Who here has taken CLEP exams?

[cakeums]

I am taking Microbiology this summer as a prereq for nursing (I am applying for a 12-month BSN program for degree holders) and the professor is letting me in, despite not having the school's prereqs for it. They require Mollecular & Cellular Bio and then General Chem. I am going to take the CLEP exam for Chem, but I'm thinking about CLEPing Bio too since I only took General Bio when I got my first degree. Plus it was 5 years ago when I took it, so I need a refresher anyway.

Anyway, I am going to get the College Board's CLEP study guides so I know what will be on the test, but they don't cover the material itself. Would I be best off getting something like a Princeton Review study guide, or should I try to check textbooks out of the library and study that way?

[dirt_momma]

I personally didn't take the CLEP, but a few people in my org/inorg Chem classes had, and it was showed. They knew the basic gist of the material, but they didn't have a strong foundation that comes from taking the classes in that particular curriculum and would struggle from time to time. If you possibly can, I would just take the classes. It'll make your schooling longer, but you might end up doing better, grade wise and knowledge wise.

But if you are confident in your skills, go for it! When I took my GRE and MCAT's, the I found the Princeton Reviews helped the most. I found my materials on Craigslist for super cheap. I'm not the type who could check them out, I need to be able to mark them up and make a mess out of them.

And I always wondered why the bookstores never wanted my textbooks back...

[laur318]

I hope to CLEP out of some classes too, but I have no info for you.

[Chunky]

I am taking Microbiology this summer as a prereq for nursing (I am applying for a 12-month BSN program for degree holders) and the professor is letting me in, despite not having the school's prereqs for it. They require Mollecular & Cellular Bio and then General Chem. I am going to take the CLEP exam for Chem, but I'm thinking about CLEPing Bio too since I only took General Bio when I got my first degree. Plus it was 5 years ago when I took it, so I need a refresher anyway.

Anyway, I am going to get the College Board's CLEP study guides so I know what will be on the test, but they don't cover the material itself. Would I be best off getting something like a Princeton Review study guide, or should I try to check textbooks out of the library and study that way?

I CLEP'd out of a few classes; I also took a Dantes test. For the CLEP tests, I went to Amazon (years ago!) and checked to see which reviews were the best for the specific tests I was going to take. I purchased one book per course and made sure the books had practice tests in them. That, in conjunction with some previous knowledge on the subject (like you have), helped me.

Also, CLEP used to have practice tests on their site. I would take one in both subjects (Bio & Chem), see how you do, and if you are really rusty, perhaps check out a textbook at the library.

[rohirette]

I CLEP'd out of an English class. It was no problem.