History 1- Online Class or CLEP?

[firecatf7333]

I want to take a history class, even though it was one of my worst subjects in high school. I can take an 8 week online class through American military university, which would have a few essays, text reading, and some quiz's/ tests or i could use IC and Peterson and try to pass a CLEP. Both would be free. I've only taken 1 Clep so far, management and got a 51. How hard is the history 1 clep? Which way would you take for getting your history credit, online class or take your chance studying IC for a few weeks and trying cleping?


Thanks for the help in advance.

[lwmcc]

If you're looking for the easiest/quickest to pass just for the credit, I'd suggest CLEP US Government instead of either of the other two options - there's a lot less material to absorb, so can be completed more quickly.

If it's the actual knowledge of History that you want (as opposed to just a score), then it really does depend on your personal learning style. If you're good at self-study/self-instruction, then CLEP's a great option; if you learn better when you've got a mentor, then a class is better.

If you go with the self-study method, rather than just relying on IC/Petersens, I'd recommend finding a good CLEP or AP Study Guide to serve as your main text (tons of them available for a pittance used on Amazon), with IC being a supplement and then Petersens as a self-test readiness indicator. There are also a ton of various tutorial sites on the web; I'm just old-fashioned and like having a book in hand, which I tend to highlight and write notes in to within an inch of it's life!
- Lia

[tmporter68]

I just took this test today and passed with a 61. I would definetly use more than instantcert. I also used Peterson's and this site USQuizMainPAge There were some questions where I really had no clue and did a lot of guessing, but if you put in the study time you can definetly pass the test.

[cookderosa]

For US History 1, purchase the REA US History 1 book. It is dead on, and you will have an excellent reference (if you want) to hang on to. I actually kept my book since the format was so nice. In a nut shell, you get a good time line with a paragraph (give or take) of all the major events. The presidents, the major papers, major books/authors, and very easy to read. I also liked the 3 practice tests with explanations for each answer.

The class, will likely focus your homework on a few key events and ask for you to analyze their significance. For me (also weak in history) I wouldn't have had the knowledge base to write good essays at that point since I really learned a lot of it for the first time as an adult.
(not sure how I got through high school with 3 years of advanced placement history and didn't even know the basics...but I did)

I'd say go for the CLEP using REA.