Principles of Marketing - CLEP - REA book

[swthing64]

I am scheduled for the Marketing CLEP in two weeks. I have been utilizing IC along with the REA CLEP Principles of Marketing book. I did the first practice test last night and scored a 68%. I'm really not too surprised since some of the questions seemed pretty silly and with the process of elimination, it was easy to pick out the correct answer. Is this typical of the REA books? This is my first time using a REA book. Are they typically known to be a decent study guide for a CLEP exam?

Also, if anyone has taken the Marketing CLEP, do you recall how many/how much I'll need to know about markups and markdowns (percentages, etc.)? Should I really study those formulas hard or just know the basics?

Thank you.

[ShotoJuku]

Originally Posted by swthing64

I am scheduled for the Marketing CLEP in two weeks. I have been utilizing IC along with the REA CLEP Principles of Marketing book. I did the first practice test last night and scored a 68%. I'm really not too surprised since some of the questions seemed pretty silly and with the process of elimination, it was easy to pick out the correct answer. Is this typical of the REA books? This is my first time using a REA book. Are they typically known to be a decent study guide for a CLEP exam?

Also, if anyone has taken the Marketing CLEP, do you recall how many/how much I'll need to know about markups and markdowns (percentages, etc.)? Should I really study those formulas hard or just know the basics?

Thank you.

Concentrate on the basics, know your flashcards well plus the explanations too. The REA guide was top notch too. GOOD LUCK!!

[snazzlefrag]

Originally Posted by ShotoJuku

Concentrate on the basics, know your flashcards well plus the explanations too. The REA guide was top notch too. GOOD LUCK!!

swthing,

I agree with ShotoJuku.

I used the REA book and Instantcert too, and they are more than enough to pass this exam.

There will probably only be one or two questions about markup/markdown, and they will be VERY EASY if you know the formula.

Eg,
XYZ Company purchases a product at wholesale for $100 and sells it at retail for $150. What is XYZ's markup percentage on this product?

A. 25%
B. 50%
C. 100%
D. 150%

So don't sweat the calculations...just make sure you know the formula.

There are existing threads on this board which will provide you with additional details about the Marketing exam.

Let us know if you need anything else.

Best of luck to you,
Snazzlefrag

[swthing64]

Thanks for the responses. I am going to cover a lot of the IC material this weekend and also start on more of the practice tests in the REA book. I don't have a background in marketing but the material seems simple and common sense. I also just did a search on other posts regarding the marketing CLEP and found some helpful information. I hope it's as easy as everyone is saying. *biting nails* With the 48 I got in micro last month (needed a 50 to pass), I will go mental if I don't pass this one.

[siersema]

CLEP Marketing was the easiest test I've taken thus far. I only used the CLEP Official Study Guide, and scored a 71. I read it once, seemed easy enough, and so I took it the next day. There were perhaps four markup related questions. The Study Guide was dead on, and I swear I even had one or two questions that were exactly the same even down to which letter was the correct answer.

[swthing64]

Thanks for the information. Do you have any background in Marketing? I also looked at the CLEP study guide, briefly that is. But I honestly don't know if I could score a 71 by just looking over the study guide and with no background in Marketing. I'm currently doing IC and using the REA book. I will do the official CLEP Marketing guide once I get closer to my actual test date so as to gauge where I'm at. How do you people do it by just looking over the study guide from CLEP for a particular subject? I know some of it seemed like common sense (for Marketing that is) but some of the terminology I just wouldn't know without previous experience. Thoughts?

Originally Posted by siersema

CLEP Marketing was the easiest test I've taken thus far. I only used the CLEP Official Study Guide, and scored a 71. I read it once, seemed easy enough, and so I took it the next day. There were perhaps four markup related questions. The Study Guide was dead on, and I swear I even had one or two questions that were exactly the same even down to which letter was the correct answer.

[siersema]

I have no previous experience, just an interest in general business. A little informal help with previous employers I guess. I've also been a consumer most of my life and I think that helps a lot There seemed to be a good amount of questions that were easy to me such as what is a loss leader, product placement, cooperative advertising and so on. The one thing that I was a little surprised by was the number of questions that were related to e-commerce (perhaps 8-10). I don't think the study guide reflected these, but they weren't difficult. One of them even asked how an online vendor creates a community for it's customers.. mmm what are we using right now?

I don't normally take a test with such a small amount of study. I usually take a practice test (an official one if possible) and then base my study off how well I did on it. I've only skipped additional study on the Marketing & Management CLEPs.

Good Luck!

[adrian]

What is this book and where can I purchase them ?

[siersema]

Originally Posted by adrian

What is this book and where can I purchase them ?

You can find the REA CLEP guides nearly anywhere.. here's a link to one addition of it on Amazon, just do a search on Amazon to see the various versions of this book (just updated every few years)

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/087...Fencoding=UTF8

REA Guides are good overviews on the subject geared towards passing the test, they also include multiple practice tests (which in my opinion are the most important part of the book).

CLEP Subject Guides can be found here

http://store.collegeboard.com/productlist.do?countflag=true&catId=3&catId=3&type =7&countflag=true&currentPage=2&resultsPerPage=10

CLEP Subject guides are 50(ish) questions on the subject that are similar in content and structure to the real exam. There's also a very small overview of the sections of the exam.

[swthing64]

I'd be happy to send you my book in a few weeks when I am finished with it - just let me know.

Originally Posted by adrian

What is this book and where can I purchase them ?