How did you decide what order to do your exams?

[LOC4ME]

Did you start with lower level and move up to upper level? Did you do all cleps and then dsst and/or other exam sources?

How did you make your plan on when to take which exam? TIA

[burbuja0512]

Did you start with lower level and move up to upper level? Did you do all cleps and then dsst and/or other exam sources?

How did you make your plan on when to take which exam? TIA

I mapped out which tests I needed, starting first with my general requirements. Then, I looked at all the tests available and figured out which ones interested me most.

I chose the very easiest one for me to begin with, based on my life experience. Don't start off with a difficult one. Ease your way into it and over-study as much as you can.

Every time I come home from the testing center, I have a pattern. I add my testing comments to the specific feedback part of the forum. Then, I update my signature, which is my reward for passing the test, then I will cross the exam off of my "list of exam spreadsheet" and immediately decide which exam to do next, along with a target date.

This last part is really important and is what has kept me on track. It's so easy when you're self-paced to take your sweet time and skip testing for months at a time. And if that's what you want to do, no problem! However, I have found that giving yourself a date and sticking to it is just as important as everything else you do.

HTH!

[creative]

I definitely started out with lower level exams because I wanted to ease myself into this whole process---it has been a long time since I was in college. I chose Human Growth and Development as my first exam. I chose this exam because I had some prior knowledge in this area and it was a Clep ---which means more available study materials like REA books, Peterson tests etc. The Dsst exams sometimes are difficult to find practice tests or books to help you study. I also planned for exams that overlapped-- the psych exams overlap a lot. I saved the upper level exams for last. They were not that bad because I took ECE exams which provide very detailed info of what you need to know for the exam and you can purchase practice tests which are a HUGE help. What degree are you working towards? Maybe other people with that degree can provide info what worked for them.

[creative]

I chose the very easiest one for me to begin with, based on my life experience. Don't start off with a difficult one. Ease your way into it ...

burbuja-- Looks like we think alike on this one!

[P00057870]

I agree pretty much with barbuja's comments above with a few additions.

DO start with subjects you know, study and prepare, and then when you pass, it will help your confidence for the future. Each time I passed a test, not only was their a bit of a high, but it helped me to feel encouraged to study even more as the subjects became harder for me, not to mention honing the very rusty studying and testing skills.

DO plan out what you need carefully but be prepared to make changes. Once you start working with the counselors at your college, you may find out your plan needed tweaking or you may have misunderstood what you thought was requried.

DO plan ahead and then allow for flexibility when necessary. I found that when studying the Specific Exam Feedbacks, I found out that perhaps taking certain tests in a specific sequence was suggested that may have been contrary to my original plan - but I believe those who have gone before and had the experience, so modifications in sequence were made and have proven beneficial.

My mind works in a rather linear fashion, so I pretty much did lower level first, as I wanted an actual AS in my hands, so I had an actual degree completed. Then I went on to my upper levels. I have seen some other people post that they wished they had saved at least one easier lower level test for their last one, so they might not have been as concerned over that very last one.

I'm sure others will make additional suggestions that worked for them.

Good luck

[Potatoloco]

I had roughly 70 B&M credits before I decided to pursue the rest online. As a result of a majority of my lower level credits in the bag, my strategy is simply find the exams/classes that have overlap value to them. I rarely worry about how easy or difficult an exam could be. Instead I study under the assumption this is the most difficult exam I've ever had. It allows me to focus on what I need to do to prep myself. This probably isn't a sound strategy for everyone, but it's the best for my mental prep for each exam.

[Elinor]

I mapped out which tests I needed, starting first with my general requirements. Then, I looked at all the tests available and figured out which ones interested me most.

I chose the very easiest one for me to begin with, based on my life experience. Don't start off with a difficult one. Ease your way into it and over-study as much as you can.

Every time I come home from the testing center, I have a pattern. I add my testing comments to the specific feedback part of the forum. Then, I update my signature, which is my reward for passing the test, then I will cross the exam off of my "list of exam spreadsheet" and immediately decide which exam to do next, along with a target date.

This last part is really important and is what has kept me on track. It's so easy when you're self-paced to take your sweet time and skip testing for months at a time. And if that's what you want to do, no problem! However, I have found that giving yourself a date and sticking to it is just as important as everything else you do.

HTH!

I did pretty much the same thing. My first tests were A&I Lit and English Comp (the old version), and I don't think they're lower level. I knew from friends that A&I would be easy for me, and I have always been fairly strong in English. I chose to start with something easy... mainly because the whole process terrified me. :p

BTW, Burbuja, I have a very similar post-test habit! It's more and more exciting every test I get to mark off!

Did you start with lower level and move up to upper level? Did you do all cleps and then dsst and/or other exam sources?

How did you make your plan on when to take which exam? TIA

I did start with all my gen ed requirements; my goal was to finish all those in 1 year! So, while I didn't have a perfectly mapped out route, I did have some direction. I took English and American Lit., and read that they were good prep for the Humanities. So, I took that next, and followed that one 2 or 3 days later with the Art DSST (then my problem was finding another subject for my gen ed electives :p). I love it when I'm able to build upon previous experience, and that's coming in even more handy now that I've reached the point where I'm taking my Area of Study tests. I took Vietnam, followed it with Western Europe, and will begin studying for Soviet Union soon. Definitely try to be smart with your studying; I wish I'd taken Civil War back when I took US I&II. I guess that's something you kind of learn along the way though.

[PonyGirl93]

I made a map of the tests that I would need for my gen eds, then I kind of accidentally decided to do US1 first, only because that was the first book we ordered. Then after that I got wise and did A&IL. From there I was pretty confident, so I tried to intersperse hard ones with easy ones. I went on a spree before Christmas, a test a week, then I started to get more unfamiliar topics so I did one every other week. Overall I was very happy with how I laid out my topics.

An important thing to keep in mind is how the tests relate to each other. Take Eng Lit and Am Lit before Humanities, take Intro to Soc and Psych before SS&H, etc etc.

[peszcandy]

You may not think it looking at the titles but, I passed these 4 exams in a 2 week period. There was lots of overlapping material and when I took the final one, Ethics in America, I scored a 473 with a total of 4 hours studying the instacert flash cards.

DSST - Intro to World Religions
CLEP - Western Civilization II
DSST - Rise and Fall of the Soviet Union
DSST - Ethics in America

[15%Luck]

Start Easy. Once you've passed a few then start moving into tests that overlap. It's key that you take tests that overlap near the same time it will save you a lot of repetitive studying.

For instance, take micro and macro econ near the same time as soon as your done with those take Finance and M&B. They all build on each other and overlap more or less.


My academic coach didn't help me do this and the result was some serious frustration.