Chemistry CLEP

[jadae@wgu.edu]

I am debating taking this exam. I can enter the graduate program I want to take with just Straighterline Chem, but the Patent Agent Bar accepts Chem CLEP, and it gives so many credits toward that. Chemistry is not my "wheelhouse". I took a lot of soil science, horticulture, geology, and botany. But chemistry is so formula heavy, that I am worried about memorizing them all without the instruction of a class. Maybe I will do both SL and CLEP. I am still unsure.

[Togas]

Sorry for the VERY late response.
I am just not getting around to trying to study for it. Been putting in the time for classes im enrolled in and take a bunch of time. (Lots of homework for Calc and Statics). I'll study for it, if I can't then I'll just enroll in the course and have a leg up later.

[Togas]

I thought I'd be good just doing 2 weeks of going hard on this stuff. Did a practice test and opted not to pursue Chem. I'll just take the class this summer in a 5 week term.
I'd spend more time studying to clep out of it. The GI Bill is paying so I figure it's a better use of my time and I'm not losing anything. Renting the book would be cheaper than the test.

Props to anyone who took this test and passed. It's not easy.

[sanantone]

I am debating taking this exam. I can enter the graduate program I want to take with just Straighterline Chem, but the Patent Agent Bar accepts Chem CLEP, and it gives so many credits toward that. Chemistry is not my "wheelhouse". I took a lot of soil science, horticulture, geology, and botany. But chemistry is so formula heavy, that I am worried about memorizing them all without the instruction of a class. Maybe I will do both SL and CLEP. I am still unsure.

I don't see anything in the General Bulletin that says the Patent Bar will give credit for CLEP. They don't give credit for anything directly. It just uses CLEP as an example of special credit earning programs that could be used to meet the requirements if an accredited college awarded credit for the program. Technically, they'll accept anything, including Straighterline, if a college or university has awarded credit for it.

xiii. Other Education: Other education (e.g., foreign education, academic credit for
work experience, military education, life experience, etc.) is acceptable to the extent
objective evidence demonstrates the education is equivalent to that received at an
accredited U. S college or university in one of the subjects listed in Category A. For
example, such education may be met by one of the following showings:
a. The specific courses have been accepted for college-level credit in a Category A
subject by an accredited U.S. college or university because they would be creditable if
the student were to further his or her education at that institution.
b. The academic credit earned in a Category A subject earned through a special credit
program, such as the College Level Examination Program (CLEP), and an accredited
college or university has awarded credit.

http://www.uspto.gov/sites/default/files/OED_GRB.pdf

[celloplyr2]

I would really appreciate any input on whether taking the Chemistry CLEP rather than Gen Chem for science majors puts you at a disadvantage for higher level chem courses like Organic Chemistry.

[emilynovak]

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!

[probablyok]

I finished study.com over two weeks, and then didn't review much of it, took a practice exam from Peterson, then took the test the next day. I only got like a 64% on the practice test from Peterson. Based on that information, a smarter and more cautious person may have decided to postpone the test. I didn't. I passed (but with a 50). I signed up for study.com and really only used their chemistry clep preparation and youtube videos on memorization tricks. It quizzed you along the way which was super great. While I was studying, I assumed that the study.com questions were easier than that of the real test, but honestly they are somewhat similar. When I was done I wanted to move on to other testing material (my brother had an old AP Chem book) to prepare for the difficulty of the clep questions, but this really just frazzled me. Sticking with just reviewing all of my missed questions on the study.com final exam would have been plenty.

The test was exhausting and in the middle I had a ten question streak where I chose answers in a zombie-like state. I gave myself an inspirational/threatening pep talk and moved out of this strange state. I was on track to finish on time when I got really caught up in a fun stoichiometry problem that I decided to make my mission to solve. I didn't solve it. After I spent ten minutes on it and only had 7 minutes left for 15 questions! I randomly selected an answer for all of them and then once I got to the end I worked backwards to narrow down answers with estimation and common sense. When my score popped up as a 50 I almost started screaming. I still can't believe I passed!

All in all my advice is --
study.com is basically all you need, if you choose to go that route.
Make up a lot of mnemonics.
learn the information, then give yourself time to study.
Remember that Thermo and equilibrium are only ten percent. I overstudied these topics.
"Don't make any question a crusade"

I would recommend doing more practice tests and study after you have learned all the material... But I did pass! On the last day I downloaded a podcast from Arapaho High school Chemistry and I loved it! These are nice because you can download them and watch them anywhere. I watched one on the way to the test that really helped me.