new dsst substance abuse

[BURGETRN]

Just as a heads up, my wife took the dantes substance abuse today and only scored 363. I don't know if it was just bad luck but she said the questions were nothing like the study guide from petersons or the fact sheet. She studied for 3 weeks and had the flashcards down cold and was scoring 60-70 on the peterson's practice tests. She even checked out the book listed on the fact sheet and read most of it. She said the questions were mostly on facts about specific government acts and statistics that have changed since even the text book she read was printed. Lot's of questions about psychiatric meds which she really didn't study because the fact sheet says the test is about drugs of abuse and scheduled meds. Very few questions on street drugs or even alcohol, mostly facts on statistics that no one would remember even if they just took the course. Basically, she feels that she was blindsided and the dantes fact sheet is not really factual. Sorry for the rant, had to vent. :mad:

[braug705]

I just took the substance abuse test on March 21. Minimum to pass was 400, I scored 446. Even though I passed and I'm not at all interested in scoring higher than passing minimum, I have to agree that I did not feel at all well prepared for the exam. I took the "Here's to your health" exam in the fall of 2008 and the only study material I used was the IC flashcard system. I felt good the whole time I was taking that test and I passed with loads of room. Because of that very positive experience I assumed I would be as prepared for Substance Abuse by just using the IC flashcards and that just wasn't the case. There were tons of questions on that test that the IC flashcards never even touched on. I definitely lucked out with pure guesses on some of my answers!

[malcs]

It is too bad that everything surrounding the DSSTs is in such poor order. You would think that they would have official study guides that are kept in sync with the tests.

I sometimes get the feeling that the whole GetCollegeCredit web site and everything else related to the DSST is run by a one man shop. I even sent them an email about their Test Locations list being TEN years out of date. There are phone numbers with defunct area codes, and schools that have not offered the test since 2003 still listed. They claim that it is periodically updated.

In addition, I wonder what goes on there when they get notification from Prometric, and take 6 to 8 weeks to send the results out. Something must be badly broken there.

[entwive]

Sorry to hear your frustrations. I took my first DSST (Here's to your Health)last week and used the McGraw Hill website to prepare. I diligently took all the quizzes. I also paid for the DSST practice exam. I did pass the test but none of the prep was relevant. I passed by pure luck. The prep for these exams does seem out of date which makes me very nervous about attempting any additional exams.

[jax]

I took that exam last December (446) and it was one of the more difficult ones, In case your wife needs to take it again I used both IC and Cram101 substance abuse ($12.00 at Amazon).

[lolojapan]

I walked into the testing center and the proctor said, "You're doing Drugs and Alcohol, right?" I asked if he could tell by my red eyes or slurred speech. I used IC and PassYourClass.com, and passed with no problem.

[albanyjo]

I took this test today and thought that IC covered it well. I also had taken the petersons practice tests (link below) which were more difficult than the actual dsst, and IC was a better source.

Know the popular style order that tobacco progressed in europe (? pipe, snuff, chew, cigar, cigerette.) Is there a prescription to treat cocaine withdrawl? MDMA wasn't covered much. What is the L. acid in LSD.

MCPL: Education & Career

[albanyjo]

Check out the dvd series Addiction produced by HBO, might be a source. I saw this in the library only after taking the test. It's good to mix up your source content, a little flashcards, a little video, etc.

[wandasoff]

I sat this exam last month and scored 378 so don't fret, I studied for over a month. To study for this test one needs more of a pharmaceutical reference guide on drugs at least that was my take away.

I used IC which laid a great foundation, but the actual test requires that you know the classes of drugs, the types of drugs, what is in some of the known over the counter drugs etc. If I were to do this test again, allow lots of time to study everything on the fact sheet, retain and understand drugs from a pharmaceutical perspective is what is required for this test.

You really have to know what is in drugs and what the classes of drugs are. I found this new version of the test extremely challenging to guess on and pass due to having so many choices and sometimes they all seem correct.

From what I have read, the old version was much more common sense, but the new is much more pharmacetical. I asked my advisor for feedback on this test at Excelsior and she said, you must be to retain all the drugs and classes of drugs in order to pass. She also advised the new heres to your health exam is much more challenging than in the past as well.

[wandasoff]

I sat this exam last month and scored 378 so don't fret, I studied for over a month. To study for this test one needs more of a pharmaceutical reference guide on drugs at least that was my take away.

I used IC which laid a great foundation, but the actual test requires that you know the classes of drugs, the types of drugs, what is in some of the known over the counter drugs etc. If I were to do this test again, allow lots of time to study everything on the fact sheet and IC, retain and understand drugs from a pharmaceutical perspective is what is required for this test.

You really have to know what is in drugs and what the classes of drugs are. I found this new version of the test extremely challenging to guess on and pass due to having so many choices and sometimes they all seem correct.

From what I have read, the old version was much more common sense, but the new is much more pharmacetical. I asked my advisor for feedback on this test at Excelsior and she said, you must be to retain all the drugs and classes of drugs in order to pass. She also advised the new heres to your health exam is much more challenging than in the past as well.