Sharing my experience with TECEPs

[PrincessButtercup]

I recently took 3 TECEPs
Music History, Marketing Communications and Portfolio Management

First, the assessment they give you about the format of the exams is wrong. Music had 2 or 3 essays (I took the exams a couple of months ago, so my mind is a bit of a blur) which I was unaware of.
They also don't let you review everything in the end. They partition it off by sections, so once you finish a section, you cannot go back and review it, which was tough for me because I always like to have a final check.

I assumed the music would be the easiest since I have a very strong background in music.
I didn't study at all for the exam and I can tell you it was brutal. I am a classical pianist, I adore opera and I studied music theory in high school, so I assumed piece of cake.
I had seconds to spare before submitting. Honestly, I screwed up royally on my essays. I was SHOCKED that I passed it. Some of the questions I even tried googling afterwards because I have never even heard of these things and I could not find the answer. With my background I knew I had about 40% correct and the rest I had to wing it. I don't know what study materials to use but definitely study.

The portfolio management was the easiest for me. I didn't study for this one either and I aced it but I have a strong working knowledge of finance. I took the Penn Foster corporate finance course before I did this TECEP and there was a lot of overlap. I also liked it because it was all multiple choice and I got my results immediately afterwards.

For the marketing one I listened to two marketing courses - each was about 10 hours, so 20 hours total study time. I did this over a weekend and I listened while I did other stuff. I would say I felt comfortable with 80% of the questions on the exam.

These exams are serious. I've taken CLEPs, Straighterline and Saylor exams and those do not hold a candle to the difficulty of these exams and I have a solid background in all of these areas, which is why I chose them.

I took the portfolio management and music on the same day and I was scheduled to take the marketing on the same day too and I postponed it by a week just so I can study because after taking the first two, I was certain I would fail the marketing if I didn't study because that is where I am weakest and the marketing exam I took was for upper level credit.

Anyway, just wanted to share in case someone else finds my experience helpful in any way.

[KayV]

Extremely helpful, thank you for posting.

[sanantone]

I don't know what it said at the time you took the test, but the current test description says it has two essays. Several months ago, TESU updated a few of its TECEPs and had two test descriptions for those exams depending on the term you register for.

[keepsingin]

This is very helpful; thanks for sharing! I was also thinking about taking the music history tecep because I also have a background in music and wanted to have some just-for-fun courses to take, even if they didn't fit into my degree. So thanks for the warning!

[jsd]

Yikes, if you want a just for fun course that doesn't fit into a your degree plan, save the money and take a free mooc! Many of those moocs are on par or superior to actual college courses.

[jsd]

Though admittedly I've taken some garbage mooc courses... :leaving:

[keepsingin]

I agree...I figured I'll take some for-fun courses through Coursera and see how I like em. Can't lose there and it's go at your own pace.

[runnergirlnae]

I have taken Technical writing, Public Relations Thought and Practice, Business and Society, Marketing Communications, and Managerial Communications. I have passed the first three exams listed and I am currently waiting on my results for the last two. The exams definitely are difficult, however I studied for about the same amount of time for these exams as I have for my 18 or so CLEP and DSST exams. I study for about 3-4 hours and haven't had too much of a problem with passing. I am almost finished with my BSBA in Marketing, so the classes seem to have a lot of crossover which helps cut down on study time. I wouldn't cut out TECEPs just because you are scared of them. I was scared before I took my first exam, but now I am fairly comfortable with them. I have two TECEP exams left (sales management and operations management) to take later on this month.