Uexcel English

[TMW2010]

I just got back from the 2 shortest hours of my life.

If you're good with the written word and are looking to get an easy out for the Written English Requirement at Excelsior or English credit, I would advise you to take this test.

It consists of two Essay questions, one is a proposal question and one is an Analysis/Response question. The test is set up so that you have two hours for both (not specifically an hour for each) and you can bounce back and forth between them if you wish.

You don't get to see your grade until they hand you the printout. It also gives you a Detailed Score Report for each essay to identify any problem areas that led to your grade in the following -
Focus & Meaning
Content & Development
Organization
Language Use & Style
Mechanics & Conventions

I got the A/R essay as my first one and wasted a good 15 minutes thinking about what I wanted to say with it. It was kind of frustrating so I just went and did the Proposal and came back to the A/R. I didn't use my time wisely. At 7 minutes left, I still had two full paragraphs to compose and ended up fudging it down into one paragraph and calling the test done with about 30 seconds.

I did a little reading up on the MLA citation style that's required for the test, but not much studying or planning. I had found out yesterday that I couldn't take my Research and Writing Class at Excelsior without getting my WER done, and the local Pearsons had a slot open, so I grabbed and basically spent last night and this morning doing everything but studying up on the test.

If I had it to do over again, I would pay the $30 for the 90 days access to the practice software and work with that a lot. If you want to take this and get an A, you definitely want to use the practice software, because its the same system that the actual test uses for the grading AI. (yes, its computer, not human graded, except for 5% of the tests which they send to human graders to check it against the software's grading to make sure the software is grading as it should be.) This would be a definite advantage when preparing for the test because you'll know what areas you need to focus on and what areas have improved from your practice.

[NAP]

Congratulations on getting through this! You did well in a very tough situation. I do not think I could have done as well as you did.

Thank you for sharing your experience with it. I think you are one of the first to try it. I am sure others will be very interested in this information.

With 3 more credits and the Written English Requirement done, you can move forward with your plans!

[Mechanix26]

I wish I took this instead of the TECEP I did take, which cost me $480! It was graded pass/fail, which would have been ok if I hadn't gotten nearly 100% on it... At least it was relatively easy.

[TMW2010]

Congratulations on getting through this! You did well in a very tough situation. I do not think I could have done as well as you did.

Thank you for sharing your experience with it. I think you are one of the first to try it. I am sure others will be very interested in this information.

With 3 more credits and the Written English Requirement done, you can move forward with your plans!

If there was one thing I wish that they would change about this test in the future, it would be to give like 2-3 subjects for each essay that you can choose from, instead of getting stuck with whatever topics they give you. I think that would have made for a better experience instead of just randomly pulling a topic out of a hat.

But I'm happy with the results, and honestly, the bit of anxiety, dry mouth, and confusion for the time leading up to the test and the two hours of the test was well worth it to me so that I didn't have to try and sit through a Freshman english class for 15 weeks.

[TMW2010]

There are three things I forgot to mention about this test.

First, the PDF overview/study guide for the test is SPOT ON and shows you the two types of essays you will be dealing with for the test.

Second, it really helps to be able to BS off the top of your head, on just about anything.

Third, I would practice writing paragraphs that cite an article prior to the test. Even if you don't use the MyAccess! practice, this will be invaluable for when you sit down for the Analysis essay, and give you an easier time with the citation paragraphs, as far as being able to form what you want to say in the paragraph, paraphrase, and cite the information from the article.

I went in with the idea that I would set up my two essays as five paragraph essays. I'd planned the following -
Proposal

• Introduction/Thesis
  
• Depth about the issue
  
• Solution to the issue
  
• Rebuttal to possible arguments against my solution to the issue
  
• Closing paragraph, restatement of Thesis
  

Analysis

• Introduction
  
• Analysis/Citations from the first article
  
• Analysis/Citations from the second article
  
• Response to the Articles
  
• Closing Paragraph with a restatement of the Thesis
  

What actually happened
Proposal

• Introduction
  
• Decided on two solutions, so I did a paragraph on the first solution
  
• Paragraph on the second solution
  
• Rebuttal to possible arguments about the two solutions
  
• Closing paragraph with restatement of thesis
  

Analysis

• Introduction
  
• Summary of first article, almost wholly paraphrasing (and citing those) and adding a direct quote or two.
  
• Summary of second article, almost wholly paraphrasing (and citing those) and adding a direct quote or two.
  
• Response and Closure (Because I didn't use my time wisely and couldn't finish a separate paragraph for the Closure.)
  

If a Mod would either move this thread to the Specific Exam feedback or if they don't want a new post for the Uexcel English, lump it in with the English Comp/Freshmen comp thread, it would be cool.

[WeAintGotNoBadges]

Hi. Thanks for the excellent info. Since the exam scored on the spot, I assume that it's not a paper test. Is there anything funky about the keyboard provided or the word processing software used to enter text?

I plan to use the MyAccess software and 2 weeks prep time.

W.

[frankiebleyes]

From the post sounds like a new english comp exam to me. Could someone provide me with a website or info to learn about this exam. I did try the search engine, but it didn't come up with any posts except this one.

Thanks.

[WeAintGotNoBadges]

From the post sounds like a new english comp exam to me. Could someone provide me with a website or info to learn about this exam. I did try the search engine, but it didn't come up with any posts except this one.

Thanks.

UExcel - College Credit by Exam

[frankiebleyes]

thank you for the website

[TMW2010]

Hi. Thanks for the excellent info. Since the exam scored on the spot, I assume that it's not a paper test. Is there anything funky about the keyboard provided or the word processing software used to enter text?

I plan to use the MyAccess software and 2 weeks prep time.

W.

Nope, its a regular computer that you take it on. The 'word processor' portion of it is basically something akin to notepad. You can cut, copy and paste, but that's about it. If I remember correctly (I've slept since then) its split screen with the question up top and the portion you can type on at the bottom.

From what I understand, the my access software is pretty much the test environment.