WHAT’S ON IT
The German Language exam is designed to measure knowledge and ability equivalent to that of students who have completed two to three semesters of college German language study.
NUMBER OF CREDITS
The number of credits depends on the score. A score between 50 – 59 can earn a student 6 college credits. A score of 60 or higher can gain a student 9 college credits. Read CLEP Exam scoring.
Like with all CLEP credits, it’s up to the receiving school to decide how many credits to grant. See Locating College CLEP Lists and College CLEP Policies to help you learn about the CLEP exams your target college may accept.
NUMBER OF QUESTIONS
There are approximately 120 multiple choice questions to be answered in 90 minutes.
TYPES OF QUESTIONS
There are three equally weighted sections. Two sections are listening and one section is reading.
DIFFICULTY RATING
The answer to this is not straight forward. I suspect that there are two very separate groups of students taking the foreign language CLEP exams – native speakers and students who are learning the language in high school. Online lists of passing rates indicate high passage rates for foreign language CLEP exams. I believe the reason is that foreign students and military personnel trained in foreign languages take these exams thereby inflating the passage rate.
Other sources rate the foreign language CLEP exams as very challenging. This reflects the second group of test takers: those who take high school foreign language courses. Since this blog is focused on high school students, I would rate the foreign language CLEP exams as a high 3 (maybe 4) out of 5 with 5 being the most difficult.
Success depends on the quality of the foreign language instruction your student receives and how soon she takes a CLEP after having instruction. I remember my college offering incoming freshmen the opportunity to CLEP out of foreign languages. A lot of students did not pass because they did not have foreign language in their senior year.
See CLEP Difficulty Ranking based on our experiences as middle and high school test takers.
To help figure out a solid foreign language plan read my post Foreign Language Strategies.
BEST YEAR TO TAKE
The best year to take a foreign language CLEP is after taking 2 – 4 years of a high school foreign language.
RESOURCES
Two of my children have had the blessing to take German with an instructor in the community. He developed his own teaching curriculum and it’s amazing. He’s amazing. Since there are two listening sections, finding extra sources to listen to the language is helpful. My daughter scored a 57 on the German Language CLEP after two years with this instructor. Some colleges will grant 6 credits for this score. If you’re in the Raleigh, NC area and interested in a quality in-person German program check out www.hudsacademy.com. The program is tuition free.
USING THESE CREDITS AT COLLEGE
Schools have a global push these days so foreign language credits are valuable. Even if your student chooses a school without a foreign language requirement, these credits can fulfill a global studies general education requirement if they are accepted.
There is a loophole for transferring these credits into a four-year school that does not accept them. If your state has a comprehensive articulation agreement like North Carolina has, CLEP credits that are normally not accepted by a state school can be transferred there if a student has earned an associate’s degree at a community college in that state. For more information read CLEP and NC’s Comprehensive Articulation Agreement.
PLACING CREDIT ON THE HIGH SCHOOL TRANSCRIPT
After studying for and taking this exam, a student can confidently place 2 -3 honor credits on the high school transcript.
See CLEP on the High School Transcript for ideas on how to record these credits.
OUR STORY
After two years of high school German, my daughter scored a 57 on the German Language CLEP. She has a passion for the language so that helped. If she did not have such passion, I would have waited for her to complete year three. After completing three years of German, she could have taken the CLEP again with the goal of obtaining a score of 60+. This would then give her 9 credits.
At this point she was a senior in high school so we weighed out what her target college would accept. She chose a college that did not accept the German Language CLEP credits and did not offer German, yet it required three semesters of a foreign language. This seemed like the worst-case scenario playing out. Her school, however, would allow her to take German at the local state college because of a partnership.
She went ahead and took the foreign language placement test at the sister school and miraculously placed out of the language requirement with just three years of high school German! Making things sweeter, her own college granted her 3 foreign language credits for this accomplishment. I’m thankful we pressed ahead with the German Language CLEP not knowing what the final outcome would be. The credits ended up being used in a way we never imagined. The lesson is that we can never know with certainty how CLEP credits will be handled by a college.
Read my post Foreign Language Strategies to help you develop a strong plan.
My experience with CLEP testing. 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 younger son through his CLEP journey. My high school graduates have received full-ride merit scholarships.
Musing: a period of reflection or thought. As such this post reflects my thoughts, opinions, and experiences on the topic. The choice to home school and the methods you choose are yours to determine.