English Composition CLEP

I figured since I didn't see a thread for this one I would start one. I'm getting a little nervous because of how my studying is going. I'm using the REA General Exam book which covers English Comp. It also comes with a cd that contains times tests on the subject matter. I also use IC Flashcards as well.

My dilemma is that I score very high on the IC exams (almost perfect), but on the REA test I score just ok. I want to make sure I don't fail my first CLEp and I won't take it this week like I planned unless I know the material. Anyone have any other suggestions? I don't want to overload myself either but I just want to make sure I pass. Thanks guys and I hope this will become the official thread for this test.

 

with or without essay?

 

Two suggestions:

Take a practice test from the Official CLEP Guide from the College Board. If you are 65% + you should do well on that part.

In preparing our children for the English Comp Exam - we used an out of print English Grammar Book, the College Board CLEP Guide, and the CLEP Guide from Barron's. The Barron's CLEP Guide has several sample topics for the timed essay. This should assist you.

Shawn

 

Thanks for the replies. I was considering grabbing the Official guide as well. Now that it's a suggestion I'll go ahead and do it. Seeing as this is my first exam I think I'm being overly cautious but I just want to make sure I pass. Thanks for the advice.

 

Well I decided to purchase Peterson's CLEP for English Composition and I took it as well. So far my results have varied wildly. I absolutely destroy IC's flashcards, score about average on the REA tests, and do horrible on the Peterson's tests. I guess it could be that I've been studying all day and tired, but I can tell that the Peterson's tests are simply harder than both IC and REA.

I am disappointed because now I definately don't feel ready to take it yet. I wonder if I should purchase a used English book and just read through it. Any more advice?

 

sounds like you're ready

I think you should just go take it. This is your first exam? You only need to get about half the questions correct. Your posts are clearly readable, you obviously understand basic English grammar, I think you should just go for it.

I highly recommend the official guide. If I can get 50% of the questions correct on the College Board sample test, I just go take the real exam as soon as possible. Sometimes the sample questions from that book are repeated on the real test nearly word for word.

 

I scored around 50% on the Peterson's tests, around 65% on the REA tests, and near perfect on the IC flashcards. I still worry though because the ones I got wrong I simply did not know the material. This is probably due to being out of school for such a long time period. I also wish there were more questions to take. I see the same questions getting repeated, and I already now know the answers because they were reviewed after I missed them. At the earliest I'll take it on Thursday so I still have this week to gauge my proficiency levels. I'll go take the College Board sample test and see where I stand there.

 

Well guys tomorrow I am scheduling this CLEP and the Analyzing Literature CLEP. Any last minute advice? I'll be studying this weekend and taking it on Monday. I think I am in overkill mode studying but I am worried about failing it. I'm still scoring around the same each time I take the tests so it's obvious that unless I actually take the course I won't get any better. I guess it doesn't matter because if I do fail it I will just enroll in the course somewhere.

 

I would do the Comp Exam first - get the "more difficult" one out of the way.

Shawn

 

>>

I agree with Shawn. If it's not too late, take them both tomorrow. Give yourself a half hour break between and get it done. You are ready for the comp based on your posts and scores.
One question, did you prepare for the essay section? It's a requirement for TESC. If you are going to wing it, I'd suggest a 5 paragraph essay (intro, 3 body, 1 closing) with a strong opinion statement. Pick 2 or 3 reasons and use each paragraph to argue one point. It's a pretty generic template, but a sure-fire winner.
GOOD LUCK!!

 

Well I have both CLEPs scheduled for Monday morning so I've used today to take a few more tests. I just finished a Peterson's and scored a 64% so I feel about as ready as I will. I'm about to use tonight and tomorrow for the essay and the literary terms. I hope I can time manage since I haven't studied either of these at all.

Also I wanted to ask a quick question. For the English comp course do you see the results for the test portion immediately or do you receive the score after the entire test is graded? I would like to have some idea of how I managed the test.

 

>>

Good luck on your test! Sorry, but you'll have to wait for your Eng Comp essay to be graded before you get a score. Turn around time escapes me, but whatever they tell you, add 2 weeks (we ARE talking about TESC). On the other hand, you will have your A&IL before you leave!

 

I'm on the final part of the CLEP study guide I purchased from College Board. I graded each section as I finished and I'm at 83% passing so far. This last section is confusing though. It essentially replaces a word or words in a sentence then you are requird to alter another part of that sentence. Here is one question that I just don't understand.

Ms. Perry claimed that, because of special
promotions by the airline industry, air travel
has become “as American as apple pie.”

Change that, because to that special.

Your new sentence will contain
(A) industry, making
(B) industry, which has made
(C) industry had made
(D) industry have made
(E) industry, and they have made

If you read this sentence it now is "Ms. Perry claimed that special of special
promotions by the airline industry, air travel
has become “as American as apple pie.”

Now CLEP says the correct answer is D but read the sentence. It makes no sense. The final "correct" answer according to CLEP is "Ms. Perry claimed that special of special
promotions by the airline industry have made
has become “as American as apple pie.”

Many of the questions in this section are like this. What am I missing? Other than this section I am destroying this test and I am confident in passing tomorrow.

 

I just read through the instructions for the third time and it allows you to change many parts of the sentence. This section is still confusing. Is this representative of an actual section of the test? Peterson's, REA, Instacert, etc. do not have this as part of its study guides. Any ideas?

 

Ok after reading through the beginning of the CLEP guide is shows that

Revising Work in Progress—This type of question
appears in both versions of the exam. The candidate
identifi es ways to improve an early draft of an
essay.
Analyzing Writing—Two prose passages written
in very different modes appear only in the allmultiple-
choice version. The candidate answers
questions about each passage and about the
strategies used by the author of each passage. appear in the English Comp WITHOUT essay which means my score for the one with essay is 83% correct on the multiple choice questions. I would strongly suggest that anyone taking this exam without essay study up on the two sections listed above because in my opinion they are the hardest parts of the exam.

I'm now on to study for my essay and Analyzing Literature. Any last minute advice? I feel like it's crunch time and I haven't even started on either yet. I'm confident I'll be ready for the essay tomorrow I just hope they don't throw out some topic I have no knowledge of.

 

I also hated that type of question - just do well on the rest and it will off set any errors you make in that section. A trick I used, was to close my eyes and say the phrase - and then look for a match to what I said to myself. Reading it (for me) made it very difficult for some reason, while speaking it made it very simple.

For A&I, just look up your vocab so you understand the question. An example, might be: which does the author use as a metaphor? or An example of alliteration in this passage is... So, you'd want to know the vocab. Otherwise, it's all reading comprehension.

 

Thanks Jennifer. I actually read it and those sections are only on the English without essay so I'm fine. I just typed up my essay with 15 minutes to spare so I'll have quite a few minutes to proofread. I just looked around the house and randomly picked something then timed myself with my stopwatch.

As far as A&IL I will start reading the literary definitions on a few ebsites. Hopefully that will be enough. Thanks!

 

Great idea! Let us know how it goes -- I'm sure you'll burn it up!

 

Well I just got back and I feel pretty good. The test pretty much mirrored REA in style. The study guides I used were REA, Peterson's, The official CLEP guide, and the Instacert flashcards. My opinion is that REA was just about dead on as far as how hard the exam is going to be. Peterson's was close but maybe a tad bit harder than the actual test. The official CLEP guide was not even close to being in line with how hard it is and Instacert falls very short in my opinion. I think Instacert needs to change their format for this particular test. The rest of their flashcards have been great but this one was too basic compared to the actual test. I'm kind of baffled as to why the official CLEP guide was bad as well.

Anyway if I had to suggest a method of study I would say stick with REA and Peterson's. If you score decent on those tests you should do well. I spent roughly 2-3 hours a day for 3 weeks studying for this exam and I feel that this may have been overkill. Of course my opinions may change if I happen to fail the course.

My essay topic was turning failure into success. This was very easy for me to write about since I feel like my lack of a degree has been one of my biggest regrets and failures. I'm pretty sure I nailed the essay. If posting the topic of my essay breaks any rules please let me know so I can remove it.

I hope this helps someone considering taking this exam.

 

My daughter just got her scores back - despite running out of time on her essay, she still passed the exam.

Our homeschool uses "All Thumbs" - the textbook my wife used when she took English Composition.

She wrote a few essays and did the CLEP Practice Exam - her practice exams were good along with her writing, but she told me she had a difficult time with her topic for the exam.

Nevertheless, she passed the exam (55). She wishes she did better, but she's a perfectionist.

Shawn