Pressed for Tim e

Kim Matherly

// Wha t doyou mean I'm goingto beherefor six years?"Chrisshoutedto his advisor. He was supposed to beonafour-yearplan,butsincehe'dchanged his major seventimes,graduatingin twomoreyearsdidn'tseem possible Itwasthenthathis advisor handed him astackof papers,catalogsandbrochures.

"Thisis youronlyhopeof graduatingontime. Afteryoureadthem,comebackand we'llplanyour schedulefor nextsemester," his advisorsaid.

Christookthe stackbackto his dorm andsifted throughthe mound of paperswhilehis roommateJeff arguedonthe telephonewithhis father.

To his surprise,hefound acatalogthattoldhim he couldtakethe College-LevelExaminationProgram and get creditfor someof his basicrequirements

'You'renotsmartenoughfor that,"Jeffsaid, hangingup the telephone

"Haveyouheardof thisCLEP thing?"Chrisasked him

'Yeah,Mikefrom down the hallsaidhetookone and itwas too hard. He faileditand lost40 bucks,"Jeff said

"Isn'tthisthe sameMikewho failedphysical educationtwicebecausehecouldn'tfindthe gym? I thinkI'll giveitatry. Ifsalot cheaperthantakingthe class,and Ineed the credit," Chrissaid,fillingoutthe application.

Two monthslater,Chrishad passedfour CLEP testsand earned 12 classhoursof generalcredit

NextonChris'slistwasthe LUSLLL program He tookaBibleclassat his own paceand sleptin every morningwhileJeffwhined abouthis 8:00a.m class

Some students attendclass solely for the purposeof getting through.For those students,or forstudents ina hurryto graduate, the CLEPprogram, correspondencecoursesandmodulars are the perfect solution for saving both time andmoney.

"How much doesthisLUSLLL thingcost?"JeffaskedChrisoneevening.

'It's a lot cheaperthanthe class,and ifsalsoeasier," Chrissaid

Betweenclassand his job, Jeffdidn'thavethe extratimeto spend in the audiovisual librarywatchingclasstapes. However,hesoonranacrossalistof Christmasmodulars.

"Haveyou heardof this?" heasked

"I thinkIhaveoneof the sign-up forms,"Chrissaid "Why?"

"ThissaysIcantakeaclasswhilemostpeopleare outfor Christmasbreak My advisor toldme itwouldn'thurtto takesome soIwon'tbesoloadeddown withhoursin my senior year,"Jeffsaid.

Beforethe end of springsemester,bothChrisandJeffhad finishedall theirbasicclasses.

"Thisis great,"Jeffsaidto Chrisas theypackedup for summer vacation. "Nextyear,I'll onlyhaveto take13 hoursinsteadof 18, butIthinkImighttake18anyway."

"Why?" Chrisasked

"BecauseI'll graduateasemesterearlyifIdo," Jeffsaid

Chrissmiledas hestuffedhis sheetsintoan oldtrunk Ithad beenagreatyear Thanks to his advisor,hewould alsograduateon time.

"Maybe,ifsomeone had toldme abouttheseshort-cutssooner,Icould'veevenfinished in onlytwoyears!"