CLEP Calculus

[Shadowteer]

I passed the Calc test yesterday with a 58, and this forum was very helpful throughout my studies. In the spirit of keeping things going for future users, here's my take:

First, as everyone else says, get the REA practice tests. I didn't get the book (as others have noted typos) but the tests were invaluable, and only cost $10. As others will also say, the REA test is harder than the actual exam. If you can understand the REA material then you'll be in good shape for the real deal. To give you some perspective, I had almost identical practice test scores and real test scores to gatetwelve who posted back in 2014. I scored a 45% on the second REA practice test two days before my real exam, and a 58 on the real exam (of course, studying what I missed in between surely helped as well).

My original introduction to calculus was the 3rd edition of Hughes-Hallett's 'Applied Calculus'. I read and worked my way through the first seven chapters, which covers functions, introduces limits, and goes into good depth, application of, and practice with differentiation and integration. This is a great book that was readily digestible for me, and my prep for it was having taken college algebra in college (though many years prior). Now, not everything on the CLEP test (or a proper Calculus class) is covered in this text - I had to turn to other resources for deeper coverage on limits (e.g., L'Hospital's rule) and trigonometric identities. But, if you are looking for a good place to start, Applied Calculus is great.

I also used the College Board's practice test, and (as mentioned above) the REA practice tests. I spent about two weeks for many hours each day running through practice questions, reviewing any I missed, and then re-working them a day or two later. Passing this test is totally possible, as others on the form have shared. Just make sure to have a good text book to learn from, and then spend a solid chunk of time with the College Board's and REA's materials to familiarize yourself with the style of questions you will be answering. Good luck!

[Mcgregor_7]

Hi,

So how similar were the questions as compared to the study guide ? were they like almost same with different values and numbers, any details would be helpful.. Thanks

[Mcgregor_7]

Ok people listen up,

I honestly pretty much hate calculus, I recommend all students who aren't too good in Calc to take this Clep Test, as in some colleges it's hard to pass this course. Especially in my university, it was, the freakin teacher was like a cop, I got a D, and I needed a minimum of C-, so someone told me about this clep test which I studied for about maybe 2 months, and just passed it today with a score of 57, If i can pass this thing, anyone can. Yes REA book and its tests, and the collegeboard study guide are very useful. But I'd recommend you guys to not directly jump on these resources, first brush your calc skills. Professor Leonard, and PatrickGMT are very useful resources, for Prof Leonard, all the Calc 1 videos are in order, and he explains it very well in his videos, they are free on youtube, make use of that. I'm sure you can watch all his videos in under a month if you study everyday, and you'll then be good to move on to the REA and College board study guides.

Also keep in mind, these tests are heavily scaled, I was very nervous when I clicked to check my score, I wouldn't have been surprised if I had not made the 50 cut, because my test didn't go well by any means. like out of the 44 questions, maybe around only 15 ( the first 5 were like a walk in the park), I knew for sure, I had done right, the other 30 odd, on some I had maybe a little idea, but most of them I just fluked out. So out of those 29 questions, I'm estimating I prolly got around 10 right, which were mostly flukes, I prolly scored around 25-26 to manage a score of 57. But that's my estimation, maybe I scored around 28-29, but I kinda doubt that.

All I would tell you ppl is to plz, don't miss out on the easy questions, like calculating basic derivitives, intergrals, slope of implicit functions and inverse derivitives. Those are easy points, it's fine to fluke out on half the test, but you need to be able to know atleast 20 of those 44 questions. Apparently, Rieman sums and trapezoid rules didn't show up at the test at all, and I worked on that for quite a bit, but their were a few optimization/ Related rates problems of which, none of them, I knew, I just took God's name, selected a random answer and hoped for the best.

So yes this test is very very passable for people who aren't to good in Calc, just have to work a little hard to be on the safe side and I'm sure you'll get through. I still don't understand why this course is required for a lot of majors in colleges these days, as they help us in no way, but Clep is kind of slightlier easy way out, so might as well make use of it.

For people who are new or weak in calc- Resources to use :

Professor Leonard youtube videos (highly recommended)
(PatrickGMT) (Patrick is pretty good at explaining as well)
Khan Academy is very good as well, but the videos aren't in order like Leo's

After around a month of working around these videos,
then jump to the study guides (REA AND Collegeboard) ( work in those for 2-3 weeks, or take a month, be on the safe side, I pretty much guarantee you will at least pass)

For people who are good in calc and have a strong base through high school math and algebra, they might as well jump on the study guides and give the test in 2 weeks.

So yes, Good luck people and don't take too much stress, you'll get through it. Be calm and remain positive.

God bless.

Also, if anyone wants the 2017 calc study guide, don't buy it, I can email it to them for free. So lemme know if any of you need it.

Adios

[sophiaisa]

hey do you think you can pass along that study guide? :p

[Mcgregor_7]

Sure,

Just drop you email address, and I'll email you the pdf file.

[MichaelS]

I just took the CLEP exam. (Though not with flying colors). I will help you as this forum has helped me pass the exam to the best of my ability. I won't post exact questions to preserve confidentiality, but can mention the TYPE of questions I saw.

Academic Background: Strong Sciences background - Currently in Med School, but EXTREMELY weak in math.

Resources used:

1) Free Calculus Worksheets - (An Entire Overview of bulletpoint calculus. Click on whichever bulletpoint you need help in. The only cons is it doesnt show you how they got the answer, but has practice problems that get progressively more difficult. This is an excellent source in terms of starting easy and going a bit more difficult.

2) Online derivative and Integral calculators (For the above website to shows the steps).

3) Khan Academy AB calculus - Google that, and it will take you to a website with all calculus topics with problems, videos, and they get progressively more difficult aswell. It is a better version of #1, but different questions. (A very strong source)

4) REA Book - Read it, solve the problems at the end of each chapter, and focus more on the practice exams in the end. First practice exams I score a 27% which made me feel bummed a week before the test, so I checked my logical thinking and realize most of my mistakes were due to tricks in differentiation, or one-two algebra steps in integrals/differentiation.

5) CLEP out Calculus https://www.amazon.com/CLEP-Calculus-Sha...B01EOGN1CE

That's A third similar to REA CLEP calculus test. (it's hard to come by realistic tests, so one more test is one more question you can get right.

6) Download the CLEP calculator from the website. It's free, and i want you to use it in practice tests.

Actual Exam:

- Some people on the thread say it is easier than REA practice test, but I found the actual exam more difficult. You WILL have a few "give me" problems with simple derivatives and integration, but don't expect too much of the super easy ones.
- There will be LOTS of trignometric derivatives and integration. Master the art of chain rule and u substitution. Know tricks such as double checking from the answer choices back into the problem.
- Know the idea and connection between derivatives and integration. From position -> velocity -> Acceleration you use derivatives, but the other way around, you will use integrals.
- Know what the first derivative means on a graph, and what the second derivative means on the graph. Inflection points, zeros (and what they mean), concaves, and increase/decreasing function.
- Know what f(x) looks like or f'x or f''x and their relationship, graphically, to each other.
- Know how to get an area of a line and a curve. If not given an interval, then it will be on the second part of the test where you will plug in two equations, and from there you will figure out the intervals to start integrating.
- Know related rates/implicit differentiation!!! REA only asks 1 per exam, but on the actual test, I had more. I wasn't prepared for those. x^2 + 2xy = 8, etc..
- I was only asked one or two questions on "How fast is the ladder falling/how big is the triangle increasing" type of questions.
- I was only asked one linearization question which I didn't bother studying for.
- Expect maybe 5 limits questions and know WHEN to use l'Hopital's rule. (0/0) or (infinity / infinity). Factor out first if possible as this will be easier than applying L'Hopital's rule. And know patterns such as the limit will be the ratio of the highest polynomial (i think it applies to second degree or higher, but it seems to ALWAYS be the ratio, so u can get the answer in half a second. I had that question on the exam).
- I was asked only 1 question where I needed to have a general idea of what an equation would look like after a conceptual paragraph mentioning velocity and position. It will mostly be A=number^(number)t. That was enough to snipe that question.
- Maybe 2 inverse function questions.
- 2 Questions (Similar to REA) Applying chain rule of a table of values, product rules, or quotient rule. (Easy points to snipe, but you need to have done it on the REA).
- "What is the highest possible value of x for this equation"
- "3-4 Graph questions (What will f(x) look like, or minima/maxima (concepts applied on graphs)
- 0 questions "Which of the following statements is true"

Overall, the idea is to do as many practice questions as possible with the more direct questions such as integration, derivatives, Areas under the curve, etc.. The idea is to COMPLETELY master the basics and have an entire formula sheet memorized on every possible pattern. Be friends with the chain rule, power rule, and u sub. Be best friends with Trig. The unit circle isn't too bad they only asked 1 question that I had to recall the unit circle and from practice exams AND the actual exam it was usually sin or cosine of 0 or 1. This is in terms of the Unit circle, there will still be lots of Ln functions. I had no Trapezoid, Reimann sums, or True/false questions.

Your objective:
1)MASTER what you know/The basics of derivatives/integration/limits
2) Be very familiar with graphs (conceptually driven)
3) Be OKAY with not mastering one or two topics you find extremely difficult such as linearization or related rates. But only allow one-two topics of "not studying" More than that is too risky.
4) Solve as many problems as possible using my resources is enough. Don't wait till you understand the concepts 100%. It's ok to understand concepts 70%, and by solving the concepts might click.
5) If you feel you did very well on the basic easy questions but not so well on the actual exam, submit your score anyways. I was close to not submitting, but I am thankful that I was brave enough to submit it as I knew I did my best though the test was definitely not a walk in the park.
6) Know tricks on how to ballpark an educated guess. On the calculator section if you find the area to be extremely small and you had 5 answer choices with 5 being 9.0, 10.5, etc.. and one being 0.88, then the super small one is definitely the answer. You will know how to do this if you do enough problems (finding the area with integration), and double checking with a calculator.

For the love of God though, please don't get the super easy derivative/integration/limits questions wrong. Do it for me, will ya?

[Shadowteer]

Congratulations, MichaelS. Well done. I just wanted to say that I'm pretty sure I had at least one or two questions on Reimann sums when I took the exam. The trapazoid rule formula can be a little hard to memorize, but you'll have more time in Calc II to get the formula down. If anyone is looking for an easy way to remember it for the Clep exam, just use Trapazoid rule = (RH Riemann + LH Riemann)/2

[Mcgregor_7]

The key to passing the test is to do the easy questions correct, yes out of those 44 questions, around 25 are kinda hard, but at least 15 of them are pretty straight favorite, consisting of basic deriv, inverse deriv, limits, calculating slope from implicit functions, those are easy points, if you do those, 15 correct, and even just score 5 or 6 in other 29 questions, You should pass. I think if you even score 20 out of 44, you'll pass with a 50 or 51, because this test is heavily curved.

And even if you don't feel you've done well, you will pass because again this test is heavily curved, because when the test ended, I was scared and wouldn't be surprised one bit if I didn't make the 50 cut because my test didn't go well and there were at least 10-12 questions, that I had absolutely no idea about, at least 15 of em I knew for sure, and rest, I had minimal idea. So it's safe to say that I fluked out on half the test, and in the end scored a 57. And yes i also agree with one kid who said the actual test was harder than REA, yet kinda was, but I also feel it's heavily scaled.
So please score the easy points, do topics like deriv, integration, calculating slope of implicit functions thoroughly, because firstly, they are easy and secondly they appear quite a bit on the test. Limit questions as well.

Good luck peeeeps

[juvarya8]

Hi all and thanks for all your knowledge sharing here! I have a couple of questions - studying for the CLEP exam for the past 2 months and taking my exam next week.

1 - In the exam do they provide any trig identities or any other formulas as a reference? Just trying to figure out how much I have to memorize. I imagine I will have to memorize all the differential and integration technique formulas, but want to know if I need to memorize all trig identities and trig differentiation identities (esp. sec, csc and cot?).

2 - How much partial fraction expansion or polynomial long division can I expect?

I'm using Khan Academy but it is hard to determine what is CLEP level and what would go beyond what I need to know for CLEP (from my understanding CLEP is one semester, while Khan is ALL first year topics).

Thanks in advance for any insights!

[Shadowteer]

Hi all and thanks for all your knowledge sharing here! I have a couple of questions - studying for the CLEP exam for the past 2 months and taking my exam next week.

1 - In the exam do they provide any trig identities or any other formulas as a reference? Just trying to figure out how much I have to memorize. I imagine I will have to memorize all the differential and integration technique formulas, but want to know if I need to memorize all trig identities and trig differentiation identities (esp. sec, csc and cot?).

2 - How much partial fraction expansion or polynomial long division can I expect?

I'm using Khan Academy but it is hard to determine what is CLEP level and what would go beyond what I need to know for CLEP (from my understanding CLEP is one semester, while Khan is ALL first year topics).

Thanks in advance for any insights!

This may be too late to help, but just in case:
1) you will not be provided any references - you'll have to know any identities they expect you to use. Sec, Csc Cot should eventually become second nature.

2) I don't recall the test requiring either partial fraction expansion or polynomial long division. These were topics I learned in Calc II


Did you take a look at the practice tests? I think those are really helpful to direct your study.

P.S. I just finished Calc III and linear algebra (done with undergraduate math!!!). My recommendation to anyone who goes on in math after the calc clep is this:
   Spend lots of time with trig. I walked in to the clep with just enough trig to pass the test. To get through Calc II and Calc III though, you'll need to have memorized the unit circle, and you'll need all the common trig identities down (half-angle, Pythagorean, etc). 
   Always solve a few problems to completion. You'll start seeing in calc II, and definitely in Calc III, that the bulk of the new material is how to set up difficult integrals, whereas solving them uses the techniques you'll have learned in the previous class or two. Well, if you don't actually go through and solve the things you'll start to lose your mastery quickly. So, just be sure to solve at least a few problems on every homework/etc to completion.

I'm headed on to some grad classes in probability and other exciting topics. Let me know if you have other questions about the Clep or math in general. Best of luck! You can totally pass this test if you study hard.