No, this post is not about Grammar rules and exceptions! It is not about “i before e, except after c” (and e before n in chicken, for the Andy Griffith fans!) This is not about the Misplaced Modifiers or capitalization rules. No, this is about the dilemma of the English Composition CLEP test!!!
The English Composition CLEP is the CLEP I plan to take first, so in addition to studying, I’ve been doing a ton of research on it. Here were some of my questions:
- Should I take the English Comp or the English Modular?
- Should I take it with the essay or without?
- Did it make a difference to the college whether I took the essay or not?
- Was my score different?
- Was the essay handwritten or typed?
- What was my time limit on the essay portion of the test?
Okay, so those were my questions. I got my books out (College Board, REA, and Princeton Review) and I pulled up some websites and I began to research.
Before I even answered my questions, I learned something else. The test that existed in my books was not given anymore. As of 2012 the College Board changed the format of the English Comp CLEP test.
Until 2012
Until 2012 you had three options of English CLEP tests. 1) English Comp with Essay, 2) English Comp without the essay, and 3) English Modular. Which one you took totally depended on you. Of the three big Distance Learning colleges (Excelsior, Charter Oak, and Thomas Edison State) Excelsior did not accept the Essay test. Thomas Edison and Charter Oak both only accepted the Essay. Which test you took depended on which college you were planning on attending.
The optional essay was 1 handwritten college in 40 minutes.
Then they changed it…
2012 and beyond
As of January 1st, 2012 there are two English CLEPs 1) College Composition and 2) College Composition Modular. All of the three big Distance Learning Colleges accept both CLEP exams. So what’s the difference?
In the College Composition there are now two mandatory essays. They are both typed. For the first essay you get 30 minutes, 40 for the second.
Most of the information on websites and in REA books hasn’t been updated yet. The only site I have found that has updated is College Board. The only reason I even knew about this change was because my mom bought me the 2012 edition of the College Board CLEP book.
So there you go! Happy CLEPing!
Jessica
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