SDC CLEP Practice Courses

[Merlin]

The SDC material on its own will likely not be rigorous enough to enable you to excel on the CLEP tests. You always want to use a mixture of sources. For example, you might want to use the modern states material, along with the InstantCert flashcards, and SDC lessons together.

When I took them (back before modern states), I used recommended books, plus the REA, College Board, and Princeton Review study guides, plus the IC flashcards, and the Petersen's practice tests to prepare.

If you want only video lessons, you might use the SDC material along with crash course youtube videos and any khan academy lessons you can get your hands on. I'd also use the IC flashcards and make sure you're hitting 90% or better on those before taking the test.

If you use the modern states materials to study, they will pay for your CLEP test fees, so there is also that benefit.

Merlin- is there an instacert practice exam or test site that’s linked to the flash cards? How are you getting “90% or better” from? 

Thanks

I'm was just referring to success rate on the getting through the instant cert flashcards. But you should also take the Petersen CLEP practice exams as well.

[MNomadic]

An interesting observation (and I'm not holding this against anyone) but a common thing said on this forum is, "Modern states alone isn't enough to pass the clep so use other sources as well."
Another common thing said on this forum is, "I didn't read the accompanying textbook from the Modernstates course."

I wonder if reading the textbook and watching all the videos would be "enough?"

Don't get me wrong, I did the same thing, just used MS videos and then used other sources to close the gap.

[indigoshuffle]

Hi everyone,
Has anyone used SDC’s CLEP study guide and test prep courses exclusively to get ready to take the respective exams? If so, how well prepared were you for the actual exam?
I have the Instacert flash cards subscription, but I feel I grasp the material better watching the short SDC videos. I’m looking to take principles of marketing before the end of next week. I’ve been scoring in the 90’s on the SDC practice finals.

Thanks for any help.

Your test is in a couple of weeks and there are ppl here that can help you better for the short-term stuff, but for your next exams, whether it be a run-of-the-mill in-class college course or a CLEP exam, I think what I'm about to share with you will help long run so you can have confidence and walk into the exam without having to ask someone else if you're ready. I've taken a few back in the day and passed all mine first try so I can only tell you what worked for me. I took about 2-3 months per exam because I didn't have money to keep paying the testing fee so keep that in mind.

Look...you can definitely use one source to study from. If you could only study from one source it would behoove you to learn to get information from a textbook. A textbook will have everything you need and as you go through each textbook and each CLEP, you'll get faster. Those CLEP exams are written to be final exams based on standard textbook information... the college board website even says it.
If you don't enjoy reading I don't know what to say except try to find a textbook that is image heavy. Also, make sure you select a textbook with questions at the end of every chapter. 
Many modern textbooks have links with explanatory videos and animations and stuff like that, which would probably help you. I personally find watching videos to be a giant waste of my time. When I'm watching a video I need to take notes to retain the information, and that usually means I'm pausing the video frequently. I'd rather look at written text or the closed caption portion of the video. But as you can see, in any case, YOU'RE READING... so there's no escape.

As for finding the right textbook at the right price, one trick I did was to visit my community college bookstore and take down the titles of the books they use in class. Then you can buy a previous version online. When I clepped psych, I bought a water damaged book for $8 and I passed the test with just that because the whole point was to save money. I didn't give a rat's a** about the Kool-Aid stains.

No... it doesn't hurt to do a lot of questions from sources like REA or Peterson's, but this is better left for the 2-4 week period prior to your exam date or after completing a chapter, to gauge your preparedness, not to study from per se. Also, if you follow what I'm about to share with you, you would have made a lot of your own questions already, so when you actually get around to spending more money on the question books,  you'll find that you have already written anywhere from 30% to 40% of those questions.

First, find the College Board study guide with the breakdown of the percentage of info on the exam you're taking and focus your energy on high yield areas, which are the areas that have the highest percentage of material you'll need to know. You can usually find the College Board study guide for free somewhere.
Keep in mind tho, that some exams like Introductory Psychology have a fairly even percentage spread, which means you kind of have to know a little of everything. The main thing here is to realize that the college board study guide is your syllabus.

Next, if using a  hard copy of the book, use post-it flags to organize the material in the textbook and also tag the glossary and the subject index. Label everything you need to study and be thorough and methodical. Once you organize it, study from the front of the book to the back of the book (in most textbooks this means you're going easy to harder material). When you are taking notes, try to take notes in two primary ways; question format and "fill in the blank" format. 
If the textbook gives examples, use these examples to create questions too. Simply write questions/fill in the blank notes on 5x8 flashcards as you read, until you finish the section and then take a day or two to review... rinse/repeat until you finish the textbook... that's it.
If you want to spend extra money to buy question books, then go ahead because it won't hurt. Start doing practice questions 2-4 weeks before the exam and time yourself.
Your flashcards should not take more than 20 seconds to answer when you are practicing. If it takes longer it means you're putting too much information on one card or that you don't fully understand the material.
You should be able to speak a bit on the learning objectives from the chapters you are reading without looking at your notes. I would recommend rewording the learning objectives as questions and adding them to your flashcard deck.

Now here are some time-saving tips...

• Use spaced repetition software such as Anki, or quizlet this way you don't waste time studying what you already know. Spaced Repetition is evidenced based and works. Quizlet is easier to use but their spaced repetition software cost $20 a year. The whole point of this is to save bread, not spend it.
  
• Digital books are good because you can copy and paste "fill in the blank" style questions onto your Anki or quizlet flashcards in seconds.
  
• You can use Anki or quizlet to make flashcards from charts, drawings, tables... virtually anything in your textbook. If you don't have a digitized textbook, simply use a scanner or take a picture with your phone.
  
• You can get digital books for free and legally by simply purchasing a used hardcopy and contacting the publisher and asking for a PDF copy.
  
• There are companies that will digitize your textbook for a few dollars and send you a PDF file with a table of contents! These books are advantageous because they are searchable. Searchable books save time.
  
• Use the SQR3 method to read the textbook
  
• Openstax textbooks are hit or miss. Be careful. 
  

You will not pass that test just using SDC, or even the REA guides... those sources are weak sauce and frankly, the video makes it longer to get through the material. In fact, my last year of nursing school I skipped lectures because I learned to get everything I needed from books and the powerpoint slides. There really is no way around it... you have to really know the material and get used to reading. Now what I'm recommending may seem like overkill, but I think it's better to be thorough than flunk the test and have to wait 3 months.

[mysonx3]

I did the videos and textbook from MS for US History II. It was more than enough. I scored a 75.

[Bachinayr]

Update: just took the CLEP exam for Principles of Marketing and passed with a 69. The Peterson’s practice tests were helpful, as was the Instacert FC. thanks to everyone here that helped guide me to my first CLEP. Now on to the next one...

[cookderosa]

Update: just took the CLEP exam for Principles of Marketing and passed with a 69. The Peterson’s practice tests were helpful, as was the Instacert FC. thanks to everyone here that helped guide me to my first CLEP. Now on to the next one...

congratulations!!
May I ask what your peterson's scores were? You did well on the CLEP, wondering how your peterson's scores correlated.

[Bachinayr]

Update: just took the CLEP exam for Principles of Marketing and passed with a 69. The Peterson’s practice tests were helpful, as was the Instacert FC. thanks to everyone here that helped guide me to my first CLEP. Now on to the next one...

congratulations!!
May I ask what your peterson's scores were? You did well on the CLEP, wondering how your peterson's scores correlated.

Thanks! My Peterson’s scores were 45, and 60 (I didn’t do the 3rd exam). My first impression of the CLEP exam was that for some reason it seemed harder than my score reflected.