My Personal Record

As you know, I have the tendency to overstudy. Not everyone has this problem, but I can tell you that it can be debilitating. Spending a month on a test that others pass in one week is almost a sure way to pass, but it can also put you way behind on your goals. 


So a couple of weeks ago I determined to pass the Human Growth and Development CLEP as quickly as possible. 

• Tip #1: Never aim low! Set a high goal and do your best to reach it.

I didn't have a study plan mapped out, though, so my goal of "as quickly as possible" was intangible and therefore hard to quantify.

• Tip #2: Create solid, realistic goals. A goal is specific and measurable. Read about dreams, resolutions, and goals here.  Download this worksheet called The Power of Goals by Dan Miller. 

My flexible schedule was rigidly set in place when I learned that my CLEPing pal Cameron was going to be taking a test of his own in a few days. I decided to ride into town with him and take my test at the same time.

• Tip #2: Hold yourself accountable. Maybe you mark your calendar, tell a friend, or write a blog post about it, but make it hard to back out on yourself.

Thankfully, HGD was very similar to the Introductory Psychology, Introductory Sociology, and Introduction to Educational Psychology CLEPs that I had already taken. But this new schedule gave me a grand total of five days to study, which I had never done before! I rose to the challenge, however, and this is what I did:


Day 1: I took the initial pretest and got a passing score of 54.
Day 2: I read 1/3 of the REA book for Human Growth and Development. 
Day 3: I read the second 1/3.
Day 4: I read the last 1/3 and took another practice test, scoring 56.
Day 5: I went over the detailed explanations for the two pretests, researched the answers, took more notes, and answered a few more questions on a third practice test on our way to the testing center. Then I took the actual test.


And you know what? I made a 63! That was a great boost to my CLEPing confidence. And Cameron passed too, so it was a wonderful day!

I hope that you also can have the courage to aim high, set goals, hold yourself accountable, apply yourself to study, and budget your time wisely in order to fulfill your dreams and fly high on your journey as a nonconformist student!

                                                                                                                       Happy CLEPing,

successful business woman on a laptop, a photo by Search Engine People Blog on Flickr.