Hi all,

I decided to tackle the Marketing CLEP today to get it over with and enjoy my weekend. I passed it with a 55. Although I am very happy to walk away with a 55, I really thought I would get at least in the low 60's. The exam was certainly challenging but nothing I felt I didn't have a decent handle on. Also, for the ones I was uncertain about, process of elimination helped me on those.

As far as study material, I went through IC at least once and twice on some sections but not all. I found it to be very similar to the REA book I was given so decided to mainly study from the book. I also had a intro to marketing textbook for reference and the CLEP study guide which I scored 80% on the other night while preparing.

There were a lot of areas in the REA book that were NOT covered on the actual exam. Nothing about cash cows (and others), macro/micro factors, marketing myopia, low-high involvement, gatekeepers, users (and others), not much on the product adoption process, objective and task, communication channels, and reach/frequency, selling process (not that I remember). While the exam did cover internet marketing, those questions weren't difficult at all. It also had a good amount of international-related marketing questions that the REA book and IC didn't cover enough in detail. The non-profit marketing section in the REA book is very brief as well.

I have two more CLEPs to take and am not sure what study materials I'll use. This is my second CLEP and I'm honestly not sure how some of you guys pass JUST using IC. In either one of the two CLEPs I've taken thus far, I can't say that just using IC would have given me the ability to pass. I'm grateful for my 55 score today but I'm not even sure I'd recommend the REA book entirely.

Are there several CLEP exams for each topic? I'm only asking because if there were things shown in either the REA book or IC, and I didn't see them on the actual exam does that mean it may be on another exam (same subject) if Collegeboard mixes them up for variety? I hope that made sense.

I'm really not sure how to proceed with my next CLEP exam as I feel the REA book and IC didn't cover the bulk of the necessary material in depth. I feel like I studied very hard for this exam and 'only' got a 55. How do some people score in the 60's or higher with minimal study and/or using IC by itself?? I just don't get it.

I'm open for suggestions, comments, etc. Thanks in advance.

Hi Michelle,

The good news is...you ARE passing these exams! So you are obviously doing something right.

There is no one "right" way to do this. There are people who could pass certain CLEPs without ANY study at all. There are people who could NEVER pass a CLEP no matter how long, or how hard, they studied. Most of us fall somewhere in between those two extremes on a continuum.

Of those of us who fall in the middle somewhere, some of us need to spend more days studying for each exam than others. Some of us need to study for no longer than an hour a day, others need to study four hours a day. Some of us can get by with just Instantcert, others need to study from multiple sources. Some of us can get by with only going through Instantcert once, others need to go through multiple times.

See? Everyone is different! What works for some, might not work for others. So the key is to find what works best for YOU!

If you feel you didn't study long enough, study longer next time. If you feel you need more resources to study from, gather together whatever you need for your next exam. If you feel you need to go through Instantcert five times, then go ahead and do that for your next exam.

There is no Absolute Truth in this process!

What could have improved your score?

Maybe you might have scored higher if you had looked up some additional study material on the internet. Maybe you might have scored higher if you had gone through Instantcert more than once. Maybe you might have scored higher if you had studied over the weekend and taken the exam on Monday. Maybe you might have scored higher if you had studied differently, or longer, or harder. Who knows!

As I said in the beginning, the bottom line is that you ARE passing these exams. So something about what you are doing is working correctly.

Is studying the REA book, and going once through Instantcert enough to pass Principles of Marketing? Apparently it WAS enough in your case, since you DID pass. I also passed Marketing using REA and Instantcert (several times through). So it can definitely be done.

The truth is, any one of these exams can be failed. People fail them all the time. So you don't ever want to take an exam for granted. If in doubt, study extra hard. Study extra resources. Hold off on taking the exam until you are certain to pass it. Do whatever it takes for YOU to pass each exam. In the end, it doesn't matter what works for everyone else, it's all about what YOU need to do to pass.

We're all here for you if you need help or support with your remaining two exams.

You have already passed two. I see no reason why you wouldn't also pass the next two.


Good luck,
Snazzlefrag

__________________
My name is Rob
So far, I have earned 142 credits (12 not used).

Excelsior College
- BS Psychology (5 courses/exams to go)
- BS Business (2 courses/exams to go)
____________
Upcoming: N/A
In-progress: CSU-Pueblo: Labor Relations course
Most Recently Completed: English Composition at PFC (97).
Exams/Courses Passed To Date (43):
- Courses (4): 1 ECE, 1 CSU-Pueblo, 2 PFC.
- Exams (39): 24 DANTES, 15 CLEP.
GPA: 4.0

Wow, great advice, thank you!!! Yes, I'm grateful I passed and am, believe it or not, ready to tackle the next one already.

I will take your advice and charge ahead - thanks again for the insight and have a great weekend!!!!

Congrats on your pass Michelle!!!!!





Snazzlefrag-

I always look forward to your posts. Your posts always gives reassurance when needed and provides extra insight that someone may have overlooked. You are a valuable resource on this board and I hope you will be here for a long time to come as we all pursue our educational dreams.

Thanks

Thank you cbrchris,

I appreciate the sentiment, but hopefully I won't be here for TOO long, if you know what I mean!

__________________
My name is Rob
So far, I have earned 142 credits (12 not used).

Excelsior College
- BS Psychology (5 courses/exams to go)
- BS Business (2 courses/exams to go)
____________
Upcoming: N/A
In-progress: CSU-Pueblo: Labor Relations course
Most Recently Completed: English Composition at PFC (97).
Exams/Courses Passed To Date (43):
- Courses (4): 1 ECE, 1 CSU-Pueblo, 2 PFC.
- Exams (39): 24 DANTES, 15 CLEP.
GPA: 4.0

Alright! That's great news, Michelle!

Librevore

__________________
Kate
*******
BS Psychology

First - CONGRATS on passing!

Seems like this one was probably one of your first exams. One of the things I noticed as I took more and more exams is that I got better at studying. I think you start to hone in on details that you can be sure are on it - key players, innovations, dates, theories, terms, definitions etc... then the rest can be inferred from there.

For me, I relied HEAVILY on IC and IC alone - only supplementing CW/Soviet/Drug & Alcohol to any significant degree (as far as study material).

I also strongly believe that if a practice test is available from the exam creator - i.e. the CLEP guide with 50 or so questions on it and DSST's practice test - it should be taken. And taken toward the end of the study process, close to the exam. I can't tell you how many items I've seen on exams that are almost exactly the same item that is on the sponsor-provided practice test. It's like getting a few freebies on the exam.

I know for some, it works for them to have a variety of study sources. However, others (me included) do best with one solid source. I found that the variations in the details of the information from lots of different sources made me doubt my knowledge so if I stuck to one source (IC) then I could make good inferences on the exam from that. (I don't know if that makes sense or not - I'm trying to think of a better way to describe it but I'm not really coming up with anything better!)

Experiment a little, see what works for you.

__________________

Best of luck,
Joanne

31 hours traditional schooling
11 Microsoft exams, 1 Linux+, 2 ICCP's, 6 CLEP's, 12 DSSTs, and 6 ECE's

Degree Completed!
BS in Liberal Studies