New here (first CLEP ?)

[LatinTea]

Hello,

This is my first post on this forum! My son is going to start taking CLEPs, etc. soon. He is 17 and has been homeschooled since K/1st grade. He has taken the ACT recently and did well (score of 29) so I think he will do okay with a testing format.

He has one more year of high school to go so I want this coming year to be the trial of 'will it work or not?'. That way, he can go to a b&m college if necessary. He's pretty pumped about this though, dreaming of all the money and time saved. Eventually, he is planning on a master's degree.

He is especially interested in english (loves to edit friend's essays...go figure) and history, but does well with math and science too. There are about 4 days of testing available close by us before the summer. As he wants to get started with an easy test, he is considering the Analyzing Lit CLEP. The other option would be American History II (he is finishing up a study of the 20th century and last year we did American History II). I thought though that Amer. Hist. I and II would be good to do together on one day, a bit down the road. Any thoughts on this? Does it matter?

I will probably have more questions so you'll be hearing from me again!
Thanks in advance,
Margo

[gcalvin]

All three of those exams are quite passable. Go to Amazon.com and buy a copy of the CLEP Official Guide and the Princeton Review Cracking the CLEP books. The Official Guide has samples of all the CLEP exams. The Princeton Review book only covers the "general" (6-credit) exams but it covers them more thoroughly, and the sample exams are a little bit better (in my opinion). It also provides explanations of right and wrong answers. Both books give a good indication of how prepared you are for the real exam. Let your son take the practice exams, you score them for him, don't tell him which questions he's getting wrong until he's scoring over 50%, and he's ready to take the real exam when he's scoring over 70%.

-Gary-

[Greggy_D]

I'd also have your son take CLEP Sociology. I consider it one of the easier tests.

[larry7crys]

I would advise your son to sign up for and take Adavanced Placement Tests. Given, they are much harder than CLEPs, but colleges with big names and reputations take them more often than CLEPs. I'm pretty sure they are free but you would have to double check. If you are looking for an easy CLEP to start, tell your son to take the English Composition with Essay. 6 easy credits for him since you mentioned that he loves to edit essays (and perhaps write them). Good Luck!

[larry7crys]

From my personal experience, the schools that I applied to during my senoir year in high school were more interested in AP courses taken and the exam result. I inquired about other ways to "test out" of courses. Some responded with "Our college takes only a combination of 12 credit hours of CLEP/DSST exams" while others said that CLEP/DSST exams would grant me 0 credit. This is why I ended up at community college after graduation to finish intro classes first and then transfer to a 4-year university. Needless to say, I ended up joining the Navy for 6 years (1.75 years left!). It pretty much depends on the college your son is going to apply to. While some deem the CLEP/DSST credits are worthy, others are very reluctant. Sucks, I know. AP tests on the other hand, seemed to transfer anywhere (depending on the score). Grad schools, it seems to me, tend to be very picky in which courses will count for credit at their school. Yes, the Pysch CLEP could be granted as 3 lower-level credits at college X but would college Y accept them as well? This is the question you need to ask before your son ends up repeating courses in grad school because the school thinks the CLEP exam is meaningless. Hope that helps.

[larry7crys]

On the subject of AP tests, remember that they are significantly harder than CLEPs and DSSTs. A score of 3 means a pass and possibly credit, 4 means that you did well and be granted credit, and a 5 means you did very well and will be granted credit to the maximum extent. 1 means you took the exam but failed the multiple choice part, so the long, essay type questions will not be graded and 2 means that you passed the multiple choice part but didn't do so hot on the long, essay questions. Anything below a 3 will not count as credit. Here is the link.
AP: About the Advanced Placement Program

[cookderosa]

Let's see, a couple of things. I will check out the description of the Sociology test and see if that looks pretty doable. I hadn't thought of that one. Also, we have the CLEP guide book, but I will look into the Princeton Review one. I picked up Kaplan's CLEP book for $2 the other day and bought a couple REA books on U.S. History I and II. I'm sure it's only the beginning....

As for the AP, I have looked into that too, but hadn't considered that these would be better for gaining a Master's degree. Are you saying that graduate schools will look at the types of tests he took to get his Bachelor's? Do you think we could mix in just a few APs and concentrate on the easier CLEP/DSST route? Would grad schools be more inclined to accept him then? I know there's no way to know this for sure, but any comments would be helpful. I don't want to make the wrong decision.

Margo

>>

Hi Margo! I am a homeschool mom too. Oh are you going to have fun with this!! It's quite addictive to be sure (I came here for my homeschool kids, and 18 months later I am graduating with my BA degree!) A few things-
AP isn't free. AP is offered through local high schools- you have to convince them to let your child take them, and they are only offered once (if at all) each year. If your son is applying to big name schools for his bachelor degree, he will want AP instead of CLEP. If this applies to you, I can help you get AP info.

Second, on the master's stuff... the CLEP testing won't have anything to do with his master's degree. He needs to concentrate on his bachelor degree requirements, and how to meet them. Also, let me assure you- and everyone else here will too- that there are MORE THAN ENOUGH colleges out there who would love for you bachelor-degree-holding son to enroll in their master's program. Many programs are open enrollment (you just enroll- there isn't competitive admission) That's years away, and when the time comes if he has good grades he won't have any trouble getting in grad school. If your son has his sights set on a specific master's degree college for one reason or another, then quite simply you must work backward. What do they require in an undergrad (bachelor) degree, and go from there.....but since most people adjust their goals from year to year- I probably wouldn't worry about the master's degree thing just yet.

For your CLEP, the books you bought are good. REA is excellent, and I highly suggest them- they never let me down. I even use REA to build curriculum for all of my children, it's really very focused (which I like). My personal opinion is that I like REA better than Cracking the CLEP, but people here use both.
Don't have him take US History 1 and 2 on the same day. If he just worked through US History 2, take that now and then go back and do 1. You should have the REA in hand- specifically, REA was the only source I used for both of those exams. He doesn't need to score 70% on the practice exams- try the first as a "pre test" then study a bit more, take the second, then about the day before try the third. I averaged 50-60% on the REA exams and passed both CLEPs easily. (I had very little knowledge of US history before buying the REA books- not sure what I spent my previous 37 years learning!)

Analyzing lit- excellent choice. don't waste the $ on the REA, it's really a comprehension exam. Google literary terms and spend about an hour learning them. If you do want him to take 2 exams in one day, this is the exam to pair with one of the history tests. (allow a break in between)

Sociology- ummmm....ok, it's an easy enough exam, but since he is in 11th grade, I would vote no. Only reason is because he needs his 3 R's to be in top form, and to spend time getting ready for the SAT. I would hit the vocab hard, get him rock solid on algebra and geometry. These will be on the SAT, and he wants a good score. His ACT is good, but be sure not to let him miss out on taking the SAT. Homeschoolers should take advantage of EVERYTHING that validates his education- especially if he CAN score well. Sociology is an elective, so it's a little "fluffy" but if he could pass AP biology or CLEP trig- that's more meaty. If he has studied foreign language (even using power glide or rosetta stone) he can attempt the foreign language CLEP. Those are BIG credits!

Finally, my favorite book was written by a homeschooler- Accelerated Distance Learning by Brad Voeller. EXCELLENT information!!
WELCOME to the board!!

[larry7crys]

You're welcome Margo! I hope all goes well with your planning!
Larry

[cookderosa]

<<So far, here's the plan. Take US History II first. and use the REA book and IC. That will give him a good start. Then, take Analyzing Lit and US History I later. Also, good to know how to study for that one! I probably have some books around the house too that will work. >>

Your plan looks good

<<As for the SAT, I had thought about doing this, but around here (in MN) it's just hardly ever done. The ACT rules, as they say. And since he's not going into a b&m college, I figured why stress him out needlessly. But I will think more about it. He is set to retake the ACT in June to get a few more points, which I know he is capable of.>>

Does the college(s) he is applying to require a higher score? If not, he could use that time earning credits!


<<As for the foreign language one, we are going to attempt French this coming year, after 4 years of Latin. Wish they had a CLEP for Latin, but I guess there wouldn't be very many takers. >>


AP has Latin!! I think there are 2. Worth checking into. College Search - SAT Registration - College Admissions - Scholarships


<<Did you ever check into CollegePlus? It's Brad Voeller's extension of his book. You probably know about it. We applied, but the cost is holding me back. >>

Yes, but it's not necessary. I think it is helpful if the information is too overwhelming, or if the parent is too busy to help the child weed through all of this, but a motivated person won't need it.


<<BTW, I am considering giving this all a go myself too! I have 18 credits from my previous life, B.H. (before homeschooling), but I am now almost 49 years old and this all looks terribly daunting. I keep telling myself that if I learned Latin, I can learn anything! I'm so impressed that you have pursued your dreams. Maybe we can PM more about this sometime. >>

I am excited to meet you! Why not take the CLEPs that your son does? US History 2 and Analyzing Lit are both good ones for a homeshool mom :o) You would walk away with 9 credits. If you took the Latin exam with him, that's another 12. You could be finished with your "freshman year" in a few weeks.

[Kelley]

Margo,

Welcome to the board! I came here originally to find out how to test out for myself and have found that testing out is a great option for my daughter. She will be going to a b&m college but I have already spoken to the advisors at the school she wants to attend and gotten their guidelines so we know which CLEP tests to take. That took quite a bit of work to get to the right person but worth the advise! They will allow any CLEPs that they have on a list that the have assigned a course equivalent to as long as it is in her degree plan. For her this will mean that she can test out of about 38 credits with 10 tests. 12 credits will be for Spanish. She is 15 and finishing her freshman year, we had to hold her back in elementary school due to health reasons so she is hoping to get back on track a bit. She is not homeschooled but goes to a small Christian school and we are plotting out the next 3 years so that as she finishes up a course she is taking she can take it up a notch studying, than take the CLEP. She loves writing and wants to be an English major so she will have a lot of options. I have looked at quite a few other colleges and all of the ones I have come across will accept up to 30 credits via testing.

I get a lot of crazy looks from people who hear that I have tested out of classes and even crazier looks when they find out my daughter is going down the same crazy path. I don't push her but after exploring this options, it seems to make the most sense that if she can work hard in HS and is smart enough without stressing herself out, to just do it. Have fun this next year as you help your son plan his own path. It sounds like he is going to have a very productive year!

~Emily