I scored a 72 on the Introductory Psychology CLEP.
It was the first college credit exam I’d ever taken. I can’t tell you if it was easy, not because I don’t remember, but because I overstudied. After all, it was my first exam and I didn’t want to fail. I didn’t know what to expect, and I was afraid of relying on only one source.
First, I used Instant Cert, those lovely flashcards that contain most of everything you will need to know. I went through the cards multiple times, probably six times through the deck total, filling in the blanks for every card. What a waste of time that was, the trying to fill in the blank correctly part. Later I’d learn to just read through the cards with the answer and not waste my time trying to call forth the answer myself. You should do the same, your brain will retain all that information. Don’t worry, you only have to recognize the right answer. The best and most unbelievable part of these exams is that they’re multiple choice!
So then I went through the REA Guide for this exam, which I’d purchased off Amazon or at Barnes & Noble or somewhere. I went through the whole book in one sitting, even the three practice tests in the back, a tremendous masochistic feat. I had the time, for I was sitting in a hospital in Jackson, Mississippi. My nephew was born without hearing, a genetic defect inherited from his mother’s side, I believe. She took that badly. But there was hope: hearing implants. My nephew was six months old and the time was right for surgery. Any later and he might have been speaking impaired.
A child must be exposed to language early. There is a certain time frame that’s conducive to development of language. Miss the window and you’re screwed. That’s what I learned this when studying for this exam. Anyways, the operation went fine. The little fellow’s balance is off but he can hear just fine and talks too much.
Like I was saying, I went through the REA guide while sitting at the hospital. Studying this guide was overkill, I think. But if you have hours to kill somewhere like me and you like a book in your hands, give it a try. Don’t let your practice test scores in the back of the book get you down; they did me, but look, I scored great!
After the IC cards and book, I looked up key people and words on the “exam specific feedback” forum on degreeforum.net. People there list what they encounter on the test, so I’m not wrong in saying you will find many answers to questions you will be asked. I used Wikipedia to look up those people or terminology I hadn’t encountered yet.
Lastly, I took the Peterson’s practice tests. These, I thought, more resembled the real test than the practice tests in the REA guide. I want to say I found that to be true for most exams, actually.
So there you have it. If you do exactly what I did, I guarantee you’ll pass. Though I wouldn’t put as much effort into it as I did. Just passing was good enough for me since Thomas Edison State University does not award grades for tests scores. It’s either pass or fail.
One last thing, something I strongly recommend, take this exam immediately before or after any of the following: Introductory Sociology, Educational Psychology, Human Growth & Development. All these exams overlap in information, so you can really bank some credits and save on study time. To take it further, if you pass the US History and Western Civilization CLEPs soon before or soon after these psychology exams, you will pass the Social Science & History exam with no extra work on your part. And that exam is worth 6 credits! Those Western Civilization exams might not be necessary, but the knowledge of those will answer some questions for you.
Oh, and one more thing . . . like many people I thought I was interested in majoring in Psychology. The human mind is fascinating. But after studying for these tests I’m glad I didn’t. It would take a good teacher and a classroom setting to hold my interest in this area. It’s not a subject I can read about alone for fun. But everyone is different.
Good luck with your studies and don’t go nutty with the cramming.