U.S. History II

[loganz]

Hi,

I am new to IC, but not to CLEP testing. I have taken the U.S. History I test and I pasted fine. But does anyone know how hard the U.S. History II test will be? Also is IC enough?

Thanks in advance,
Logan

[Ruddigore]

I found US History II to be a bit harder than US History I. I would definitely supplement IC with REA or the free Peterson's tests - or both.

One of the main thing is to know the names of all those acts. Smoot-Hawley and all that.

[earlybird]

It might be overkill for some people, but a lot of times I watch an entire video course the clep I am taking. For US hist. i & ii, I used this:
Resource: A Biography of America.

I was surprised though, that there were not very many (4-5) questions on civil rights on my test.

My brother studied the REA guide for about a week and got a 56 on this test. All the study I did, and I only got two points more.

[rkubilis]

IC is probably not enough on its own, but will give you a major headstart. I had already studied a U.S. history book (Homework Helpers/Ron Olson...much more manageable than a typical college textbook,) but didn't feel ready for the CLEP. I found this site to be a great supplement, along with a couple of sites other users had suggester, such as historyteacher.net and sparknotes. After studying these sites, I was much more confident going into the test.
Had I gotten on this site sooner, I wouldn't have spent quite so much time on the book. Most things I didn't know weren't in the book or on IC, so no amount of extra studying would've helped.
I should also tell you that I was much more nervous about the test after doing the CLEP study guide from the official website. I actually found the test to be much easier than those questions! Some were that difficult (some of the same questions appeared on the CLEP,) but many of them were more cut and dry...you knew it or you didn't.
Took the test today and got a 67!

[operalady]

I used REA and hippocampus.org much more than IC. IC's 400 questions overwhelmed me. I also highly recommend the History Channel's DVD series on the Presidents.

And do a major study of Civil Rights history of the period. Wikipedia has a nice timeline of civil rights.

Pay special attention to Womens' issues as well.

[loganz]

Thank you everyone for you help! I will be definitely looking into the REA programs and the Peterson's tests. And I definitly know to study for all those "acts" and women's rights stuff . I failed the first time I took the U.S. History I test because of it. (It's kind of funny how the pocket book gets everyones attention.)

But anyways thank you very much for all your help! I appriciate it.

Thanks,
Logan

[kris10elayne]

The current U.S. History II has very recently been updated (within the last few months). The study guides, then, no longer accurately represent the information on this test (percentages of topics and subjects within the test, etc.). This week I took and passed U.S. History I, but I'm going to hold off on taking U.S. History II until I'm sure I have the study information needed, so I can focus my study time on the topical breakdown of the actual updated U.S. History II test.

[CLEP101]

Instantcert and REA worked fine for me. I also second the website Resource: A Biography of America
Good luck on your test,

[operalady]

The current U.S. History II has very recently been updated (within the last few months). The study guides, then, no longer accurately represent the information on this test (percentages of topics and subjects within the test, etc.). This week I took and passed U.S. History I, but I'm going to hold off on taking U.S. History II until I'm sure I have the study information needed, so I can focus my study time on the topical breakdown of the actual updated U.S. History II test.

I took it last month and the REA guide plus hippocampus.org worked fine for me. I would add special attention to popular music and literature. Maybe I did not get the new version.

[NAP]

The current U.S. History II has very recently been updated (within the last few months). The study guides, then, no longer accurately represent the information on this test (percentages of topics and subjects within the test, etc.). This week I took and passed U.S. History I, but I'm going to hold off on taking U.S. History II until I'm sure I have the study information needed, so I can focus my study time on the topical breakdown of the actual updated U.S. History II test.

Welcome to the forum!

What changes in the exam have you found?

I compared last year's (2009) Official CLEP Study Guide to the breakdown on the College Board website and only saw one difference.

This new topic was listed: "The impact of the Civil War and Reconstruction upon the South"

I took this exam in March. Check to see if REA is going to publish a new book to reflect this change. If not, some independent research like wikipedia should help on this one topic.