CLEP EXAMS AND GENERAL EDUCATION REQUIREMENTS
CLEP exams are a great way to knock off the general education courses required at liberal arts colleges and at community colleges. These courses generally take two years (60 credits) to fulfill and are the ones that CLEP exams represent. General education courses provide students with a well-rounded liberal arts education. Some of these courses have very little to do with one’s actual major, so students tend to dread them.
CHOOSING CLEP EXAMS
A general rule is to choose CLEP exams that don’t relate directly to your major. For example, if you are going to major in science, you probably don’t want to CLEP out of the sciences or advanced math. The history and literature exams would be better choices.
A general rule is to not CLEP out of a course that is important to your major.
THE DRAWBACK OF EARLY COLLEGE CREDIT
Sometimes it can be a negative impact to take a general education course in a major area at the community college or through exam instead of at the future 4-year school. My daughter regrets taking introductory English at the community college instead of at her 4-year school. She was unable to work as a tutor for the introductory English course at her school because she was unfamiliar with the curriculum being used. Having taken a CLEP exam does not preclude a student from taking the actual course at the college, however.
CLEP CREDITS AND COMPETITIVE PROGRAMS
If you know that your student is going into a competitive program like nursing, pharmacy, or radiology, it’s probably best that she takes prerequisite courses at the community college instead of through CLEP exams. Taking an actual course will provide a letter grade and look more competitive.
If your student has already earned college credit equivalency through a CLEP exam, taking that course at the college will assure a higher grade which can be important for competitive programs. As I understand it, at least around where I live, competitive healthcare programs require students to get straight A’s in the college level prerequisite courses to get accepted. The CLEP exams could be good preparation for these prerequisite courses.
DIFFICULT CLEP EXAMS
Some of the CLEP tests are rated more difficult than others. And sometimes a particular subject is not your child’s strength. I did not choose CLEP exams that were ranked more difficult for my children. But if I had a child with great passion for one of the difficult subjects, like government, I would have considered it. See CLEP Difficulty Ranking based on our experiences as middle and high school test takers.
CONCLUDING THOUGHTS
It’s an easy decision to forego taking CLEP exams that are ranked difficult, but it’s more difficult to decide which easier ranked CLEP exams to take because we don’t necessarily know what our kids will major in. My approach was to take CLEP exams in the subjects they needed for the high school transcript. The CLEP scores validated “mom grades” and strengthened the transcript. The fact that some of their CLEP credits were not accepted or were not needed at college, did not make us regret the effort put into any CLEP exam.
Read CLEP Credits on the High School Transcript
Read How to Determine Grades for CLEP Coursework
Read: Transcripts: How to Calculate Course Credits
Read: CLEP Advantage at the Community College
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.