I'm Nervous - Advice?

[NJMike201]

Hi all,

I rarely whine or complain publicly but in this case I could use some words of encouragement and advice.

Historically, my plan has been to test cold and if I didn't pass, I typically knew what to study and then I could retest. I've very rarely failed. I'm lucky enough to have a career that I'm happy with and the degree is for personal satisfaction.

For the DSST/CLEP tests, I just had to wait a few months if failed, so I wasn't worried, which may or may not have helped me pass. Recently I've passed, CLEP Humanities, CLEP Natural Sciences, CLEP Social Sciences, DSST MIS, DSST Org Behavior, DSST Principles of Finance, DSST Business Ethics, and CLEP Analyzing Lit. I consider myself a fairly well rounded and intelligent person and these were all passed cold. I decided to study a little bit (a couple of hours) for for financial accounting and the economics tests and then passed those.

Now I'm almost done and I'm up to the TECEPs that I need. From what I understand the TECEPs only allow a single retake. I have several backup plans for ACC-102 if needed, and Penn Foster for Strategic Management if needed. Advertising, Financial Institutions and Sales Management don't seem to have many other options that I can find. So far, I'm 100% test and ACE/CERT transfer.

My guess (without any facts to support it) is that I'll pass advertising, sales and Financial Institutions cold. I know I'll need to study a little for managerial accounting and from what I've read, a lot for Strategic Management.

TECEP Principles of Managerial Accounting (ACC-102-TE)
TECEP Advertising (MAR-323-TE)
TECEP Financial Institutions & Markets (FIN-331-TE)
TECEP Sales Management (MAR-322-TE)
TECEP Strategic Management (BUS-421-TE)

Any advice? I suppose I may just be venting nervously and not asking a solid question, but perhaps some of your thoughts will help.

FYI - these will complete my TESC ASBA & BSBA Gen.

Thanks in advance!!!
Mike

[SweetSecret]

I'd actually suggest studying a lot for the Advertising TECEP. I'd say I'm a pretty well-rounded person, though not great with math/science, but I know for sure I wouldn't have been able to pass any of the TECEPS cold. I spent a lot of time studying for each of them, and still feel like I could have done so much better.You might want to compare the average passing score on the prior tests you've taken to this: What's your average TECEP score? - View Poll Results

Obviously some people are better than other at taking tests, and maybe you are one of them. I'd say at least study for the first one though, and then see if you feel you could have passed without studying.

[dfrecore]

I think the TECEP's are harder than CLEP/DSST just because of the nature; many have essays. It sure makes it a lot harder to take and pass than multiple choice.

I would say a couple of things:
1) if you don't pass the TECEP on the first go round, you can retake it and study harder the second time around
2) if you still don't pass, you can substitute another course in (SL's Managerial Accounting comes in as ACC-303 Cost Accounting to give you an UL Accounting course, and it would be easy to pass right after studying for the Managerial Accounting TECEP).
3) you can then substitute an easier TECEP in instead; I took Applied Math and it was extremely easy. Technical Writing wasn't too bad. English Comp II was ok. There will be others that are easier for you to take (Computers should be easy, Sociology, World History, etc.)

So, if you want to continue on your path, and just take the TECEP's cold, it's not the end of the world if you don't pass.

[cookderosa]

my advice is that your nerves will be calmed through study. What have you got to lose?

[selash]

At least review for these tests. Taking them cold is probably not the best idea...especially when it won't hurt to study.

I've learned that I do much better to not look at my books for at least a few hours before the exam. Just chill and you should be nice and calm before going in for the test.

[SweetSecret]

I've learned that I do much better to not look at my books for at least a few hours before the exam. Just chill and you should be nice and calm before going in for the test.

I've worked with professional counselors who also suggest this. For me though, maybe because I'm so forgetful, I have to take exams while I am still in the "mode" of thinking about the material... otherwise I just freak out during the exams.

OP, you may want to try both methods and see which one works best for you and people are very different and some do need to relax a bit prior to testing.

[mednat]

my advice is that your nerves will be calmed through study. What have you got to lose?

I agree. I test pretty well cold, but I would have failed if I attempted these TECEPS cold (I've only taken Advertising and Sales Management from your list).

I don't have your background, and you may pass right off. I wouldn't try it if it were me. Technical Writing, Liberal Arts Math and a couple of other TECEPS this is easily doable, but with the upperlevel tests, it's a gamble.

[Hunter91]

Good luck! Review these afterwards if you could, I'm also going to be taking many of the same ones.

[NJMike201]

(disclaimer - I'm really tired right now)

Well.... Oops.
Life got the better of me. Work has been busy. My wife is pregnant with our (g-d willing) next baby. Our toddler is about to turn 3. We're buying a house. My truck broke...and I had to learn how to fix it. I got sick (I healed - thank g-d).
All of that added up to me forgetting that the January semester at TESU ends a day from now.

Based on the info above, I had planned to study a little bit for each test but the date came faster than the studying did.

So - People asked for feedback and I'll give it. With that said, I'm trying REALLY hard to follow the TESU rules, so I'm being general, while giving the details that I think I can without breaking the rules.

To summarize, I think the TECEP tests are reasonable and if you know the material, you can pass. Nothing crazy. Just good solid tests. In my opinion, exactly what these tests should be. The ones I failed, were because I didn't know the material. The information they have in the test descriptions is accurate and a good study guide. Before taking the TECEPs I was intimidated a bit. I won't be next time. Compared to several tests that I've taking within my industry, these really seem reasonable and fair. Other tests that I've taken are looking for one obscure piece of information from a random page in a random book. These seem more like good solid core knowledge tests.


TECEP Principles of Managerial Accounting (ACC-102-TE) - Failed it by 2 questions (Scored 58 and 60 is passing). Totally cold. I felt good through a lot of the test but there was a lot on factory/plant accounting and I wasn't strong on that. Several budgeting questions about different budget types that I was lost on. I made educated guesses, but they were just that - guesses.

TECEP Advertising (MAR-323-TE) - Passed it. totally cold. Lots of general life knowledge, understanding technology (radio, TV, web sites, etc).

TECEP Financial Institutions & Markets (FIN-331-TE)- Also failed it by 2 questions (Scored 58 and 60 is passing). Totally cold. When I finished the test, I thought I passed, but the score said otherwise. There was a good amount of cross over with Macroeconomics. There is another posting on here with several example questions. They are very accurate and I wish I would have studied them before the test. They would likely have pushed me over the top to passing.

TECEP Sales Management (MAR-322-TE) - Passed it - but not by much. Totally cold. When I finished the test, I thought I would have be 90%+ but I was in the mid 70s. There were a good amount of questions that referred to the bases of power. I think that if I had studied that a bit as a refresher (I've read it in the past), it would have pushed me towards a more solid score. I was in sales for a couple of years so that probably helped. There was a good amount about motivation, management and ethics.


TECEP Strategic Management (BUS-421-TE) - I'm scared of this one. Tomorrow. I'll probably try to study a few hours for this.