Customer Reviews

CLEP Official Study Guide 2009

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

On one hand, I have to agree with the person giving this one star that it could be gotten from the CLEP website, but if you did want to order a book to review, this is a good one. For what it sets out to do, it does well. I am not sure that I can fault the product because the information contained can be gotten from another source for free. As a whole, it is detailed as well as comprehensive. It achieves the goals it hopes to accomplish. All the reader has to do is expend the effort and get prepared.

When the clep administrator at my institution informed me that no one he had ever given the chemistry clep to had passed, I decided to take the preparation very seriously. I began researching how other people had passed the test and ordered several materials. After 8+ years of no chemistry, my chemistry knowledge was not very good, so I had to prepare more than someone who just finished a high school chem or college intro chem course. If you are starting from scratch or just want to make sure you pass this test, then this is what I would recommend. Begin with the Wiley, "Chemistry Concepts and Problems: A Self Teaching Guide." This book is written in a continuous question and answer format that reviews and tests your knowledge to build a strong foundation of chemistry knowledge and problem solving. Then simultaneously study REA's "CLEP Chimistry," by Peel (I strongly recommend getting the book and CD with two practice tests included) with the Chemistry CLEP Professor software. You will find the REA book to be very summarized. I bought that first and felt like I needed more help. I found the CLEP Professor and gave it a try. My comprehension and retention immediately began skyrocketing, in addition to my practice test scores! The CLEP Professor follows the exact format and order of information of the book, but fills in a lot of the gaps. You may opt to purchase a general chemistry textbook to look up additional information on specific questions, but I would not recommend studying it alone to pass. There is too much information not focused for the CLEP exam that will make you forget what you need to know. You can also research anything you need to know more about online making the textbook unnecessary. I would recommend at least one month to go through these three materials. You should plan to spend about two weeks on the Wiley Self Study and two weeks on the CLEP professor and REA book together. That will give you 6 practice tests to work on. I recommend taking one practice test while you are studying the last two materials every other day. This will show you what you are learning and what you need to learn. Spend one month and about a total of $150 and you can save two semesters of time and about $2000. You should pass easily if you follow the three steps of this program: 1-Wiley Self-Teaching Guide, 2-CLEP Professor and REA CLEP Chemistry, 3-Take practice tests and look up material you are unfamiliar with. I hope you do well.

This is a very good guide if you want to gauge how well you might do on various CLEP exams. It does not provide exhaustive detail on all of the subject matter, but the practice exams worked for me insofar as providing me an indicator on how I might score on the actual exam. I studied 3 sections on the book: Analyzing & Interpreting Literature; American Government; and Principles of Management. In the practice exams, I scored in the 60+ range on each of the tests (on the 20 to 80 scale). In the actual exams, I scored nearly identically and passed all 3 tests. I would recommend this book to anyone contemplating CLEP exams.

This book offers nothing that the CLEP website does not. There is not one word of study material in this book. The first 27 pages are: how to take the exams, where to take the exams,and how to study. The rest of the book was small practice tests for each subject. There is zero study material in this book.

This guide helped my daughter study for and take her clep tests. And she passed!! It sure beats the cost of tuition and the length of time for credit.

While the title of this book is "Study Guide", it is NOT a study guide. It is a collection of sample tests for each of the CLEP tests offered (some of which may not be accepted by your institution). It does give some information about how to study, but it does not give any review material, nor does it help you understand the material.

I have completed two CLEP tests to date. The first, I was coerced into taking a different (higher-level) test when I arrived for my appointment than the one I had scheduled. Fortunately, I passed it even though I had not prepared. The second, I did not pass and have struggled to find text books that cover the material on the test.

I don't think this is a horrible book, it does give you a great idea of what you will find on the test. Additionally, it would be impossible for them to recommend text books with all of the different options universities use. It is imperative that you are aware that you will need additional resources to prepare for these tests.

I ordered this book because I had an exam on the Introduction to psychology. Believing this book would greatly help me because it was the "Official College Board" Edition, I took the practice exam and focused my studying around the subjects it reviewed. What a waste of time and money...I got a 47 on the exam and needed a 50. Only 2 questions on the test were slightly similar to the exam...I really would not advised anyone to get this.

This has been an invaluable tool as I study for the CLEP exams. I recommend it to anyone taking the CLEP exams.

The book that the clep website recomends is also available on their web site to down load a .pdf file for free. It dosn't give any more information than the web site offers and down loading is even debatable. Had I realized this prior to buying the book from amazon, (no offense Amazon, We love you guys), I would have saved 25 bucks + shipping.

This is very helpful tool for earning credit and saving the money for tuition. I purchased others for gifts to help others do the same.