit to WCU. Transfers only require official transcripts from each institution attended. That is what each registrars office told me. When I finally made it to West Chester in January of 2020, I had completed 90 credits. I needed 120 total to graduate and could do that in two more semesters. After submitting my transcripts, I was sent confirmation that all of my credit was received, but only two of my Pepperdine courses would count for anything beyond elective credit. Distraught, I called the registrars office and was told that I could try to file appeals for any course I wanted re-evaluated by department chairs, but they didn’t give me much hope. Each appeal form had to be submitted with a copy of the course syllabus from Pepperdine. Hours spent searching for syllabi from my first semester of freshman year and seventeen appeal forms later, I was granted credit for each of my requested courses. The process was by no means simple, nor was it made easy by the university. That said, I refused to pay again for courses that I had already taken. The actual transferring process was tough. Minimal help was given and I was in limbo for much of the time. However, do not let that deter you from making a right move – its worth it!
On December 14, 2019, I officially graduated from West Chester University with my B.S. in Liberal Arts with concentrations in International Business, and Technical Communication. One of the main reasons I dropped out of Pepperdine was cost. While I had some pretty heavy hitting scholarships and some help from my parents, Pepperdine is outrageously expensive and required that I take out loans. And while tuition continued to jump up, my scholarships did not. Today, Pepperdine costs students $81,000 for one year of living on campus. I was there 5 years ago, so it has certainly increased, but I knew going into college that my heart was for missions/non-profit work – that I would probably not be making enough to comfortably pay back what a Pepperdine degree would cost me.
Today, my husband and I no longer have any school loans to our names – seriously a blessing. We both work in some sort of ministry – something that may or may not have been as easy with hefty loans. I guess I write this post because I realize that some of the kids I babysat 10-12 years ago are now preparing to go to college. Please don’t hear me saying you should or should not go to the fancy expensive school. While its probably not my recommendation, I did – I went there. I loved it. It was amazing. I learned tons, made awesome friends, and saw God in so many places. Don’t fall prey to the “college experience” like I did – go out and build your own – it’ll be better. Solid community doesn’t have to be found on a college campus – though I know it might be easier. Hear me saying that there are ways to make parts of it significantly cheaper – even free! Explore your options. Don’t just fall into the higher education system – make the system work for you.
I know that many of these thoughts focus solely on the costs incurred by a college degree and not the life experience that comes with it. Don’t fall prey to the “college experience” – go out and build your own – it’ll be better. Solid community doesn’t have to be found on a college campus – though I know it might seem like it.
Thanks for coming back and reading!
Hopefully I’ll be back soon for my next post – Planning a Wedding on a Budget 😉
Wandering the Waters 