You don’t have to take a class (like AP and IB) to take a CLEP test and some are pretty easy to study for on your own. Some are really really hard.

The cost is reasonable and most college testing centers offer them.

DANTES are similar but finding a testing center can be more of a challenge.

The 5 CLEP general exams are worth 30 semester hours of credit. That’s a whole year of college. Provided you can study enough to pass them. The study guides online are sufficient to let you know if you know the material.

http://www.collegeboard.com/student/testing/clep/about.html

Careful though – some schools limit the amount of credit you can earn by examination to 30 hours.

Dual enrollment is when you actually take the class at a college or university. It takes a lot of time, and you have to actually do the work. The good thing is that it’s free, (even the textbook). Dual enrollment also looks good on a high school transcript.

AP tests are amazing! I took the AP French Language test without ever taking a french class (it’s my native language) and scored a 5 on it, earning 8 credits in college (French 1, French 2, French speaking). That’s like a year and a half of French, and I never even took a class! All for a 3-hour test! However, AP tests do not show up on your high school transcripts, thus not helping at all with college admission.

My advice to you is to take all the AP tests you can, in subjects you are skilled in and you have taken classes in. They are a great way to get a head start.

APs are the way to go! Dual enrollment credits don’t transfer at some colleges. I have friends who learned the hard way.

Take the AP classes and then look at the CLEP exams you can take. You may be able to get a year’s worth of credit, but probably not more than that.