My employer recently offered a small bump in pay for employees with at 45 semester credits of college work. These credits can be earned through CLEP exams. I have about 20 semester credits from a local JC and hoping to get the rest by taking some CLEP exams. My question is,,,,,which exams are the easiest and require the least amount of study? I have a CLEP test center very close to me…..just don’t have the time for long hours of study. Thanks!
Hi Pokerface The easiest exams for you are going to be different than for the next person. What skills and interests do you have? What academic subjects are you best at? What classes and training have you had? The best way to find out where your skills excell is to take the sample tests in the Cracking the Clep and the Official Guide to the Clep books. Check out http://www.collegeboard.com/clep/index.html and http://www.geocities.com/ba_in_4_weeks/mainmenu.html for tons of useful info. Good luck.
Consider the lower divisional course CLEPS, such as composition, etc. I took the english comp CLEP and didn't even study for it. You may also want to consider the Math or calculus tests IF (and for some folks this is a BIG if) you are really comfortable with math in general and you remember any of your high school calculus. If you are in high tech, take the computer CLEP. This is another one I did not prepare to take, and scored in the upper 99 percentile (granted, I had 20+ years experience in the inductry at the time). If you have any experience with computers (basic level programming, spreadsheets, and some system lifecycle knowledge), you can do well. If you have a manglement background, you may be able to sit for the Management CLEP with minimal preparation (get some of the theoretical concepts under your belt). I would not suggest the Accounting CLEP without preparation. You may be able to get half of it if you are working as a book keeper, but the other half would really require preparation. Hope this helps a bit.
I found these to be quite easy- CLEP English 6 credits, CLEP Analy and Inter Lit 6 credits, CLEP History I 3 credits, CLEP General Math 6 credits, CLEP Sociology 3 credits, CLEP Humanities 6 credits
Pokerface, I only took two CLEPs (analyzing and interpreting literature and intro to psychology). I think the analyzing and int lit. CLEP is one of the easiest. If you brush up on literary terms the night before you should do fine. You don't have to study different stories and such like the humanities exam. You read the passage and answer a number of questions about each passage. Can you do DANTES exams? Heres to your Health (from what I have been reading) is really easy. Hope this helps. Best Regards, Bill
I took 35 exams for credit in earning my three USNY/Regents degrees. I found the CLEP General Battery to be the easiest. After that, I'd recommend sticking with tests you know something about. This is especially true in the hard sciences. The social sciences and humanities (including English Comp) can be gotten through if you're experienced in the world. (I was only 19, but good at taking tests.)
