Has Anyone Tried Modern States?

[bghill]

So I went ahead and gave the Modern States Introductory Business Law course a try.

The course has seven modules, which map to the subject area breakdown on the CLEP. Each module has from 3 to 11 subsections -- the number of subsections being roughly proportional to the percentage of coverage on the exam.

Each subsection has a video, accompanied by a transcript. (You can also access the transcripts separately.) The videos ranged from 1.5 minutes to about 17 minutes. You can view the video at anywhere from 1x to 2x speed.

The videos are your basic talking head lectures, with a few caption slides in the background. (The caption slides are also available separately.) I thought the lecturer did a decent job of making the material clear and of not being completely boring and droney in his presentation.

Some subsections (though not all) also have one or two "homework" questions. These are multiple choice questions like the ones you would encounter on the CLEP. In fact, they appear to be derived from the questions in the Official CLEP Study Guide. There were 28 questions in the entire course, so you're effectively getting a free, 28-question practice test.

Each module also has "supplementary reading", which is a chapter from the free, online textbook that is part of the course (downloadable in PDF format). The textbook seemed fairly mediocre to me, but it is another way of accessing the content, for those who prefer reading. Also, there was an occasional topic that was covered in the textbook but not in the lectures.

The syllabus for the course says, "it will take you less than 25 hours to prepare for the exam." If you just go through the course, it will take you a lot less! I probably spent about 5.5 hours, with viewing the videos at accelerated speed and skimming the textbook. I did, however, already have a fair amount of familiarity with legal topics of one sort or another, so YMMV.

I'm not sure if the course covered every single thing you might encounter on the CLEP, but it certainly covers the vast majority of topics you will encounter; at least, that is what I conclude after having taken the sample test in the Official CLEP Study Guide that I borrowed from my local public library. (I scored 87% on the practice exam.)

So, yes, I think it is possible to pass the CLEP just using the Modern States course -- although if you're not at all familiar with the US legal system or legal concepts, you might want to supplement it from other sources -- and I would certainly recommended it if you're looking for a free prep resource.

I never got the email that some others received, but once I finished the course, I emailed whitney@modernstates.org (as mentioned upthread) and asked if the voucher was still available. She emailed me back a voucher code for the CLEP fee, and instructions on how to get the proctor fee reimbursed. When I went to register on the CLEP site, the voucher code worked like a charm -- the registration cost dropped to $0!

So, I don't know how long the offer lasts, or whether you can use it for more than one course/CLEP, but I'm getting my Introductory Business Law CLEP for free! Thank you Modern States, and thank you zapproximator for the tip!