Questions about CLEP...

[Heather in VA]

I am very familiar with AP classes/exams but the CLEP thing is new to me. I did some research and I can't find many colleges on our radar that use them as credit. But I was wondering if anyone here took any to have for additional 'verifiable' credit type stuff for the transcript. I was thinking CLEP might be better for that since our community college gives them twice a week all year long so we could just take them whenever instead of having to deal with the AP cost and schedule. The biggest thing I keep hearing from colleges is 'outside verification' stuff. They all claim it isn't "required" but it's "encouraged".

 

Any thoughts? Any negatives to this?

 

Heather

[Jane in NC]

Some of the competitive colleges want to have comparable things in applicants which is why, I believe, they ask for SAT IIs (subjects). If you are looking for verification, this might be the route to take.

 

Be aware that some schools want to see x-number of SAT IIs from all applicants; others ask for this from homeschoolers. While a CLEP score may also supply information, is it helping an admissions office that would rather compare apples to apples? I'm thinking that if the college is not giving credit for the CLEP score, would they even know how to interpret the score?

 

That said, the subject matter varies on all these tests. For example, there is a CLEP natural science exam which might be more appropriate for a particular student.

[ereks mom]

He received college credit for those courses, but they were not figured into his GPA. He did almost NO prep for them, but took them because his advisor recommended it. I thought it would be a good way of evaluating how effective his high school program had been. I admit that I was a bit nervous at first, but he said that after all the work I made him do in high school, the tests were a breeze.

Edited March 2, 2010 by ereks mom

[chelsea in TN]

My son is planning on taking several CLEP tests - more as a verification than credit.

 

The colleges he will probably attend do accept CLEP credit. Some only accept it for certain courses while others limit the number of hours awarded.

 

He is planning on taking American History I/II, Western Civ I/II, Chemistry, Biology (?- maybe), and College Algebra.

 

He is going to take Comp I/II at our community college for English 12.

 

I think that the more non "mommy" grades the better. But I have also known people whose children only had mommy grades and excellent ACT/SAT scores and have done well.