Study.com Principles of Finance (FIN 101)

[kalishakti]

Completed this course today, passed the final exam with an 85. This was another requirement (along with the computer/info systems requirement which I also completed through Study) that I was nervous about. As I mentioned in previous posts about other Study.com courses, Study.com has been a very good way for me to learn and complete material that I would be very stressed about trying to complete via a single exam (DSST/CLEP/TECEP/UExcel etc). This is a good thing I find that I enjoy and retain the material better this way on certain topics.

The course and exam have a “big-picture” perspective and focus a lot on really understanding underlying concepts and principles rather than memorizing complex formulas. I liked this approach for what is, after all, intended to be an introductory/101 course. There are some calculation questions that are very straightforward, and many many conceptual questions. A basic calculator is allowed on the final. Be sure you understand the rationale and thought processes that go into financial decisions, and have a good awareness of the legal and tax environments businesses must operate within. A business law course and a financial accounting course would be very helpful to have prior to taking this course, although the lessons do a good job of explaining the material even if you haven’t taken those courses yet.

My only complaint is that this course was the first Study.com course I took that did not have flashcards. I studied the lessons, quizzes and practice exams, but would have liked flashcards to be available as well.

[Rachel.Excels]

Yikes! No flashcards?! Thanks for the heads up. I'll be starting this course course later on today. I hope I do as well as you. Congrats!

[keepsingin]

The course and exam have a “big-picture” perspective and focus a lot on really understanding underlying concepts and principles rather than memorizing complex formulas

So you're saying there's no need to memorize any of the different financial formulas for the final? The quizzes and some of the chapter tests ask for calculations based on those complex formulas without giving the formula. Are you saying the final would provide the formula if they asked for a calculation, say, of the future value of an annuity?

[Synicaal]

So you're saying there's no need to memorize any of the different financial formulas for the final? The quizzes and some of the chapter tests ask for calculations based on those complex formulas without giving the formula. Are you saying the final would provide the formula if they asked for a calculation, say, of the future value of an annuity?

I took this final months ago and I had a bunch of questions that asked me what was the correct formula for such and such and also calculate to FV or this. So I think its random on what you get on your final. I just took the Business 308 Final and it asked a lot of geographic type questions so who knows.

[keepsingin]

I took this final months ago and I had a bunch of questions that asked me what was the correct formula for such and such and also calculate to FV or this. So I think its random on what you get on your final. I just took the Business 308 Final and it asked a lot of geographic type questions so who knows.

Thanks for the feedback; gonna get em memorized then to be safe!

[gremlinbrawler]

I took this course and I didn't completely memorize them and I did fine. I think I did have a couple formula questions but I did well enough on the rest of the test that it didn't matter. I'm sure it's better to memorize them though!

[kalishakti]

I took this course and I didn't completely memorize them and I did fine. I think I did have a couple formula questions but I did well enough on the rest of the test that it didn't matter. I'm sure it's better to memorize them though!

This was my experience as well, of course the exam questions may vary.