Need some advise..

[AvalancheCo]

New to IC and the forum, I discovered it a few months ago but now I'm finally ready to start taking some classes through Dante's, CLEP and ECE. I have college classroom experience already and a good start on my associates but as of right now I need some advice on which classes to take through the exams. Looking to just get my feet wet and get this ball rolling again. Here is the current list of classes I'm required to finish and what classes are available in the group.


General Education: Only need 6 credit hours.
Math - College Algebra
Oral Communication - Public Speaking

Program Elective: Only need 7 credit hours.
Physical Geology
Astronomy
Natural Science
General Biology
Chemistry

Management: Only need 6 credit hours.
Human Resource Management
Organizational Behavior
Principles of Supervision
Principles of Management

Technical - Only need 9 credit hours.
Technical Writing
Introduction to Computing
Principles of Marketing
Information Systems & Computer Applications
Financial Accounting

The more difficult subjects for me, such as Math and Speech I plan on taking in a classroom to improve my in class credit total and to focus on the subject more thoroughly. Thanks for any advice and suggestions, its all very much appreciated.

[perrik]

The easy answer is "take the exams you think you can pass".

Where are you pursuing your associate's degree? Are you planning to continue on to get a bachelor's? Are any of the exam subjects more relevant to your major or career path/plans? Do the program electives really have to be all natural sciences, or are you focusing on them because you already have enough credits in humanities & social sciences?

[Elizabeth]

If you only need 6 credit hours in General Ed then i would definitely reccommend you take Analyzing & Interpreting Literature- it's the very first Clep i took without using instacert, and it's definitely an easy pass...and it's 6 credits exactly. It does involve knowing different structures of writing, poetry terms such as iambic pentameter, heroic couplet, etc. so if you just review the questions on Instacert flashcards and pick up REA's Analyzing & Interpreting Literature Study Guide for extra study material you should do well.
Or...if you don't want to have to do as much in depth thinking for 6 credits, I suggest that you take English Composition With Essay. This is very easy to pass...all the questions in the multiple choice section deal with identifying pronoun agreement/diagreement, misplaced modifiers, irregular verbs, dependent and independent clauses, faulty comparison, parallel sentence structure, redundancy, consistency, cliches, and prepositions and conjunctions. It may sound intimidating, but it's really not hard at all. Review the flashcards a few times on Instacert and you should do well on the multiple choice section.

The second section is The essay portion. You will be given a prompt and asked to adress it directly. It's a pretty straightforward process. Do NOT take English Compostion without the essay unless you are the worse writer in the world, in which case, i would suggest you pick up the Comex Systems Review For The CLEP General English Compostion Examination,(which will immensely improve your writing skills, if necessary), instead of bypassing the one with the essay altogether and opting for the one without the essay.

These are two great options and the advantage of both of them is that you can take just ONE easy test and get all the Gen. Ed credits you need with minimal study time,
instead of studying for several weeks to take 2 three credit tests (e.g. U.S. History 1 and 2) that are pretty, well, monotonous.

[Joel]

New to IC and the forum, I discovered it a few months ago but now I'm finally ready to start taking some classes through Dante's, CLEP and ECE. I have college classroom experience already and a good start on my associates but as of right now I need some advice on which classes to take through the exams. Looking to just get my feet wet and get this ball rolling again. Here is the current list of classes I'm required to finish and what classes are available in the group.


General Education: Only need 6 credit hours.
Math - College Algebra
Oral Communication - Public Speaking

Program Elective: Only need 7 credit hours.
Physical Geology
Astronomy
Natural Science
General Biology
Chemistry

Management: Only need 6 credit hours.
Human Resource Management
Organizational Behavior
Principles of Supervision
Principles of Management

Technical - Only need 9 credit hours.
Technical Writing
Introduction to Computing
Principles of Marketing
Information Systems & Computer Applications
Financial Accounting

The more difficult subjects for me, such as Math and Speech I plan on taking in a classroom to improve my in class credit total and to focus on the subject more thoroughly. Thanks for any advice and suggestions, its all very much appreciated.

I've bolded the exams that I feel are the "easiest" options to meet your requirements in the last two categories. I don't have any experience with the exams in the first two (except Astronomy which was very doable).

[AvalancheCo]

perrick: I'm pursuing my associates degree through the AF and under the CCAF, which is simply a degree plan for those enlisted in AF. I'm also going to American Military University online for those courses that I need to pay more attention to. I have every intention of finishing my BA as soon as I get my CCAF completed. Right now my associates is under General Studies on AMU but I hope to one day get a degree in Meteorology or Geography. All the classes I listed above are approved dante's and clep courses I can do through the exams for my CCAF degree plan. I have to complete Math and Oral Communication for General Education and then I'm done with it. As for electives, yes, I'm done with humanities and English so all I can do at this point for electives are the Natural Science classes I listed.

Elizabeth: Math and Oral Communication are the only two classes I have to fulfill in order to complete my General Education. I've already taken classes in both English and Literature so I'm good there. Math isn't my best subject so my plan is to focus on it in a classroom rather then completing it with a CLEP, plus I want to add to my in classroom credits. However, that doesn't mean CLEPing Math isn't out of the question because it could always be easier than I'm making it out to be.

Hope all that makes sense. In short, all I have to do is complete certain classes under the CCAF in order to complete my associates with the AF and then I can pick my BA and move forward with whatever degree I choose. At this point all I want to do is get some of these classes I need to complete out of the way but I'm not sure which one's to start with as the study requirements might be tougher with one subject than the other. Plus if I for instance, took Human Resource Management I don't want to mistakenly do that one first when Principles of Supervision might overlap information that is useful with HRM. I just need some advice on which exam to do first and if anyone has any background on the subject from when they took the test and how I should study myself.

Thanks again!

[Elizabeth]

^ Ah, I understand. I read your first post and then typed and published mine without realizing that you had listed two classes under the General Ed category. Sorry for the miscommunication there.
True, the Mathematics CLEP isn't entirely out of the question. Math isn't my best subject either, and yet I'm planning on CLEPing that course because i looked over the topics covered and decided that it wouldn't be so hard, after all, if I study enough.

[perrik]

Plus if I for instance, took Human Resource Management I don't want to mistakenly do that one first when Principles of Supervision might overlap information that is useful with HRM. I just need some advice on which exam to do first and if anyone has any background on the subject from when they took the test and how I should study myself.

Study for CLEP Principles of Management or DSST Principles of Supervision first (they overlap quite a bit), then follow with DSST Human Resource Management. HRM will build on what you learned for Management/Supervision.

None of your other potential choices appear to benefit from sequential study, so just take them as you're ready.