Hello & Harder than I thought :-)

[Rebecca150]

Hello all. Fresh, academic-wanna-be meat here!

Just yesterday I signed up for IC. I picked a course, picked a flashcard set and got started. I had to go over and over the cards many times but I went from a 20% score yesterday to an 88% score today. The information was overwhelming at first, looking up some videos and lectures on youtube helped me to cement some concepts visually into my head.

It is my understanding that the flashcards hit the main points only. I definitely want a deeper understanding of the material than just "only what's important for the test". I think if I really focus on the cards and get that information cemented then I will be prepared to actually study the material more thoroughly. I wasn't sure about IC at first, but I think if I stick with it then it might help me greatly.

I'm just going to keep going through the sets for a couple clep subjects:-) In a week or two we'll see how I do on a practice test:-)

Wish me luck!

[cookderosa]

Hello all. Fresh, academic-wanna-be meat here!

Just yesterday I signed up for IC. I picked a course, picked a flashcard set and got started. I had to go over and over the cards many times but I went from a 20% score yesterday to an 88% score today. The information was overwhelming at first, looking up some videos and lectures on youtube helped me to cement some concepts visually into my head.

It is my understanding that the flashcards hit the main points only. I definitely want a deeper understanding of the material than just "only what's important for the test". I think if I really focus on the cards and get that information cemented then I will be prepared to actually study the material more thoroughly. I wasn't sure about IC at first, but I think if I stick with it then it might help me greatly.

I'm just going to keep going through the sets for a couple clep subjects:-) In a week or two we'll see how I do on a practice test:-)

Wish me luck!

It's easiest to do one subject at a time, and some tests are seriously better for "fresh meat" than others Mind sharing what you're working on? There will be a thread dedicated specifically to your test where you'll be able to zero in on the key points.
In many ways it's easier to test out of a class than you might expect, but in the same breath, don't underestimate the amount of info you'll have to get into your head to pull off a pass. One small caution, don't study too deep at the expense of studying broadly. These are 100/200 courses, so if you start going too deep, you'll lose ground. You need to know a little bit about everything- not a lot about a few things. Hope that helps. Good luck and welcome!!

[ShotoJuku]

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Shoto-Advice:

:iagree:

[SIZE="3"]"[/SIZE]EC[SIZE="3"]"[/SIZE]
"CCU"
"Prayer"
"A Pass is a Pass"
"Slow and Steady - Wins the Race"
[B][I]“Sometimes The Easy Way Is Not Always The Best Way”
"Passing a Petersons = Conquering a CLEP -or- Defeating a DSST"
"The 5 R's of Study: Repetition - Re-Enforces - Recognition - Recall - Retention"[/B][/I]
"Always be Ready to Release Your Mind & Incorporate the Advice of Others into Your Plans."
"Studying is much like Boiling Water, if it is not Heated Constantly it will Once Again Become Cold Water."


Other Sources of CLEP & DSST Study Material
[SIZE="3"]REA Books, Comex Books, Pass Your Class Guides, Standard Deviants DVD's, Petersons Practice Exams, [COLOR="Gold"]Dummies Books, Idiot's Guides [/COLOR]. [/SIZE]

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[COLOR="Navy"]

[SIZE="3"]Study Time: How I Did It…[/SIZE]

Pre-Study-Prep: Obtain or set up whatever materials I will need to study (IC Flashcards, REA Books, Standard Deviants Videos, Pass-Your-Class Guides, and Petersons Practice Exams.

Week One: Begin to read books, review flashcards, watch videos. Call your test center and make an appointment in advance as they sometimes require a few weeks advance notice)

Week Two: Re-read books, review flashcards, watch videos Take 1-2 practice exams

Week Three: Continue to review all materials, take additional/final practice exams. You should be passing these with room to spare. Take real exam at end of the week and PASS.

Note you should have at this point already acquired pre-study-prep materials for your next exam so as not to waste time.[/COLOR]


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Something Else To Know

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FACT: The lowest possible score is a 20. The highest possible is an 80.

FACT: Approx. 1/2 the questions on the test must be successfully answered to get a 50, or a pass.


THE HYPOTHESIS: In a 100 question test, such as Sociology and many others, there are only 60 possible points (between 20-80) for 100 questions.

60 points divided by 100 questions = .6pts

If each questions is worth .6 points, 50 correct questions = 50q X .6pts = 30pts

You must add 20 since 0 correct questions = 20pts.

30 points + 20 points = 50 points, or a pass.

Now:If each point in a 100 question test is worth .6 points, 100 questions X .6 points = 60; 60 + 20 = 80.

By this formula, answering 75 questions correctly would translate to a score of 65.

[Rebecca150]

Lots of great advice! Will definitely refer back to it.

I'm studying for the psychology test, maybe a bit hard for a starter but I'm interested...Also have tested myself on some history questions. Didn't do too bad:-)

I'm just going to play with flashcards for psychology for now and see how it works out.

[cookderosa]

Lots of great advice! Will definitely refer back to it.

I'm studying for the psychology test, maybe a bit hard for a starter but I'm interested...Also have tested myself on some history questions. Didn't do too bad:-)

I'm just going to play with flashcards for psychology for now and see how it works out.

You've actually picked an excellent starter exam. The material is very straight forward, and abundant. You won't have to "hunt and peck" to study, it's all right here. Notice I didn't say it was easy, but rather it is a predictable exam, and that can't be said for all of them. Good luck!

[Lindagerr]

Have you tried the free Peterson Practice exams? I usually do one near the begining of study to see how much current knowledge I have. Reading the explanations for both correct and incorrect answers also helps.

Psychology is a great starter test. Like Jennifer said know the broad points don't get to indept on any one point. I have never measured how well I did on IC flashcards but if you are at 88% I would think you are ready for the test and a Peterson will tell.

[Rebecca150]

Hey Linda, yesterday I had the 88 in just one section for the psychology flash cards. I worked on two more sections today.

I didn't take a baseline test to start but I'll try one of those peterson's tests when I get a little further along.

Rebecca

[cookderosa]

Hey Linda, yesterday I had the 88 in just one section for the psychology flash cards. I worked on two more sections today.

I didn't take a baseline test to start but I'll try one of those peterson's tests when I get a little further along.

Rebecca

When you use the practice tests, you can use them to study over and over, but only use the score from your first attempt of each exam. A repeated exam score is artificially high.

[burbuja0512]

Hi Rebecca and welcome! Yes, testing is harder than it sounds. However, you will get the hang of it and find a good study rhythm that works for you. My formula was always IC+Google+Specific Forum feedback with some Youtube lectures thrown in for the difficult topics. I also relied heavily on support from this forum.

You can do it and while it's not easy, it is an incredibly efficient way to gain credits. I never thought that I would finish, but as long as you stick to it and make sure to consistently schedule your tests, you will be done in no time!

[dcan]

I believe Burbuja mentioned elsewhere using IC as a basis for study rather than the only study guide. In other words, go through the flash cards, and when presented with unfamiliar material go look it up in Google, Wikipedia, etc. Also take copious notes. I'm studying for College Math right now and I'm filling up pages of notes copying down what I see on different videos, doing examples from tutorials, etc to try and cement it into my brain. Reading + watching + listening + writing = multiple modes of learning all focused in one direction.

I personally can't only use IC however. I need more structure. For example, in my study I'm using the Peterson's CLEP Success study guide (the tests are intense! :mad and also the Free-CLEP-Prep site study guide for my target CLEP test. I'll periodically come to IC as a flashcard for quick study. On other tests it may be more useful though.

Everybody learns differently, so just find what works for you and go with it.

Good luck!