CLEP College Composition

Summary of Exam

The CLEP College Composition exam consists of 50 multiple choice questions along with two written essays and costs $90. You will need to possess sufficient knowledge of the conventions of Standard Written English, revision skills, the use of source materials, and rhetorical analysis. You will have 55 minutes to complete the multiple-choice section, 30 minutes for the first essay, and 40 minutes for the second essay. For the first essay, you will discuss why you agree or disagree with the statement provided. You must support your decision with reasons and examples from your reading, experience, or observations. On the second essay, you will need to write an essay where you combine the two sources provided to form a supported argument. You must use both sources for your argument and correctly cite when you paraphrase or use direct quotes from them by using the author’s last name, the title, or any other way that adequately identifies it.

 

Scoring and Credit

The multiple-choice section in the CLEP College Composition exam is scored by a computer that gives you one point per correct answer. The two essays are each graded by two or more independent college professors on a scale from 0-6, 0 being completely off topic and 6 meaning you demonstrate a high degree of competence and sustained control. The two essay scores are then combined and are weighted equally with your multiple-choice score creating your “raw score”. Your raw score is then converted to scaled score from 20-80. This is the score on your score report. While The American Council on Education (ACE) recommends granting credit for scores 50 and above, individual institutions can set their own scores for which they grant credit. Most institutions provide their CLEP score policy on their websites.

 

Preparation Materials

• You can buy the College Board’s $10 CLEP College Composition guide directly from their website which comes in the form of a PDF. It includes practice questions for the College Composition Exam. If you are planning on taking multiple CLEP exams, they also offer a CLEP Official Study Guide for $25 that incudes practice questions for all 34 exams that they offer. It comes in physical form. The Official Study Guide is available on Amazon, sometimes at a discount.

 

• Modern States offers a free, self-paced course covering everything you need to pass the CLEP College Composition exam. If you complete the course, you can request a CLEP voucher code, and they will pay for you to take the CLEP exam.

 

• Study.com is another great resource for preparing for CLEP exams. For 59.99 a month you get access to test prep for CLEP, AP, DSST, UExcel, TECEP, and IB exams. It also includes high school equivalency courses and college courses that are transferable to over 2,900 colleges.

 

• There are hundreds of great YouTube videos covering CLEP exam preparation. Just search “CLEP College Composition Prep”

 

• Practice exams are also good preparation resources. Momentrix Academy offers a free practice exam for College Composition.

 

• Quizlet is an amazing, free option for studying for CLEP exams. Here is a quality set of terms that we found.