<p>Was speaking to a future UA mom this morning and realized I hadn’t seen a thread about CLEP credit in a while. Couldn’t find the one I wanted to bump up so starting a new one.</p>
<p>UA is very generous in their College Level Entrance Placement (CLEP) credits for students.</p>
<p>For example, my engineering major son took 4 years of HS Spanish but not AP. He took the Spanish CLEP test was able to score high enough on the test that he received 14 FL/HU credit hours, satisfying that part of his degree requirement in its entirety without taking any further courses at UA. Having these extra credits frees up time in your student’s schedule for other opportunities. </p>
<p>We would never have known to look into this if it were not for CC. </p>
<p>Do not feel your student needs to be fluent or to have mastered a language in order to get that much credit. </p>
<p>It would be wise to investigate this opportunity - and test if desired - before you attend BB. Test scores are known immediately by the student at a test’s conclusion. Cost is about $100. </p>
<p>CLEP testing is wonderful! One word of advice though: Make your reservation for testing early. Most testing centers have VERY limited space as they are generally within colleges, or community college centers. </p>
<p>We had to wait 3 weeks for our CLEP test time and it ended up being in July. It also takes about 10 days for the results to get to UA and updated in your DegreeWorks.</p>
<p>D had taken 4 years of Spanish and AP Spanish twice. She was only going to get about 1/2 as many credits from AP as she did from CLEP. She is minoring in Spanish and this really helped her get a jump on it.</p>
<p>I also agree that CLEP tests are a great way to earn college credit and encourage any interested student to take the exams.</p>
<p>Note that CLEP exams are very popular with members of the military, which is why so many CLEP testing centers are on military bases. Many bases will allow civilians onto the base to take the exams after a short background check (which basically involves giving them ones name and a driver’s license or ID card number) as the test takers have a legitimate business purpose to be on base. I took a CLEP exam at a smaller detachment so I didn’t have to go through as much [visible] security and was able to take the test the day after I registered and was the only one taking a test.</p>
<p>ClassMom - Thanks for posting this. DS took 4 years of spanish but not AP due to scheduling conflicts. He has no interest in a spanish minor at UA so I wasn’t even thinking about having him tested. It would be nice if he can score high enough to clep out of part of the core requirements.</p>
<p>Michigan, my son last year couldn’t fit AP Spanish in his schedule either and as he didn’t want to take any spanish classes at UA (and get retro credits) he took the Spanish CLEP test about 2 weeks before heading to Alabama. (Thanks Classmom2012 for your help with this!) He only studied a little and even though he goofed up at first in the listening portion (the study sample repeated the phrases…the real test did not) he did well enough to get the 14 credits. He was able to use these credits against one of his sequential elective (HU or L) that he needed. We both went into his taking the test with the attitude that it was a $100 gamble…this gamble saved him taking 2 classes.</p>
<p>Yes, my son said the audio portion of the Spanish CLEP test was one of the most challenging he had come across. You have to keep lots of info in your head, while listening to everything, not knowing what exactly they will ask you about. (Imagine taking an ACT test in ENGLISH, entirely aurally, and not being able to see the multi choice answers to the questions, but having to listen to the question being read and then the answer choices read aloud. That’s what the CLEP was like.) And, as you said, there are no repeats of the spoken parts of the test. I think that unnerved him, and it would have been nice to know that ahead of time. So, this advice is very useful to others, thanks!</p>
<p>If he’s had 4 years, I’m sure he’ll get some credit. Even if he only gets the minimum, that’s 8 credit hours, or almost 3 courses - courses that would likely require the writing of papers!! That should be enough to motivate even the most reluctant of your kids.</p>
<p>Wow, 14 credits! DD2 is in AP Spanish now and it looks like you get fewer credits using AP credit at UA.</p>
<p>Question: Did anyone have trouble going directly into advanced Spanish? This is DD2’s biggest concern. Her school uses Achieve 3000 to assess relative comprehension/ speaking “age” and she is at the top of her class with a 8th/9th grade assessment. This seems an awfully low basis from which to progress directly into advances Spanish in college. For context, few non-native Spanish speaker in her school score above a 3 on the AP test.</p>
<p>Last year kjcphmom took her son to take that test I think two days before he left for UA. I remember this because the worker kjcphmom spoke to there told her that her D had just started at UA and was doing AA and remarked that her D went all that way to meet “the nicest boy” from the high school one town over from her town in IL. My S was that nicest boy! It was the first I’d heard about him or from him since he moved in - so I will always remember that.</p>
<p>MereMom - yes, the credits are much higher for CLEP than for AP.</p>
<p>There is an optional foreign language placement test at BB. Have your D take it. Insist on it if the school tells you she doesn’t need to. There was one mom on here who very much regretted it her D not taking that placement test (for some reason that escapes me).</p>
<p>I think he should definitely try it. My D took Spanish through junior year (no AP) and took the CLEP test right before she headed for Bama (so it had been 15 months since she had been in a Spanish class), and she got 14 credits. She was able to use some of them to satisfy some of her Humanities core requirement, and it gave her all the foreign language she needs for IHP if she decides to complete it. Definitely worthwhile.</p>
<p>Thanks, Class2012Mom! I am writing myself a note so as not to forget the advise (to put into the color coded filing system I keep on UA - wink).</p>
<p>Class2012mom…I am the mom whose daughter did NOT take the Spanish placement test during Bama Bound and it was a mess!</p>
<p>She was told that because she had AP and CLEP credit she did not need to take it. That was very much wrong information. She had to go to several different offices to register for her Spanish class. The system did not have a placement test for her so it refused to let her register. She CLEP’d into Spanish 350, but she wanted to take Spanish 250 (or close to that) and that created another whole problem.</p>
<p>It was all taken care of by the first week of class, but boy was she stressed and spent a good bit of time running from place to place.</p>
<p>My humble piece of advise: TAKE THE PLACEMENT TEST DURING BB!</p>
<p>MG, so is mine. But my piles are neatly coded with colored post its stuck to the top. I was thinking I could eventually transfer some it over to a colored coded “round file” system.</p>
<p>How many Foreign Language credits/classes are necessary to graduate. My son is in his fifth year of Italian with last year and this years classes counting as college credit from SUNY Albany. UA has agreed to take these classes as credit but will it be enough to satisfy the full requirement? Unfortunately there is no Italian CLEP exam or he could possibly receive even more credit. He chose not to take AP since he was receiving more credit going the SUNY Albany way.</p>
<p>P.S. He is an Accounting Major so I’d imagine the requirements are different for each Degree plan.</p>
<p>An Accounting major doesn’t need any foreign language credits. There is a requirement for 8 credits of foreign language OR 6 credits with a “C” (computer) designation, and the Accounting major will require ST260 and AC389, both of which have the “C” designation, so that requirement will be satisfied without foreign language. There is also a 12 credit humanities requirement. 3 credits must have a Fine Arts designation and 3 credits must have a Literature designation, but the remaining 6 credits could be fulfilled using foreign language credits. In short, he should be able to use his foreign language credits, but doesn’t need them.</p>
Gotta love that instant gratification, no waiting for scores!</p>