Precalculus CLEP Material

[Frankiesaysrelax]

I have one last course to complete my B.S. degree. Because it is just one class required, I can't receive any financial aid or discounts. I can take the CLEP to fulfill the requirement if I pass before early November which would help save me $6500. I'm required to score a 61 on the CLEP to receive credit for the class. 

I'm wondering if anybody has any recommendations as for material to study from for the Precalculus CLEP. I've taken 3 CLEP exams, so I'm comfortable with the exam and test center, but I'm not sure what material to study from. I've never taken precalculus before but received an A and A- in College Algebra and Statistics. Both were in university. This is the first time I'd be self-learning mathematics. From what I can find, the course with material most catered to the exam is Modern States. I really like the format, but from what I gather, there is about 1000 pages of textbook material that I'll need to self-learn which seems way more difficult than it should be. I've never had the need to read entire textbook sections. I much prefer learning from videos or a teacher and then doing practice problems. Is there anywhere I can study for this exam using that format? I'm much more of a visual learner and can understand concepts much better that way. Would it be a good idea to study the topics I need on Khan Academy and use a textbook for practice problems? What I like about Modern States is all the problem sets are the same type of questions on the CLEP whereas I'm afraid if I learn from Khan Academy, I may doing completely different type of problems than what's actually on the test.

Any help is appreciated.

[dfrecore]

Honestly, if I were you, I'd just go take the darn test and see how you do. If you pass, you're done. If you're not, you can see what it entails and then study from there.

I'd do either Khan Academy, or Modern States. It can't hurt to just start and see how it goes.

If you just want to take an actual course at a CC, you could do Rio Salado. It's more expensive than other CC's, but it has rolling start dates (so a class starting every Monday), and a choice of 8 weeks or 14 weeks.

[Frankiesaysrelax]

Honestly, if I were you, I'd just go take the darn test and see how you do.  If you pass, you're done.  If you're not, you can see what it entails and then study from there.

I'd do either Khan Academy, or Modern States.  It can't hurt to just start and see how it goes.

If you just want to take an actual course at a CC, you could do Rio Salado.  It's more expensive than other CC's, but it has rolling start dates (so a class starting every Monday), and a choice of 8 weeks or 14 weeks.

Thanks for the quick response. So, the issue with that is I have to wait 6 months to take it again if I fail, but by then my university affiliation will expire and I'd have to re-enroll and take the course. So, I have to get it right the first time. I'm just concerned learning over 1000 pages plug doing practice problems will be very difficult to do in the 3 months I have. This is my only chance to graduate. I don't have $6500 to pay for the class and a loan isn't an option because it's less than half-time. Like I said, I need to get it right the first time.

[dfrecore]

Honestly, if I were you, I'd just go take the darn test and see how you do.  If you pass, you're done.  If you're not, you can see what it entails and then study from there.

I'd do either Khan Academy, or Modern States.  It can't hurt to just start and see how it goes.

If you just want to take an actual course at a CC, you could do Rio Salado.  It's more expensive than other CC's, but it has rolling start dates (so a class starting every Monday), and a choice of 8 weeks or 14 weeks.

Thanks for the quick response. So, the issue with that is I have to wait 6 months to take it again if I fail, but by then my university affiliation will expire and I'd have to re-enroll and take the course. So, I have to get it right the first time. I'm just concerned learning over 1000 pages plug doing practice problems will be very difficult to do in the 3 months I have. This is my only chance to graduate. I don't have $6500 to pay for the class and a loan isn't an option because it's less than half-time. Like I said, I need to get it right the first time.

The re-test period is 3 months, not 6.

[natshar]

Does your University accept ACE credit? ALEKs offers precalc for only $20 a month. Even if they don't accept ALEKs you could use it to help you study for the CLEP. If you can do ALEKs precalc you should be good for the clep.

Another option is ASU earned admissions precalc. They offer ALEKs but in a graded format in when you finish it your grade would be from Ariziona State University credit. I believe is costs $400 for this option, but I think there is a scholarship right now that makes it free if you get an A or B. You would have to pay to send ASU transcripts which cost around $20. You school should accept this as it would be viewed as normal transfer credit from ASU.

What college are you going to that costs 6500 a course? That is expensive. Hopefully one of these options helps you save money.

---

If you take the test now. Three months from now is October. So I agree you could at least attempt it and see how it goes. If you didn't pass, you could explore ALEKs, ASU, CC or taking the CLEP again.

[Carnation]

Haven't worked on this one yet but here are some resources that I have planned:
FREE:
KhanAcademy
SchoolYourself (Trig)
YayMath (Trig)
Free-CLEP-Prep resources: http://www.free-clep-prep.com/Precalculus-CLEP.html

COST:
CLEP Professor $40
https://diveintomath.com/clep-ap-prep/
I will be using the College Algebra program after covering Intermediate Algebra/Algebra 2 to fill in needed knowledge for the CLEP Exam

[TwinMom]

I have one last course to complete my B.S. degree. Because it is just one class required, I can't receive any financial aid or discounts. I can take the CLEP to fulfill the requirement if I pass before early November which would help save me $6500. I'm required to score a 61 on the CLEP to receive credit for the class. 

I'm wondering if anybody has any recommendations as for material to study from for the Precalculus CLEP.

It would cost you $200 but you could use Study.com  It is videos plus lots of quizzes. If you need more than a month you could use the Premium plan for $60 then switch to the College Accelerator plan to take the test.  So you would basically have 2 months to study the material and take the final. Or just use the Premium plan to study for the CLEP.
Good Luck and Congrats on being almost finished!

[davewill]

I'd suggest using a textbook with a solutions manual. The textbook will give you lots of problems to practice and the solutions manual will give you a place to look when you just can't figure out HOW to do a particular problem. Since you don't need a particular edition, you should be able to find them really cheap.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/...ition=used

https://www.amazon.com/Precalculus-Ism-S...oks&sr=1-2

[mysonx3]

Honestly, if I were you, I'd just go take the darn test and see how you do.  If you pass, you're done.  If you're not, you can see what it entails and then study from there.

I'd do either Khan Academy, or Modern States.  It can't hurt to just start and see how it goes.

If you just want to take an actual course at a CC, you could do Rio Salado.  It's more expensive than other CC's, but it has rolling start dates (so a class starting every Monday), and a choice of 8 weeks or 14 weeks.

Thanks for the quick response. So, the issue with that is I have to wait 6 months to take it again if I fail, but by then my university affiliation will expire and I'd have to re-enroll and take the course. So, I have to get it right the first time. I'm just concerned learning over 1000 pages plug doing practice problems will be very difficult to do in the 3 months I have. This is my only chance to graduate. I don't have $6500 to pay for the class and a loan isn't an option because it's less than half-time. Like I said, I need to get it right the first time.

The re-test period is 3 months, not 6.

As dfrecore states, the waiting period is only 3 months, so if you take the test ASAP you'll get another shot at it if you fail. That's definitely what I'd do.

How recently did you take College Algebra? If it was relatively recently, you've got a great head start on Precalculus. The way I see it, Precalculus has two parts: Algebra, and Trigonometry. If you know Algebra well already, that's gravy. As far as study material, by far the best resource I used for my Math CLEPs was InstantCert. Go through as many of the problem flashcards as possible. My guess is there will be a lot of stuff you already know how to do, or can figure out pretty easily from what you do know. When you come across one you don't know, watch a video (Khan Academy and YayMath were my go-tos) on the corresponding subject.

[Frankiesaysrelax]

Honestly, if I were you, I'd just go take the darn test and see how you do.  If you pass, you're done.  If you're not, you can see what it entails and then study from there.

I'd do either Khan Academy, or Modern States.  It can't hurt to just start and see how it goes.

If you just want to take an actual course at a CC, you could do Rio Salado.  It's more expensive than other CC's, but it has rolling start dates (so a class starting every Monday), and a choice of 8 weeks or 14 weeks.

Thanks for the quick response. So, the issue with that is I have to wait 6 months to take it again if I fail, but by then my university affiliation will expire and I'd have to re-enroll and take the course. So, I have to get it right the first time. I'm just concerned learning over 1000 pages plug doing practice problems will be very difficult to do in the 3 months I have. This is my only chance to graduate. I don't have $6500 to pay for the class and a loan isn't an option because it's less than half-time. Like I said, I need to get it right the first time.

The re-test period is 3 months, not 6.

The re-testing period for CLEP is 3 months; however, my school's policy is that 6 months is required - https://sce.nyu.edu/export/sites/scps/pd...nation.pdf