Adequate but hardly spectacular

Posted by Seth Johnson on 14th Feb 2011

I bought this book around half a year ago, though I ended up procrastinating and only taking the CLEP test just today (I passed with a 73, more than the needed 65). This book was instrumental in my studies, but it has enough flaws to justify a three-star rating.

In studying for the CLEP American History 1, I spent about two weeks cramming (after skimming through the book and the first two tests some months earlier). First, I read in detail the 170-page review. Then I took the first test, looked over the explained answers (paying careful attention to the ones I missed), skimmed through the book again, took the second and looked at the answers, and did the same with the third. My calculated scores were the CLEP equivalent of 69, 70, and 71. Then I took a quick look online at some timelines, looked at the order of the presidents, and took another practice 40-question CLEP provided by the university. Next, I went back through each question that I had missed before, tried the question again, and looked at and read the extended answer. The day of the exam, I reviewed the ones I missed twice, skimmed through the review one last time (I spent about an hour), and went to take the test.

A few things: the test had significantly more emphasis on women, blacks, and their cultures than the book did. Look up information about these on the internet first. Also, the answers to one or two of the practice questions are inconsistent with their explanations. Also, some of the material in the book was redundant. The section on mormons (who weren't on the test anyway) was in there twice. Finally, I was a little annoyed by the non-chronological manner in which the book was presented. It has sections on time periods, and jumps around significantly within those.

So, all in all, a decent study guide, but you'll need a little more than it to do well.