[Anonymous]

I’m taking the history clep in a week. Has anyone taken this? Which clep exams are the easiest?

[Jennifer241]

I have taken 4 CLEP's, passed 3 of them. They are pretty easy, just study the material out of the small study guide and you should be fine.

AUD - Jan 9,13 Pass
REG - Aug 30,13 Pass
BEC - Oct 26,13 Pass
FAR - Dec 4,13 Pass

Licensed CPA in the state of Oregon

[Anonymous]

Thanks Jennifer. May I ask which courses you took?

[Anonymous]

Anyone else take these?

[Jennifer241]

I took all business classes, one was auditing and another was marketing, I can't remember the 3rd class. The class I didn't pass was a computer programming class, but I almost passed it!

AUD - Jan 9,13 Pass
REG - Aug 30,13 Pass
BEC - Oct 26,13 Pass
FAR - Dec 4,13 Pass

Licensed CPA in the state of Oregon

[Anonymous]

I've taken about 15 of these. lol. If you have questions about specific ones, let me know. 🙂 Basically, though, they'll be easy if the subject matter is a strength of yours, and tough if not. I took College Mathematics and that was one of the easiest I took, cause I love math…but I have a friend who took it 5 times before she passed it, because she struggled with math. Myself, I avoided the history ones, because I'm not great at remembering history facts…but that friend who struggled with math could've taken the history one with her eyes closed! (Well, figuratively speaking. 😉 )

This website does a pretty good job of ranking the harder and easier ones: https://www.free-clep-prep.com/clep-difficulty-list.html If you look around the website, he's also got a lot of other useful information.

And…my single-stop resource for studying is the REA guides. I bought the REA guide for every CLEP I took, and I passed every one I took.

I know I won't remember everything I took…but here's some I can remember: Analyzing & Interpreting Literature, Financial Accounting, Natural Sciences, College Mathematics, Principles of Management, Principles of Marketing, Introductory Sociology, College Comp w/ Essay, Social Sciences & History, Macroeconomics…can't think of any other names off the top of my head. lol.

[Anonymous]

Thanks Elizabeth. How was the Natural Sciences exam? I think that's worth 6 credits.

[Anonymous]

Yep, it's worth 6 credits. How much do you think you remember from highschool (or college) science classes? I took the CLEP about 4 years after my highschool classes, and reviewed for about 2 weeks using the REA guide ( https://www.amazon.com/CLEP-Natural-Sciences-CD-ROM-Preparation/dp/0738604658 ) and passed it with a good score – 74 if I remember right. It was the first CLEP I took, so I was nervous as could be, but in retrospect probably could've studied less and still passed fine. So, for me, it wasn't too bad – one of the “easier” tests. But, I've always preferred things like science to thinks like Lit. If you're looking for 6-credit ones, College Math is the other that probably wouldn't be too hard for a concrete-type person, and Analyzing and Interpreting Literature is the easiest for an arts-minded person! The other lit courses and Humanities are the others I'd recommend for people into that sort of stuff. But, I expect most accountants are more math-and-science than literature-and-arts!

[Anonymous]

Thanks again. And I done really know what “natural” sciences is even about, so I guess I don't remember much lol

[Anonymous]

Take the analyzing literature one. It is very easy as long as English is your first language and it counts for 6 credits. Also take the Principles of Supervision Dantes exam. As long as you have had a basic business course you will pass it with flying colors. I took these exams to meet my 150 credits and studied about 2 hrs the night before for each. Just brush up on your literary terms (like alteration, assonance etc.) for the humanities one.

[sonygal57]

I took an excelsior exam to get out of humanities. Glad I did it too! I read portions of 3 books based on a content outline and passed with flying colors. I was very nervous and psyched myself out because the particular test didn't have a great pass rate (higher than CPA exams though). Also there were not any practice exams out there, but reading the material sufficed and it was not that bad at all.

Good old Gandalf, "All we have to do is decide what to do with the time that is give to us."
"Not all those who wander are lost."

FAR: I slayed the Dragon!
BEC: I defeated the Siren!
AUD: I eliminated Medusa!
REG: ?????

[Anonymous]

@azCPA – Sorry, Natural Sciences is all the sciences, basically. If I remember right, it was about 50% Biology, 25% Chemistry, and then the last 25% was split between earth science, astronomy, evolutionary theory, etc.

@Charzy I'm jealous of Analyzing Lit being easy for you. I just don't think that way (“What did the author mean…”) – that's the only CLEP exam that frustrated me so much that I was in tears preparing for it! But I know for 90% or more of people, it's a super easy one. Princ of Supervision is also really easy! If anyone hasn't taken Princ of Management at a college, then you can take Princ of Management CLEP and Princ of Supervision DSST on the same day and it's virtually the same material…and if you want a 3rd class that doesn't take much more studying, Organizational Behavior DSST is also very closely related.

[melody_pinaycpa]

bump

FAR (Apr 2015) - 88
AUD (July 2015) - 86
BEC (Oct 2015) - 82
REG - 73, 70, retake Sept 2016

[Anonymous]

@melody – what're you looking for in bumping the thread? More people to share what they've taken or more info the exams? They don't change much (very very rare), so info in this thread is still mostly relevant.

One thing that has changed in some states though is policies regarding accepting them. Like in my state, KY, now only 6 credits max are accepted from them. Though it could be that I'm the reason for that, cause I had a lot, and they changed it not terribly long after I was licensed. 😐

[melody_pinaycpa]

@lilla – While waiting for my REG score I was searching the forum for ways to reach the 150 credits. I need 25 credits. I have reached the required credits for Accounting and Business courses. I checked NH board they said they are accepting CLEP credits but I have to make sure there'll be no duplication. I forgot to asked them if there's a max for CLEP credits.

Can you advise on the best review materials and the best approach for the CLEP exams? I was looking at REA but they only have printed books, I would need an ebook so I could study immediately. Did you read the books before doing the questions?

Thanks Lilla.

FAR (Apr 2015) - 88
AUD (July 2015) - 86
BEC (Oct 2015) - 82
REG - 73, 70, retake Sept 2016

[Anonymous]

REA is the best by far. If you're wanting to start studying immediately, then I'd check your local library and/or bookstore to see if they have any REA books, and if not, then order your first REA book with quick shipping so that you get it ASAP.

While waiting for the REA book to arrive, https://www.free-clep-prep.com/ can point you to some resource.

For an exam that's over topics you're already quite familiar with (like, Analyzing & Interpreting Literature, if you're a lit person), you could probably get away with using InstaCert and skipping the REA book, so if there's one you're interested in that you already know quite well, then you could try that. InstaCert is basically an online test bank. Google for a coupon code before you sign up; people have “referral codes” for $5 off for you, and they post them all over, so you can always find discounts.

My general method was to read the REA book, then do a practice exam, then brush up on any weak areas, do another practice exam, and be ready to test. The REA books are like the CPA prep cram courses that tell you just what you need to know for your exam (but a heck of a lot shorter haha); other methods of learning for CLEPs are basically like going “Hmm, FAR, I'll just go re-read all my college textbooks to figure it out”. So, the REA books will save you about as much time as they'll take to ship, unless it's material that you already know so well that you don't need a refresher at all and can just simply do some questions to remind yourself about it.

[Author]

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