I’m currently a sophomore in high school and came across CLEP exams. I’ve taken the AP Calculus exams, as well as the AP Spanish tests with scores of 4 and 5. I feel as though I could take some of the CLEP exams pertaining to these tests with success. But, are high school sophomores eligible to take CLEP tests? Do I have to designate a college for CLEP credit? How do I ‘save’ my credit till I get accepted to my college senior year?
Anyone who is age 14+ can register to take the CLEP exams. There would be absolutely no reason to take the CLEP Calculus or Spanish exam though, since you have already taken the AP exams in those subject areas. Colleges will not give you duplicate credit!
Most people who take CLEP exams already know if their school is going to grant them credit for a passing score on their particular CLEP exam. The individual schools have to have a policy in place which states that they will grant credit, what they will accept as a passing score, and how much credit they will grant for this passing score.
If you take a test and don’t even know where you plan to apply, you are taking a chance that you will be wasting the money needed to pay for the tests. What if you end up attending a school which only grants credit for AP exams, but not CLEP exams?
The CLEP exams are treated exactly the same as AP exams in regards to the storing of scores. ETS maintains the records and they are available for something like 20 years. You don’t have to designate a school at all. As long as you complete the exam and choose to “report” your score (vs. cancel your score), ETS will have the record available for you to order on a transcript. You can request as many exams as you want (hopefully all the ones you passed!) to go on one transcript, paying just one transcript fee, and you provide the name and address of the school – all when you are ready.