ModernStates Update + Passed my first CLEP!

[cookderosa]

According to what I read on this forum and on the Modern States website, they reimburse you for purchasing the CLEP (after you complete their course and after you actually take the exam). However, I just went through the MS Principles of Management course and submitted for the voucher. Moder States emailed me a voucher code in one day, which I used to purchase the CLEP on College Board's website. When I applied the voucher code, it showed a charge of $0, so I never had to pay anything except the $30 sitting fee that the college charges.

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That's the first thing. Secondly, I just took the Management CLEP and passed with 70! This is my first modern CLEP. The previous three were taken with pencil and paper, and they were scored in the hundreds (420).

By the way, my printout says the score is "70" and the ACE scroe is "50". What does that mean? I did pass, right? And is there a corresponding grade score (I know the school doesn't record it, but my kids are asking me the grade. Is it just a very low "C" like it would be on any normal test?)

Thanks.

Congratulations!!! You KILLED IT!!!! 70 is a very high score!!

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Just an FYI from back in the day, for the Marketing CLEP, a score of 65 is equivalent to a B.  So I'm guessing you got a B+?

Yeah, I figured it's just a matter of dividing 70 (my score) by 80 (total), which equals 87.5%. So that feels good. Thanks.

....not exactly.

It's a very complex formula that has a range from 20-80. To score a 50 (passing) you would have had to get the number correct that was equal to the number correct when attempted by students who earned a C in a classroom course in this subject (that number is confidential).

So, 50 doesn't mean 50% or half - it simply means that the number reflects the passing score in their "experiment" of students, and could actually be a much higher number. It's essentially a sophisticated way of grading on a curve. If the average grade of those "C" students was 75% correct, then in THIS EXAM 75% correct would = scaled score of 50.

If, on the other hand, those "C" students bombed the test and only scored 20% of the questions correct, then 20% correct would = 50. Since they won't release their numbers, you can't know the actual percentage correct or letter grade that would match up to your score.

There is a point of diminishing returns as well. You might be able to study and pass with a 50 in just about 3 weeks. It might take you 3 months to hit a 60 and 9 months to hit a 70... you could spend 2 years learning everything you can and still never get a perfect score! They also don't grade every question in your test (some questions are being tested) and the question bank they pull from is HUGE. Versions are randomized as well, so your version won't be the same as mine. So an element of luck is there as well.

In short, you passed, earned a high score and kicked butt. Celebrate that and get ready for your next! The numbers will make you crazy.