05-21-2008, 12:47 PM
Very interesting thread. It obviously brings out some perspectives and feelings that otherwise don't get addressed in other threads. I think the majority of people are pretty comfortable with many of these concepts, but sometimes other posters' enthusiasm/lack of sensitivity/debilitating fear/short-sightedness/best intentions ruffle some feathers, including mine.
Both dominating viewpoints in this thread stretch things a little beyond people's comfort zones. In my opinion, it's overstating things by telling people to perish the thought of using IC alone--as clearly more than a few people on this board have done so (and, for most exams, I believe IC is marketed as a one-source solution to pass). By the same token, scores can matter and, as you can see in this thread, it depends entirely on your personal situation.
I am frequently guilty of viewing the process of testing out of a degree through my own limited perspective. I often forget that others are not attending one of the "big three" and that they may really have an interest in certain subjects and may need the foundational knowledge to succeed in the future.
Personally, I'm OK with the dominant perspectives discussed in this thread. As an EC student whose primary goal was to obtain a degree quickly (not to gain knowledge for current use on the job or for future use in higher education) I did, in fact, regard every hour that I spent studying for a CLEP exam that resulted in something beyond a passing grade as a wasted hour. That hour could have been the first hour studying for the next exam--as CLEP scores had no real impact on my grade (there is collateral impact, but that's for another day). Of course, I was seldom able to prepare for an exam in three days! However, I never dared to study just to pass--particularly on core requirements. Similarly, I, like bmills, attempted to spend as little as possible to prepare for each exam because, second only to my requirement that I obtain my degree quickly was that it be as cheap as possible!
MY pet peeve is people who post that a test was "easy" when they barely passed. How does that work??? How do you get to describe a test as "easy" when YOU passed BY THE SKIN OF YOUR TEETH??? My other pet peeve is people who take far less than the allotted time to take an exam and wonder aloud why anyone would have to take longer. Often times, these two phenomenoms will occur in the same post--something like, "I thought this was one of the easiest CLEP's I've ever taken. It only took me an hour to finish and I got a 52." What???
I think it's helpful to think back on your experiences in junior high and high school to put things in perspective. Remember the kids that attended class but otherwise didn't put in much effort and still scored well on exams--particularly classes like history or science? They would just hear the stuff once in class and just remember it and know if for the test. THOSE are the people that can "run through the flashcards" once or twice (often times not even all of them) and pass--often scoring well. Then there were those who took meticulous notes, poured over the homework, studied until they couldn't study any more--and still struggled to pass. They would NOT be able to run through the flashcards once and pass.
Most of us are somewhere in the middle. I love the fact that more and more posters are putting their exam scores in their signature. That gives everyone a more accurate idea of what THEY will need to do to pass (or score well) because they can look at the scores and feedback of other posters and match up their abilities. I would disregard the feedback of the "I just ran through the flashcards once" people--particularly if they scored particularly high or low. I would look for folks who scored similar to me on tests that we had both taken in the past and whose preparation methods were most similar to mine. THAT would give me the best idea of what I had to do.
Finally, especially towards the end, I would ask myself, "Do I now believe I know at least as much about (insert exam here) as the average "C" student who actually took the class?" If the answer was yes--I stopped stressing--made sure I knew the concepts most frequently mentioned in the Specific Exam Feedback section, and took the test.
Both dominating viewpoints in this thread stretch things a little beyond people's comfort zones. In my opinion, it's overstating things by telling people to perish the thought of using IC alone--as clearly more than a few people on this board have done so (and, for most exams, I believe IC is marketed as a one-source solution to pass). By the same token, scores can matter and, as you can see in this thread, it depends entirely on your personal situation.
I am frequently guilty of viewing the process of testing out of a degree through my own limited perspective. I often forget that others are not attending one of the "big three" and that they may really have an interest in certain subjects and may need the foundational knowledge to succeed in the future.
Personally, I'm OK with the dominant perspectives discussed in this thread. As an EC student whose primary goal was to obtain a degree quickly (not to gain knowledge for current use on the job or for future use in higher education) I did, in fact, regard every hour that I spent studying for a CLEP exam that resulted in something beyond a passing grade as a wasted hour. That hour could have been the first hour studying for the next exam--as CLEP scores had no real impact on my grade (there is collateral impact, but that's for another day). Of course, I was seldom able to prepare for an exam in three days! However, I never dared to study just to pass--particularly on core requirements. Similarly, I, like bmills, attempted to spend as little as possible to prepare for each exam because, second only to my requirement that I obtain my degree quickly was that it be as cheap as possible!
MY pet peeve is people who post that a test was "easy" when they barely passed. How does that work??? How do you get to describe a test as "easy" when YOU passed BY THE SKIN OF YOUR TEETH??? My other pet peeve is people who take far less than the allotted time to take an exam and wonder aloud why anyone would have to take longer. Often times, these two phenomenoms will occur in the same post--something like, "I thought this was one of the easiest CLEP's I've ever taken. It only took me an hour to finish and I got a 52." What???
I think it's helpful to think back on your experiences in junior high and high school to put things in perspective. Remember the kids that attended class but otherwise didn't put in much effort and still scored well on exams--particularly classes like history or science? They would just hear the stuff once in class and just remember it and know if for the test. THOSE are the people that can "run through the flashcards" once or twice (often times not even all of them) and pass--often scoring well. Then there were those who took meticulous notes, poured over the homework, studied until they couldn't study any more--and still struggled to pass. They would NOT be able to run through the flashcards once and pass.
Most of us are somewhere in the middle. I love the fact that more and more posters are putting their exam scores in their signature. That gives everyone a more accurate idea of what THEY will need to do to pass (or score well) because they can look at the scores and feedback of other posters and match up their abilities. I would disregard the feedback of the "I just ran through the flashcards once" people--particularly if they scored particularly high or low. I would look for folks who scored similar to me on tests that we had both taken in the past and whose preparation methods were most similar to mine. THAT would give me the best idea of what I had to do.
Finally, especially towards the end, I would ask myself, "Do I now believe I know at least as much about (insert exam here) as the average "C" student who actually took the class?" If the answer was yes--I stopped stressing--made sure I knew the concepts most frequently mentioned in the Specific Exam Feedback section, and took the test.
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