Question on Clep and Dantes - Excelsior

I enrolled in Excelsior last month in the Associates in Science Business program (I hope to go on to the bachelors in the future)and have now received my transcript evaluation. A couple areas I am lacking the necessary credit include 6 humanities electives and Computers. Does anyone have any recommendations for CLEP or DANTES exams that would satisfy the humanities requirements? This was not one of my better subjects in high school. Also it appears that both the CLEP Information Systems & Computer Applications and the DANTES Introduction to Computing exams would satisfy the requirements for computers.
Are they both about equal in difficulty? Thanks for any assistance you can provide. Mike

 

You could take the CLEP Humanities for a full six credits, but I understand that it's a very difficult test. As for the DANTES computer test, by all means take the Introduction to Computing if you are looking for the easiest three credits there.

-Jassen

 

I took the Analyzing and Interpreting Literature CLEP and passed easily. It's worth 6 credits.

I also took the Infomation Systems and Computer Applications CLEP.

Both of these were the EASIEST CLEPS I've taken. The Humanities I failed--way too broad for me.

 

Oh yes--Analyzing and Interpreting Literature satisfies the Humanities requirement.

 

CLEP - Humanities

American Literature - 6
Analyzing and Interpreting Lit. 6
French, German, or Spanish 6-12
English Comp (General) 6
English Literature 6
Freshman College Comp 6
Humanities (General) 6

note - all lower level. none meet written English requirement. there is a 6 hour limit on freshman level comp in the BA/BS.

DANTES - Humanities

Art in the Western World 3
Ethics in America 3
Public Speaking, Principles of 3
Technical Writing 3
World Religions, Introduction to 3

note - all lower level, none meet the written English requirement.

Excelsior College Exams - Hummanities

American Dream 6 (U)
Ethics; Theory and Practice 3 (U)
English Composition 6 (L) meets WER
Religions of the World 3 (U)

note - three are upper level credit and one meets the written English requirement.
====================

I found the CLEP Analyzing and Interpreting Lit. to be very easy also. It is essentially a reading comprehension exam. I found the DANTES Intro to Computers a snap.

DANTES Technical Writing and Public Speaking were also fairly easy.

The DANTES MIS and Intro to Computers are not equal. That MIS exam is upper level material and more on the administrative "how do I manage resources" side of computing. The intro is tech side (how it works) and at a very low (IMHO) level indeed.

The CLEP IS and Computer Applications is different than either DANTES and is more about the "how do I do it" real time use of a computer with a little admin and a little tech tossed in with some programming generalizations. I found it a bit confusing in places. But then, my background is technical and not applications.


for reference...

CLEP Intro to Business Law (if you can use it) was very easy.

DANTES Intro to Law Enforcement (a breeze with no prep), Intro to Bus., Counseling Fundamentals, and Business Math were all easy for me too with either very little or no preparation.

If you have either very strong math or computer science skills and knowledge, you might want to look at the GRE subject exams -- they might wipe away a whole major in one test.

Happy testing...

 

I agree with the others - if you are somewhat literate and don't mind reading long blocks of text during an exam Analyzing and Interpreting Literature is an easy 6 credits.

If you're computer-literate and know something about how computers work then either the CLEP or DANTES versions will suit you well.

I'd say take the CLEP version and see if you can sit for both the computing and literature exams in the same morning/afternoon. That way you'll get instant gratification for your scores, and if you don't do well enough in either you still have CLEP Humanities and the DANTES computing exams to fall back on.

Cheers,
Mark

 

Both of these are non-trivial. Considering that the GRE tests equivalency at a graduate level you need a lot of math (calculus, etc.) in both exams. I took a look at the CompSci GRE and while I feel I could do it with 3-4 months of solid prep for Excelsior you need to be in the 80th percentile or above.

Cheers,
Mark

 

Thanks for the help gang. I have a better understanding now on my options. I do have a couple more questions. I just received my evaluation via e-mail and I would expect that I will receive something in the postal mail from Excelsior. Are enrolled students expected to contact a counselor to develop an action plan or will I be contacted? I will probably give them a call tomorrow.

Also I need to retake the CLEP Business Law exam. I failed miserably on it some time back because I was ill prepared for the contract questions. I am older and wiser now an am planning on doing some diligent studying to have myself ready for the retake. I purchased the REA Essentials book on Business Law I but Im also looking for additional reference material. Does anyone have any recommendations for other study guides that could help me pass. Thanks again for your valuable input. Mike

 

Prkguy


How long did it take for you to get your evaluation from Excelsior?

 

They had said the eval would take between 4-6 weeks. They received my transcripts on 4/26 and I received my results on 5/20.
Mike

 

Thanks for that info, I am doing BS in Business and still awaiting for mines to be completed

 

prkguy, I'm studying for the same degree as you. Covered the humanities with one of the language Cleps that gave me 12 credits to spare.

Recently took the Clep Information Systems which was quite easy, but I do have quite a lot of experience in computing. If you don't then you will need to read some basic text at least.

Also took Clep Business Law which I did not find easy. Perhaps for someone that lives in the US it might be easier as you are more used to listening to the legal terms in daily life but I wouldn't have passed this one without seriously studying.
I used Barron's Business Law Book, not necessary to study all of the chapters in this fat book, just those relevant to the exam.
Passed last week with 63, but I did study.