CLEP Calculus

[SpiffyRiffy]

I just passed the Calculus CLEP yesterday!
Here's the rundown on my experience, since not many others seem to have taken it:
While I learned from several sources, there were two books which were my primary sources of information. The first is "Mathematics: From the Birth of Numbers" by Jan Gullberg, which I highly recommend, but you should also learn from other sources as well for this test. The second was one of my dad's old college textbooks that he kept, called "Calculus With Analytic Geometry, Second Edition" by Robert Ellis and Denny Gulick. Since it's from the early 80's, I don't know if you could find it, but a similar textbook would be very valuable. (It clearly explains each subject and has lots of practice and example problems.)
Doing as many practice problems as you can is essential. The hardest part of the test was the fact that it was timed...you've got to skip and mark the harder questions and come back to them.
There's a practice test here: CLEP Calculus Exam However, while you should learn how to do the problems on it, it's not a very good representation of what the test is like.
It goes without saying that you should know how to find derivatives and "antiderivative" type integrals. Knowing L'Hopital's rule was handy. You should be able to find definite integrals as well, and the area between two curves. There was a little bit of Summation, particularly Riemann sums for finding approximations of definite integrals, but it wasn't an emphasized part of the test...only a couple questions. Knowing how exponential functions (e to the x, or e to the x times a constant, for example) are derived and integrated came up a couple of times. Also, you should understand what my textbook calls "related rates"...that is, knowing the derivative of a variable, and having to find, the derivative of another variable which is, through another equation, dependent on the first...and similar type problems.
If you just borrow a calc 1 textbook from someone and work through some of the problems, you should be able to pass it, if you manage your time well on the test. It was certainly challenging but it's doable.
Hope I was able to help.

[malcs]

There is nothing like solving a whole bunch of problems to get good at math. The one series of books that has been around for like 50 years is Schaums. I used my father's book that he must have bought in the late 60's. It is still for sale in bookstores today. These books are problem solving workbooks, with many hundreds of problems and their answers.

Here is a pretty funny endorsement of the Schaums Calculus book from Amazon's site. It says a lot about Brick and Mortar schools too, LOL!

------ begin quote from amazon
My instructor had a nervous breakdown about 1 month into an integral calculus class. He spent the rest of the semester discussing his personal problems during class, instead of teaching. He stopped giving tests and cancelled his office hours. We had a midterm, which I failed (with a 28/100), along with the rest of the class. My entire grade hinged on the final exam. I bought this book and spent the last half of the year using this book to teach me integral calculus. Two weeks before the final, the instructuor told the class that he was throwing out the midterm, and that our grade for the class would be based solely on our performance on the final exam.
I got a 96/100 on the final, and an "A" for the course. This book saved me. (This sounds ridiculous, I know...but it is absolutely true.)
------ end quote

[auburngal_india]

Thanks India I am still considering this one so your resources may prove very helpful for me.

Thanks for posting

Good deal!

I have been studying for this one kind of on and off lately - I have to take English Lit first (how sad) and that one has been dragging along. Anyways ... thanks so much for your post SpiffyRiffy! That will help out a lot, knowing what I need to study. Did you take the practice test in the Official CLEP Study Guide? If so, was that worth anything? Did you get your own calculator for the test or did they have one on the computer for you to use?

Thanks!

India

[dadiss]

I just took Calculus Today. The only resource i used is The REA Calculus Book. I studied this book only and got a good score. The practice tests in the back of the book are especially helpful. Work them at least twice and learn from your mistakes and you will do fine on the real exam.

PS: I would also mention that i've already had Calculus in High School ( 4 years ago)

[desuu]

Woooo! Passed the Precalculus CLEP with a nice 66. It was a pretty easy exam, especially if you've got functions and trig identities down. Everything else on the exam seemed like Algebra II review.

Major thanks to Levi_1989 and auburngal_india for all the help and support.

Some resources that I would reccomend for the Precalculus CLEP:
Math Tutor DVD - Pre-calculus
REA's precalculus book
Peterson's practice exams

I have mixed feelings towards REA's book. Everything in there was helpful, but their examples were much much harder than what was actually on the test. I suppose that's good, but it really made me put off studying for this exam, as it seemed awfully difficult. I would reccomend using REA's book for the material, and if you don't understand the examples (which was quite often for me), look up examples online.

Math Tutor DVD was pretty helpful for a precalculus primer. Definitely reccomended.

Also, the Peterson's practice exams were really helpful and accurate as far as the material presented. They seemed more difficult than what was on the exam, but again, that's probably helpful.

Good luck to everybody who plans on taking it!

[Gary]

I stumbled into the wrong thread.....This is the genius section!

[Levi]

Woooo! Passed the Precalculus CLEP with a nice 66.

[SIZE="4"]Great Job, desuu!!![/SIZE]

[nick94]

Woooo! Passed the Precalculus CLEP with a nice 66.

Congratulations!

[brothermike]

Great work folks! Can I borrow your brains for a few days?

[Sunshine]

Nice job on passing, all of you!