Statistics - A Whole New Animal

[barcotta]

Barcotta,
I will be thinking about you on Wednesday - are you taking a computer version? Keep us posted on your experiences - I will be especially eager to hear how you did on this one. Steelers disappearing after taking Stat didn't help my confidence any, that's for sure:o
Here's pulling for you!

Thanks! Yep--it's computerized. I've gone over that feeling of hitting the "report score now" button for this test over and over in my head--something I NEVER did for ANY of the other tests (except may A&I Lit--'cause who the heck can tell how you did on that one???). Fortunately, I don't typically worry or panic so I'm going to go in knowing what I know and we'll see what happens. What concerns me the most now is on at least half of the sample problems, I know almost everything I need to know except for one final step or nuance which faithfully leads me to the wrong answer...

[yutzyj]

I just wanted to throw in a Good Luck to you when you take your test. The curve is your friend on this one!

[blueyzz28]

Good luck on this exam. I am scheduled to take the exam on September 26th and I may possibly move the exam up to September 19th. I have already been informed that I cannot bring a calculator. I must use the testing centers calculator and it is a simple calculator. There are keys for standard deviation, etc.

The only problem I have is memorizing all the formulas..LOL.

[jeremy1999]

Hey I dont really consider failing a clep test failing anything. If anything youll learn something you didnt and youll get it next time or it will make the class that much easier when you do take it. good luck on the test
jeremy

[barcotta]

Good luck on this exam. I am scheduled to take the exam on September 26th and I may possibly move the exam up to September 19th. I have already been informed that I cannot bring a calculator. I must use the testing centers calculator and it is a simple calculator. There are keys for standard deviation, etc.

The only problem I have is memorizing all the formulas..LOL.

Well, if it has keys for SD, it can't be all that simple. I told my testing center that I was bringing a calculator that conformed with the DSST guidelines. Actually, I told both people that work there and the second said, "OK." I'm holding them to it. If I were you, I'd find out which model they have so you can get one and practice on it--or show up early and ask them to let you use it along with the instructions.

I took the 10 question sample test last night and got 8 out of 10. God-willing that's some indication of my preparedness. In reading the fact sheet, I was reminded that the test is normed to the AVERAGE of C students taking this exam. So, we don't even have to score as well as the best C students. We just have to know as much as the average C student. I hope I'm there...

[blueyzz28]

That was a mistake in my post. The calculator does NOT have the standard deviation key, etc. It only has multiplication, division, square root, etc. So, I have to try to memorize many formulas..LOL I think I can pass without using a more advanced calculator, I just want to get an A, which may be a litte harder.

[barcotta]

[SIZE="2"]It is finished. It certainly was a big deal—if only because I made it a big deal, but this was easily the most stressful and emotional test of my short testing career. I passed with a score of 60. I needed a 55 for an “A” so I’m thrilled, to say the least. I don't know if I should credit the praying, finger crossing, rooting, studying, the curve or, likely, a combination of everything, but I really appreciated everyone's encouragement. I have plenty to say about this test as it was unique in many ways.

I studied very sporadically for this test over a period of three months. Not a great way to prepare. Additionally, I didn’t purchase any books. Not a good idea. However, in retrospect, since I passed, I can certainly say that it’s doable with only free resources and instantcert. The TECEP sample test was helpful too.

So how’d I do? Well, it’s a two-hour test and at the one-hour mark I had completed 33 of 100 questions. I wasn’t taking my time—so I knew that time would be an issue for me. To the extent that I don’t recall it being an issue for others who left feedback—I must be a bit on the slow side! I blanked out on some formula problems and it took me several minutes (which you don’t have) to get my bearings a few times.

I did my best to speed up and began just guessing on questions for which I couldn’t make an educated guess within 20 seconds or so. By the end I felt like I was playing the last round on the Family Feud where you just shout out the first thing that comes to your mind. I had nine questions to go with twelve minutes left. I had finally caught up. I finished (the last question was a “gimme” so make sure you make it there!) and had three minutes to look back. I had skipped two questions in the early going when I foolishly thought I would have time to go back to anything—so I went back and did those (and got one of them right!). Overall, I counted 36 that I knew, 28 that were 50/50 and 28 guesses. Eight were unaccounted for so you can probably spread them out. Actually, what’s the probability that six of those eight…. nevermind.

My primary resource was instantcert. The best thing about instantcert is it gives you a starting point and I found it to be pretty comprehensive. There is certainly some concepts missing—stem and leaf, boxplots and some detail on the advanced null hypothesis and Chi square concepts, but overall it was a great preparation tool. Pay particular attention to the “easy” cards—like the area under a curve = 1 and you can’t have an r value greater than 1, etc. Those type of questions were very prevalent in my exam. What wasn’t prevalent at all were z-scores. No table! In fact, they gave four or five scores on the first page which was sort of a “referral” sheet in the beginning, along with a few basic definitions—but I looked at them and I thought “what the heck is that????” It looked something like:

Z. 010 .0034
Z. 020 .0105
Z. 025 etc.

It didn’t even look familiar. There were several questions where I would have used a z-table if I had one—and assumably those values on the first page were to be used in those problems—but the z’s I came up with didn’t seem to have anything to do with them—which means they were probably wrong. In any event, my mastery of the z tables was of no value to me on the exam.

One thing I did before I signed in for the exam was to write down all the formulas I had memorized. I did this before the clock started ticking. That definitely helped, as several times when I didn’t know which formula to use I just looked at my formula sheet and tried to find a formula that made sense and had some of the variables for which the problem provided values.

My T1-30XIIS calculator wasn’t questioned. I didn’t have to use it a lot (although maybe if I were better prepared I would have!) It did speed up the three or four combination questions.

In order to avoid making this post any longer, I attached a text doc for anyone who may be interested in some detail regarding the topics covered on the test.

If I were to prepare for this exam again and I wanted to be efficient AND thorough, I would do instantcert along with a book. If I wanted to live dangerously and just pass, I would do instancert along with the whole Standard Deviants video and some Berkeley free podcasts. Berkley had the best and most comprehensive probabilities section of all the sources I used. Standard Deviants is a GREAT resource. See past feedback for links to Berkeley podcasts and United Streaming for the Standard Deviants videos.

I wasted a lot of time looking through free resources to bolster my knowledge in various areas. This was a big problem because I learned that there are a variety of approaches to Statistics and not everyone uses the same symbols for each variable. Additionally, every time I tried to find a source to help out with some of the more advance statistics, I ended up flooding my computer screen with dry, technical language and a seemingly bottomless pit of new and increasingly incomprehensible formulas. That’s why I recommend getting a book so you can be introduced to everything in order and mostly under one consistent method.

I'm thankful it's over. Truthfully, I didn't hate it--but I won't miss it. Thanks again to everyone on this forum. The feedback section gave me everything I needed to feel confident in preparing. If anyone has read this far and you have any questions--fire away--either here or a PM.[/SIZE]

[Basket Weaver]

WOW, great score and feedback. Congrats! Your excellent feedback and attachment have been added to the Specific Exam Feedback Section, it appears to be a "Must Read" for anyone attempting this exam. 5 Stars!

[yutzyj]

Nice A! Congratulations, barcotta, for putting this one behind you. It wasn't an easy test.

[Librevore]

[SIZE="2"]

Congratulations on a great pass, Barcotta!

[/SIZE]

Thank you so much for the feedback also. I need to take this one soon and your insights are very encouraging.