At the end of our homeschooling journey, I had the padawans take several CLEP tests to save time and money.
We didn't know for certain which college (if any) they would end up at so we stuck with some basic gen ed CLEP tests that we thought would be accepted at most schools. (Although, we did confirm that their most likely college choices would take these tests.)
Tenor took the US History I, English Literature, and US History II CLEP tests.
Soprano tackled US History I, English Lit, and American Government.
I recently decided to move forward with finishing my degree, and I just took the American Government CLEP test.
What I didn't know until Soprano's last test was that we could have done them all for free. *cue the sad trombone wah-wah
Since I learned about Modern States 'freshman year for free', I was able to take my first CLEP at zero cost.
Here's how it works:
1. Go to Modern States & create an account.
2. Go to CollegeBoard.org & create an account.
3. On the College Board CLEP info page, you can search for your chosen school to see which CLEP tests they accept and what the minimum passing scores need to be. When you find your school, you can also click on the "Find nearby testing centers" button to also make note of where you can take the test.
4. Pick your course of study at Modern States. I read somewhere that about an hour a day for about 6 weeks should be enough time to finish the course.
5. When you're done with the course (all the reading, all the homework), you can submit a screenshot of your progress (needs to be 100% done) to Modern States to get a voucher for the CLEP test fee.
6. Then, find a nearby testing center and register for your exam. Here's where you can select your college of choice. Modern States will send your score directly to them. (Don't forget to put in your voucher code to skip the $80 test cost!)
7. Schedule your test with the testing center, pay their proctoring fee (my center is $30), take the test. If you pass, you've just earned 3 college credits! Woo-hoo!!
8. If your score is high enough, you can also get a testing center fee reimbursement from Modern States. You'll need a receipt from the testing center and a copy of your test score. Take pics of both and upload.
And that's it! Super easy process to earn college credit at no cost.
I've got 1 more to go. :D
