CLEP Exam Ranking

[Bachinayr]

Hi Everyone,
I recently found this forum while researching possible colleges to finish my degree. I signed up at SNHU for the B.S Technical Management and discovered that they have a credit by exam program and accept CLEP credits for the following courses: 

Financial Accounting
ACC-201

Introductory Business Law
BUS-206

Principles of Microeconomics
ECO-201

Principles of Macroeconomics
ECO-202

College Composition
ENG-122 & ENG-ELE

Humanities
HUM-100

Information Systems
IT-100

Principles of Marketing
MKT-113

I'm trying to come up with a study guide and plan to start taking CLEP exams in December. Any suggestion as to the order I should start studying and taking the tests? 
Thanks in advance!

[Frogsear]

Hi Everyone,
I recently found this forum while researching possible colleges to finish my degree. I signed up at SNHU for the B.S Technical Management and discovered that they have a credit by exam program and accept CLEP credits for the following courses: 

Financial Accounting
ACC-201

Introductory Business Law
BUS-206

Principles of Microeconomics
ECO-201

Principles of Macroeconomics
ECO-202

College Composition
ENG-122 & ENG-ELE

Humanities
HUM-100

Information Systems
IT-100

Principles of Marketing
MKT-113

I'm trying to come up with a study guide and plan to start taking CLEP exams in December. Any suggestion as to the order I should start studying and taking the tests? 
Thanks in advance!

I would go in order from highest to lowest pass rates. Check pass rates here http://www.dantes.doded.mil/EducationPro...texam.html

[cookderosa]

Welcome!! First things first, you can't duplicate any of your existing credit - so say you are currently taking College Composition this semester, you won't also be able to take the CLEP for that exam. So, no duplication. Part two, is that of that list, you'll want to make sure that it counts in your degree requirements. Since you are already a student, run that last past your advisor to get the go-ahead. Don't let them talk you OUT of testing (which they may try to do) rather specifically find out if you do test and do pass, that you'll be able to count the exams.

At that point, you're ready to go! Many people bundle similar subjects together, so while not really ranked, I'd suggest Principles of Microeconomics and Principles of Macroeconomics as a bundle. You'll find a lot of general economics overlap.


Financial Accounting, Business Law, Marketing, or Information Systems - these are each "self contained" classes, meaning you can study and test without any pre-existing knowledge. Take whenever. If you have taken or will take Introduction to Business, that would be good ahead of law or marketing. The Information Systems class (Computers 101) may contain content you already know and be the easier out of that group.


College Composition - this includes essay writing. I would not take this as my first CLEP since the essay might throw you a curveball. It's English 1 and 2 - take anytime.

Humanities - on your list, I would list this one as the hardest exam by FAR. Enormous scope of fine arts - depending on your preexisting knowledge, this might be in your wheelhouse (it's not in mine) in which case this might be the easiest for you lol.

Read the facts sheet on the official page to help you decide. There is a VERY SOLID flash card subscription service you can buy here ($20) that has a VERY HIGH pass rate. Most of the current posts here are not doing CLEP, so you'll find some of the better posts were written a couple years ago.

I've saved the best for last, google Modern States - they have free online CLEP classes that you can do at home. When you finish, they'll give you a voucher to take your CLEP for free. You'll even get reimbursed for your testing center fees. They are a non-profit so could run out of vouchers at any time- you'll want to jump on it asap.

[Ideas]

I would suggest the DSST instead for the IT course if possible. I see SNHU does take DSSTs in general. It's supposedly much easier. I took the CLEP and think that the DSST would have been much easier.

Also I'd probably go with DSST for Business Law if possible.

I'd take the economics ones close together.

[studyandpass5]

If you have to take Macro/Microeconomics, I would highly recommend using Mr. Clifford's videos. His videos are what got me through both classes. He explains the concepts very simply, and he makes it fun. Here's a link to his YouTube:  https://www.youtube.com/user/ACDCLeadership

[Bachinayr]

Hi Everyone,
I recently found this forum while researching possible colleges to finish my degree. I signed up at SNHU for the B.S Technical Management and discovered that they have a credit by exam program and accept CLEP credits for the following courses: 

Financial Accounting
ACC-201

Introductory Business Law
BUS-206

Principles of Microeconomics
ECO-201

Principles of Macroeconomics
ECO-202

College Composition
ENG-122 & ENG-ELE

Humanities
HUM-100

Information Systems
IT-100

Principles of Marketing
MKT-113

I'm trying to come up with a study guide and plan to start taking CLEP exams in December. Any suggestion as to the order I should start studying and taking the tests? 
Thanks in advance!

I would go in order from highest to lowest pass rates. Check pass rates here http://www.dantes.doded.mil/EducationPro...texam.html

---

Welcome!!  First things first, you can't duplicate any of your existing credit - so say you are currently taking College Composition this semester, you won't also be able to take the CLEP for that exam.  So, no duplication.   Part two, is that of that list, you'll want to make sure that it counts in your degree requirements.  Since you are already a student, run that last past your advisor to get the go-ahead.  Don't let them talk you OUT of testing (which they may try to do) rather specifically find out if you do test and do pass, that you'll be able to count the exams.  

At that point, you're ready to go!  Many people bundle similar subjects together, so while not really ranked, I'd suggest  Principles of Microeconomics and Principles of Macroeconomics as a bundle.  You'll find a lot of general economics overlap.


Financial Accounting, Business Law, Marketing, or  Information Systems - these are each "self contained" classes, meaning you can study and test without any pre-existing knowledge.  Take whenever.  If you have taken or will take Introduction to Business, that would be good ahead of law or marketing.  The Information Systems class (Computers 101) may contain content you already know and be the easier out of that group.


College Composition - this includes essay writing.  I would not take this as my first CLEP since the essay might throw you a curveball.  It's English 1 and 2 - take anytime.

Humanities - on your list, I would list this one as the hardest exam by FAR.  Enormous scope of fine arts - depending on your preexisting knowledge, this might be in your wheelhouse (it's not in mine) in which case this might be the easiest for you lol.

Read the facts sheet on the official page to help you decide.  There is a VERY SOLID flash card subscription service you can buy here ($20) that has a VERY HIGH pass rate. Most of the current posts here are not doing CLEP, so you'll find some of the better posts were written a couple years ago.  

I've saved the best for last, google Modern States - they have free online CLEP classes that you can do at home. When you finish, they'll give you a voucher to take your CLEP for free. You'll even get reimbursed for your testing center fees.  They are a non-profit so could run out of vouchers at any time- you'll want to jump on it asap.

Really good stuff here, cookderosa. Thanks for the info!

---

Thanks to everyone that responded and provided information. I'm blown away by all the quality advice. Much appreciated.

---

I would suggest the DSST instead for the IT course if possible. I see SNHU does take DSSTs in general. It's supposedly much easier. I took the CLEP and think that the DSST would have been much easier.

Also I'd probably go with DSST for Business Law if possible.

I'd take the economics ones close together.

Are there minimum required institutional credits that must be taken at TESU for the B.S BA? I was close to applying but there were so many snafu's with their website that I got turned off. At SNHU, there is a minimum 30 institutional credits that must be completed. I'm curious to see if it's the same at TESU.

[mysonx3]

At TESU, you only need 4 institutional credits: the 3-credit capstone and 1-credit cornerstone

[davewill]

Are there minimum required institutional credits that must be taken at TESU for the B.S BA? I was close to applying but there were so many snafu's with their website that I got turned off. At SNHU, there is a minimum 30 institutional credits that must be completed. I'm curious to see if it's the same at TESU.

This is part of what makes the Big3 "BIG". They only require between 4 and 6 credits to be taken at the institution. The other part is that they take so many different kinds of alternative credit rather than just a limited number of CLEPS like most schools.

[Bachinayr]

At TESU, you only need 4 institutional credits: the 3-credit capstone and 1-credit cornerstone

Wow! I think I'll take another look at TESU. Thanks for the info.

[cookderosa]

At TESU, you only need 4 institutional credits: the 3-credit capstone and 1-credit cornerstone

Wow! I think I'll take another look at TESU. Thanks for the info.

So, as you look at schools, the Big 3 have the lowest institutional requirement of any accredited colleges in teh USA (that's why they got the pet name) but the strategy being used is to max out the transfer policy by taking EVERYTHING away/ apart from the school. To do this, you can create a patchwork quilt of credits and then send everything (perfectly aligned, of course) to the school and voila, you're ready to take 1-2 classes and graduate. That kind of planning only works if you're highly motivated and a little bit brave.
If you want an advisor to plan your classes and to take the classes through the college instead, the big 3 are VERY expensive. You can, of course do that - most of their students are doing that, but this board comes at it differently.