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My son took the West. Civ. I CLEP today and scored a 48. His friend that he had been studying with for five weeks scored a 55.
He is 15. He wants to try it again in 6 months. What else should he do to prepare? He read the REA book cover to cover taking notes, and took both tests twice. Each time scoring higher then the first time. He said there were so many questions on the CLEP that weren't in the REA or on the Peterson's practice test, which he also took all three practice tests.
Is he just not old enough to be able to handle this type of material, or should I let him try it again?
I would like advice, because I don't see a whole lot of discussion about what people do after they don't pass.
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06-30-2011, 03:53 PM
(This post was last modified: 06-30-2011, 04:00 PM by CLEP101.)
spiderslayer15 Wrote:My son took the West. Civ. I CLEP today and scored a 48. His friend that he had been studying with for five weeks scored a 55.
He is 15. He wants to try it again in 6 months. What else should he do to prepare? He read the REA book cover to cover taking notes, and took both tests twice. Each time scoring higher then the first time. He said there were so many questions on the CLEP that weren't in the REA or on the Peterson's practice test, which he also took all three practice tests.
Is he just not old enough to be able to handle this type of material, or should I let him try it again?
I would like advice, because I don't see a whole lot of discussion about what people do after they don't pass.
Welcome to the forum and I'm sorry to hear that your son didn't pass,
I did all the same things that your son did, plus I also watched the videos on the following site, this site has videos for all kinds of subjects that you can use for other CLEPs and DSSTs. This link is for the Western Civ 1 & 2 specifically.
Resource: The Western Tradition
I also went over all the Instantcert material, the audio for the flashcards really helped me on this.
I watched them all and ended up passing in the 60s.
Good luck and hope this helps,
[SIZE="1"][SIZE="3"][SIZE="2"]Excelsior College - DONE[/SIZE][/SIZE]
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CLEPs Passed
[SIZE="1"][SIZE="1"]Spanish, Freshman Comp, English Comp w/ Essay, Social Science & Hist, Info Sys & Comp App, Intro Sociology, Prin of Mngmt, American Gov , US History I, US History II, Western Civ I, Western Civ II[/SIZE][/SIZE]
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[SIZE="1"][SIZE="1"]Civil War & Reconstruction, Rise & Fall of Soviet Union, History of Vietnam War, Intro Modern Middle East, Western Europe Since 1945, Drug and Alcohol, Here's to Your Hlth, Intro To Comp, Prin of Sup, Technical Writing, Prin of Physical Science I[/SIZE][/SIZE]
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48 is very close to passing. I would also suggest the IC flashcards and the specific exam feedback. If he got that close I think with a little more study he should make it next time.
What did he score on the Peterson's practice test? I like to get in the 60% or higher range on those before I take the real thing, and reading the info in the Answers also helps with those..
Linda
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06-30-2011, 05:15 PM
(This post was last modified: 06-30-2011, 05:19 PM by peace123.)
My kuddos to him for wanting to earn and trying to earn college credit at age 15 and also for not wanting to give up after coming so close.
I vote for letting him try again.
Now that he has a feel for taking an exam, I am sure the next run will go smoother.
I suggest : IC flash cards, supplementing with video ( rented or online youtube, etc.), and any practice tests you can find.
Also, utilize the exam feed back section of IC, it is an invaluable tool.
Another thing to think about is have him do some study on test taking skills. There is an art to testing out, once you build up the right test skills, it becomes easier to pass exams.
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If he takes notes from what he remembers his test was like and specifically the areas he didn't know well it will help him study again when he retests in the future. I failed US History I the first time with a 49, but I came back the second time with one of my highest CLEP scores! There was a lot of overlap between my two tests and I was much more solid in those areas I didn't know the first time.
Also, I learned that especially on the history tests it is crucial to have multiple sources because one can't cover everything. EZ Keys 101 are helpful for summing things up (though I don't know if they have Western Civ I...), videos or textbooks, or whatever you can find that can help reinforce and review. Practice tests always helped me too, and for certain tests you can access Petersons practice tests, College Board practice tests, AP practice tests and others online that are beneficial for review and memorizing. Memorizing those practice test questions improves your ability to know questions on the real exam and aids in elimination.
Allison
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