08-02-2017, 04:08 PM
How to pass the chemistry CLEP with no chemistry background.
After reading through this board when I was preparing for my exam, I was discouraged by the fact that no one had really procrastinated the way I had and tried to learn it all in a short amount of time. I made an account to hopefully help ease some nerves and be a resource.
I just took the chemistry CLEP and passed with a 61. I studied for 10 days and started off with no prior chemistry knowledge. I searched everywhere to see if this was possible so I wanted to write about my own experience to hopefully help other people in the same situation.
I am a 2nd year electrical engineering student so I have a solid math background but I do not think that was very important. The exam didn’t cover any math more extensive than simple algebra. I do think my engineering background helped me in terms of studying/cramming. I am used to studying for 6 exams at a time so I am used to the stress/presure of intensive studying. If you are not, you can still do it as long as you have a good work ethic.
The exam itself did not seem extremely hard. Some of the questions I just had to guess but I knew that would be the case. Some of the smaller topics that require a lot of memorization for just a few questions (geometry, acids/bases, nuclear chemistry, and most of organic were the biggest ones I ignored) weren’t worth the effort for the limited amount of time I had.
Resources I used:
Study.com CLEP Chemistry 101 Class(5 day free trial then $60): The best resource in my opinion. The videos are short and describe things in a way that sounds elementary but gives the conceptual understanding you need for the exam. There are quizzes at the end of each video and chapter that are short and good for making sure you remember concepts. Since I only found it 2 days before my exam, the free trial was enough for me.
5 Steps to a 5 AP Chemistry Book: Goes into more detail than the study.com videos and is good for doing the practice problems in after watching the videos. I bought this book on amazon for cheap and would reccomend it but not rely soley on it.
Coursera University of Kentucky Chemistry and Advanced Chemistry Classes(Free): A full year of online chemistry videos that are taught by the best general chemistry professor at UK. I started off with these and did the practice questions at the end of some of the videos. They explain topics well and in depth, but do if you have limited time, you will be discouraged with how many there are and look somewhere else(which is what I did). If you have more time, these are a great resource.
PassYourClass Study Guide($40): Gives a brief overview of most every topic on the exam. It is short and comes with a practice exam and flash cards that I didn’t use but this guide was too high level and I don't believe it was worth it. They do offer a money back guarantee if you don’t pass.
Official CLEP Chemistry Guide($10): Not very useful in my opinion. The guide is simply everything you can find on the exam outline webpage plus a practice exam that was much more computational than the actual exam.
Peterson’s Practice Tests($20): Good for gauging your progress on learning overall chemistry but not very similar to the exam.
Overall, it is a lot of information to try to remember in a short amount of time but it is possible (I was able to pass comfortably while still working a full-time job and only studying in the evenings). A major key in chemistry is to relate difficult topics to real world examples that you can understand and remember. This instantly makes it 10x easier. One other point I would make is to be realistic and honest with yourself. Do not try to do everything semi-well. Choose what you are going to be great at and work at it until you can explain the topics easily to someone else(don't actually do this or you will bore them). If you can't "teach" a topic, you don't understand it well enough.
Good luck to all and let me know if I can be of any assistance!
After reading through this board when I was preparing for my exam, I was discouraged by the fact that no one had really procrastinated the way I had and tried to learn it all in a short amount of time. I made an account to hopefully help ease some nerves and be a resource.
I just took the chemistry CLEP and passed with a 61. I studied for 10 days and started off with no prior chemistry knowledge. I searched everywhere to see if this was possible so I wanted to write about my own experience to hopefully help other people in the same situation.
I am a 2nd year electrical engineering student so I have a solid math background but I do not think that was very important. The exam didn’t cover any math more extensive than simple algebra. I do think my engineering background helped me in terms of studying/cramming. I am used to studying for 6 exams at a time so I am used to the stress/presure of intensive studying. If you are not, you can still do it as long as you have a good work ethic.
The exam itself did not seem extremely hard. Some of the questions I just had to guess but I knew that would be the case. Some of the smaller topics that require a lot of memorization for just a few questions (geometry, acids/bases, nuclear chemistry, and most of organic were the biggest ones I ignored) weren’t worth the effort for the limited amount of time I had.
Resources I used:
Study.com CLEP Chemistry 101 Class(5 day free trial then $60): The best resource in my opinion. The videos are short and describe things in a way that sounds elementary but gives the conceptual understanding you need for the exam. There are quizzes at the end of each video and chapter that are short and good for making sure you remember concepts. Since I only found it 2 days before my exam, the free trial was enough for me.
5 Steps to a 5 AP Chemistry Book: Goes into more detail than the study.com videos and is good for doing the practice problems in after watching the videos. I bought this book on amazon for cheap and would reccomend it but not rely soley on it.
Coursera University of Kentucky Chemistry and Advanced Chemistry Classes(Free): A full year of online chemistry videos that are taught by the best general chemistry professor at UK. I started off with these and did the practice questions at the end of some of the videos. They explain topics well and in depth, but do if you have limited time, you will be discouraged with how many there are and look somewhere else(which is what I did). If you have more time, these are a great resource.
PassYourClass Study Guide($40): Gives a brief overview of most every topic on the exam. It is short and comes with a practice exam and flash cards that I didn’t use but this guide was too high level and I don't believe it was worth it. They do offer a money back guarantee if you don’t pass.
Official CLEP Chemistry Guide($10): Not very useful in my opinion. The guide is simply everything you can find on the exam outline webpage plus a practice exam that was much more computational than the actual exam.
Peterson’s Practice Tests($20): Good for gauging your progress on learning overall chemistry but not very similar to the exam.
Overall, it is a lot of information to try to remember in a short amount of time but it is possible (I was able to pass comfortably while still working a full-time job and only studying in the evenings). A major key in chemistry is to relate difficult topics to real world examples that you can understand and remember. This instantly makes it 10x easier. One other point I would make is to be realistic and honest with yourself. Do not try to do everything semi-well. Choose what you are going to be great at and work at it until you can explain the topics easily to someone else(don't actually do this or you will bore them). If you can't "teach" a topic, you don't understand it well enough.
Good luck to all and let me know if I can be of any assistance!
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