CLEP. Seems like just about everyone is taking advantage of this credit-by-examination tool. But

Got a great question from a parent:

If a student takes a CLEP exam and does not make a high enough score, will it negatively impact their college transcript? Do you still need to turn that test score in to the college? 

It's important that you have all the details when it comes to utilizing any college prep tool, and the last thing we want is to do is negatively impact their chances of getting into their desired school/program.

Here are a few things to know:

• You can send scores for free to 2 schools every time you take the test.
• After the two free schools, you can send transcripts of your scores for $20/transcript.
• For each transcript you can specify which test(s) you want to include.
• If you re-take a test and get a higher score, the new score replaces the old score on your records.
• You do have the option to cancel a test score at the end of a test (before you see your score),...

I received the following question on Facebook:

Is Dual Enrollment a better option than AP classes?

Great question! There is a growing trend to earn college credit early, but we should always step back and ask ourselves which tools best fits our circumstances (or if early credit even makes sense for your situation).

To best understand this question I want to quickly summarize what each of these tools are:

Dual Enrollment: Where you take a college course while still in high school, with the goal of earning both high school and college credit.

AP Classes: An advanced, college-level high school course created by College Board that is designed to prepare you to take an AP exam and possibly earn college credit.

AP Exams: A test that is designed to be taken at the end of

It's important to realize that while both of these tools have become increasingly popular, they still are very specialized college prep tools that are not required and do not make sense for...

One of my recommendations if you decide to attempt credit by examination (using AP or CLEP tests) is to get a prep book (or online resource) and work through the book while completing your related high school subject.

With it being January and the start of a new semester, it's a great time to start preparing for the tests.

I won't get into the details about the AP & CLEP here, but rather want to point you to some awesome resources to help you be ready!

NOTE: though there are definite differences in the exam formats, resources to help you prepare for the AP can typically be used to prep for the CLEP and vice versa.

AP EXAMS

• Khan Academy: Khan Academy has teamed up with College Board to offer free courses for many of the AP exams. These even include videos that work through actual problems from the tests (something most publishers can't do due to copyright issues). Khan Academy's courses include:
  • AP Art History
  • AP Biology
  • AP Calculus AB
  • AP Calculus BC
  • AP Chemistry...