CLEP: Passed Intro Psy and Marketing

Discussion in 'General Distance Learning Discussions' started by Will Makeit, Jun 19, 2003.

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  1. Will Makeit

    Will Makeit New Member

    Just came back from London (UK) yesterday, the only CLEP testing center available in Europe at the moment.
    Passed my two Cleps:

    Introductory Psychology: 69
    Principles of Marketing: 72

    I went last month too. The trip to London is nice as it's such a wonderful city. This time I got a hotel ensuite, two stars for 32 pounds, located near King's Cross which is very well communicated.
    Incase anyone is interested:

    Arriva Hotel
    55, Swinton Street
    I did my reservation here:
    http://www.arrivahotel.activehotels.com/THE

    ------------------------------------------------------------


    I am a bit worried about one thing though: I keep on reading posts of people who find all these tests easy, who hardly study for them. Personally I am having to study quite throroughly for exams like these. For PSY I studied a whole college book, which took me several weeks, same for Marketing in which I used Barron's book.

    Am I the only one who studies for these? Should I reconsider whether I am fit for college?
     
  2. alexadeparis

    alexadeparis New Member

    No, I study for my tests too.
    I just took Dantes Drug and Alcohol abuse on Tuesday, and I'm pretty sure I passed. If I hadn't studied, I wouldn't have passed, of that I am sure.
     
  3. Myoptimism

    Myoptimism New Member

    Mr. Makeit,
    I study thoroughly for everything that I don't feel I can pass based on prior study or experience. With those few subjects I still review to remind me of the terminology and anything I may have forgotten.
    Good scores by the way. :) Sometimes it pays (in knowledge) to approach life by a different route.

    Tony
     
  4. Will Makeit

    Will Makeit New Member

    Thanks-Yes I want to learn

    Thanks for the encouragement of the two posts.

    I have the time to do it now so I must admit that I do want to go through the complete learning experience of most things I am testing for. I really wouldn't want to receive a "free" university degree, even if I could.

    I'm sure that with the appropriate literature I could probably get through some subjects with just a quick review of key points, but I do really enjoy the learning experience of most things I'm preparing for.

    On the other hand I believe I don't have a very good memory, so I don't really have much of a choice but going through things thoroughly.

    Of course, for subjects that I do have previous experience or knowledge, I won't be doing this "throrough" exercise. For me these were things like Spanish, in which I didn't study at all, and will also be Clep computers in which all I'm doing is the official Clep's guide practice test.
     
  5. Orson

    Orson New Member

    Re: Thanks-Yes I want to learn

    Will--

    Sounds like you have a solid approach distinguishing between subjects you know and those you simply need to know! I've made those distinctions, too. (Oh. and then those I simply need a brushup.) It is worth the time invested. The investment leads to satisfaction--like the TV ad goes, "priceless."

    One of the joys of the degree completion process is in knowing precisely what one needs to know, at the level that, ultimately, proves most helpfull for oneself and the future.

    For example, in taking pre-graduation grad-level credit in my chosen field, I'm learning that the problems I want to solve will require more quant skill than I had previously suspected. Therefore I'm altering my Excelsior graduation deadline (Yup! signing on for that dreaded second year, despite knowing that I'll only need a few more months), so that I can--confidently--acquire the thrills and chills and number crunching aptitude that I'm so chagrined to need.

    It may even alter the course of my graduate studies. Not a lot of historians are quant and econ savvy; too many aren't. And therefore they indulge in boring answers to their obscure particularisms, instead of getting on with solving exciting systematic problem-solving that requires generalized results...things they could do if THEY weren't so averse to getting the job done.

    Oddly enough, it's noticable in textbook devolution. Our Yale University Press text has lovely writing, illustrations, and maps. But does it have any charts? Census data? Systematic discussion or exploration of what moved eastern people to cross the frontier? Nope. I'm reading an economic history textbook I acquired for all of one buck for those answers! (It sends me to lib in search of its references and other books that markedly expand the depth of research topics I can reach--now if I can just improve that "grasping" thing a little better, i'll be on my way....)

    Now, about that memory thing you mention? I've long found that eating chocolate while I perform my recitation works. I think I picked it up in one of Walter Pauk's books. You've heard of how chocolate and "love" are similar? Those love feelings draw on long-term memory storage, and the chocolate can help put short-term memory into longer-term storage. Love really is strange, and so is the neuro-chemistry. At least that's the psych explanation I recall and that fits my experience!

    --Orson
    PS for me, milk-chocolate won't do it--only the bitter semi-sweet stuff.
     
  6. Will Makeit

    Will Makeit New Member

    I will remember the chocolate trick, thanks. So far I am avoiding the "reciting" method though, must admit. I rather review materials several times until it sinks in than try to memorize, although I know the reciting method is the recommended one.
     
  7. decimon

    decimon Well-Known Member

    What are the possibilities for those who barely need to study?

    I come up with:

    1) They have previously acquired the needed knowledge.

    2) They are quite good at deducing the correct answers.

    3) PFM.

    One more possibility that would not apply to anyone posting to this forum:

    4) They are FOS.

    You are fit for college.
     
  8. plcscott

    plcscott New Member

    I think the majority are in this category. :D
     
  9. Carlos M. Lorie

    Carlos M. Lorie New Member

    Identified the ones I was doing well on.

    Hi

    I took all the practice CLEP and DSST exams, identified the ones I was doing well on, and took only the ones over 55 percent. I did managed to get several easy credits this way, however I hit a wall, and now it look like I am going to study hard for the rest. Well that life.

    Carlos M. Lorie
     
  10. armywife

    armywife New Member

    College is for anyone and everyone. Unfortunately you have stumbled upon one of the more frustrating discoveries in life...there are some people out there who absorb material really quickly and others of us have to actually study. I had a roommate in college who never even bought the textbooks for half of her classes. She just went to class, half listened to the lecture and that was enough for her to get a B or a C which was all she cared about. You also have to remember that some people only care about passing while others are trying to get a high passing score. It really doesn't matter. All that matters is what works for you. If you have to study more then study more. Don't judge yourself by what others are doing. I was constantly amazed at the people in college who could ace tests without cracking a book. I'm not one of those people either. Oh well!!
     
  11. Will Makeit

    Will Makeit New Member

    Good to know I'm not the only one

    Thanks for the posts. Good to know I'm not the only one who finds college a real challenge and am having to actually study for most subjects.
    I consider myself a very slow learner, partly because I am out of practice.
    I was unable to work and study at the same time. Now I'm just studying full time, but that sometimes means 3 hours a day only. But this is what it takes for me to push forward. I'm sure it will get easier with time.
    :D
     
  12. Orson

    Orson New Member

    Re: Good to know I'm not the only one

    Will--

    If you are out of practice, you can get some. Or to put it another way, there DEFINITELY are ways to practice better than you're used to!

    MY best help in this department comes from Cornell University reading prof, Walter Pauk. Full-scale study help and detailed tutoring (it's easy reading). to any subject you want to learn, from foreign language to math, is found here:
    http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0618046720/qid=1057262744/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/002-9733097-3316845?v=glance&s=books
    _Hot to Study in College_

    But word for-word and dollar-for-dollar, there’s another investment to consider. If you just need help in note taking, exam prep, and other general "study smarts," the creme de la creme is found in the brief but packed:
    http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0890614814/qid=1057262744/sr=1-2/ref=sr_1_2/002-9733097-3316845?v=glance&s=books
    _A User's Guide to College: Making Notes and Taking Tests/Conversations With Professor Walter Pauk_


    I still return to the latter guide; it's simply that essential!

    --Orson
     
  13. mboston

    mboston New Member

    I studied extensively for CLEP Marketing and thought it was rather difficult. I got a 68. I'm glad I studied extensively because I find that I use much of what I studied in my other business courses that I am taking in the classroom. :cool:
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Jul 10, 2003
  14. Will Makeit

    Will Makeit New Member

    Marketing

    I studied a whole book, line by line (Barron's Intro Marketing), and the test proved it was necessary. In the end it does pay to study such subjects thoroughly. I did the same with Macro and Microeconomics and am finding that a lot of the concepts come up very often in all the other Business subjects that I am studying (Now in accounting for example).

    As far as guides on how to study, I have "Succeed in college" by Walter Pauk and John P. Flore.
    It gave me good ideas but in the end I have had to find my own personal method of studying.
    It talks about things like time scheduling, and that makes me feel greatful that i'm not a young college student at a non distance institution, having to even use my braks between meals to study or review. Believe it or not, I am trying to make this studying deal something enjoyable too.
     
  15. Dennis

    Dennis New Member

    Hello Will,

    Do you plan to further travel to London and take CLEP exams?
    Have you any information about the availability of CLEP testing during the second half of 2003(August through December).

    Thanks,

    Dennis Siemens
     
  16. Will Makeit

    Will Makeit New Member

    Clep testing in Europe

    Dennis,

    I believe that MST has no tests during August, but will have a monthly date to test during all of the following months.
    You can contact them directly at:
    [email protected]

    Personally I plan on taking all the rest of my exams here in Madrid, as I believe Syracuse University will be able to give them as from August/September here.
     

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