Clep Difficulty List
Free Study Guide

Disclaimer:

This Clep Difficulty List, by its very nature, is going to be biased. For example, I have a debilitating fear of math. I therefore may score the Calculus CLEP higher in difficulty than a person who is awesome at that sort of thing. On the other side of the coin, I'm also an IT Manager and I think the Information Management CLEP is ridiculously easy. I might want to score it lower than someone else would.

I have tried to take my own strengths and weaknesses into account and judge each CLEP exam purely on what the average college student would have experience with. I've also used the general consensus of people who have taken the exams and then given me their opinions upon passing (or failing as the case may be).

You may come across one that just blows you away at level 2, or you may be eating the level 5's for breakfast. The Clep Difficulty List is meant to be a starting guide to help you plan the order of the exams you wish to take. Study for all of them like they're level 5 and you'll never have to worry about being unprepared.

Also, I've tried to group them in terms of difficulty by category as well. The exams at the end of Level 2 are more difficult in my opinion than the exams at the beginning of Level 2, and so on.

Finally, I have listed them in an order to take advantage of study material overlap. Studying for some of the earlier exams will help you out with others further up the difficulty ladder. If you decide to take an exam without taking the earlier exams first, you may find it more difficult than it would be otherwise. I always list the earlier exams that may help on each exam's study guide. If you'd like to see a complete list of exams (both CLEP and DSST) that overlap in study material, you can find them on the CLEP/DSST Overlap List. Just follow the link for those (opens in a new window).

Clep Difficulty List

One being the easiest, and five being the hardest

Level 1
Principles of Management - 3 Credits
Principles of Marketing - 3 Credits

Level 2
Introductory Psychology - 3 Credits
Introductory Sociology - 3 Credits
Introduction to Educational Psychology - 3 Credits
College Composition - 6 Credits
College Composition Modular - 3 Credits
Analyzing and Interpreting Literature - 3 Credits
History of the United States I: Early Colonization to 1877 - 3 Credits

Level 3
History of the United States II: 1865 to the Present - 3 Credits
Social Sciences and History - 6 Credits
Humanities - 3 Credits
Human Growth and Development - 3 Credits
College Mathematics - 6 Credits
College Algebra - 3 Credits
Natural Sciences - 6 Credits
Western Civilization I: Ancient Near East to 1648 - 3 Credits
Western Civilization II: 1648 to the Present - 3 Credits
American Literature - 3 Credits
English Literature - 3 Credits
Principles of Macroeconomics - 3 Credits
Biology - 6 Credits

Level 4
Precalculus - 3 Credits
Information Systems - 3 Credits
Principles of Microeconomics - 3 Credits
American Government - 3 Credits
Financial Accounting - 3 Credits
Calculus - 4 Credits

Level 5
Introductory Business Law - 3 Credits
Chemistry - 6 Credits

Hopefully this list helps you in determining which exams to take in what order.

If you think I'm waaaaaaay off base with the difficulty of a particular exam on the Clep Difficulty List, then please let me know via the "Contact Us" button. I may not agree and it may not be changed, but if I get enough "OMG!" emails, I'll bow to public opinion sooner or later. ;)

Best of luck with your test taking!

-Justin

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