Psych or Sociology- which to CLEP and which to take!

Published

i've got a dilemma here- i am registered for four classes for my school's upcoming 2nd 8 week mini-session. they are:

a&p 1)- i've already taken a&p 163 (the lpn level science) last summer and got an a, and so the informations

fresh in my mind. i'm prepared.

aca 115- an easy 1 credit study skills course; why not?? school look favorably on you taking it.

psy 150- general psychology, which i've never really taken (unless lifespan development counts as a psych)

soc 210- introduction to sociology; i have taken a sociology class before and loved it so i'm excited about

.this one.

main point- if i were to pick one, the sociology or the psychology to clep, which should it be? please, can anyone with experience taking either of these two tests with "insider info" let me know the real deal!

i feel it'll be easier to focus on a&p with just one social science course, while i can self pace myself to clep the other...

by the way all of these classes will be taken online!

i just need to know which class will require the least amount of extra-buying lots of books- (i am poor), or in your personal opinion what makes a better classroom course, vs. self-paced course.

for those of you who have taken both, which would you say is easier and why?

thanks yall!

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Geriatrics, dementia, hospice.

Hi Becky!

I'm new here and a prenursing student too. This is my first reply to any post. I'm so excited to be here!

Anyway, I thought I could share my experience regarding your post, having taken both the psychology and sociology CLEPs (many years ago). I have 70+ credits via CLEP and 20+ credits from other standardized challenge exams.

I scored a 50 on the General Psychology exam and a 63 on the Sociology one (scores range from 20 to 80 with 50 or thereabouts being a passing score). I studied very minimally for both exams. Certainly, I could have scored higher on the psych exam with extended preparation, as most of my CLEP scores ranked in the 90th percentile or better. Based on my score and recollection, which is cloudy since I took the tests over a decade ago, the psych exam was the more difficult.

You might wish to base your decision on time constraints. Check the syllabi of the psych and sociology classes you're intending to take. That way, you can choose, if you wish, to CLEP the one that requires the most homework, assignments, etc., saving yourself precious time for A&P. Alternatively, you could CLEP the "easier" of the two, which is likely the sociology one.

Hope this is useful!

Best,

Wendy

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in addiction.

aLWAYS KNOCK OUT THE HARDEST COURSES 1ST!

Up Vote Up Vote ×

i've got a dilemma here- i am registered for four classes for my school's upcoming 2nd 8 week mini-session. they are:

a&p 1)- i've already taken a&p 163 (the lpn level science) last summer and got an a, and so the informations

fresh in my mind. i'm prepared.

aca 115- an easy 1 credit study skills course; why not?? school look favorably on you taking it.

psy 150- general psychology, which i've never really taken (unless lifespan development counts as a psych)

soc 210- introduction to sociology; i have taken a sociology class before and loved it so i'm excited about

.this one.

main point- if i were to pick one, the sociology or the psychology to clep, which should it be? please, can anyone with experience taking either of these two tests with "insider info" let me know the real deal!

i feel it'll be easier to focus on a&p with just one social science course, while i can self pace myself to clep the other...

by the way all of these classes will be taken online!

i just need to know which class will require the least amount of extra-buying lots of books- (i am poor), or in your personal opinion what makes a better classroom course, vs. self-paced course.

for those of you who have taken both, which would you say is easier and why?

thanks yall!

in my state - yes. i know the prereqs of just about every rn program in my state (strange hobby i've acquired :)) and haven't found one that doesn't require 3 credits of developmental/lifespan psych. i already had intro to psych and child psych - but the school that evaluated my college transcript did not like either of those so i just completed developmental psych and that takes care of that. i am also taking most of my prereqs online but i did psych in person because it was a weekends, accelerated 6 week course vis a vis the online courses i could find in the community college system that were all full semester courses.

imo soc is a bit easier than psych. but ymmv - i suppose it depends on how your school runs the courses. anecdotally, for my dev psych class we had two exams and two mini research projects - and journal type entries about the subject matter. we also had to set up one experiment (this was to teach us the scientific method as it is applied to the social sciences) and one group paper and presentation.

i'm also taking principles of soc now - distance learning. this is a pretty straightforward class - you just have to know the material in the book and supporting videos and do four short essays. no group project which saves a lot of time because coordinating group work can be a pita. this is basically because the soc is a telecourse rather than an online course. correspondence with the professor is by snail mail and there's no interaction with others in the class.

it did not occur to me to use clep (but thanks for the idea). i would say that you could do either of them since you have some background in both. and i agree it's definitely better if you can focus on a&p.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Hey ya'll! I decided to take the psych course for now and will just clep the sociology. From what I've read here and elsewhere, the sociology clep is about as easy as they come.

Plus, the sociology teacher was very disagreeable when I e-mailed her, and the psychology teacher was friendly and helpful. So, problem solved!

Thanx guys :-)

Up Vote Up Vote ×

I've taken both. Psych (to me) was wayyyyyyyyy more interesting. Stick with that =)

Up Vote Up Vote ×

hey becky,

i'm so glad to see i'm not the only one with this dilemma. however, i have consider to take both through clep psych & soci. so i can concentrate on micro. during the fall also while trying to study for my nclex. i know i sound crazy but i feel as though micro is a very major part and then psych. & soci falls in place. i already check at my local college to see if i can go there to take the clep..............remember stick with most important task first!!!!

take care:stone

Up Vote Up Vote ×

I just passed the CLEP sociology test today with a 63. My future nursing school requires a 53. I guess that means I studied too much!

I bought the REA CLEP prep book for about $25. I read it once. Took all three of the practice tests. Tests 1 and 2 I took during the past week. In the two hours before the test, I took all three tests and reviewed what I missed. I also used the sociology flashcards at instantcert.com. I just went through all of them once without answering them. I read the answers and explanations. Total cram time was about 20 hours.

I suggest buying a used REA CLEP book on Amazon or half.com. If you don't get the CD, no big deal. I found the computer version of tests 1 and 2 (test 3 isn't on the CD) annoying. Just write your answers on paper on type them in Excel and grade it using the printed answer keys.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Why not clep both?

Up Vote Up Vote ×

I didn't CLEP psyc because I'd already taken it.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
+ Join the Discussion