CBE time limits?

[robobatt]

Haven't taken any cbe yet. Those that have, do you find that if you're properly prepared you have enough time to complete them without rushing like a madman towards the very end?

[gunit1]

I've took CBE CLEP exams and paper and pencil untimed DSST exams. I've never had a CLEP exam where I was going to/ran out of time. What did however, happen was the thought of running out of time spooked me to work quicker and then at the end of the exam I would always have 20-35 minutes extra at the end of each exam. If you studied, stay calm and don't spend an extreme amount of time on any particular question, time should not bother you.

[freddy]

I've only taken CLEP and have never had an issue. I will read the question and answer it if I know it. If I don't know the answer for sure, I will make my best guess and then click on the review later box. Once I've gone through all the questions I will go through the questions I check marked to see if I can reason my way through it.

[mrs.b]

I've only taken CLEP and have never had an issue. I will read the question and answer it if I know it. If I don't know the answer for sure, I will make my best guess and then click on the review later box. Once I've gone through all the questions I will go through the questions I check marked to see if I can reason my way through it.

For most of the tests I took, I finished in roughly half to 3/4 of the allotted time by following the same strategy freddy detailed; every exam was finished with at least 20 minutes to spare. I would read the question and immediately answer those I knew for certain. If I did not know right away, I would take a few extra seconds to consider and make a best guess, then mark it for review. Once done with the first pass, I'd go back and spend as much time as was needed to review, but by the time I revisited the questions, something generally came up in a later question to spark my memory. If I still did not know, I'd stick with best guess.

[robobatt]

Thanks guys. It seems the time limit for clep is 90 min but the number of questions varies depending on the test. Gonna start preparing soon.

[Lindagerr]

I use the same methods as above I never ran out of time and usually finished with time to spare with only one test and I can't remember which I was so unsure of my answers I was on like the 4th review when I ran out of time so as long as you don't let any one problem hold you up for too long you should be fine. If I had to take a pen and paper test I used the scrap paper to write down the number of questions I was unsure of, that made it easier to go back and rethink them.

[BIPolarGuy]

As for CLEP exams, I always had enough time to spare with the exception of college composition(with essays). (took every second of that one). The DSST exams all have had 2 hours and i have always finished well under that. As long as I was prepared, the tests were no problem. I always followed the above listed techniques and those help with time management.
One strategy mentioned in another thread is to make a table as follows:
! | 50/50 | ?
-------------------
! = your 90% or better on that answer
5/50 = you narrowed the answer to 1 of 2 answers
? = you just guessed

put a hash mark in the corresponding column after each answer. mark the 50/50 and ? for review.

when you look at it at the end of the test, do a quick calculation. 90% of the !, 40% of the 50/50 and 20% of the ?. if that gives you over 60% you should be good. ( note those are what I use for percentages, go with whatever works for you)
for ex. out of 100 q's i might have ! =55, 50/50=25, ? = 20 ( .9*55 +.4*25 +.2*20 = 63.5)( that was pretty close to my human resource test last week and I got a 63 score on the test)

So far with that formula, I have passed all my tests comfortably and it allowed me to focus on those ? and 50/50 at the end.


Also, if you currently get extra time on tests in school ( or have any conditions that would allow you get that accommodation) let the proctor know ahead of time and they will tell you what information they need to get that approved.

Greg

[cookderosa]

I generally used a good portion of the time, and on analyzing and interpreting lit I almost ran out. I like to check my time at the half way mark. If I'm more than half way through, I just keep going. If I'm behind, I hurry to the end of the test and mark "B" for the last 10 or so questions. Then, I go back to where I left off. As I get to the questions that I'd already marked, I simply select the right answer. If I run out of time, at least there was a chance for a correct answer.
One other thing, when you really don't have a clue on an answer- and can't even use process of elimination, just answer "B" (or whatever) and move on. Any seconds wasted there are wasted. Better to use your time on questions where you might be able to deduce the correct answer.

[Daithi]

The only test I've ran out of time on is the College Composition exam (I should have done a few practice essays). I had plenty of enough time to finish exams that just asked questions. However, I did my tests a little differently than described above. If I knew the answer, I answered it. If I wasn't sure but felt comfortable guessing then I would guess and Mark It. I may not have been sure about my guess, but I trust my gut, so I probably wouldn't change my answer on these marked questions. If I had no idea, I left it blank. This way, if I got down to just a couple minutes left, I could go back to the unanswered questions and make any guess (i.e. just answer "B"). However, if I had time left over (which I always did) then I could give the unanswered questions a second reading to see if they made more sense, or maybe a subsequent question jogged a memory. Only if I still had time would I take a second look at the Marked questions. I also kept an eye on the clock as I worked my way through the exam so that I wouldn't get into a time crunch.

[Westerner]

I just keep an eye on the clock I understand some people may get nervous doing that but it's really a great way to pace yourself. I never used the option to hide the clock on CLEPs and would never recommend using it.