I took US History I and found it fairly straightforward. Although it covers more years (1492-1877) than US History II, it really concentrates on a few segments from this time period. The interactions with foreign nations (so prevalent and complicated in the US History II time period) are much less numerous. You will probably remember a lot as you study, simply because we all spent a lot of time learning about this period back in elementary/middle/high school (assuming you went to school in the US.)
As to Western Civ, I thought I was going to have to take one of the exams, but found out I didn't. However, I had looked into both exams to see which one I wanted to do, and I had decided to do Western Civ II. It covers a much shorter period of time, with more familiar places and historical figures. But it sure didn't look like it would be easy.
The book I got to study with for Western Civ was
Western Civilization: A Brief History by Jackson J. Spielvogel. It's the most concise book I could find that had a full narrative, not just an outline with names and dates. The book covers each exam in about 300 pages or so.
What's important with the history exams are not so much the dates (although there are some), but rather the progression of history, important events, social and economic factors, etc. I would recommend you review the
exam-specific descriptions straight from CLEP so you know exactly what's covered.
Also, check out the
exam-specific feedback section (you have to be logged in) to see what kinds of resources are available. My comments on US History I are in there. IC has flashcards for all the exams, and you can see how helpful people thought they were for study and/or review.
Good luck!
Master of Management, Cambridge College, 2011. 4.00 GPA.
BS in Business Administration, Charter Oak State College, 2009. 75 semester credits earned by exam, 45 in the classroom. 3.91 GPA.
AS in General Studies, City University of Seattle, 1999. 50 quarter hours earned by exam, 40 in the classroom. 3.95 GPA.