Last month, I was able to brag that our fourteen-year-old homeschooled daughter earned college calculus credit through the CLEP test. Yesterday, she passed the Biology CLEP with a score of 58/80, which is good for up to eight college credit hours at many universities. This win is made even nicer by the fact that some of those credit hours include lab segments, and as you know, labs can represent an inordinate amount of time, effort and schedule juggling.
Both she and her brother Morgan prepared for this test by studying a biology text and the REA CLEP study guide, both of which come with supplemental CDs.
The biology text is Essential Biology, With Physiology, Second Edition, by Campbell, Reece and Simon. The text is chock full of useful diagrams and figures, and the companion CD has a lot of useful supplemental materials and answered quizzes. The link above is to the edition we used, but there are newer editions available. Any of them should be great.
The REA CLEP study guide is useful after working through the text. This guide also contains sample CLEP tests, which are very helpful in preparing for the test itself. We used the older version, but the version linked above should be fine also.
And remember, each CLEP passed means fewer hours trapped in a classroom with psychotic professors and easily triggered classmates.
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7 Comments on "Homeschool CLEP: 8 College Biology Credit Hours at Age 14"
Yes…you can ‘CLEP’ your way out of a significant amount of basic college requirements like English, History etc. My youngest managed to get a full year of college out of the way before graduating HS. However she still had to do 3 more
on campus to finish her double major. There is really no escaping the indoctrination centers posing as higher education.
My daughter is a grad student at UNR in Reno…..a relatively conservative school in a conservative region….and the moonbats are still thick as thieves there. You’ve got to teach them right while they are home, give them common sense, teach them to think for themselves and ingrain into them the principle that ‘there is no such thing as a free lunch’ so don’t vote for free shit.
CLEP is the first step. Departmental exams, where offered, help gnaw down some of the rest. More on that in a future article.
Please – more info on this. My 16YO homeschooled son is seriously into chemistry, and is trying to figure out how to pay for schooling. I’ve heard of the CLEP program one other time – this is the first I’ve heard of departmental exams. Any resources you’ve got to help would be VERY appreciated. I do not want him to end up in debt for school, nor does he need the indoctrination that passes for education today.
Thanks.
Hi Matt, will do. I have some other CLEP articles from the pre-blog days that I’m going to repost, plus new information on departmental exams. The chemistry CLEP will probably be a snap for him. See also the previous post on the calculus CLEP. Your son is at the perfect age to benefit from all of this.
Thank you very much Tom. I appreciate the time you put into these articles, and your willingness to share what you’ve learned from past mistakes.
Hey Matt! It has been some years since I took advantage of them, but yes, the CLEP tests are a great way to go. Check with whichever university you might be interested in to verify which courses they allow CLEP credit for. Not all universities allow credit for every course; there is variation from one institution to another and you may save yourself some heartache by checking. As for preparation, get a few textbooks from the used book store, check online for advice, etc. You may be able to get a box of flash cards for many subjects.
Anyway, CLEP is a great deal, much cheaper and quicker than sitting in a class with mostly zombies for students and instructors.
[…] which is good for up to eight college credit hours at many universities. As with the previous Biology CLEP, this win is made even nicer by the fact that some of those credit hours include lab segments. As […]