Anybody use InstantCert anymore?

[Scott0033]

Instantcert has been great for me. Maybe you are thinking it is slow because it has been the holidays??

[annegirl]

So far instantcert has been awesome for me and all my siblings. We have passed every CLEP we have taken. I'm 9/9, my 22 year old sister is 3/3, my 20 year old sister is 4/4, my 18 year old brother is 4/4, and my 16 year old brother is 4/4.

Instantcert works!

[AllBusinessJoe]

I guess what I am starting to see as the norm is people failing the new DSST exams. And I have not seen any specific exam results for the new updated flash cards. Its as if people are afraid to take the new DSST exams.

Again, it seems that failing has become the norm for these exams. It seems most of the passing scores occurred PRIOR to the new updated exams be released.

[studyhard]

So far instantcert has been awesome for me and all my siblings. We have passed every CLEP we have taken. I'm 9/9, my 22 year old sister is 3/3, my 20 year old sister is 4/4, my 18 year old brother is 4/4, and my 16 year old brother is 4/4.

Instantcert works!

Hey that's cool, Autumn! I didn't realize you had so many family members CLEPping with you.

I don't post on this forum much 'cause I'm.....*cough*.....done with my degree now, YAHOO!!!!!! But with the help of IC, I passed every test I ever took, usually with a decently wide margin.

[sgloer]

Again, it seems that failing has become the norm for these exams. It seems most of the passing scores occurred PRIOR to the new updated exams be released.

You must be basing this perception on just a couple of people's posts indicating that they failed, because I recall at most a couple of reports (on this forum anyway) of people failing one of the new Dantes, while I seem to recall a lot more indicating passing scores.

Also, my impression is that the changes in the majority of the "new" Dantes exams are mostly cosmetic--i.e. with the new scoring system--whereas the content has not changed dramatically. The new scoring system feels harder by tightening the score range (i.e. passing is only 400 to 500 instead of 50 to 80). This makes a passing score of 425 feel like a "by the skin of your teeth" pass, but the fact is that it's probably roughly equivalent to a 57 or 58 on the old scoring system, which would be a perfectly solid pass.

Any perceived increase in difficulty level in the exams is an illusion. In the end, the scores mean the exact same thing as they did before--they are curved, weighted scores based on the test results of "average" college students with no special Dantes-specific preparation. If these average college students can pass, there is absolutely no reason why any average adult student couldn't pass with a little bit of preparation and test-taking skills.

Also, please note that we have released updated materials for several of the revised exams including Intro to World Religions, Here's to Your Health, Management Information Systems, Ethics in America, and Substance Abuse. We're currently working on updating Criminal Justice.

Keep on plowing through these tests people! Just do your due diligence; with a little research, a little bit of hitting the books, you WILL succeed!

[thatbrian]

Here is some info on how the pass rates have changed on the 10 exams. These are military pass rates only.

CRIMINAL JUSTICE 40% down to 35%

ETHICS IN AMERICA 82% down to 30%

FUNDAMENTALS OF COLLEGE ALGEBRA 23% down to 12%

HERE'S TO YOUR HEALTH 70% down to 41%

INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTING 83% down to 53%

INTRODUCTION TO WORLD RELIGIONS 53% down to 30%

MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEMS 58% down to 33%

PERSONAL FINANCE 61% down to 31%

PRINCIPLES OF STATISTICS 24% up to 49%

SUBSTANCE ABUSE 37% up to 39%

[AllBusinessJoe]

Here is some info on how the pass rates have changed on the 10 exams. These are military pass rates only.

CRIMINAL JUSTICE 40% down to 35%

ETHICS IN AMERICA 82% down to 30%

FUNDAMENTALS OF COLLEGE ALGEBRA 23% down to 12%

HERE'S TO YOUR HEALTH 70% down to 41%

INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTING 83% down to 53%

INTRODUCTION TO WORLD RELIGIONS 53% down to 30%

MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEMS 58% down to 33%

PERSONAL FINANCE 61% down to 31%

PRINCIPLES OF STATISTICS 24% up to 49%

SUBSTANCE ABUSE 37% up to 39%

Wow. Nice work! I applaud your research.

I can see that I am not crazy in my assumptions.

A few months ago I took the new "Here's to your Health" exam which was very, very difficult. In fact, about 10 minutes into the exam I actually had to look up at the heading at the top of the computer screen to make sure I was taking the correct exam and not some other health related exam.

I wound up passing with a 404 out of 400. And this exam had the reputation for being one of the easier exams.

Looks like we all have to buck up out there.

[sgloer]

In regards to the military pass rates, those need to be taken with a grain of salt. Those statistics are skewed by a high number of soldiers who take the exam with little or no preparation because they're free.

This means that the military pass rates are more a measure of how easily an exam can be passed with no preparation rather than how difficult an exam is for someone who's studied the fundamentals of the subject; i.e. an average college student who just finished a course in the subject should be equally likely to pass the new exam as the old exam.

In an ideal world, you would compare pass rates of people who studied the recommended textbook and then took both the old exam and the new exam--those pass rates should be the same because the process of validating these exams is the same.

[ShotoJuku]

In regards to the military pass rates, those need to be taken with a grain of salt. Those statistics are skewed by a high number of soldiers who take the exam with little or no preparation because they're free.

[COLOR="Navy"]More like a whole salt-shaker!

The MPR is a composite percentage of the thousands of military test-takers that have sat the exam, many-many-many are "walk-ins" who sit the exam as a lark (without any prep) just to see if they can score some credits.

Therefore the low pass rate is a mere reflection of 1. the exam weight, 2. preparation is a must, and 3. IC is certainly a proven system that overcomes and satisfies both 1 & 2.[/COLOR]

[thatbrian]

I think that I am comparing apples to apples here. I do understand that many in the military take these exams with little or no study, but my post does show that 8 of 10 of these exams are tougher to pass. The same group (military) took both the old and new versions.

In regards to the military pass rates, those need to be taken with a grain of salt. Those statistics are skewed by a high number of soldiers who take the exam with little or no preparation because they're free.

This means that the military pass rates are more a measure of how easily an exam can be passed with no preparation rather than how difficult an exam is for someone who's studied the fundamentals of the subject; i.e. an average college student who just finished a course in the subject should be equally likely to pass the new exam as the old exam.

In an ideal world, you would compare pass rates of people who studied the recommended textbook and then took both the old exam and the new exam--those pass rates should be the same because the process of validating these exams is the same.