Customer Reviews

CLEP History of the United States I (CLEP Test Preparation)

5 star:		(34)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I bought this book around half a year ago, though I ended up procrastinating and only taking the CLEP test just today (I passed with a 73, more than the needed 65). This book was instrumental in my studies, but it has enough flaws to justify a three-star rating.

In studying for the CLEP American History 1, I spent about two weeks cramming (after skimming through the book and the first two tests some months earlier). First, I read in detail the 170-page review. Then I took the first test, looked over the explained answers (paying careful attention to the ones I missed), skimmed through the book again, took the second and looked at the answers, and did the same with the third. My calculated scores were the CLEP equivalent of 69, 70, and 71. Then I took a quick look online at some timelines, looked at the order of the presidents, and took another practice 40-question CLEP provided by the university. Next, I went back through each question that I had missed before, tried the question again, and looked at and read the extended answer. The day of the exam, I reviewed the ones I missed twice, skimmed through the review one last time (I spent about an hour), and went to take the test.

A few things: the test had significantly more emphasis on women, blacks, and their cultures than the book did. Look up information about these on the internet first. Also, the answers to one or two of the practice questions are inconsistent with their explanations. Also, some of the material in the book was redundant. The section on mormons (who weren't on the test anyway) was in there twice. Finally, I was a little annoyed by the non-chronological manner in which the book was presented. It has sections on time periods, and jumps around significantly within those.

So, all in all, a decent study guide, but you'll need a little more than it to do well.

This is the only book you will need to pass the CLEP American History to 1877 exam. In addition to reading the narrative, make sure you review all the answers to the CLEP test sample questions...the test answers contain supplemental information you will need for the test. Outstanding book, read the text, and review all of the sample questions and you will blow away the CLEP.

This book offers an excellent overview of History. I highly recommend using this in preparation for the American History I CLEP exam. In addition to this text, I used Baron's EZ-101 Study Keys, "American History to 1877." I read them simultaneously to get a broader perspective of each era of history, then wrote out key events and people on index cards for review. I also did a lot of the AP US HIstory quizzes on the historyteacher.net website. Combined...after studying for a little more than a week, I acheived a 69 out of 80 on the CLEP test.

Great book...covers about 80% of what is on the test but that is more than enough to get an A.... Studied 3 hours a day for 6 days and scored a 63. Had no prior US history knowledge as I am from Canada.

I read REA history for a month and took the exam to get 70(though i was expecting more).I want to emphasize that you need more than this book to score good. I went through the AP history quiz sites. One thing that I wanted to mention is that the paper had a lot of questions on religion as in Baptist, methodist , presbyterian church which are not covered in this book at all. Also, you need to be familiar with terms like stono rebellion . The exam actually tests more than your basic knowledge, it checks whether u have a thorough understanding of the events and if you can correlate them. So this book helps to get the basic idea but dont count on just this book to score good.
Most of the questions on literary authors were not covered in this book. Also I bought the practise questions guide from CLEP for $10 but none of the questions from it came so u can skip that.
I hope this review helps somebody.

I read the 100 plus pages in the REA History of the United States I study guide first. Then I reviewed and completed each of the three 120 question example tests several times each until I could make a 90 plus score. The questions in the study guide were not word for word and I do not know my exact score, however when the grader scanned the test it returned a "Grade substantially higher than the national average". I also used the "Introduction to Sociology" and the "Analyzing and Interpreting Literature". REA has developed exceptional study guides and has never let me down.

I knew nothing about early history, but I needed a history class. So, I bought this book in hopes it could give me enough basic knowledge for the exam. I read the book for about 1-2 hours a day for 5 days (including the tests at the end). I scored myself on the practice test and score a 62. I took the test and scored a 64 (passing is a 50). The only thing I studied was this book...
Good luck!!!

I just took the CLEP US History I last week. I used this book to help me with my notes and review (the three complete exams in the back of the book with detailed responses were excellent)! I also read a college textbook and some library resources, but this book was essential because it helped me focus on the key items for review. My only regret... there isn't a follow on book for US History II! Hurry writers and publishers!

This was my only source of study material for the US History I exam. I read the book only once, the day before the exam, which is not advisable you need at least a week to study. I still passed with a score of 55, but I only needed a score of 50 to to get credt from this class. The information in this book is useful for the exam, just make sure to take all the practice test and read the explanation for the answers. Some of the material for these practice questions were not mentioned in the study guide section of the book, but are then explained in the explanation and answer section.

I found this book to be outstanding preparation for the CLEP. After reviewing the material, taking the sample exams, then reviewing the answers to the sample exams I scored a 76 on the test. It is important to review the detailed answers to the sample exams as they often provide more detailed explanations of those answers than are found in the beginning of the book. I wish I could find this company's book for US History II, but so far I have had no luck.