Recent Western Civ Clep takers

[orangeleprechaun]

Hi everyone, I was wondering if someone had taken The Western Civilization 1, Ancient Near East to 1648 clep test.
If so, could you tell me what you found difficult on the test, and what I should concentrate on.
I'm taking this test Wednesday, and I appreciate any input.

[efoo]

There's a thread on it, although for some reason I'm not even finding it by searching at the moment. Pretty much I'm in the same boat. Some people say a couple days of study was more than enough, others comment this is a really tough one. While it's only my 5th CLEP, preparing for this one has been the most frustrating by far.
I got the Western Civilization, 7th Edition book which was recommended, and read about the first 550 pages, which should take me past 1648. I'm a pretty quick reader and was amazed at how long it took, although then I realized the really obvious: you can't really compare pages in a novel to pages in a large textbook. Granted it was only a read-through once, but I'm generally pretty good at retaining information. I scored 68% on the CLEP Official Study Guide practice test, which doesn't seem too great. Then I got the REA Study Guide (Kindle version, 2nd edition), also scored 68% on the diagnostic practice test.
The REA guide has mixed feedback, and it seems pretty clear it's dependent on "which" CLEP you get at test time (that's part of why I started with the much more in-depth book). I can say the REA guide is much more high-level and I'd be wary to rely only on it, regardless of how many times you read it. What I'm presently doing is reading an REA chapter (to jog my mind on things I read in the more detailed book) then brush up using IC cards. The new problem is that the IC cards have a lot of minutiae that wasn't in either book. Logic says they're included in the cards because it's relevant to some version of the test, which now makes it even more frustrating because I feel like I've devoted way too much time am nowhere near prepared.
While I've not taken the CLEP yet, I'd say that what I've found consistently the most difficult on both tests and the IC cards is Ancient Near East (and Ancient Egypt). After that, individuals seem easier to remember based on descriptions of their ideals, impacts, etc., but the farther back you go, the more it's just large quantities of name, place, and time.
Maybe it's just the repetitiveness of it, with so many obscure names and lineages (as opposed to, for instance, theories) that you need to memorize more or less by rote. So far, this feels like one of those cases where it's a lot easier to pass the class than to pass the CLEP. I'd scrap the idea of a CLEP on this and sign up for Straighterline, but I don't want to have wasted so much time already, *plus* have to rent/buy another textbook. Also to perspective, the part that's proving the most frustrating isn't the biggest percentage on the CLEP.
Just some food for thought and ranting. Let us know how it goes; I'll probably do mine on Friday.

[orangeleprechaun]

Just took it and passed with a 56.
Don't worry too much about the Egyptians, just know Amenhotep IV.
There were more questions about the colonization of the New World and it's effect on Europe than I was expecting.
I basically crammed Tuesday and Monday just using the REA guide. And I did both tests, looking up the answers to what I got wrong.
The CLEP test was definitely much easier for me than the CLEP tests.
I was only getting about half of the questions right on the REA tests.

[efoo]

Did you mean the CLEP was much easier than the REA? Interesting about getting a 56 but only about half the questions right on the REA tests. I was aiming for about 85% or higher before scheduling the exam, but I don't think that's happening. I got behind so haven't scheduled my exam, which will push it back to Monday or Tuesday.

[orangeleprechaun]

Whoops, yeah, I meant to say the Clep Test was much easier for me than the REA tests.

[efoo]

Gotcha. They required 48 hours scheduling, so I just took it and got back. I didn't do a *ton* of extra studying, but did read most of the Cliff's guide again, and took the REA tests until I was generally about 90%+, including reading the explanations on all the answers, even the ones I got right since there was still useful info in them.

Anyway, the test sucked. I thought some of the questions were either too broad or too subjective. Shouldn't really be possible given it's based on facts, but that was my impression nonetheless. For instance, giving a range of events in the questions and a range of events in the answers, they didn't ask if the results were permanent or temporary. (Such as... certain land was gained, but was then lost.) Or asking which event/achievement was most memorable - it's subjective.

That's just part of my beef with this test, but since we're not in the exam-specific feedback forum, I'll keep it general. Overall, I've studied 1-3 days for my other CLEPs, and scored generally mid to high 60's. This one I studied for nearly 3 weeks and scored a 56, and hated every moment of the exam.