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DANTES Rise & Fall USSR exam thoughts - Trajan - 05-01-2006

Awesome job shoto!

DANTES Rise & Fall USSR exam thoughts - libartsmgr - 05-01-2006

ShotoJuku Wrote:[SIZE="2"]I just received my results and the agony is over - [COLOR="Blue"]58 - which is an "A" @ Excelsior!!!!!

Just one more to go College Mathematics and I WILL HAVE A DEGREE!!!!!![/COLOR][/SIZE]

Congrats!!! You were sweatin' that one, and you ACED it! Big Grin

I'm still waiting - argh!!! :mad: I hope I get mine tomorrow.

DANTES Rise & Fall USSR exam thoughts - ShotoJuku - 05-01-2006

libartsmgr Wrote:Congrats!!! You were sweatin' that one, and you ACED it! Big Grin

I'm still waiting - argh!!! :mad: I hope I get mine tomorrow.


[SIZE="2"]Thanks Joanne - I'm sure you will get your results soon as we took the exam on the same day. One thing that may have made a difference is that the exam proctor had me buy an "overnight" envelope/postage to send the exam back for grading.[/SIZE]

DANTES Rise & Fall USSR exam thoughts - snazzlefrag - 05-05-2006

Okay Wise Ones,

The time has come for me to prepare for the USSR exam, and I would value your input.

I am currently studying the pre-revolution era. This is the largest section for this exam on Instantcert.

Some of you have said that the exam goes back to Alexander I, others have said it goes back only to Alexander III, another person said that it goes back to 1898 (which I presume refers to the formation of the RSDLP), and Instantcert goes all the way back to the 9th century.

The DANTES fact sheet is not very specific about what the exam will cover in this early period.

Is there any consensus on exactly how far back this exam actually goes?

Does anyone who has already taken the exam feel I should study everything from the 9th century onward (Kievan Russia, Genghis Khan, the Ivans, the Peters etc.)?

Thanks for your help,
Snazzlefrag

DANTES Rise & Fall USSR exam thoughts - libartsmgr - 05-05-2006

snazzlefrag Wrote:Okay Wise Ones,

...
Is there any consensus on exactly how far back this exam actually goes?

Does anyone who has already taken the exam feel I should study everything from the 9th century onward (Kievan Russia, Genghis Khan, the Ivans, the Peters etc.)?

Thanks for your help,
Snazzlefrag

Snazz - I think the various forms have different depths of history. However, I think it's safe to say that the flashcards on Kievan Russia and Genghis Khan are all you need for those eras. If you know the timeline from the Ivans through the Peters, including Catherine and each's most significant contribution during their reign, you should be covered.
Also, I'm not sure where I posted it, but there may be a couple of questions about some of the literaries from Stalin's time and forward - so it may be worth it to know some of that. I specifically remember a question about female poets and Breshnev's prime minster, the only way I was even remotely able to answer that one was due to a question further in the booklet that referred to the same prime minister and some authors so I could eliminate at least one from the earlier question's poet list.
It was a tough exam for me, and I still don't have results (read: don't put too much stock in my feedback!! Wink )
Check Shoto's feedback, too - he's usually right on and very helpful!

DANTES Rise & Fall USSR exam thoughts - snazzlefrag - 05-07-2006

Hi All,

My prep for USSR is going well and I will probably take the exam this coming week or the week after (depending on the test center's schedule).

I am very much enjoying this material. My crazy old aunty, back in England, was an "armchair" Socialist. I spent many hours, as a kid, patiently listening to her rants about Marxism, the Soviets, and the evils of Capitalism. LOL

I loved her very much..but she was stark raving mad! I was the only person in the entire family who would ever just sit and listen to her.

Anyway, as a result, a lot of this information came flooding back to me once I began studying it.

It has certainly been a wild ride for the Russian people over the centuries, hasn't it? Those poor people. I almost stood up and clapped when I read the last item on Instantcert:

"On December 25, 1991, Gorbachev resigned as President and 6 days later, the USSR formally ceased to exist."

Yeah! Freedom!

I do have a couple more questions for the USSR Exam gurus amongst us...

1) Is it enough for me to memorize the names of a few of the major Russian writers, painters, architects etc? Or will they ask what their most famous works were as well?

2) One question on the DANTES fact sheet asked about the nationality of Gorbachev's Foreign Minister. Are there many of these type of questions on the exam? Is it enough to know the major players under each leader, or do I also need to know what nationality they were..and who their mother-in-law's best friend's sister was etc. (eesh)?

3) Are there any "map" questions on the exam (ie, identify this country on the map)?

I think that's it for now...thanks for you patience,
Snazzlefrag

DANTES Rise & Fall USSR exam thoughts - ShotoJuku - 05-07-2006

snazzlefrag Wrote:Hi All,

My prep for USSR is going well and I will probably take the exam this coming week or the week after (depending on the test center's schedule).

I am very much enjoying this material. My crazy old aunty, back in England, was an "armchair" Socialist. I spent many hours, as a kid, patiently listening to her rants about Marxism, the Soviets, and the evils of Capitalism. LOL

I loved her very much..but she was stark raving mad! I was the only person in the entire family who would ever just sit and listen to her.

Anyway, as a result, a lot of this information came flooding back to me once I began studying it.

It has certainly been a wild ride for the Russian people over the centuries, hasn't it? Those poor people. I almost stood up and clapped when I read the last item on Instantcert:

"On December 25, 1991, Gorbachev resigned as President and 6 days later, the USSR formally ceased to exist."

Yeah! Freedom!

I do have a couple more questions for the USSR Exam gurus amongst us...

1) Is it enough for me to memorize the names of a few of the major Russian writers, painters, architects etc? Or will they ask what their most famous works were as well? No real need to go overboard here, just know/recognize their names along with what they maybe related to should suffice.

2) One question on the DANTES fact sheet asked about the nationality of Gorbachev's Foreign Minister. Are there many of these type of questions on the exam? Is it enough to know the major players under each leader, or do I also need to know what nationality they were..and who their mother-in-law's best friend's sister was etc. (eesh)? Know the associated names that are connected together.

3) Are there any "map" questions on the exam (ie, identify this country on the map)? I didn't have any.

I think that's it for now...thanks for you patience,
Snazzlefrag


[COLOR="red"]Focus on the major events, players, places and dates. My original post in this thread says it all - GOOD LUCK.

BTW: Did your test center order the test for you yet??[/COLOR]

DANTES Rise & Fall USSR exam thoughts - snazzlefrag - 05-08-2006

ShotoJuku Wrote:BTW: Did your test center order the test for you yet??

Hi Shoto,

I have been ordering my DANTES exams in batches of three. Once I have taken all three, I order the next three. This USSR exam is the first one of my current batch of three. I ordered it on April 25th, and it arrived at the test center on April 28th (only THREE DAYS). Obviously, that was not enough time for me to have prepared for the exam properly. So I delayed scheduling the exam until I felt ready. I plan on calling them tomorrow to see what days they have open this week or next.

After USSR, I will be taking Criminal Justice, and Environment & Humanity, both of which are waiting for me at the test center whenever I am ready.

Thanks for answering my questions,
Snazzlefrag

DANTES Rise & Fall USSR exam thoughts - snazzlefrag - 05-09-2006

For anyone studying for the Rise & Fall of the Soviet Union exam, here are a bunch of resources that you may find useful (in addition to Instantcert):

Chronology of Russian History:
http://www.bucknell.edu/Academics/Colleges_Departments/Academic_Departments/Foreign_Language_Programs/Russian_Studies/Resources/History/Chronology.html

Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Soviet_Union

Russia 1860-1914:
http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/Russia.htm

Russia: Revolution to Counter-revolution:
http://easyweb.easynet.co.uk/~socappeal/russia/

Basic Russian Timeline:
http://www.facts-about.org.uk/history-and-events-timeline-russia.htm

Infoplease: Russian History Timeline:
http://www.infoplease.com/spot/russiatime1.html

Infoplease: Russian Culture Timeline:
http://www.infoplease.com/spot/russiatime5.html

Sparknotes: Russian Revolution (1917-1918)
http://www.sparknotes.com/history/european/russianrev/

I hope somebody will find these resources as useful as I have. Thanks to those who originally posted some of the above links in various places.

My exam is tomorrow (Wednesday 5/10/06) at 11am. I will let you know how it goes,

Take care,
Snazzlefrag

DANTES Rise & Fall USSR exam thoughts - Trajan - 05-09-2006

Thanks for the links. I have this exam next Monday.