DSST Principles of Statistics - Some Practical Advice

[atlmapas]

Before I took the Stats DSST test I searched this forum for some good pre-test advice, but did not find much help. Well, I took the test yesterday and got a 444. I am relieved to have passed the test and want to share some advice for those who are trying to tackle Stats.

1. Instantcert flash cards were very helpful and were my primary study tool. I also did the 3 free practice tests on Peterson's DOD site. The Peterson's practice tests were much harder than the real test. so they helped as well.
2. You will need to memorize several key formulas; namely, Std Error of the Mean, Mutually Exclusive, Non-Mutually Exclusive, Dependent and Non-Dependent Probability, Standard Deviation, Y-Intercept, Slope of Linear Regression, Permutations, Combinations, and Z-Score Formula. Make sure you have these formulas committed to memory before the test.
3. USE YOUR TIME WISELY! You have 120 minutes to answer 98 questions, so that only leaves you 73 seconds per question. I had over 20 questions left when I got the 5 minute warning and had to start guessing at questions and did not even get to answer the last 10. I was very lucky to pass by only answering 88 questions.
4. I spent about 3 weeks studying and pretty much had the Instantcert flash card questions memorized by the time I took the test.
5. One thing the Instantcert flash cards do not cover very well is Significance Level and Chi Square; you will need to know both of them for a lot of questions. I used the Khan Academy videos for those 2 topics, but still was not very comfortable with either topic going into the test. I think most the questions I got wrong were on those 2 topics.

I hope this information helps anyone who is trying to test out of this very difficult subject.

Good Luck!

[tomslifka12]

Thanks for the advice. I'm a nurse in the Navy in a Cardiovascular Technician Program. I got my Associates RN as a civilian and joined the Navy's Cardiovascular Tech / Echocardiogram Tech program. While a student, we're not allowed to attend school or even take CLEP exams because it takes away from the Navy school. Studying for Statistics, I totally agree. I've been doing an hour or two every night and all day on the weekends for 2 weeks. Test is next Thursday at 6. I don't think I'll be ready, but that makes it exciting.

[Daithi]

I found that ALEKS was a lot easier than studying for the DSST exam. I didn't know squat about statistics, but I was able to get through ALEKS statistics fairly quickly (about a week).

[speedbird]

Before I took the Stats DSST test I searched this forum for some good pre-test advice, but did not find much help.  Well, I took the test yesterday and got a 444.  I am relieved to have passed the test and want to share some advice for those who are trying to tackle Stats.

1. Instantcert flash cards were very helpful and were my primary study tool.  I also did the 3 free practice tests on Peterson's DOD site.  The Peterson's practice tests were much harder than the real test. so they helped as well.  
2. You will need to memorize several key formulas; namely, Std Error of the Mean, Mutually Exclusive, Non-Mutually Exclusive, Dependent and Non-Dependent Probability, Standard Deviation, Y-Intercept, Slope of Linear Regression, Permutations, Combinations, and Z-Score Formula.  Make sure you have these formulas committed to memory before the test.
3. USE YOUR TIME WISELY!  You have 120 minutes to answer 98 questions, so that only leaves you 73 seconds per question.  I had over 20 questions left when I got the 5 minute warning and had to start guessing at questions and did not even get to answer the last 10.  I was very lucky to pass by only answering 88 questions.
4. I spent about 3 weeks studying and pretty much had the Instantcert flash card questions memorized by the time I took the test.  
5. One thing the Instantcert flash cards do not cover very well is Significance Level and Chi Square; you will need to know both of them for a lot of questions.  I used the Khan Academy videos for those 2 topics, but still was not very comfortable with either topic going into the test.  I think most the questions I got wrong were on those 2 topics.

I hope this information helps anyone who is trying to test out of this very difficult subject.

Good Luck!

Thank you for your guidance I know it's been several years but I'm sure this will help me. 

[darline]

Before I took the Stats DSST test I searched this forum for some good pre-test advice, but did not find much help.  Well, I took the test yesterday and got a 444.  I am relieved to have passed the test and want to share some advice for those who are trying to tackle Stats.

1. Instantcert flash cards were very helpful and were my primary study tool.  I also did the 3 free practice tests on Peterson's DOD site.  The Peterson's practice tests were much harder than the real test. so they helped as well.  
2. You will need to memorize several key formulas; namely, Std Error of the Mean, Mutually Exclusive, Non-Mutually Exclusive, Dependent and Non-Dependent Probability, Standard Deviation, Y-Intercept, Slope of Linear Regression, Permutations, Combinations, and Z-Score Formula.  Make sure you have these formulas committed to memory before the test.
3. USE YOUR TIME WISELY!  You have 120 minutes to answer 98 questions, so that only leaves you 73 seconds per question.  I had over 20 questions left when I got the 5 minute warning and had to start guessing at questions and did not even get to answer the last 10.  I was very lucky to pass by only answering 88 questions.
4. I spent about 3 weeks studying and pretty much had the Instantcert flash card questions memorized by the time I took the test.  
5. One thing the Instantcert flash cards do not cover very well is Significance Level and Chi Square; you will need to know both of them for a lot of questions.  I used the Khan Academy videos for those 2 topics, but still was not very comfortable with either topic going into the test.  I think most the questions I got wrong were on those 2 topics.

I hope this information helps anyone who is trying to test out of this very difficult subject.

Good Luck!

Actually, you are the ONLY help I have found on this forum. Where can I get the flash cards?

[speedbird]

Before I took the Stats DSST test I searched this forum for some good pre-test advice, but did not find much help.  Well, I took the test yesterday and got a 444.  I am relieved to have passed the test and want to share some advice for those who are trying to tackle Stats.

1. Instantcert flash cards were very helpful and were my primary study tool.  I also did the 3 free practice tests on Peterson's DOD site.  The Peterson's practice tests were much harder than the real test. so they helped as well.  
2. You will need to memorize several key formulas; namely, Std Error of the Mean, Mutually Exclusive, Non-Mutually Exclusive, Dependent and Non-Dependent Probability, Standard Deviation, Y-Intercept, Slope of Linear Regression, Permutations, Combinations, and Z-Score Formula.  Make sure you have these formulas committed to memory before the test.
3. USE YOUR TIME WISELY!  You have 120 minutes to answer 98 questions, so that only leaves you 73 seconds per question.  I had over 20 questions left when I got the 5 minute warning and had to start guessing at questions and did not even get to answer the last 10.  I was very lucky to pass by only answering 88 questions.
4. I spent about 3 weeks studying and pretty much had the Instantcert flash card questions memorized by the time I took the test.  
5. One thing the Instantcert flash cards do not cover very well is Significance Level and Chi Square; you will need to know both of them for a lot of questions.  I used the Khan Academy videos for those 2 topics, but still was not very comfortable with either topic going into the test.  I think most the questions I got wrong were on those 2 topics.

I hope this information helps anyone who is trying to test out of this very difficult subject.

Good Luck!

Actually, you are the ONLY help I have found on this forum. Where can I get the flash cards?

Have you taken the test yet? Im stuying hoping to take it in 3 weeks