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Comment by Enginerrrd | Hacker News Reader

I've never understood why I encountered so much resistance to the concept of testing out of subjects during my academic career. I would have even paid for the units, I just didn't get why department heads were so opposed.

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The main reason, imho, is because the tests are generally bad, and the folks in charge aren’t quite sure what to do about it.

There is quite a bit of stuff that one can learn in a class that might not show up on a test. A few examples:

1. Certain small subject matter specifics that may not be measured on a relatively short timed test.

2. Discovering peer groups to study with.

3. The test structure at the university/department — some smart people get bombed early in their academic careers just because they aren’t familiar with the test type.

A well-structured series of courses can be built out assuming that each student in later courses has at least been exposed to certain ideas in earlier courses. If you test out, there is no guarantee that these learners have been exposed to those ideas. Yes, a better test could reveal all of this stuff, but making good tests or test banks is difficult and time consuming, and that assumes that there is some expertise in evaluation/testing in the department faculty (which is rare).

This conversation highlights the dichotomy of higher education in the U.S.

You're describing the quality of an education, while the previous commenters are describing how to game a title system to get the best brand. These are two different goals/outcomes.

I got by cramming for most exams & attended maybe a handful of classes a year. I did graded assignments but not homework. If my university is comfortable handing me an accredited degree in that situation, I would expect it to feel comfortable providing a path to test out.

I encountered this, too.

In my case, the teacher "forgot" to give me the final for one of them, and only gave me the mid-term. Months later, they "discovered" that and made me take it then to keep my credit.

I said, "Give me the test right now." I took it, passed with flying colors.

They still didn't look happy. I'm still half-convinced they were trying to trip me up. Their classes were the easiest I have ever taken and I got a 4.0 GPA there. I knew I was just going for the paper, though, so it didn't bother me.

Joke's on me. That paper has never actually helped me get a job. sigh

> Joke's on me. That paper has never actually helped me get a job. sigh

Knowing that, in an interview, I won't be asked why I don't have a degree, has been at least 90% of the value of mine.

It might vary by region, but here in Europe I haven't been asked that ever in my 7 years in IT.

I don't even have "Education" paragraph in my resume, just skills and experience.

In my experience, I've always learned a lot more during the class than was tested on the exam (except for intro classes). I'd personally prefer easier exams but harder assignments and projects that allow for some collaboration. If you were allowed to test out of classes then the exams would need to be made a lot harder so it includes all the material you should have learned if you took the class.

The university I went to had an option for the required math course that all students had to take--there was one "self paced" version of the class you could select. You did eveything yourself, and took all the tests for the class at your own pace. You still had to take about 6 or so tests, but you could use it to "test out." I'm not great at math, but this was basic algebra. I took all 6 tests in a row in a single day, and passed the class.

It destroys the idea that you can only get an education that meets their standards from their teaching.

To be fair, these were very much entry level classes unrelated to my major. I wasn't testing out of linear algebra or something.

Yeah. I was lucky enough to have one department head who agreed to testing out and was able to bypass two required courses. It doesn’t make much sense to require courses which the student has already mastered. Only reason is $$$.

How do you negotiate this? Go talk during some posted office hours? Beginning of semester?

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