US History I or II, also Western Civ I or II?

[ACoile]

I only need to take US History I or II and also Western Civ I or II. What is everyone's opinion on these tests. Is it easier to remember the things that have happened more recently or more in the past. I know very little about history and I worry about trying to remember lots of dates. Thanks for any help.

[studyhard]

I found US History I easier than US History II. I am admittedly more familiar with the nation's earlier history but US History II focused on a lot of stuff that wasn't typical basics that most of us are familiar with. I think I had maybe one or two questions about World War I and II but there were TONS of questions about women's rights, civil rights, immigrants, etc--stuff that I don't know as much about. Plus, the political party developments around the early 1900s are VERY confusing. There were scads of parties and they were always splitting and changing their names. I found this much more difficult to keep track of than remembering, say, major battles of the Revolutionary War.

I think I'd recommend Western Civ II. Western Civ I was difficult--several THOUSAND years of history to keep track of. :eek: :eek:

[jkfuss]

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!

[ACoile]

Thank you for the feedback. I am concentrating on math right now, but one of these will be next and I like to plan ahead. I appreciate all of the information you both have provided. It looks like my decision is clear on both tests.