The Introductory Sociology CLEP exam was the first test for college credit I ever took. I remember how much I studied, but most of all I remember how great it felt walking out the testing center scoring a 61 and getting my first 3 credits.
Out of all the exams to choose from, I picked this one first because I thought I would’ve been interested in the subject matter. I was wrong. It wasn’t as nearly interesting to me as I thought it was going to be and I’m glad I only paid $100 and dedicated 20 hours of my time to figure that out!
Although I didn’t enjoy the material so much, studying for this exam proved to be immensely helpful in passing the future Psychology, Social Science, Educational Psychology, and Human Growth and Development exams I would later take.
How I studied
My little nephew was getting hearing implants so many relatives and family friends sat in the hospital for what turned out to be over 8 hours to show their support. I was prepared and brought my REA book with me and kept my head buried in it the whole time, only looking up when someone would talk to me and to see my little nephew at the end of his successful operation. I read through the book 2 times while taking notes and completing the practice tests in the back of the book and making more notes. During down-time while I was at work I would read over my notes and skim through the book.
I spent a lot of time going through the Instant Cert cards. It was my first time studying for a test, so I was a new member at Instant Cert and using the cards for the first time. They’re a fill-in-the-blank format so I would go through all the cards trying to type in the answer perfectly. I later found this to be waste of time. It’s better just to read through the cards many times with the answers already displayed, that way you give yourself a lot more exposure to the information.
I made an account on the Peterson’s website and took all three of their practice exams, scoring around a 60.
Things to know
- Max Weber
- Independent and dependent variable
- Caste system
- Cultural assimilation
- Triangulation
- Oligopoly
- Gemeinschaft
- Gessellschaft
- Verstehen
- Cooley’s looking glass
- Deviance
- Gentrification
Final thoughts
Over 10 days I spent a lot of time studying for this one and was surprised that I only scored a 61, but then again, it was my first exam and my confidence was low. Taking this exam will be super beneficial to you if you’re going to take future related exams. Taking all the history and psychology related exams first allowed me to pass the Social Science exam, worth 6 credits, without even specifically studying for it!