09-14-2007, 11:36 PM
I passed the DSST World Religions that I sat for on August 24, 2007. This was my first DSST exam so I was quite nervous about what to expect. I am not one to suffer from text anxiety, but I have to admit I was apprehensive going in and didnât really relax until the very end of the exam when I had decided that I probably had answered enough questions correctly to pass the exam.
I passed with a scaled score of 68 against a minimum passing score of 48. I feel that for the most part the flash cards from Instacert were adequate. I did buy a secondary study guide but never looked at it. Of course when I say that IC is adequate I mean as long as you know at least 85 to 95 % of the answers before testing. This is critical to passing.
I left the testing center with the feeling that I passed, but not with an overwhelming sense that I passed. Some of that feeling can be attributed to my own inner desire to go in and just blow the test away, but this subject is just not one you can do that with (Well, I know some of you can, but not me).
The areas to concentrate on are Hinduism, Confucianism, Buddhism, and the historical persons or deities and their teachings and text. This is not to say you should ignore the rest of the study material. I found that I was fairly weak on Christianity and missed a few questions I feel that I should have known. Also know what differentiates the Torah, Talmud, and Mishna. There is a lot of material to cover and it is easy to get discouraged.
I found myself getting certain questions from Hinduism and Buddhism mixed up while studying and was very concerned that I would do the same thing on the exam. Iâm happy to report that this did not happen due to the questions on the exam being fairly straight forward about the subject matter being discussed.
The only serious complaints I have with my first DSST exam was the fact that it was a paper and pencil exam and to make matters worse it was the fill in the bubble type! I havenât taken a bubble test in twenty years!
Even though I donât like the fill in the bubble exams this complaint is nothing compared to the wait that I went through for my score to be snail mailed to me. I must be spoiled by the instant gratification of the CLEP exams that I have taken. I waited one day short of three weeks to get my grade! This was torture! Well, ok, Iâm overreacting, but it was still annoying.
In that three week period I went from feeling as though I passed the exam to slowly believing I had failed it! Of course a lot of that is my own fault for not controlling my own thoughts. I hate it when I give in to negativity! But still, almost three weeks?!!
The good news is my testing center will soon be going to computer based testing (CBT) for all DSST exams in the near future according to my proctor.
In closing I highly recommend this exam, especially for those who need a religious requirement for their degree or just want to expand their knowledge about world religions. The difficulty level is adequate enough to give you a good overview without overloading you to the point of complete information dump as soon as youâre finished with the exam. I know there are more insightful post regarding this subject, but that is my two cents worth.
Good Luck, Jay
CLEPS
American Government 62
U.S. History I 58
U.S. History II 64
Intro Psychology 56
Humanities 51
Info Systems & Com App 60
Intro Sociology 73
Principles of Marketing 69
Principles of Management 71
Intro. Educational Psychology 58
DSST World Religion 68
I passed with a scaled score of 68 against a minimum passing score of 48. I feel that for the most part the flash cards from Instacert were adequate. I did buy a secondary study guide but never looked at it. Of course when I say that IC is adequate I mean as long as you know at least 85 to 95 % of the answers before testing. This is critical to passing.
I left the testing center with the feeling that I passed, but not with an overwhelming sense that I passed. Some of that feeling can be attributed to my own inner desire to go in and just blow the test away, but this subject is just not one you can do that with (Well, I know some of you can, but not me).
The areas to concentrate on are Hinduism, Confucianism, Buddhism, and the historical persons or deities and their teachings and text. This is not to say you should ignore the rest of the study material. I found that I was fairly weak on Christianity and missed a few questions I feel that I should have known. Also know what differentiates the Torah, Talmud, and Mishna. There is a lot of material to cover and it is easy to get discouraged.
I found myself getting certain questions from Hinduism and Buddhism mixed up while studying and was very concerned that I would do the same thing on the exam. Iâm happy to report that this did not happen due to the questions on the exam being fairly straight forward about the subject matter being discussed.
The only serious complaints I have with my first DSST exam was the fact that it was a paper and pencil exam and to make matters worse it was the fill in the bubble type! I havenât taken a bubble test in twenty years!
Even though I donât like the fill in the bubble exams this complaint is nothing compared to the wait that I went through for my score to be snail mailed to me. I must be spoiled by the instant gratification of the CLEP exams that I have taken. I waited one day short of three weeks to get my grade! This was torture! Well, ok, Iâm overreacting, but it was still annoying.
In that three week period I went from feeling as though I passed the exam to slowly believing I had failed it! Of course a lot of that is my own fault for not controlling my own thoughts. I hate it when I give in to negativity! But still, almost three weeks?!!
The good news is my testing center will soon be going to computer based testing (CBT) for all DSST exams in the near future according to my proctor.
In closing I highly recommend this exam, especially for those who need a religious requirement for their degree or just want to expand their knowledge about world religions. The difficulty level is adequate enough to give you a good overview without overloading you to the point of complete information dump as soon as youâre finished with the exam. I know there are more insightful post regarding this subject, but that is my two cents worth.
Good Luck, Jay
CLEPS
American Government 62
U.S. History I 58
U.S. History II 64
Intro Psychology 56
Humanities 51
Info Systems & Com App 60
Intro Sociology 73
Principles of Marketing 69
Principles of Management 71
Intro. Educational Psychology 58
DSST World Religion 68