Unixman's CLEP Oddysey :)

For the Social Science and History Exam, I used the Comex Guide and it was really good.

 

It has been a long time since I took the test.
Let me re-phrase - here are my comment from teh Amazon website - This book will help prepare for the exam but it is not enough to pass the test. I was able to pass because I also took the History I, Intro to Sociology, American Government, and General Humanities CLEPS.
Even after I finished the exam, I was not sure if I passed. It is a tough test and this book alone will not be enough to pass.

 

I will be attempting Humanities before I look at Social Science and History Exam anyway.

Thanks for the info.

 

STILL waiting for the COSC evaluation BUT, I registered yesterday to take the clep Analyzing and Interpreting Literature and dsst Intro to Criminal Justice since I feel pretty sure I'll need both of these. Hope I do as well as you guys have done and wish COSC would get on with it. I'll post my impressions when I get them over with. Not testing until January 15, hope this thread is still easily available. Hate to schedule anything else until I have an idea of what I need. Thanks to all on this thread.

 

Update: Macroeconomics

Happy new year, fellow degree seekers! When I last left you, I had just passed the business law CLEP. I took a few weeks off for the holidays, and now I'm cracking again.

Today, I took the CLEP Macroeconomics exam. I received a scaled score of 67 (out of 80), and thus, passed, adding 3 more credits to my pot.

To study for this exam, I used the following:

• I watched (most, not all) of the video produced by The Standard Deviants (www.standarddeviants.com). It won't cover everything that appears on the CLEP exam, but it probably covers enough to pass (or close to it). These tapes are a great way to get a broad view of the subject matter material.
• QuickReview Macroeconomics book by REA
• Kaplan's Advanced Placement (AP) Macro/MicroEconomics book

Most of this was bathroom study time (heheh). I didn't study as hard for this test, although I probably should have.

Things to definitely KNOW for this test:

• The vast majority of this test appears centered around what happens when the Fed does certain things (raises interest rates, sells bonds on the open market, buys bonds). Know what contractionary vs. expansionary fiscal are, and how they each work.
• Of course, there were 8-10 questions on supply/demand graphs.
• There were 5 questions or so about international finance - know what happens if the value of the dollar goes up or down overseas, know how this affects imports and exports, etc.
• GDP. Know how it works, and what affects it.

Next up: CLEP Microeconomics

Cheers.

 

wow you are really good at this stuff !

 

I passed Analyzing and Interpreting Lit today and I think I passed Criminal Justice okay. Read my synopsis under "Wish me Luck" post. If anyone knows how to lift it and post it here please do so to help others. Thanks to all. Keep this thread alive!

 

Congrats! I haven't read any new posts on the boards since before Christmas ... I'm so behind.

 

UPDATE: Just took the CLEP Microeconomics exam and passed with a scaled score of 62, adding 3 more precious credits to the ever-burdgeoning pot

To study for this test, I used:

• Standard Deviants tape - decent overview - silly humor, not enough to pass the test, however.
• Economics: A Self Teaching Guide, by Steve Slavin (published by Wiley) - I *HIGHLY* recommend this book for both macro and micro. Can't preach it up enough. The author writes in a down to earth style, and it focuses on the more important things, rather than getting you knee deep in crap you don't need.
• These Powerpont slides: Click - Macro is covered for the first half of the chapters, micro for the rest. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
• Kaplan's AP Micro/Macro book - OK, a fair reference.
• REA Microeconomics quick study guide - Don't bother - it contains good data, but its way too complicated to understand, IMHO (for the purposes of CLEP, at least).

I'd say the test pretty much followed the outline presented at collegeboard.com.

Next up for me: DANTES Statistics

 

Unixman, thanks for the info. Do you think that Slavin's book and the Powerpoint slides you linked to would have been sufficient for you to pass both Macro and Micro? The reviews of Slavin's book on Amazon are high as well, sounds like an easy read.

 

Hi there, Rant. I would probably say, yes, although the REQ QuickReview for Macro was helpful as well.

 

CLEPs are way cool!

Hey, that's awesome that you were able to pass all of those CLEPs without hitting the books.

I am also grateful for CLEP's existance, since it enabled me to start & complete my BA from TESC (have not yet graduated but I've got the required credits) in under 3 months. I had to study for a few of the exams, and found that the BEST preparation book hands down to be CLEP's own "Official Study Guide." All in all, I was able to take 26 CLEPs, and passed all but 2. Thankfully, you can apply as many as you wish towards your degree @ TESC.

Anyhow, that's my story. I hope those of you reading this who have not yet taken advantage of CLEP credits can see how much faster & WAY less expensive earning some college credit can be that way.

PS: if you do take any CLEPs, be sure to save your "candidate score report" since the College Board has this unfortunate tendency to sometimes upgrade their exams & lose scores every now & then, but thank goodness it's not too common of an occurence.

PS2: I have a used copy of the CLEP Official study guide, if anyone is interested. I'll just charge you for shipping.

 

Congratulations, UNIXMAN!

Have you decided what you'll use to prep for DANTES stats?

--Orson

 

Not fully. I have the Standard Deviant's tapes for it (3 of them), but haven't yet chosen a book or two ...

 

This has got to be the most MOTIVATING post that I have seen on this board yet! Way to go guys! I have sent this link to my husband (who finally decided to persue his degree) In hopes that this will further motivate him. This link should somehow be saved as a refernce guide (eg: Unixman's guide to taking the CLEP perhaps?), it is very helpful.


BTW: Why TESC over COSC and Excelsior?

 

Here's my shortlist for stats - well, not so short...

Here's my lineup:

_Statistical Concepts: a Basic Program_
2/e by Foster Lloyd Brown, et al
A five hour basic overview - programmed learning - 5* at Amazon

_Statistics - Barrons' EZ-101_
by Martin Sternstein
"steeler" on the board found it "very useful because it covered everything" on the DANTES. He found it easy, but I know I need full-concentration to work thru this book.

Then, another overview, but not at all programmed:
_How To Think About Statistics_
5/e by John L Phillips, Jr. By a psych prof, but generously uses examples from plenty of other fields, too, like bio and business.

Mix and match as needed above.
Then, depending on your learning style, you can go with
_Statistics: a self teaching guide_ 3/e byt Donald Koosis (instead of Barron's above)
This uses a lot of recognition-recall techniques in developing one's skills.
3 and-a-half * at Amazon: some say there are too many errors in the text.

OR ELSE
_Barron's How to Prepare for The AP Statistics_ 2/e. This should appeal to those who prefer to study and review with multiple choice style questions. It's got 4 and-a-half * rating...it's all you need for the AP...

In traditional one semester textbooks, there's _Basic Statistics_ by Patricia B. Elmore. et al. This develops more theory, more subtlety and insight if you need it.
4* rated by a Michigan B-school student who found himself in over his depths and needed the background to suceed.

Maybe twice as long, with a wonderful accompanying study guide is _Basic Statisitics: Tales of the distribution_ 5/e by Chris Spatz.

I plan to study the first two and dip into Elmore's Basic Statistics as needed for some theory.

I'm not merely studying stats for my undergrad degree, but for grad study in two fields as well as for an ongoing research project (scholarship, you know). I already know I'll be studying stats again and again.

Finally, there's the standard David Freedman text....4 and-a-half * rated!

Good studying!

--Orson

 

I agree that this is a wonderful thread. Congratulations unixman. By the way, I passed the Criminal Justice exam with a 64. Thanks for your inspiration.

 

Seeking help

What tools did you use to study for Criminal Justice?

 

I used Cliff's Intro to Criminal Justice from Amazon.com about 9.00, 200 easy read pages (kind of interesting too). It covers about 95% of the test, worked great.

 

Re: Seeking help

I was able to pass this exam without study. Not saying I am that smart, I just watched a lot of cop shows and old episodes of Perry Mason