Newbie is Nervous

[cookderosa]

Well ill get right to the good stuff.

I am an E-4 in the Army, Trying to rack up an Associates with the quickness. I have 18 FEMA credits added through TESC towards a Criminal Justice degree. But honestly im nervous as hell about these CLEPS

I have never been good with tests. They suck. But I really wanted to know if anyone else can help me create a plan to acheive my goals. I joined instantcert last year, but I honestly had no time to study for anything. Now in a few weeks I'll have about 1-2 months of time on my hands to knock out as much as possible.

Please Help.

My degree plan looks like this.



I. General Education Requirements 21
A. English Composition 6
B. Humanities 3
C. Social Sciences 3
D. College Mathematics 3
E. General Education Electives 6
II. Area of Study: Criminal Justice or Administration of Justice Studies 21
■Introduction to Criminal Justice
■Constitutional Issues
■Juvenile Delinquency
■Criminology
■Cultural Diversity in the U.S.
■White Collar Crime
■Victimology and Criminal Behavior

III. Free Electives 18 **************Already Completed Through FEMA
Total 60 credits


Thanks.

SPC Norton

SPC Norton,
I didn't believe it either. I was about a B/C student in high school. When I went to trade school, I was more like a B+ student since it was very interesting and I loved what I was learning. None of the exams listed were anything that I really knew anything about, I'm a chef. I'd never even taken algebra! I'm normal- average academically speaking. I am, however, pretty good at self-study and really good at zeroing in on something I want to do then doing it!

Even after I started testing, I NEVER scored all that high on a CLEP. You won't see any 70's or 80's in my siggy line. I always got in the 50-60 range. But, a pass is a pass. Use one of the exam prep books. I don't know what kind of library access you have, but that's where I found many of mine (that and thrift stores for 38 cents!)
Here is a rough idea of how I planned for (and passed-all but 1) 50-something credits.

get print materials/locate a few web resources

read what I have, more like learn what I'm about to learn

decide how much time it will take to learn this- 1 week or 10? Usually2-4

start reading

after about a week, take a practice test. Either in the book or petersons

regroup- how far off am I? Can I do it in another week or do I need 2? Am I ready today???

Read more, take second test. Am I getting close to 50% ? If yes, set the date for next week.

LAst week: read more and take final test.

Use wikipedia to look up things I still don't know- key words. Make a cheat sheet of things I've struggled to remember (dates, people, names, etc)

Drive to exam- before going in , cram my cheat sheet.

Once inside, sign in, test opens, time starts.

Spend 60 seconds "brain dumping" everything that I can remember that will stump me- names, dates, etc. Then, begin the test.

Slowly and carefully answer EVERY question.

If I am running out of time, quickly mark every remaining question "B"

Then, as time allows, go back and read each question-choose a real answer.

Feel your blood pressure go through the roof as you click that you are done.

IT will ask you a zillion times if you are sure that you want to see a grade/report your score. (duh!!)

Carefully read "passing score" and then look at "your score." Read it again- you won't believe that you passed, so you'll ask the lady to print it out for you

You'll come back here and post that you passed. Everyone will give you kudos and you'll say "OMG I should have started this years ago!" :hurray:

Welcome to the board.