Chemistry CLEP

[Sunshine]

Congrats on your pass, Sooner423!! :hurray:

[clep3705]

The CLEP chemistry exam is much easier than a college level chemistry course. You don't need to bother learning orbitals at all. I've taken 21 hours of inorganic chemistry, organic chemistry, and biochemistry with labs. The exam is way below the level of those. It's really high school general chemistry.

My only preparation was taking the first two Peterson's practice tests getting 51% and 49% correct, respectively. I decided I had enough knowledge to squeak by and I did. Fyi, I took the chemistry section of the HESI test and scored at the 88th percentile.

[nairon]

Hello all,

I took this exam yesterday and passed with a 61. There wasn't a ton of information in specific exam feedback or other resources, although NAP's posts and feedback are very good. I just wanted to take a couple minutes to write down my impressions and methods of preparation of the test in case anyone could use them.

I studied for about 10 days for this test, but I do have a background in science, including a year of high school chemistry. Here are the resources I chiefly used:

Chang's Chemistry 10th ed. - A basic college chemistry text, which was good to show in-depth explanations of concepts that were unclear using other resources.

REA Chemistry Study Guide - The book itself, in my opinion was poorly written to the point where someone published a rather extensive list of errata. The guide is a haphazardly written collection of different bits of chemistry, some of which do not directly apply to CLEP exam content. However, the two practice tests included are useful and provide brief explanations for the correct answers. I scored 57/75 and 58/75 on these two tests.

Peterson's Tests - The Peterson's tests were a good way for me to gauge if I had retained some information I had studied. I took the first one before any preparation and got 44/75 correct, took the second one about halfway through and scored 50/75, and took the third one a day or two before the exam and scored 60/75. Beware, however, I found that the actual test was more in-depth and complex than the Peterson's tests. Nevertheless, a good resource.

"Pass Your Class" Chemistry Guide - In my opinion, this was a better, if not exactly perfect, resource when compared to the REA guide. It included some easier to follow examples, and was a bit more in line with the actual content of the test. Also included were flashcards (that I didn't use) and a practice test that was pretty decent. (I scored 58/75 on that one.)

CollegeBoard 2011 Official CLEP Study Guide - I used the included outline to focus my preparation and put a bit more stock in the practice test included, since it was made by CollegeBoard - the same people who produce the actual CLEP exam! Some of the questions in the study guide were exactly the same or very similar to ones I saw on my actual test. I scored 40/65 on the included test, for comparison.

Also, the Cliff Notes for Chemistry Online version was useful for quick explanations of some concepts. There were also mini-quizzes that were useful as a quick knowledge assessment of those concepts.

Other observations:
• My version of the test had a great number of questions on acids/bases, oxidation and reduction and half cell potentials.
• There were 2-3 questions involving orbitals and quantum numbers.
• There was a periodic table available for all questions on the computer version of the test accessed by pressing the "reference" button on the bottom of the screen. The table showed the location of each element, atomic mass and number.
• There is also a scientific calculator available on-screen as well.
• Several questions on solubility came up as well - Ka, molality/molarity, Ksp, etc.

That's all I can think of for now - have fun with Chemistry!

[NAP]

I am so glad you took the time to post your feedback and resource list. Congratulations! I hope this string of successes will encourage others to try it, too.

[Yenisei]

The CLEP chemistry exam is much easier than a college level chemistry course. You don't need to bother learning orbitals at all. I've taken 21 hours of inorganic chemistry, organic chemistry, and biochemistry with labs. The exam is way below the level of those. It's really high school general chemistry.

I completed my chemistry courses in a B&M environment, but let's not forget that the CLEP isn't intended to be the equivalent of 200 or 300 level courses, especially ones for chemistry majors. It's intended to meet the Nat Sci requirements for non-science majors.

[nairon]

That's true, in my case the CLEP transfers as General Chemistry I & II. However, the CLEP exam does touch on organic chemistry and some thermodynamic topics that may not be included in a standard college General Chemistry course.

[HorseManiac]

Okay, everybody I just passed Chemistry with a 55! Not the best, but a pass is a pass!

There isn't much recent info on this CLEP so hopefully my post can be helpful to anybody thinking about taking it. It is a difficult test, but it is doable. If anyone has any questions feel free to PM me and I'll try and help you! I can't fail to mention the person that helped me the most and that is NAP! Thanks so much for your encouragement and helpfulness with all my questions! Okay, now here is what I did and used to prepare for the Chemistry CLEP:

Khan academy - I really liked this website. I watched ALL 106 videos. Some were very mathy and I don't think necessary. They did help make sense of why some of the other concepts were true though. It was very helpful to have a visual for some of the harder concepts. Sal is very funny and I pretty much enjoyed them. I think if I had more time I would have watched only like 3-4/day instead of 8/day that I did. You can also download the videos so that you don't have to be connected to the internet to watch them. I didn't realize this till almost the end. I wish I had because then I could have taken my laptop with me and watched them. When I downloaded some I would delete them after I had finished watching them so they didn't take up room on my laptop.

Standard Deviants videos - These are very corny and a little ridiculous, but they do help explain some difficult concepts. There are 3 dvds that I watched. If you are starting at the very beginning I would recommend these or if you tend to be a auditory/visual learner.

Chemistry: Concepts and Problems - This is a great book. It starts at the beginning and breaks it down for you. There are tons of practice problems and I found it very helpful. I would read about a chapter a day and work out all the practice problems. There are self tests at the end of each chapter to reinforce the information.
[URL="http://www.amazon.com/College-Board-Official-Study-Guide/dp/0874477883/ref=sr_1_6?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1317681277&sr=1-6"]
CLEP Official Study Guide[/URL] - This is nice because it gives you the breakdown of what percentage of different subjects will be on the test. It also has about 55 practice questions. You can also get the breakdown online at the collegeboard website. The first time I took this test I could answer like 5 questions. So instead of taking it as a test, I went and looked up the correct answer as a way to study. Then a few weeks later I took it again, this time as a test. I got 37/55 right.

Peterson practice tests - I LOVE these! I don't think I could take a test without them! My scores with these were 41, 55, and 77, respectively. Some people can't access them, but my local library has access to them and since I have a library card with them I get access. Here is a link from FinancialWorld that gives directions that work on how to access them. There are some of the practice tests that you can download a pdf for. For some it is an additional 4th test, but for some like the Chemistry, it is just a pdf of the first test. You download the questions and answers. In my experience with this CLEP I found the Petersons to be easier than the CLEP so be sure to prepare!!

Various websites -
Rader's CHEM4KIDS.COM - nice website for reading over
SparkNotes: SAT Chemistry: Test Center - I REALLY liked this site. I know it's for the SAT subject test, but it still was very helpful. I took the 1st practice test without reading the book and got a 550. Then I read the book for the sections that I had done bad on and took another a few days later. I again got a 550. After going over the answers a few days later I took the 3rd one and got a 580. These scores were based out of 0-800. I have no idea how this compares to the CLEP. I was just using as practice for information I might get on the real CLEP.
ChemThink - This website was really fun. It had a lot of interactive stuff. You have to create an account, but they don't even ask for your email. Just make a username and password.
Chemistry CLEP Free Study Guide! - Free-Clep-Prep.com - I didn't really use many of the resources listed here other than wikipedia. This is still good preperation.
Interactives . The Periodic Table . Intro - I enjoyed this website for going over periodic table trends. There was also a test at the end to see how much you had learned.
Free Learning Resources on various subject categories at LearnersTV.com - my mom found this site towards the end of my studying so I didn't really use it, but it looks like it would be good.

Just a note, I didn't pay anything other than the CLEP fee for this exam. What I didn't use off the internet I was able to get for free from our local library.

Here is my regimen: I studied M-F for anywhere from 6-8 hours each day.

1st week - At the beginning of the week I took a Peterson practice test. I got a 41. Then I watched about 5-8 Khan videos each day with breaks in between them. I took notes on things that were completely new or things that I thougt were difficult to understand or that I might have a hard time remembering. I also read about 1 chapter out of the Chemistry: Concepts & Problems book each day. At the end of this week I took the CLEP Official Study Guide for the first time. Like I said before I could answer about 5 questions so I stopped and broke it down and looked up the answers. More on that in a minute. On Friday of this week I watched the 1st Standard Deviants dvd.

2nd week - This week I watched anywhere from 6-8 Khan academy videos. I also continued to read about 1 chapter in the Chemistry: Concepts book. One thing I added this week was looking up the CLEP Official Study Guide questions. I didn't just look up the answer in the book. Instead I searched online to find the information about what the answer was and why. This helped me to learn the information. I did about 7-10 questions per day this week and the next week. I watched the 2nd and 3rd Standard Deviants this week as well.

3rd week - For this week I continued with looking up the questions from the Study Guide book. I also continued with the Khan Academy videos. Then on Friday of this week I took the 2nd Peterson practice test. I got a 55 on that one. I finished up the Chemistry: Concepts book in the beginning of this week. During this week I took the first SAT practice for Chemistry scoring a 550. (See above)

4th week - This week was a little lighter because I had used up most of my resources. On Monday, I took the 2nd SAT practice and scored a 550. On Tuesday, I took the CLEP Official Study Guide test again as a test this time. Like I said before I got 37/55 right. On Wednesday, I reviewed what I gotten wrong so far on my practice tests up till this point. On Thursday, I took the 3rd SAT practice test scoring a 580. I reviewed my wrong answers. On Friday, I took the 3rd Petersons test and got a 77!! That was very surprising to me!

5th week - I took the test on Tuesday of this week so I only had 2 days to study this week. On Monday, I reviewed my 3rd petersons test answers. Then I took the pdf of the 1st test and retook it, just to see if I had improved. I went from getting 34 right the first time to getting 55 right this time. The only reason I took it again was because it was so long since I had taken it the first time.

Just a note about all of this. Just because this is what I did doesn't mean you have to do it too. What works for one person might not work for everybody. So just take my resources and suggestions and make a plan that works for you. One thing that helped me was to make a microsoft calendar and put exactly what I was going to do each day so I didn't miss anything or get lax.

Another note, last year I took Chemistry as a highschool course. We used the [url=https://apologia.securesites.net/store/i...ucts_id=20]Apologia Exploring Creation with Chemistry[/url]. I finished it in June of last year and have not done anything related to chemistry since then. So I did have a basis, but I still had to study for about a month!

Okay here is some info from the test. Sorry I really can't remember that much about it. My brain completely forgets everything once I'm done! lol I finished the test with 5 minutes left. There was a scientific calculator and a periodic table with the atomic numbers and weights on it. Here is what I can remember I had questions about:

Titration
pH
Reduction/Oxidation reactions
Ions
Ionization potential
Molality/Molarity
Solubility
Net Ionic Equations
Balancing equations
Isotopes
Percent Composition
Precipitates
Acids & Bases
1 question on laboratory equipment

Wish I could remember more!! If I think of anything else, I'll post it! Good luck to anyone taking this CLEP!!

[NAP]

Congratulations HorseManiac!!! I hope you are very proud of yourself!!! You are welcome for the support. You did all of the hard work. It is amazing what can be accomplished with a little encouragement. Thanks for sharing your feedback for others to benefit.

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Shawn - I do not know anything about that link. The Official CLEP Study Guide, REA, and Peterson's provide a great combination of practice tests for this and many exams.

[lavender.pt]

please describe how you prepared for macro and micro economics?

[Aisha]

FYI - info on the availability of the periodic table during the exam as of November 11, 2014.

I HIGHLY recommend that you memorize the periodic table. The table provided by the test only has the element's atomic #, mass, and symbol, so memorization of the names is essential.

Additionally, the table is not available as a pop-up on the same screen as the question (as the calculator is). In order to get to the table you need to go into the help menu and click on the "periodic table" tab. If you have a good basic understanding of what groups and periods each of the most often used elements are you can save yourself the time of going in and out of the help menu. When you go into the help menu your time continues to click down, so if you need to look at the periodic table write down the elements on your scrap paper so that you don't forget what they were when you look at the table.

Good luck, study well, and I hope this info helps you.