I would say if your child is anticipating taking the PSAT as a junior, they should also plan to take it as a sophomore. Why? I think it helps a testing student know what to expect and the first test will also point out if there might be an area that needs some additional studying. My daughter followed this course last fall with her first attempt at the PSAT. She was a little discouraged about her score, but then I pointed out that some of the math would be covered during this next year. So now we look forward to her next (and last) attempt this fall as junior!

One final word of caution: CLEP no longer delivers an exam titled "English Composition." They retired English Composition (with and without essay) and Freshman Composition in 2010, replaced with College Composition (2 mandatory essays built into the exam)and College Composition Modular (which has a stand-along multiple-choice section and then 2 optional essays, depending on what your college requires). The best place to start your search, if you have not already, is the CLEP website (http://clep.collegeboard.org). You can find exam descriptions for each of the 33 exams. You will also be able to purchase ($10) downloads of the individual detailed descriptions along with a practice test, or if you plan to take more than 2 CLEP exams you might want to consider purchasing the CLEP Official Study Guide (they currently have 2012 edition, but you can look for older ones to use too). If you do a google search on the exam title, you will find others who have referenced the same/similar exam. Learn from others who have already studied and taken these exams! Another great resource would be the Peterson practice exams. Many testers have claimed that these are actually more difficult than the actual CLEP exam, but it is still another resource to help you cover the material. Some library systems have a subscription to the Gale Center "Testing & Education Reference Center" -- this is where the Peterson practice tests are located (along with many others besides CLEP). If your library offers it, you won't have to pay the $20 normally charged for the Peterson practice exams -- a great savings!

Jugglin5, if I understand correctly, your junior will not hear anything about their PSAT score until later this year -- something like late July, August. The juniors have to wait that long as their scores are the only ones to qualify for the National Merit program.

Josie, I forgot that you had asked about CollegePlus. I have not dealt with CollegePrep, but our test center has quite a bit of business from the local CollegePlus organization. This is not a scam. It is completely up to the families, but this organization helps to guide the students through the preparation and testing process. They have been in business for some time and are up-to-date with what is accepted at the Big 3 (especially Thomas Edison which seems like their favorite). A mentor is assigned to each client -- sort of a support person who is a good sounding board and encourager -- and a person who has already gone through the process. If you don't want to deal with all the details, then maybe that $3000+ fee they charge would be worth it to you. When you count how much the CLEP and DSST exams save in the long-run, you still come out ahead of others who will attend a brick & mortar university.

Josie, I understand your confusion with the phrase "general ed" though I think someone who actually works in a college admissions office would be the best to clear up the issue. I have seen some colleges list that they will grant # college credits for a passing CLEP score, but that they will aware 0 credits toward general ed. I have also seen some who will state outright that earning a passing score on a CLEP exam will allow you to "test out" of their required course, but it will not earn you any credit towards the total needed for graduation. If I understand correctly, this last one means that your student will not be required to take these general classes required by the major, but will allow the student to then focus on taking other classes they would enjoy more -- whether this mean more classes tied in with their major or classes that would allow them to double major. This is a strong lesson in checking out the CLEP policy at every university that states they "accept" or "grant credit for" passing CLEP exams. I think colleges look at AP courses/exams as an indication that the student took something truly challenging -- it is a course designed to be completed over the course of a school year with the "final" exam towards the end (in the early part of May). I truly have never understood how College Board can set this date in stone for everyone in the USA as some schools started their school year in different parts of August and others do not start until after Labor Day -- truly a difference of weeks in instruction. CLEP exams were designed as an alternative way for learners of all ages to prove to colleges that they have learned the material, whether this was during their latter years of high school, through independent study due to an interest, through work, etc. Josie, I personally don't believe APs should be required by anyone. There are so many students who attend high school and are nowhere near prepared to take an AP course (plus they don't have the desire to). But that same student may have taken, for instance, their basic math classes throughout high school to get through algebra. Might they be able to pass the CLEP Algebra exam and test out of the basic math required course at most every university? It is quite possible. Remember, that a passing score of 50 is equivalent to earning a low 'C'. Hearts4Homeschooling, I'm not sure I understand your point about #3 where you say that "high schools offer them" and that a local Christian K-12 school also did. CLEPs are not courses, they are an exam. Yes, if someone wanted to they could instruct their own child (or a group of children) in the coursework covered on a specific CLEP exam. But that exam has to be delivered at an authorized test center. I have not heard of any test center operating out of a high school, public or private.

Valerie, if their course equivalencies are current, then yes, she would need to complete the handwritten essay component along with the multiple-choice. There will be an additional fee for ordering the essay, and it is possible that the test center might charge another registration fee if your daughter returns on a separate date to do the essay. Realize that the multiple-choice section is 90 minutes and then the essays are 90 minutes.

Baylor probably doesn't accept the Freshman Comp CLEP exam because that exam is no longer offered. The current Language & Composition exams are: College Composition, College Composition Modular, American Literature, English Literature, and Analyzing & Interpreting Literature. The first one is the only of these exams that has mandatory essays built into the exam. The other 4 exams offer optional essays which are not considered in your CLEP score (which reflects the multiple-choice section only). The optional, handwritten essays are like another exam with I believe an additional (or separate, depending on how you plan your testing time) 90 minutes given as time to compose and write the essays.

I work at a CLEP test center and I just want to make sure that you realize not all universities are authorized to deliver the CLEP exams. There is a search function on CLEP's/CollegeBoard's website so that you can find test centers closest to your location. You would still need to call and get information because there are almost always mistakes posted on the website. The biggest question seems to be if anyone can test at the test center or is it "limited" to just their students. Another note, I understand that there are more universities that accept AP scores over CLEP scores. CLEP will always be the little brother to AP. The purpose of CLEP is to allow students to take exams which measure their knowledge in a variety of subject matter areas. Most of the universities who grant CLEP credit (or allow for placement out of college coursework) are considering the exams that would fall under a "general ed" category. We have quite a growing group of homeschool teens who take both the CLEP exams and the DSST exams. I believe the youngest is 14. These students are "banking" their credit until they know where they will attend college. These families like the idea of being able to take these exams any time of the year without being forced to study the AP coursework. AP testers have to wait until May to take their exams and then have to wait a couple of months before getting their score. Yes, College Board retains the scores for 20 years. Even if scores are sent to a university, you can always contact College Board to send the official transcript of scores to a different university at a later time.

MomsintheGarden, you brought up a question regarding the scoring procedure for College Composition Modular and the thread continued on regarding AP & CLEP. It may be several years since the change in the Literature exams, but that is why CLEP came up with new exam titles. I always question candidates when they say they want to take such-and-such CLEP exam and I recognize that this exam name is no longer used. Yes, the College Composition Modular offers an optional essay (which is handwritten by the tester). The essay can either be provided by the university the tester plans to send their scores to, or it can be provided by CLEP. Either way, the university "scores" it. This "score" has nothing whatsoever to do with the CLEP score the tester received after completing the multiple-choice section. CLEP makes a copy of the written essay and sends it to the university along with the official score report. At that point, it is completely up to the university what they will do with that essay. The university may require the optional essay so that they can determine placement of the candidate for future courses. They may have a set "scoring" procedure which they will combine to the earned multiple-choice score to determine exactly how much credit will be awarded to the candidate. I have no idea what they do with it, but there are some universities that do require this essay. No matter what, the score results are available immediately upon completion of the multiple-choice section.

MomsintheGarden is correct about the lack of an immediate score for College Composition, but no, you do get an immediate score for College Composition Modular. I'm not sure why people are so confused over this. The ONLY exam that has a delay in scoring is College Composition due to the built-in, mandatory essay section (typed on the computer). All of the other Composition and Literature exams (College Composition Modular, American Literature, English Literature, and Analyzing & Interpreting Literature) produce an immediate score based on the multiple-choice section. If the candidate's institution requires the "optional" essay, the candidate writes this out by hand and it is sent off to the institution along with the score report. The institution can then do what they want with this requested essay. They can put their own score to it (though that score does not influence the score CLEP assigned the multiple-choice section), they can use it for placement, etc. So please remember that the exam with the mandatory essay is the only one with the delay in scoring. If your institution says they want you to take College Composition without an essay, you would sign up to take College Composition Modular and just complete the required multiple-choice section. If the test center asks if you need to complete the optional essay, you would just say "no" and that would be it. This is a rather popular choice of many candidates.

I realize this is an old thread, but there has been a recent addition so I'm going to hop on here too. There are only a few universities (Kansas is one of them, plus I know of Excelsior in NY) who will assign a letter grade to your CLEP or DSST exam score. The letter grade will depend on the score you achieved. It is not an automatic "C" (unless you hit the lowest passing score). At all the other accepting universities, you will see "CR" to show that you got credit for a passing score. Not figured in your GPA.

Many CLEP candidates highly recommend the Petersons line of practice exams. I discovered through some googling that some libraries have a subscription to Gale Center's TERC (Testing and Education Reference Center) which delivers the Peterson's practice exams for free. Check with your local library and see if they are subscribers to this service. If not, do some checking on other library systems. I found one library system in our area (SoCal) which allows you free access to this database if you have their library card (which is free to all CA residents). This is a great way to find out if your studying has prepared you enough to take the actual exam.

I want to toss in some more comments on AP vs. CLEP. From what I can tell, most public and private high schools have some kind of GPA cut-off (or some other kind of requirment) in order for a high schooler to sign up for AP classes. I know at my daughters' school the students are not allowed to sign up for AP classes until sophomore year, so nothing for the freshmen. CLEP does not have any kind of requirement. Their exams are open to everyone of any age. We have quite a number of homeschooled students, ages 14-18, who come in to take the CLEP exams throughout the year. This is strictly a benefit to the test taker at the time of testing, but you have to wait 2 months before finding out your AP exam score while those who take the computer-version CLEP exams will know their score at the completion of their exam.

Vanguard University in Costa Mesa, CA (Orange County) has many scholarships offered, not only to freshmen, but also to transfer students. National Merit Finalists who enter as freshmen receive scholarships covering 100% of tuition. There are also 6 levels of academic scholarships ranging from $5,000-$14,000 per year. Each level requires a certain GPA coming in as a freshman and then is renewable with a minimum GPA while at Vanguard. Tuition at Vanguard is $13,700 per semester, so an incoming freshman with a GPA of 3.5+ could easily get one semester's tuition covered ($13,000 or $14,000 depending on actual GPA). My DD was accepted here and we live about 25-30 minutes away, so she is commuting. This is a great savings as we do not have to pay room & board (just gas to drive back and forth). She loves the small class sizes as this university is smaller than the high school she graduated from!