CLEP vs AP

[Janeway]

Oldest is taking outsourced World History and Lit now. He will take the second half next year. I suggested he take the AP exam for this. He plans to. But now I am hearing from other parents in the outsourced class that they intend to take the CLEP test. One mom even seems to be under the impression that the CLEP exam is accepted at more schools than AP. I already know this is not true. At least not in our area. 

 

I think my son will go to the state university. But to be honest, I do not really know for sure. He plans to major in computer science so there is a decent chance. I know the CLEP is easier, so, if it makes no difference, he might as well do the CLEP test. But he loves this subject and is quite passionate about it, so maybe the AP test would be the better option? Does it even matter, in which case, it would be better to go the less expensive and easier route of the CLEP exam? I feel safer with the AP, but it like a relief to go with the CLEP.

 

[Dmmetler]

The big reason we're going the CLEP route is that it is a pain in the tail to find a school that is offering an AP exam and lets homeschoolers participate. It's a combination of common APs often being near room capacity (you might have multiple classes all testing for AP US History at the same time, which overfills the library) and uncommon ones not being offered at all. The AP test is also more focused on a specific syllabus-for example, the bio may have questions about labs that are expected to have been completed, so if an outsourced class isn't specifically an AP class, it can be a lot of extra prep to be ready for the AP exam. The CLEP tends to be more general, and therefore, easier to make work for an outsourced class that is, say, advanced biology vs AP biology.

 

As far as which gives credit, that's up to the schools your DC is likely to apply to. The local schools here  give credit for both with a reasonably high score for some areas, neither for some areas, and one or the other for some areas (languages, especially. In some cases, the SAT2 will give better results than the CLEP even though the SAT2 is officially a high school test, and the CLEP a college level one). Each school is a little different.

 

 

[Mom22ns]

AP provides two benefits, credit it more widely accepted and competitive universities will view it as a demonstration of the rigor of the class.

 

CLEP is an easier, all multiple choice test. If what he is after is credit, and the university(ies) he is interested accept it, then the CLEP makes a lot more sense.

 

We did some of both. Ds did AP Stats because stats isn't offered as a CLEP and the AP Stats credit was accepted. He did AP English because he is an English major and I wanted the best possible class to prepare him, not just credit. Both my kids CLEPped Psychology, and each took another CLEP. Now that ds is off at college, he plans to take one more CLEP this summer to avoid a Gen Ed class he doesn't want to take. 

 

I would say that your ds's love and passion for the subject has no bearing on the test he takes. It does impact the class itself. I'd make sure he is getting an excellent class with an excellent teacher. Then pick the test based on what you want from it.

 

 

[shage]

RE Finding testing sites for AP and CLEP. Our local high school is very accommodating for AP whereas the closest CLEP testing site for high school students is a 45 minute drive. It varies widely depending on where you live.

[Janeway]

RE Finding testing sites for AP and CLEP. Our local high school is very accommodating for AP whereas the closest CLEP testing site for high school students is a 45 minute drive. It varies widely depending on where you live.

Kind of the same thing here. All the AP tests are offered at our local high schools, no problem. But, for CLEP, the community college has been weird about allowing it. I know people are doing it, but it is something where I will have to jump through whatever hoops these other home school parents did. So far, the community college says my child has to enroll to take the tests.

[Matryoshka]

Kind of the same thing here. All the AP tests are offered at our local high schools, no problem. But, for CLEP, the community college has been weird about allowing it. I know people are doing it, but it is something where I will have to jump through whatever hoops these other home school parents did. So far, the community college says my child has to enroll to take the tests.

 

That's so weird.  Dd took her first CLEP at the nearest convenient location, which happened to be in another state! (farther away, but they were offered weekly instead of monthly at the local CC).  She hasn't been to the place before or since.  She hadn't even taken her first DE class at the local CC.  She just signed up and took it.

[Matryoshka]

Anyone know about the difficulty of the Calc CLEP vs. Calc AB?   At the State U youngest dd's thinking of attending, they give credit for the exact same course, so if the CLEP is easier to pass, I think I might steer her in that direction...

[KarenNC]

That's so weird.  Dd took her first CLEP at the nearest convenient location, which happened to be in another state! (farther away, but they were offered weekly instead of monthly at the local CC).  She hasn't been to the place before or since.  She hadn't even taken her first DE class at the local CC.  She just signed up and took it.

 

We had a great experience with taking a CLEP exam at our local branch of Strayer University, if there's one nearby. It was much easier than trying to do so at the local community colleges. We have had no other interaction with Strayer.

[8filltheheart]

Anyone know about the difficulty of the Calc CLEP vs. Calc AB? At the State U youngest dd's thinking of attending, they give credit for the exact same course, so if the CLEP is easier to pass, I think I might steer her in that direction...

. Dd took the cal CLEP a few weeks ago. She must have only missed a few questions bc her score was very high. She used Thinkwell for cal (and had a high 90s avg.) She did study for about a week before she took the CLEP. She said there were topics on the CLEP that she had not covered in Thinkwell. (She only completed the first half of the course, so it is possible that they were covered later in the course.)

 

She did not want to take the AP exam in May bc wanted to finish math and move on to a linguistics course. I don't know that the CLEP is easier but it does take less prep bc they don't have to learn how to respond to the free response questions. They do have to learn how to use a specific online calculator bc that is the only thing they are allowed to use during the test.

[8filltheheart]

Kind of the same thing here. All the AP tests are offered at our local high schools, no problem. But, for CLEP, the community college has been weird about allowing it. I know people are doing it, but it is something where I will have to jump through whatever hoops these other home school parents did. So far, the community college says my child has to enroll to take the tests.

I agree that is strange. Here students need to go in person and register and pay for the exam at least one week prior to taking the test. They receive their testing appt when they register. My kids have taken theirs at a local university and they are not students.

[Mom22ns]

I agree that is strange. Here students need to go in person and register and pay for the exam at least one week prior to taking the test. They receive their testing appt when they register. My kids have taken theirs at a local university and they are not students.

 

We actually have 5 clep testing centers within 30 minutes of our house. I couldn't find a place to AP test within 100 miles (literally). I was finally able to bribe (I mean pay a proctoring fee) to a private school to let ds take AP exams.

Edited March 4, 2016 by Momto2Ns