06-12-2006, 10:45 PM
Part One of a Who Knows How Long Series
Well, I took my first two CLEPs today, Humanities and College Math. I studied the Math for a couple days using instacert and the Humanities for a couple weeks (nothing too strenous, just a hour every other day) and I got a 66 on the College Math and a 70 on the Humanities. Now, believe me when I say that I didn't really know ANY of the names on the Humanities instacert when I started... I probably got about 10% of the questions right on my first run through! But I kept on drilling the information, checking on wikipedia when I wanted to know more, and using the sample tests from the Official CLEP guide and the Princeton review guide and that was more than enough to learn everything! It takes some work if you're starting from scratch, but I feel it's setting me up for future tests in Literature, which is very good.
Also, I want to say that the Peterson's tests that are available on the internet for Humanities seemed a LOT harder than the actual CLEP and really, I only learned a few bits of trivia from those that I didn't see somewhere on this site or in one of the sample tests that I talked about. And in the end, it only served to make me paranoid that I didn't know as much as I should know. So, basically, I wouldn't suggest spending too much time on them. If you want to take them, go ahead, but don't worry if it seems a bit overwhelming.
My overall philosophy to learning was take the information that sticks out to you and don't worry about cramming in that stuff which you don't know right away. The goal should be to get somewhat familiar with names, not neccesarily knowing them stone cold. Because the test, afterall, is multiple choice, and seeing names in front of you is a lot easier than having to simply recall them. I was amazed at how many answers just pop out at you after you're read through the instacert tests a few times.
As for more specifically the College Math, I found using the Princeton Review book to be very helpful in one way in particular. They suggest for alegrabic equations on the CLEP to, in a lot of cases, simply plug the answer choices into the equation and see what works. That may seem time-consuming, but I'm no genius when it comes to math but I was able to do that for every possible question in that format on the CLEP today and I finished with 10 minutes to spare and the satification of knowing that I did a good job because the method is idiot-proof, so to speak. Of course, you need to be able to identify WHICH questions you can do that for, which is what instacert can help you with.
I know a lot of you have probably already taken these tests, but I just wanted to contribute my experiences because reading some of your posts have really helped me and I want to give back. Also, I made this its own thread because I'm an egomaniac and love attention.
Next up, I'll be taking the Social Sciences and History and Natural Sciences CLEP. I hope to take them within the next two weeks. A full report will be issued at that time.
Good luck and happy CLEPing!
~Banta
Well, I took my first two CLEPs today, Humanities and College Math. I studied the Math for a couple days using instacert and the Humanities for a couple weeks (nothing too strenous, just a hour every other day) and I got a 66 on the College Math and a 70 on the Humanities. Now, believe me when I say that I didn't really know ANY of the names on the Humanities instacert when I started... I probably got about 10% of the questions right on my first run through! But I kept on drilling the information, checking on wikipedia when I wanted to know more, and using the sample tests from the Official CLEP guide and the Princeton review guide and that was more than enough to learn everything! It takes some work if you're starting from scratch, but I feel it's setting me up for future tests in Literature, which is very good.
Also, I want to say that the Peterson's tests that are available on the internet for Humanities seemed a LOT harder than the actual CLEP and really, I only learned a few bits of trivia from those that I didn't see somewhere on this site or in one of the sample tests that I talked about. And in the end, it only served to make me paranoid that I didn't know as much as I should know. So, basically, I wouldn't suggest spending too much time on them. If you want to take them, go ahead, but don't worry if it seems a bit overwhelming.
My overall philosophy to learning was take the information that sticks out to you and don't worry about cramming in that stuff which you don't know right away. The goal should be to get somewhat familiar with names, not neccesarily knowing them stone cold. Because the test, afterall, is multiple choice, and seeing names in front of you is a lot easier than having to simply recall them. I was amazed at how many answers just pop out at you after you're read through the instacert tests a few times.
As for more specifically the College Math, I found using the Princeton Review book to be very helpful in one way in particular. They suggest for alegrabic equations on the CLEP to, in a lot of cases, simply plug the answer choices into the equation and see what works. That may seem time-consuming, but I'm no genius when it comes to math but I was able to do that for every possible question in that format on the CLEP today and I finished with 10 minutes to spare and the satification of knowing that I did a good job because the method is idiot-proof, so to speak. Of course, you need to be able to identify WHICH questions you can do that for, which is what instacert can help you with.
I know a lot of you have probably already taken these tests, but I just wanted to contribute my experiences because reading some of your posts have really helped me and I want to give back. Also, I made this its own thread because I'm an egomaniac and love attention.
Next up, I'll be taking the Social Sciences and History and Natural Sciences CLEP. I hope to take them within the next two weeks. A full report will be issued at that time.
Good luck and happy CLEPing!
~Banta
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Keep it up!!