Discussion - Study.com difference between practice tests and actual exam

[gremlinbrawler]

So I just took Macroeconomics on Study.com and it seems like I didn't pass. Although I got 100% on all the quizzes before I took the test I think it said I only got 53/100 questions correct. So about 2 points short of a pass?
I took the the final practice test and got a 75% on that so I'm really confused. In the past I have usually scored even better on the real exam than on the practice test but it was just the opposite this time.
Has anyone else had this happen? And if so which tests were they?

- of course I haven't gotten my final results e-mail yet so I guess maybe I passed but it isn't looking likely.

[jsd]

I wouldn't feel comfortable taking a final exam if I only scored 75% on a practice :eek::eek::eek:

[gremlinbrawler]

Really? Even if you only need a 55% on the final to pass? Maybe I'm less cautious than most.

[rowan555]

Really? Even if you only need a 55% on the final to pass? Maybe I'm less cautious than most.

My son had the same experience with Principles of Finance - did okay on the practice final and got a 53 on the real final. He has since learned that the chapter tests are much more important in terms of studying and preparing for the proctored final.

And to the poster who said they wouldn't feel comfortable if they scored a 75 on the practice final - you only need a 55 on the final to pass most courses on Study.com, and for ones with written assignments, that score is lower - so a 75 on the practice final is more than enough reason to assume one is prepared for the final.

[gremlinbrawler]

My son had the same experience with Principles of Finance - did okay on the practice final and got a 53 on the real final. He has since learned that the chapter tests are much more important in terms of studying and preparing for the proctored final.

And to the poster who said they wouldn't feel comfortable if they scored a 75 on the practice final - you only need a 55 on the final to pass most courses on Study.com, and for ones with written assignments, that score is lower - so a 75 on the practice final is more than enough reason to assume one is prepared for the final.

Oh wow, well at least I'm not the only one. I'm okay with difficult courses as long as the practice test difficulty is consistent with the actual exam difficulty. I wouldn't mind at all having to go back and study more if I did poorly on a practice test but now I feel totally lost. I was planning on finishing my degree with Study.com but now I'm thinking of switching to Straight-line. I don't mean to dodge the blame for not knowing the material but I'm just really frustrated. I also normally don't have test taking anxiety or anything so I normally do just as well if not better on real tests as practice tests - Like with CLEP and DSST.
Oh well I guess I'll do some research and re-design my plan a bit.

Thanks for your feedback!

[TinHead]

So I just took Macroeconomics on Study.com and it seems like I didn't pass. Although I got 100% on all the quizzes before I took the test I think it said I only got 53/100 questions correct. So about 2 points short of a pass?
I took the the final practice test and got a 75% on that so I'm really confused. In the past I have usually scored even better on the real exam than on the practice test but it was just the opposite this time.
Has anyone else had this happen? And if so which tests were they?

- of course I haven't gotten my final results e-mail yet so I guess maybe I passed but it isn't looking likely.

I took Managerial Accounting 2 weeks ago an my initial score was 89% but I actually got 94% post review.

Principles of Finance was 84% but I actuallt got 89%.

I would wait and see

[jsd]

That's a pretty bizarre preliminary scoring setup

[ndelco]

I was under the impression that the preliminary score was the exam score and the score they email is the total course score with the quizzes included. But my scores didn't jump 5% like TinHead's so who knows?

I will say when I manually calculated my total grade by using the 100 for quizzes plus exam score, the final course grade was different than I calculated out of 210 points.

[KUJO]

I just finished Research Methods. I found the final exam to be very manageable. Problem is that the remote proctor program kept freezing and I had other technical errors. The program closed and reopened. Due to these errors I don't know if study.com will make me retest or not. I also ran into an issue where the technical support did remote access and it appeared they were trying to view things through my computer that they did not need access to. I will post more after I talk to someone from study.com.

[TESUAbroad]

Look Gremlinbrawler - you took the minimum effort route and paid the price.
Sometimes it works out, sometimes it doesn't - I think you may be upset about it because you know that you just had to do put in some more effort.
I would take it as a lesson learned, and try to engage the material with more depth, especially if you are struggling with the material.

I personally used the steps below to get past a class I dreaded, Principles of Finance. I am not the best when it comes to math.

TESUAbroad's Study.com learning guide(especially when it is all new content or difficult concepts):

Step 1: Read through and/or watch the videos
Step 2: After each lesson do the quizzes(get 100%, dont accept 80% will help with reinforcement and your grade) Finish all the lessons then go to step 3.
Step 3: Go over the lesson summaries for each chapter, then after you have done this for a chapter, take the chapter exam
Step 4: Go over your chapter exam(right after you took it), what did you get right? What did you get it wrong? - why did it you get it wrong?
(I wouldn't necessarily take the exam again, just take note of what you got wrong and what is right. However, if you did terribly for a chapter exam, retake it a later point)
Step 5: Take the practice exam and get somewhere in the 80s
After this you will most definitely be ready, however, if you still feel unsure
Step 6: Go over flashcards for difficult terms

Good luck and sorry about the setback.