Feeling sooooooooooo defeated w/ this Biology CLEP

[soliloquy]

I am scheduled to take the Biology CLEP on August 19, 2013. This is my last semester (God willing) before I can transfer to UNC. I've spent more than a month studying for this exam. I study diligently and take this very seriously. I NEED to get these education goals out of the way. But, lately I've hit a wall. I just cannot seem to make myself study. If I try to focus, my mind just wonders off. This exam seems so much bigger than life. There is SO much information, I find myself getting confused as to what track to take. I started with instant cert and finished about half the database then it just became impossible to remember all those terms. I then went to watch education portal videos...khan's academy...peterson's tests...CLEP official study guide....I actually got higher on the first Peterson Test than on the second. On the second test I scored only a 53%.I've looked at all the information provided on the Biology thread on this forum to try and hit all the things everyone else saw on the exams...all of this together just has me in over load. I have never felt like this before.

I don't think I'm read to take this exam on Monday. But, I don't have a choice because I'm also registered for the Biology Class which starts this week and I need to take it so that I can either drop the class or just sit through the class. I really would like to get rid of this class because I'm registered for 14 credits right now and still have two CLEP tests (American Lit and Humanities) to take so I can graduate on time.

I'm not really asking anyone to do anything...you guys have already done as much as you can but I just feel so defeated. I guess I just need to vent.

[ShotoJuku]

[COLOR="#000080"]The IC Flashcards are incredible but the BIO exam can be a bit overwhelming so why not try other study sources such as:

1. The REA Book and/or;
2. The Standard Deviants Biology video (it worked for me).

You can also postpone any exam if you feel you are not ready too.

Good Luck!![/COLOR]

[bluebooger]

http://www.degreeforum.net/general-educa...ology.html

[publius2k4]

Another user (armyb77) posted these videos in another thread. They may help. It's a Video Crash Course on youtube.

Biology Crash Course

[Lindagerr]

It is OK to vent here we all do it at some point. Just take a deep breath give yourself a break and think positive. I also went down on the second Peterson when I took Natural Science CLEP. I ended up passing with room to spare. Remember you don't have to totally know everything and make sure you calmly thoroughly read the question sometimes they throw in a twist.

[cookderosa]

Biology was harder than I thought it was going to be. And even after taking 20-something credits in bio AND some graduate credit in bio, I still think intro is hard! I found the specific bio classes (like microbiology) MUCH EASIER than Intro. It's just sooo much to remember. I ended up taking the class, which was still hard but my whole grade didn't ride on 1 test score, so I'm not the best help with the test part, but there is no right or wrong way to get through this. If you take a class vs taking a test, who cares?! Do whatever you can to get through it. Once you get it on your transcript, no one will care how it got on there, and there's no judgement on THIS forum when you take a class or a test- just do whatever you have to do to make it. Getting OUT of college is the goal Hang in there!

[mrs.b]

Vent on! It's a frustration we've all hit at some point, so please know it's not just you.

When I hit walls like that, I often found the best medicine was to take a step away. A break of a day - even with a date looming - can be a real refresher to make a final dive into the material. Your test is Monday, so why not take tonight and maybe tomorrow night away from the study guides, then dive back in Friday and the weekend. That's still a healthy window for cramming.

As for the best study material, that will vary from person to person. For me, if the InstantCert flashcards did not do it by themselves, I needed a real textbook. If I could not connect the dots using InstantCert, it was because my own basis of knowledge was not enough so that I could make sense of them. It may not seem it, but Biology is like any other subject; if you can nail the base concepts and terminology during study, you can nail the exam. Knowing the filler details is good when time permits, but those base concepts and terms are the best starting point or nothing else will make sense. I liked to pick up primer-type books (Dummies Guide to..., or small textbooks books that can be easily flipped through rather than read cover-to-cover) to fill in those gaps. Hit the library on Friday and flip through some books? You need not check them out, but maybe exposure to a delivery method other than what you've already tried is a decent way to break through that wall.

[soliloquy]

Thanks everyone for your responses. I really appreciate them. Sometimes your words of reason are the only things that keep me from going off the deep end. I took the advice here and took a break. I started studying again on Friday and I've been studying since 11 AM today so I've been at this for almost 9 hours now. I intend to stop at 9 o'clock and pick it back up again tomorrow with probably a 12 hour day. I'm taking the day off on Monday so I can cram as much as possible in on Monday before I take the test at 2:30 p.m.

The Kreb's Cycle and the Electron Transport Chain confuse the heck out of me but I'm doing my best to memorize the steps or at least the results of the steps. The only thing I haven't hit really hard at this point are the body systems but I'm going to deal with that right now and all day tomorrow. Monday will be a refresher of everything.

I found a cheat sheet that I hope helps a bit to hit the highlights. I think I might have posted this elsewhere but I'll post it here as well. Can anyone that has taken the exam let me know what you think of this cheat sheet? Is it worth going over or throw it out? Thanks!

http://courses.sosaction.com/site/wp-con...Master.pdf

I do NOT want to take this class. It's available online but all of the exams are proctored and there is a lot of picking up and dropping off lab packets. I do not want to go through all of that. It will take away from the time I need to study for these other CLEPS.

[sklineho]

The Bio CLEP is a monster, no doubt, but it's doable. Use flashcards and instantcert. Trust me, just know the cell stuff, the kingdoms, phylum etc (Remember the order. The acronym a high school biology teacher taught us was King Philip Comes Over For Great Sex. (seriously, a high school teacher had that in his syllabus). Know basic anatomy of people, plants, and mammals. Know a bit about chromosomes, your meiosis and mitosis etc. The feedback thread here is spot on. Just tough it out, you'll do great.

[cookderosa]

I think you're right. It's hard, so just cram-jam-thank you ma'am. Shove it in there and hold it for a few days. Once you hit "submit" you can let it all fall back out ha ha