Customer Reviews

Cracking the CLEP, 4th Edition (College Test Preparation)

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I took the English Exams with Comp;Natural Sciences;and
Social Sciences and History. (June-July 2002)I scored in the 90's percentile on all. Cracking the Clep was a great start.

However, if like me, you do not already have background knowledge of your subjects, it may not be enough. This book has questions thatare:
1) Easier than questions on the Natural History test
2) On par with questions on the English Test
3) On Par with questions on the Social Science/History Test.

If you have a good background in your suject area, this book is a great review. It's questions are similar in fashion to the computerized test questions. However, none of the books I used to study had any questions that were actually on any of the tests that I took.

If you have no background at all on your subject, this book is an excellent start. However you need to use the COMEX books and
the R.E.A. books (Best Review for Clep/Best Examas Prep) as well. Among all four books, you will have enough background necessary to pass the tests, even if you do not study any other material nor have any previous knowledge of the subjects.

This book is the best start you an get.

I used this book to study for the English Composition CLEP test, and the test was exactly how the book said it would be! This book reviews basic grammar and the types of questions that are going to be asked. It is very down-to-earth, and yes, even quite humorous.

I also passed the Freshman College Composition CLEP test with a 60, and I barely looked over this book before taking it! If you take the English Comp test and do well on it, then take the Freshman College Composition!

Now I just need to find more CLEP study guides to pass particular subject exams...

I used this book as my only review for the College Math CLEP exam. While I am confident I could have passed the exam without the book, this book served as an excellent refresher for math concepts I havent used in over 10 years.

You will be tempted to just dive right into the "meat" of this book, but as the author advises DONT DO IT. Yes, you should actually read the first two chapters that focus on test taking techniques and tips. I consider myself a vetran test taker, having past numerous technical certification tests in the past. However, it had never occured to me to use some of the simple techniques they offer to keep myself from making stupid mistakes. I estimate that by using their techniques, I "saved" myself from missing at least 4 of the 60 questions on the exam. The same tips also helped me to avoid having to do the "real" algebra to arrive at the right answer; probably saving me 10 minutes or more of time during the exam.

Summary: Using this book and the recommended techniques in the book, I passed the College Math CLEP with a 77 out of 80. Had I not used this book, I believe I would have scored somewhere around 68-70.

I have taken 3 of the 5 General Exams. I have used all of the preparation books available. This is by far the best! The format is simple and straightforward. They give detailed explainations of both the correct and incorrect answers. No other publisher does that. It really cut my study time to be able to learn five things from just one question. On top of everything else the Princeton Review gives you test taking strategies you won't get anywhere else. They show you how to narrow down the correct answer, even when you have no clue! If you are buying any review material include this one it, it is the best!

This book provided a real view of the content on the College Math CLEP test. I took the CLEP this weekend and passed, thanks to "Cracking the CLEP." I was amazed at how true and honest the book was as far as what information I needed to know and review. Many sections were covered in detail, while others the author explained that I simply need to know the basic premise. After completing the test, and looking back at the book, many of the questions were even phrased similarly.

I recommend this book to anyone interested in challenging credits. The cost of the book and the CLEP test far out weigh the cost of taking two long, long math classes!

Okay, I just took the clep and passed with a 66. I have peterson's 2005, and I've tried instacert.com. Both were more difficult than the clep. Cracking the clep was perfect for taking the actual clep (college mathematics) They show you how to plug in variables because it's a multiple choice test. They don't really go over binary, but I believe there was only one binary question on the test. Incredible, no more math for me! I love you Cracking the Clep!

I cannot encourage you enough to take the CLEP test. Cracking the CLEP is a great resource to help you do so. What makes this book great is that before the book's practice test, there is a section that tells the main concepts that are going to be on the test (which they will be). The book gives test-taking tips at the very beginning of the book which are very good. I passed the general mathematics test with a score of 61, the English composition test with a 61, and the natural science with a 64. You only need a 50 to pass. (Roughly, on the tests I got 2/3 of the questions right ... you only need to get roughly 1/2 to get a 50 which a passing score).

I also bought this CLEP review book. "CLEP General Exams w/ CD (REA) - The Best Test Prep for the CLEP Exam (Test Preps) (Paperback)" The reason is that the Cracking the CLEP (while it has a good practice test) only has one practice test. This book has 3 to 4 practice test for each CLEP test (i.e. 4 for math, 4 for English comp., 3 for for natural sciences). Also this book, has you take its tests on a computer with a CD-ROM, which helps becuase you take the real CLEP test on a computer. This book does not tell you what to study for the test, there are just the tests, so you will need the Cracking the CLEP book for that.

ps. Don't know if this applicable for you, but the natural sciences tests cover 50% Biology, 50% physcial science. There is a CLEP test just on Biology and I passed it with a 63. Thus, if you can pass the Natural sciences test, and your school also has a Biology requirement that you can CLEP, definitely buy the REA Biology CLEP book and take the test. The only thing that makes the Biology test difficult is that there are some graphs and charts on it.

I used this book (and ONLY this book) as my resource for the CLEP on English Composition. The advice is invaluable, and I passed with no problems.

Only by using this book did I know that I should take the CLEP w/ essay, even though my results would have taken longer.

The questions in the book are VERY similar in structure and content to those actually on the test. Not the same questions, but it will give you a really good idea of what to expect.

I HIGHLY recommend this as the only resource you need to pass the CLEP for English Comp!

The questions in this book are actually much harder than the ones in the official CLEP review book, and it tells you WHY the wrong answer is incorrect. On test day I was amazed how easy the correct (or incorrect) answers were to spot due to the invaluable tips from this book (there are no tips in the official book). I took the English Comp with Essay. The first part was a breeze. One part 2, the essay itself, I totally blanked on the statement I was asked to write about, timed out, and far and away wrote the worst essay of my life...and still passed with a 59!

This book is the best one I have found for an overall review. It made studying easy and fun too! The first few chapters contain very valuable test taking tips. I took the English Comp and passed with a 69 (about an A). I know I got many more questions correct because of this book! I highly recommend it.