Thinking of taking this. Has anyone taken this just using instacert's site to study by? It seems like an intimidating exam. Any tips?

Believe me, it is intimidating. According to my Education Center, there's only a 57% pass rate of it from the students that take it here.

However, I took it today and it was EASY. I used a number of different sources for this and I have to say that instantcert was hands down the most useful. If you can drill this stuff into your head and use it with some supplementary study material (for instance, buy the CLEP Official Study Guide and Cracking the CLEP for some additional practice tests, and just take more wherever you want online, on 4exam or peterson's) and you'll breeze it, IMO. But instantcert is the base ingredient I think. And I'm not being paid to say this, seriously.

Now I feel dumb that I stressed so much about this that I bought a smartclub membership with istudysmart. If all the CLEPs are this easy then I wish I hadn't paid so much for the damn smartclub.

Basically, just make sure you supplement your study here through practical application (ie practice exams). Thanks for this site, Steve - let me know if I can do anything to help. And Andrea, if you have any other questions about CLEP, feel more than free to contact me.

Knox

(PS: freeuniv.com is also useful, but overloads you with links for Humanities... After you have taken a few tests and know where you're deficient, however, it's a great source!)

I passed it with just instacert. I was scoring about 80%. A friend had the official study guide for CLEP so i read the humanities section once. I scored a 63 or 64.......

Good Luck!!!

Maybe it was just me, but I studied Instantcert only for the Humanities exam and didn't find much similarity. I passed, but barely.

Some of the other study materials made a big deal out of knowing poetic meet and foot, but I didn't have a single question on that topic.

Yes, we would love to make Humanities more on the mark; it's such a broad topic that it was difficult to balance number of questions with thorough coverage.

We welcome any feedback on how to improve Humanities, but in the meantime, we keep it up since almost everyone passes.

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Steve, Webmaster

I passed it with a 59 in Nov 05 before I found instacert. I used the Peterson's guide, and the Free University website. There were quite a few Opera questions on my test. Good luck!

I passed this exam on 2-2-06 using mostly INSTANTCERT and a humanities study guide I purchased on ebay (passyourclass) both complimented each other really well ,kinda felt like I over studied. The exam wasn't that difficult, you can and will pass with some good hours of studying ,I studied for about a week with instantcert and a week with the study guide ,instantcert contains everything you need to pass. A score of 50 is required at most colleges to receive credit for this exam , nothing more so don't beat yourself up preparing for this exam, study hard get your 50 and leave with your credits.

I must disagree if only for the fact that some colleges actually do look at your CLEP scores in the same fashion as they would a transcript. If you passed everything by just the brink they may not view you in the best light. This is not applicable to all, of course.

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Knox

I'm taking this one in the morning (17 Feb).
Although I have been hitting the Instacert hard for a couple of weeks and I have read through the study guide, there still seems like a lot material!!!
For those that have taken the exam, what was the one thing on it that you wish you had studied more?

Thanks!!

Hobbes

This exam covers a VAST amount of knowledge. However, because it is so WIDE, not much DEPTH is required.

Your best bet is to memorize as many of the following as possible:

Authors and their major works. For example:
- Who wrote "Catcher in the Rye"? (J.D. Salinger)
- What did Harper Lee write? (To Kill A Mockingbird)

Poets and their major works. For example:
- Who wrote "Sonnets of the Portuguese"? (Elizabeth Barrett Browning)
- Which Irish poet wrote "Sailing to Byzantium"? (Yeats)

Composers and their major works (and their period). For example:
- Which Romantic period composer composed "Peer Gynt"? (Greig)
- Haydn and Mozart both composed during which period? (Classical)

Artists and their major works (and their style). For example:
- Which artist painted "Geurnica"? (Picasso)
- Degas and Renoir painted in which style? (Impressionist)

In addition, review some basic mythology, some literary terminology, some architects, etc.

Write out a list of names from the categories above and memorize what their major work(s) are, and which period they represent.

The more you can memorize, the higher your score will be. This exam is mostly made up of questions which test your ability to recall names, famous works, and significant periods/styles etc.

I studied intensively for this exam (because I was frightened by it), and I ended up with a 73.

Hope that helps,
Snazzlefrag