How do you know about CLEP?

[sgloer]

I talk to people all the time who have never heard of CLEP, and they tell me, "Wow, why didn't anyone tell me about this while I was in college? I could have saved so much time and money!"

AP Exams in high schools have grown exponentially in the last ten years, but CLEP exams have stayed pretty much the same for the last thirty years. Why is that?

The problem is, if you try to tell random people about it on the internet, they think it's too good to be true--it's just another internet gimmick.

How did YOU learn about CLEP?

My theory is, if you could mass-communicate the benefits of CLEP, it would revolutionize the college industry, as students spend time in college focusing on courses relevant to their major instead of having to waste time on all of the general ed requirements.

[Shark101]

I talk to people all the time who have never heard of CLEP, and they tell me, "Wow, why didn't anyone tell me about this while I was in college? I could have saved so much time and money!"

AP Exams in high schools have grown exponentially in the last ten years, but CLEP exams have stayed pretty much the same for the last thirty years. Why is that?

The problem is, if you try to tell random people about it on the internet, they think it's too good to be true--it's just another internet gimmick.

How did YOU learn about CLEP?

My theory is, if you could mass-communicate the benefits of CLEP, it would revolutionize the college industry, as students spend time in college focusing on courses relevant to their major instead of having to waste time on all of the general ed requirements.

I learned abot clep from my educational service officer in the military. I agree general ed courses should be cleped, and a person should foscus on their major.

[RBOWMAN]

I Found Clep Pretty Much By Accident. I Needed To Complete Fift Some Credits In A Very Short Period Of Time. After I Discovered Clep I Was Very Fortunate To Find Instantcert. I Have Saved Over $ 13,000 By Using The Two Resources And Along With That I Was Able To Take At Least One Test A Week And Passed All Of Them. Iam Sorry To Be Online So Much, But I Want Everyone To Know That These Two Resources Can In Fact Be The Answer To Alot Of Peoples Prayers!! It Has Been For Me.

[sgloer]

Careful now, we don't want this to come off as a "propaganda board"! hilarious

Can you elaborate on what you mean by "accident"? Who told you about CLEP?

[RBOWMAN]

I was looking through a ton of clep prep courses and info on the clep program when i came across the instantsert program. it fit my needs educationally , my timetable and the study technique was very well suited to me personally.
I have found instancert to be excellent as a stand alone study method except in microeconomics and U.S. History 2. Now the unspoken key to all of this is really paying attention the explanation of the answers being shown beneath the answers on the flash cards. There have been a very large number of times that I have faulted myself by not taking enough time to lern the reasons behind the correct answer. What a crummy feeling when the clep test is under way and you are sitting there kicking yourself !!

One other quick thought... until just recently I truly believed I had to answer every clep question , even if that meant outright guessing. I wish somewhere the philosophy of " not" guessing on the clep tests had been explained to me. I know I would have scored higher if I had known.

[sgloer]

I think you misunderstood my question--I was asking where did you learn about the CLEP program; i.e. how did you know that you can take CLEP tests for college credit? I'm not asking how you found out about InstantCert.

I've heard that based on the scoring system for CLEP, if you can eliminate even one answer choice, you should make a guess on every single question. If you're curious, you can always post a thread and try seeing what most people's test-taking philosophy is.

But yes, I do try to emphasize--study the explanation, because it can make a difference.

[anar579]

I went to a 4-year university right out of high school, Florida International University, a state college (and dropped out after a year). While there, I "heard" about CLEP, just as I heard about several other exams such as TOEFL, CLAST, LSAT, MCAT... the list goes on. Of course, I was completely ignorant about all of them. I didn't realize I could "test out" of courses. No one ever told me... not advisers, not professors, not even other students.

I took several AP courses in high school but never took them seriously. My public high school even paid the full exam fee for every student. Teachers in high schools pushed AP exams on kids, encouraging everyone to take them. I doodled on my $70 exam bubble sheets, haha.

Back to CLEP, I wish someone in college would've told me about CLEP exams. In retrospect, perhaps advisers don't buy into the notion of taking a single test instead of a semester class, or maybe they like getting those nice fat tuition payments for each credit. Who knows...

[RBOWMAN]

An online advisor mentioned that I could speed up my couses if I did online and clep at the same time. I ended up researching the clep website and found you there as well. I decided to try it..it worked and much to the online colleges chagrin i didn't spend the $ 1,500 per 3 credit class with his school, but decided to do all the clep I could do first and then fill in where needed.

[Nytwolf]

Just like Shark101, I found out through my service in the military.

The reason people aren't told is, in my opinion, all about money. Example - my first two universities I attended (UT Knoxville & MTSU) offer every course that has a coresponding CLEP. If they tell students about it then they'll lose money. Even if they have a testing facility on campus (which UT had) they won't tell you about it because they don't really make any money on it. $70 test where the facility only gets $20. Why would they do that when they can make $150 per credit hour ($450 for 1 class) and also score additional monies with books and other materials for one lousy class?

Online programs and accelerated programs don't usually offer the general ed classes, but you still have to have them for a degree. Therefore, these programs WANT you to test out of the gen ed stuff if you haven't taken the classes before. This way, they move graduates out of there school quicker and their numbers look fantastic to prospective students. "Hey, you can graduate with a bachelors in just 2 years!" Wouldn't that get your attention?

[dipidy]

I heard about CLEP's through my father who CLEP'ed his entire degree in 4 months. I don't think I can do 4 months but I am shooting for 6. Being in the military all my tests are free so I am just pay for this site and it is much cheaper then school and other fees. Good luck to everyone.