I decided to take this test after looking at the CLEP American Gov't and figuring that I was better off taking a test that (1) appeared easier, and (2) would give me a grade. Well, I suspect it was easier--and it did give me a grade, but this test was second only to the DSST Statistics in terms of unpredictability of outcome.

I did more outright guessing on Statistics than on any other exam I took and took the entire two hours and got a 60. I took less than an hour on Criminal Justice, knew the answer to as many, if not more of the questions than on any other test I took (only 5 outright guesses) and I got....a 57!

I saw that score and I was excited I passed and stunned the score was in the 50's. I hadn't even looked to see where the the EC cut-offs were for scoring an A, B or C. I was happy it was over and that I passed, but I would have been a bit bummed if I scored a B--since I knew I must've been within a point or two of an A.

I got in the car and looked at my trusty EC assessment guide and saw that the cut-off for an A was.......56! JEEZ!!

That was a little TOO close for comfort. I would LOVE to see what my actual score (out of the 90 questions) was. I expected my scaled score would have at least been in the mid-60's.

If I cared more, I'd ask them to hand-grade to see what that looked like. I don't know exactly what happened. Maybe I lost the bet on all the questions I narrowed down to two (30 of them). I'm usually more fortunate, I think, but since we never see the results, who knows? Maybe I didn't really know the answer to the 55 I thought I knew. Maybe I fell victim to every almost correct but not the best answer. Maybe so many folks do well that you have to get 80% or better correct to start scoring in the 60's.

I'll never know and after I stop typing, I won't think about it again.

I used only InstantCert and the Specific Exam Feedback to prepare (and the five questions in the DSST Fact Sheet—at least one which was on the exam!). There was not a lot of specific feedback on this exam in the "Specific Exam Feedback" section, but what was there was helpful and accurate.

Here are some of the concepts you should know well:

• Know all of the important court decisions (Mapp vs. Ohio, Gideon vs. Wainwright, Powell vs. Alabama, etc.) There were at least four to six questions on those and you had to know them cold. InstantCert had all but one.
  
  
• Know what makes police departments unique amongst large organizations.
  
  
• Know as much as you can about trends (Crime—growing? Slowing? A lot? A little? Why?) (Prisons—growing? Shrinking? A lot? A little? Why?) (Police—Popular? Diversifying?) I don’t know where exactly you get this kind of data—hurt me a little in HG&D too—but if you can find a source, use it.
  
  
• Parole vs. Probation – many questions required distinguishing and understanding the differences between the two in a variety of scenarios—front-end and back-end
  
  
• Know what the UCR is and what is and what is not a Part I crime.
  
  
• Know all of the Latin words (mens rea, etc.)
  
  
• Know the history of the police department and the main players in it’s development. Make sure you remember at least the centuries in which they occurred. The test requires you to know that cold.
  
  
• Know the various forms of juvenile deviance.
  
  
• Know where the “firsts” were (police dept., juvenile hall, etc.)
  
  
• Know what happens at arraignment based on what the plea (or lack thereof) is.
  

Testing tomorrow the 18th, very nervous, have to cram all information tonight. Have to work all day tomorrow before test at 2pm and work is very busy mind and physical. Say a prayer for me tonight, thanks guys.

Hello all,

For several years, I have been working on writing a children's adventure book based during the Civil War and received them in the mail Friday. It is really exciting to finally have it finished and published!

Has anyone ever read a "Choose Your Own Adventure" book? My book, called A Courier for Stonewall, is like those in the "Choose..." series in that the reader is the star and will have different adventures based on different decisions he makes. Anyone interested in reading more about it can visit my website at Southern Cadence Press.

I hope to have my next book, The Orphan and the Beaten Drum, published soon.

Hello, I am working towards a BS General Business at Excelsior. I would like to make sure that I am interpreting things correctly.

It looks like the Organizational Behavior and Ethics in America DSSTs fulfill the core requirements but would apply to the Arts & Sciences total of my Status Report whereas the comparable ECEs will fulfill the core requirements and apply to the Business total of my Status Report.

Is that accurate?

Chris
84 credits

Does anyone know what Penn Foster requires in a proctor? (as in, who may proctor the exams?) Please offer examples of the proctor that you have found.
Thanks

Check out the link below. It's one of the best sources of math instruction I've found, and covers everything from fundamentals to engineering. I hope it helps those of you who are testing out. I buckled under the pressure of possibly failing and went the way of B&M for algebra and calculus.

Online Mathematics At The University of Houston


V/R,

I planned a pretty heafty day of study and their site is down. Did anyone involved with EC receive any notice about this down time? I was at "My EC" a lot in the last few days and never seen any kind of heads up.:confused:

I didnt pass my placement exam at my school to take college algebra, I have to start out at pre algebra. However, I know algebra, its just I was a little rusty because I havent done it for so long. I know I can handle a college algebra class. Is there any way that I can take a college algebra class that will transfer to my school online? If so where and how do i do it. Do I have to take a placement exam with the online school? If so, Im ready-its just I could only take the test one time at my school. This would really help speed up the process since all I need is college algebra for my major.
thanks
jeremy

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 didn’t 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. I’m 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 haven’t taken a bubble test in twenty years!

Even though I don’t 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, I’m 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 you’re 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 just tested on the American Literature this morning and got a 47, 3 points from passing....Whadda you guys think should be my next step...try to test on British Lit, take a break from CLEP or trying to talk to my adviser at my brick and mortar college... :confused: