I recently went to the excelsior discussion boards, ( they dont compair to this forum ) and became abit anxious over ECE exams after reading several of their posts about how some studied for 4 months! and still coped a grade of b or c. I've taken CLEP exams before. I know that the members of this board are Exam Wizards and that the performance on exams has to do with study habits, prior knowledge of exam subject matter etc, but, for those of you who have taken ECE exams, "in general, and aside from test length" did you feel that ECE exams were harder than CLEP Exams, and how much time difference in studying was there then in preparing for CLEP exams. I've yet to take an ECE exam. I'm leaning towards Ethics to be my first. Though after reading their board, I'm apprehensive about going into the test with my current CLEP study preparation method; 1-2 weeks of study; IC; REA Guides; and Petersons Test, which have served me well to this point. Any insights would be appreciated.
Jeff

__________________
Completed
Bachelor of Science Liberal Arts, Excelsior College
Magna Cum Laude, GPA: 3.88
Associates of Science Computer Technology, Excelsior College
Highest Honors GPA: 3.95
Planned:
MBA St Leo University Aug 08.

I think that you'll do fine with the preparation you have described. I've taken 2 EXE's, and yes, they ARE more difficult that CLEPs, but very doable. I studied for less than a week for each EXE, using only InstantCert and passed with no problems.

Good Luck!

Don't let the 4 month thing scare you. That is what Excelsior recommends. I have only taken four and they didn't seem too bad. I feel they are a little more difficult only because they are much longer(160 questions!). There were usually really easy questions and really hard questions. They use the IRT theory to grade them(just search other posts to find what that is).
As for study time, I would keep the same habits as CLEP. It all depends on which ECE test you are gonna take. I studied 1 week for Adult & Aging and 2 weeks with Ethics and Organizational Behavior. No study for Gerontology(I used the A&A overlap before the new flashcards)
I got a B on A&A and C Gerontology. Still waiting for the other two(paper based). I had the same feeling during the test of all the other tests. You know, the feeling like I don't know anything on this!
My opinion is that ECE wants you to pass and makes it easy for a "C" so you will keep paying more money for the tests. Just my opinion though. Also get the practice tests if available.

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-Magic

to do list:
nothing!
THEN I AM FINISHED!
waiting results:
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0 UL credits to get by December!

Jeff
The ECE exams are a little more difficult but are doable. They did require a little different study method for me. Unfortunately, I did not find IC until I was almost finished with my first degree.
The only ECE exams that I have taken are the following:

Research Methods in Psychology 01/27/2006
Abnormal Psychology 02/14/2006
Psychology of Adulthood and Aging 03/08/2006
Foundations of Gerontology 03/23/2006
Social Psychology 05/10/2006
I did not use a textbook of any kind on the CLEP and Dantes but I did on these. Excelsior has a list of recommended textbooks. I picked up an older edition of the books on half.com or amazon.com for just a few dollars.
It looks like you are doing well on your exams and should not have any problems.

__________________
Chartered Life Underwriter-American College 1985
Chartered Financial Consultant-American College 1986
BS Charter Oak State College 2005
BS Psychology-Summa Cum Laude-Excelsior College 2006
Chartered Advisor for Senior Living-American College 2006

Thanks for all the responses. It makes me feel alittle more at ease about the exams.

__________________
Completed
Bachelor of Science Liberal Arts, Excelsior College
Magna Cum Laude, GPA: 3.88
Associates of Science Computer Technology, Excelsior College
Highest Honors GPA: 3.95
Planned:
MBA St Leo University Aug 08.