u/Allicsu

I took the test a week ago and I'm ngl, I thought I was cooked. I also got sick 3 days before my exam date. I scored 57 on Petersons and then a 69 on REA 1. I only studied for 2 weeks.

I watched all Crash Course videos (week 1) but I feel like you can just watch Adam Norris. However, Crash Course goes over a few more topics that he doesn't.

Week 2: I watched Adam Norris supreme court case video and his 1h review. I took the Petersons test and I thought it was a terrible score so I watched all his 10min review videos and I looked at some quizlets. Then I took the REA test and I thought that was fine. The day before the exam I watched all 50 Adam Norris videos and the supreme court case video again.

I reviewed all the answers I got wrong on the practice tests and when I watched the YT videos I took handwritten notes. The night before I also glanced at some quizlets but I didn't actively study with them.

This has got to be the easiest exam I ever took. I also had a fever at the test center so if I can do it, you can too! A lot of answers are easy to infer just from the English language. If you don't know the answer it's most likely the word that sounds related to the question. This quizlet is basically a practice test: https://quizlet.com/687372274/american-government-clep-2022-study-guide-questions-flash-cards/ the rest you can search CLEP or AP gov terms on the website to find premade study guides. I recommend you know your bill of rights and stuff about media, lobbying, interest groups, etc.. but honestly the test was pretty well divided by all the topics.

I did not read the REA book or buy the official study guide. And TY to this subreddit for all the resources posted. I would not have passed any of my exams otherwise.

Hi, I have my american gov test in like 4 days and I just scored 57/100 on petersons. do you think thats enough to pass? what are good scores on the rea/petersons to pass? also tips for last min studying pls

Just passed today! i studied for about under a month but that's because i was busy with my life. i read 10 pages of the REA book every night and only really "studied" the week before my test. here's what i would do to guarantee a good score with 2 weeks of studying:

1. read the REA textbook and take notes ON PAPER! helps with your memory. the textbook is the best source for info on the exam. it's concise while other youtube videos may go into depth about extra unnecessary information that will just confuse you. read the book BEFORE watching videos.
2. i didn't use modernstates videos, only the quizzes to check my understanding. they are way too easy and if you get something wrong there make sure to revise it.
3. i don't fully recommend this because it didn't have all the textbook terms but i used this quizlet for a few days: https://quizlet.com/45304650/clep-western-civilization-1-flash-cards
4. I recommend checking the index of the REA textbook and making your own flashcards.
5. watch youtube videos. I recommend Crash Course and History Matters along with a few others i will link below.
6. the REA textbook does not help with visuals. if you have time, watch some videos about egyptian and greek art as well as renaissance and medieval architecture.
7. take timed practice tests! i scored 61% on the first REA test, 69% on the second, and 64% on the petersons. these tests are much harder than the actual exam. if you score in the mid 60s on these you'll be fine. make sure to revise the questions and topics you got wrong. the exam is most similar to, well, the study guide itself... which is a mix of petersons and modernstates difficulty.

other personal additions: i only got 114 questions. the exam is 90 mins. answered all the questions in 30 mins, another 40 for revising and i finished with 20 mins left. i got a lot of questions on ancient greek and roman stuff i simply forgot about because i focused on medieval history. everyone says the exam is mostly medieval but i dunno... maybe i just got so good at that topic that it skewed my bias towards the others! you should definitely focus on the papacy and protestant revolution. knowing why each civilization rose and fall and remembering treaties is important too. and don't forget about art! however, the poets of rome and greece are less important than those of the renaissance/protestant reformation.

YT videos:
crash course world history: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLBDA2E52FB1EF80C9
CC world history 2 (i only recommend the protestant reformation and charles V videos): https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLBDA2E52FB1EF80C9
history matters world history: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLBDA2E52FB1EF80C9
history matters english and british history: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLBDA2E52FB1EF80C9
my personal playlist with other videos i found helpful (church stuff, art history, miscellaneous): https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLBDA2E52FB1EF80C9

special thanks to everyone on this subreddit who shared their experiences and resources! that's how i found the petersons exam. i recommend sailing the high seas for the REA textbook... If you have any questions feel free to ask and i'll try my best to answer.

hi, I plan to take the western civ I exam in about 2 weeks and i'm wondering how other people passed? I just started studying 2 days ago. i'm using the REA textbook with a practice test + plan to watch crash course and modern states as well as use flashcards from free clep prep. If you took the exam recently, what did you use to study and what should I focus on?

I just passed today and thought I would give tips bc reddit really helped me.

for context I just graduated and I took IB math AA HL in my junior/senior year but so much of the course isn't calculus I forgot most of it besides elementary derivatives/integrals and stuff. I knew I wasn't gonna get a 5 so I decided to take CLEP instead for college credit.

First of all I did a couple practice papers (Petersons and the official study guide) to see what I didn't know. then I completed the modern states course, but I didn't watch the videos, I just did the check your understanding and the unit tests. if I didn't know something I reviewed it on YouTube. I completed the course but honestly it wasn't that helpful. it was way easier than the practice tests and only gives you the bare bones of the concepts.

I recommend that after the modern states course you watch a bunch of YouTube for every concept on the exam. I watched organic chemistry tutor for a week straight.
the concepts on the exam that pop up the most imo were chain rule/product rule of functions, implicit differentiation and its applications in related rates/optimization/growth and decay, limits and continuity, slope and average value (MVT and Rolle's theorem), and l'hopital's rule.

spend lots of time understanding continuity/limit word problems like the ones on the study guide because they're pretty much exactly the same. this is the one topic I felt like organic chemistry tutor wasn't the best at bc he mostly evaluates limits but didn't go over the word problems as much.

besides doing 2 practice papers a month ago, I basically studied for 5 days for a total of ~10hrs. obviously I have experience with calculus, but I think this is a very passable exam. I didn't even understand related rates and optimization and guessed on those. I got one Riemann sum problem (didn't study that either) and it was easy. ALSO: download the organic chemistry tutor free calculus study guide. I looked at it the night/morning before and it really helps. otherwise, I used the practice tests that were posted on this subreddit.

in terms of calc/no calc section, the calc section was WAY easier. only 18 questions and half of them were straight inputs to the calculator. you need to practice with the ETS online calculator. know how to graph functions, find intersections/zeroes, edit the window view range, fINT nDERIV (math+8, math+9). if you can remember the keyboard/button shortcuts instead of having to click so much, you save lots of time and then can spend the rest of the time on the harder questions on that section. Any questions feel free to ask here.