Well my next step is getting a car, getting a job, all while studying for a few CLEP exams. Maybe even an AP exam if that's possible.

I got my license. Apparently the woman at the first DMV didn't know what she was talking about. I'll carry on, sorry for sort of breaking down on here (and resurrecting an old thread) it was a really bad day.

Thank you.

Thank you. And yeah, I did the full course through a driving school. It cost over $500, which is the main reason I'm trying a different DMV. My sister is 32.

A Small update: My sister looked into things, and nowhere online does it say you need anything education related for a license in my state if you're 18 and above. Unless the law literally just changed and the websites aren't updated with the information yet, it's very possible that the woman at the OMV might not have been completely familiar with how things work. My sister printed out what it says on the OMV's website so that she can show it to them when I go up there again on Monday. 50/50 chance it works, but it's better than the 0% chance I have just staying at home. If it works out, then I won't give up. If it doesn't, I have no choice.

I can't enroll in public school, my parents would be sent to jail for never enrolling me in school.

Louisiana. I told them I was 18 but they still said I'd need a GED, diploma, or a letter from whatever company I was home schooled through.

I'm writing this here so that more people will see it. I've spent the last few weeks going through driver's ed, I passed, and I went to get my license earlier today. Apparently they won't give you one without some type of letter from a school. I'm technically a truant, so I have nothing to give them. Without my license I can't get a job and I can't begin to work on everything I had planned to. I'm writing this basically just to say I've given up. I can't take this anymore. I can't take the constant failure and depression anymore. Thank you guys for all your help, but I guess it was all for nothing in the end.

Just thought I'd give an update: I've read quite a bit into the SAT US History book I bought and the SAT and CLEP tests (at least in this subject) seem to be similar enough that I don't need the official CLEP book. I've made it up to John Adams' presidency so far, which may seem slow, but keep in mind that I read each chapter twice to make sure everything sticks. But the main reason I'm writing this is to ask for a little more help: Can anyone give me any tips on taking notes? I'm sitting here with a cramped hand and a nearly-full notebook filled with notes on just the first 125 years of American history, I feel like I'm doing something wrong.

I went ahead and read through a chapter in the book and there isn't a huge emphasis on writing essays. It seems to be a pretty straightforward history book, honestly. I did see the SAT book at the store earlier, I'll probably pick that one up soon. Thank you.

I'm still studying for the CLEPs, what I'm asking is if the information in the book I bought, despite being for a different exam, would be useful in the CLEP exam?

So earlier today I picked up a book called "Cracking The AP U.S. History Exam" I know it's for a different exam, but I would imagine that history would be pretty interchangeable between exams. Should I trudge through this book or return it and get something else? Thanks.

In case you missed it, I'm the guy who started the "I'm 18 and Never Attended School" post on here about a month ago (which to my surprise has over 5K views on it...Damn.) I've basically decided to forego a GED and instead take the CLEP exams instead. According to at least one comment in my old post, if I do a years worth of college-level work at my local CC they will actually grant me the equivalent to a high school diploma, which would allow me to kill two birds with one stone; getting my HS diploma while also grinding away at college-level work. I picked up a book yesterday called "CLEP Official Study Guide" but it turns out that the book just has sample questions in it, it doesn't actually teach anything. So what I'm looking for in this post is basically just advice in general for doing the CLEP exams. What books to read, what courses to take, etc. Anything at all would be much appreciated, thank you all.

Hey guys I'm actually gonna start a new topic like Garga suggested, this one's way out of hand at this point.

Phew...this is gonna be a tough one. I've played so many video games it's hard to really say. I don't watch many movies, but I have watched several documentaries on World War 1 recently, and when I was little I watched countless History channel documentaries. I didn't do boy scouts or 4H, but I do know how to play the guitar though. I've done some very light construction work with my father before, but I've never built models. I can cook a few things, it's actually something I want to learn more about. I love food, haha! But I don't do the other things.

I honestly shouldn't have said that. I don't want to start a fight or an argument among the people who are kind enough to help me. I probably took it out of context anyway, so I apologize. I'm actually reading through the CLEP official study guide right now. I'm in the American literature section at the moment, having a few issues but I think I can do okay with some practice.

And I'd also like to point out that I began trying to dig myself out of this hole before I ever met my ex. And I don't have "zero prospects". I've intended to acquire some form of college education for a long time now. She didn't leave me because of that, it was more because we were in different places in life at the time. I don't really want to talk about her anymore, I should have never mentioned anything about her to begin with. Miss, I really appreciate the help you've given me on this board, but I don't much care for being told that I have "absolutely no future". I mean that with the up-most respect.

Your theory would make a lot of sense if it wasn't for one thing: Her parent's didn't know anything about me or the fact I was dating their daughter. And I never asked her to "educate me", I didn't even want her knowing about my situation. She only got to know because she basically beat it out of me. Of course I have to give some credence to the possibility that she just used my situation as an excuse, but I don't buy that. There are things that I don't care to go into that make me believe that she was being genuine. It hurts, but it is what it is, I guess. And when I was little, I would often times feel like I was wasting my time on unimportant things, but I'd always think "Well if Mom and Dad aren't telling me anything about it, then it must be okay." If I only knew.

I think of all the responses I've gotten on here, and there have been a lot of good ones, this is the one that gives me the most hope. I never thought about it that way, maybe my curse was actually a blessing in disguise. Thank you so much.

Well I didn't say anything about her loving me, I just know I loved her. I still do. And in regards to your earlier post, what you're saying does make a lot of sense to me (that the stigma for a GED wouldn't be so bad in the current day) and I'll definitely keep that as my sort of back-up plan, but I think I'm going to try the CLEP exams first, hopefully that will allow me to get many things done at once, plus allow me to be working at a college level without having to go through the earlier grades. It's honestly really hard to find stuff online for earlier grades, it's much easier for High School and College surprisingly. Thank you all for your suggestions, I appreciate every single one of you. Since this thread is super-long at this point, I'll start a new one when I have more questions.

This seems to be something I might be able to get some use out of. Thank you, I very much appreciate it.

I'm not sure if I can afford the BHS diploma right now, but I will keep it in mind. Hopefully I can find a job that doesn't require it. Thank you. And I've noticed a lot of you saying I should give myself more credit, but it's different from my perspective...My lack of an education has caused many, many problems throughout my life. It was one of the main reasons that a girl who I was very much in love with felt she had to leave me. For these reasons I just can't be proud of myself or the things I've done. But again, this is an education board, not a place for people to spout their personal issues all over the place, so I won't say anymore, but thank you for being impressed. I appreciate it.

No, they didn't. I just asked my father to make sure. I guess I've got no other options than to do those tests. I've gotten conflicting answers on whether or not the high school diploma actually matters when applying for a job. I plan to start looking immediately after I get my drivers license, do I NEED the diploma or not?

I guess I chose the wrong words when I wrote that. My parents don't file any paperwork annually or anything like that. I don't have any documentation about my education, mostly because I odn't have an education. I wasn't lying or stretching the truth when I said that the first 17 years of my life were spent in my home in front of my television. The only real documentation out there on me is my birth certificate, a few medical records, and my social security card, which I didn't have until August this year.

I honestly have no idea what I want to be in life. For a long time I wanted to be a politician, since I was passionate about politics for several years but that's since gone away. I thought about becoming a doctor, until I learned how much schooling you have to go through for it. I'm just not looking to put the next 10-12 years of my life into CC, a 4 year university, and then 4 years of medical school. I'm still trying to figure out what my calling in this life is, but I haven't found anything yet.