RANKING EXAMS: A SUBJECTIVE MATTER
Some CLEP exams are known to be easier than others and some are known to be difficult. Multiple factors come into play as well, so it’s wise to consider your own situation when choosing an exam. If your student has had experience in a subject, a good way to determine the difficulty of an exam for your student is to take a practice test. Read my post Determining CLEP Exam Readiness. If your student has no experience in a subject matter, skip the practice test and choose a CLEP topic based on transcript needs along with difficulty rankings. For an idea on how to choose an exam read my post Which CLEP When and Which CLEPs Not to Take.
Experience
Personal factors are important. If a person has had a comprehensive college level course or studied the right materials, a particular exam may seem easy. Other reasons for an exam seeming easy is a high aptitude or interest in a particular subject.
Age
Age is an important factor. Older students have more academic experience. They have had more courses and taken more tests. Most people taking CLEP exams are adult students (post high school). This blog is geared to the high school student, so I am careful to point out that outside reviews may not necessarily be appropriate for us. Middle school students can pass CLEP exams too. I can attest to that. Read my post Are CLEP Material Reviews Trustworthy?
My favorite resource that lists CLEP difficulty is Free CLEP Prep. I am indebted to this site for helping me get a start in CLEP testing. Keep in mind that these rankings most likely represent adult test takers.
Finally, it may be helpful to determine if CLEP testing is a good fit for your student. Read Ideal Candidates for CLEP Testing.
Below is a list of CLEP exams that my middle and high schoolers took. I ranked them according to work load and final scores. Please note that these are the 16 CLEP exams we took. It is not a complete list of available CLEP exams. We did not attempt exams ranked “difficult” by outside listing resources.
Easiest (easiest listed first)
- Principles of Marketing
- Principles of Management
- Educational Psychology (after taking Introductory Psychology CLEP)
- College Composition Modular
- Analyzing and Interpreting Literature
- Introduction to Sociology
Medium/Easy (easiest listed first)
- Introductory Psychology
- History of the United States I
- History of the United States II
- College Algebra (after taking Algebra I and part of Algebra II)
Medium/Difficult (easiest listed first)
My experience with CLEPs. I have coached my kids and their friends through 16 different CLEP exams over a period of 9 years. Collectively, they have passed 39 CLEP exams and earned over 159 college credits. I’m still coaching my youngest child through his CLEP journey. My high school graduates have received full-ride merit scholarships.