Highschool Sophomore attempting the College Algebra CLEP

[chris9804]

Hi there,

Our family is new to InstantCert. I have three children ages 15, 13 and 11. They are all homeschooled. My 15-year-old has one CLEP under her belt, Analyzing and Interpeting Literature, and is attempting her first DSST - World Religions, and is also hoping to CLEP out of College Algebra. She just took an Accuplacer at a community college where she will attempt PSEO next year and scored an 80 in Algebra, which is five points short of placing INTO College Algebra. She is at the tale-end of Saxon Algebra II and felt that there were a lot of questions on the Accuplacer that she was completely unfamiliar with.

I am wondering what others would recommend for proceeding from here. We are trying to decide whether it would be better to quickly work throguh Saxon Advanced Math the rest of this year, or if we should try ALEKS or if we should try a site like SpeedyPrep since InstantCert doesn't offer flashcards for that particular CLEP.

She is planning on advancing on to Pre-calc and Calculus so I want to make sure she has a strong foundation in Algebra. I am concerned that ALEKS might not do the trick if she were to get the ACE credits instead of taking the CLEP.

I would appreciate any advice. Thank you.

[cookderosa]

Hi there,

Our family is new to InstantCert. I have three children ages 15, 13 and 11. They are all homeschooled. My 15-year-old has one CLEP under her belt, Analyzing and Interpeting Literature, and is attempting her first DSST - World Religions, and is also hoping to CLEP out of College Algebra. She just took an Accuplacer at a community college where she will attempt PSEO next year and scored an 80 in Algebra, which is five points short of placing INTO College Algebra. She is at the tale-end of Saxon Algebra II and felt that there were a lot of questions on the Accuplacer that she was completely unfamiliar with.

I am wondering what others would recommend for proceeding from here. We are trying to decide whether it would be better to quickly work throguh Saxon Advanced Math the rest of this year, or if we should try ALEKS or if we should try a site like SpeedyPrep since InstantCert doesn't offer flashcards for that particular CLEP.

She is planning on advancing on to Pre-calc and Calculus so I want to make sure she has a strong foundation in Algebra. I am concerned that ALEKS might not do the trick if she were to get the ACE credits instead of taking the CLEP.

I would appreciate any advice. Thank you.

I would have recommended asking this question before taking the placement exam. It's possible that the college has a policy against CLEPping into a course as a pre-req that was not passed. In other words, ask the advisor. Why did she take it now? CCs offer these tests every day, she could have waited until after summer. The issue you're going to have now is that she'll be on a remedial track.

My suggestions- find out if she can use the algebra CLEP. Be sure to talk to an advisor, you don't need to know if the college accepts algebra clep, you need to know if YOUR DAUGHTER can use it to override her placement exam.

If not, take Intermediate over the summer. She'll then register for college algebra in her first semester.

Here's the thing, if you're enrolling her, then she needs to get her best grades in the college courses. Taking Saxon's Advanced Math (Pre-cal) is going to be a distraction. Which book is she in now? How soon will she be finished? If she has time to kill before summer session, review Saxon Algebra 2. An "A" in her intermediate class at CC is more important than rocking out another course at home.

Now, new topic. You didn't ask, but I'll tell you what I would do if I were in your shoes.
Pretend you never met the CC. Pretend she never took the placement test, and don't enroll her in anything there. Instead, continue on through the Saxon series, going slowly through EVERY problem doing EVERY page. First, take the College Math CLEP. It's an easier exam. Some colleges get fussy about taking tests in "order" or not letting you take easier tests after harder ones- you don't want to have that issue. Then, take the College Algebra exam. Her Algebra 2 book + Khan academy videos (google them- they're free) are all she needs.
Spend her remaining homeschool years doing what you were going to do anyway. BUT, be creative so you can tie in her learning to CLEP exams. If you've studied US History, go back and study it again for the CLEPs- there are 2. Use this time to rack up some CLEP (and even AP) credit. Just taking 1-2 CLEP exams per semester in high school can give her 1-2 YEARS of college credit. You don't need to enroll to do this. In fact, there are FEW advantages to enrolling now.

THEN.... she can decide what to do with her credits. Keep one eye on the local CC's CLEP policy, but don't be ruled by it. Better look at 5-6 CC CLEP policy books and use a generic plan. Worst case? Maybe a few tests won't be accepted. Big whoop. No big deal at all.

If, on the other hand, she wants an AA degree at high school graduation (you didn't say) then she can track the CLEP policy exactly while enrolling in 100 level courses. Don't give the CC five cents for a remedial courses (anything under 100) because you can do that at home- it's called high school lol.

All the best!

Oh, p.s. If, a year from now, you go to the CC and she gets ready to enroll. Simply insist that she take a new placement exam.

[chris9804]

Thanks for answering so quickly.

At the community college she is planning on attending for PSEO next year, the CLEP trumps the accuplacer. Also, if the policy on the CLEP were to change, she still has one more attempt at the computerized version of the accuplacer and then can take it a third time with pencil and paper. In the meantime, our plan is to work on math for the next 6 months to make sure she is up to speed. I'm not even sure if she will register for a math course her first semester next fall, or if she will save that for second semester. We chose to do the accuplacer at this point, knowing she would have another attempt available and because I wasn't sure how thorough Saxon Algebra 2 is at teaching all the concepts she would need to pass the Accuplacer. In a certain sense, I'm glad I found out now instead of later that she didn't place into College Algebra. It gives us a point of reference to start at.

I'm going to look into the College Math CLEP like you suggested. I will also take a look at the KHAN videos you mentioned. I remember a friend telling me about those years ago, but never checked them out.

I really appreciate your feedback.

[cookderosa]

I think Saxon does do a good enough job, but not everything works well for everyone. I'd look more closely at her scores- getting her to work for a high % of accuracy on the lessons (>90) and fold in some Khan, and she'll be good All the best!