Customer Reviews

CLEP Official Study Guide, 2003 Edition: All-New Fourteenth Edition

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If you are going to take any of the CLEP subject exams, and especially the CLEP exam Info Systems and Computer Applications, then you might want to consider getting this book. While it does cover the CLEP general exams, there are several very good guides out there that would probably be better. However, there are no decent guides for the Info Systems exam and just a few for the other various subject exams.

Having taken the CLEP Info Systems exam and using this book as my only source of study questions, I can attest that the sample test in the book is very close to what you can expect on the exam. Incidentally, I passed.

I have taken other CLEP subject exams and while there are some very good study guides out there, this book should also be used as a source of sample test questions as they all seem to be very close to the actual exam.

Overall, this book gives an accurate representation on what you can expect if you are going to take any of the CLEP exams.

While it is true that this book does contain some sample questions, so do other books available on Amazon. Several other books are much, much better than this one. The sample computer test information is free at collegeboard.com. If you are well versed in your area of study, then this book may help with sample questions.

However, if you need to study and can not afford to waste money with every clep book, that this is the wrong book for you.

If you have limited funds, and want a better study guide, purchase "Cracking the Clep" Princeton Review. You get alot more information for your money.

Other books that are better than this one are the Comex books and the study books from REA.

All of these books are available on Amazon, and will do you better than this book. If you can afford to buy every book, and need a comfort zone, than by all means, get this one too.

Just don't expect any of the questions in this book to actually be on the test. They won't. You need to either know or learn the concepts that the questions represent.

While this book does a good job of covering the questions and subject matter of the 34 CLEP examinations, the fact that the administration of the exam is now computer-based creates a desire for practice experience that simulates the actual test environment. Students who select this book expecting that the accompanying CD-ROM will include such simulated practice exams will be in for a major disappointment, however, because the CD contains little more than a canned orientation to the computer interface. The publishers don't help much by adding a somewhat vague description of the CD's content in the text; and on the actual CD there are menus that go through subject areas and subject exam titles, but they all lead to the same generic tutorial that has nothing to do with the subject content!! It's like you're being conned. For the 2004 edition, the College Board should make a simple choice: omit the CD (and drop the price of the book) or put real practice exams on it.

While the tests appear to be comprehensive in the book, the CD was a total disappointment. There are no sample questions on the CD at all, only a tutorial for taking a multiple choice test on the computer.

Another disappointment was the lack of relation between the results on the practice tests and what is necessary to pass the tests. While the book has shown me a couple of areas I need to study, I don't feel it is preparing me to take the tests.

Wish me luck!!

I found this CLEP guide to be somewhat helpful. One good point is that it prepared me for the actual test format. The CD is not very useful - it basically just shows you how to navigate the computer-based CLEP exam.

Though only used copies of this CLEP Official Study Guide are sold it still has a lot of substance. If you have ever done IT or worked as a secretary in an office before, than the knowledge you gained there plus the review in this guide for the CLEP Info Systems and Computer Applications exam should be more than enough to get a passing score on that CLEP test. For other CLEP exams this book can be used to supplement other study guides such as CLEP History of the United States I (REA)- The Best Test Prep for the CLEP Exam (Test Preps) and CLEP History of the United States II (REA) - The Best Test Prep for the CLEP (Test Preps). This is an excellent resource for sample questions for all the CLEP exams. Whether or not the information in thie CLEP Official Study Guide 2003 Edition will be enough to help you pass any particular CLEP test depends on your prior backround knowledge of the material being tested in the corresponding CLEP test.