Let me qualify the following by saying that I have worked in the IT industry for almost 20 years. Caveat Emptor. Your mileage may vary.

Due to my work background, I figured this would be the easiest test to take (I didn't do the lower level IT tests due to having no more room for Applied Professional exams with Excelsior) and had a bit of the same shock when I took the Peterson's exam. The acronym use is a little crazy on their sample test - in fact there are some acronyms that have a more common useage than the one they had (IDE being a prime example - I forget what they said it stood for in the answer key, but it wasn't the hard drive standard I thought they were referring to, and had discarded it).

As I recall it, the real exam didn't have quite the confusing array of acronyms as the sample test did. The words were typically spelled out, which is how it should be - this is a test of comprehension of Management Information Systems, not recall of obscure acronyms. There are acronyms, but I don't remember being frustrated by any of them.

The second place where I was a little taken aback was on the emphasis on the various project development methodologies. You see a lot of these on the sample tests, and you'll see them on the real exam. Again, I thought the real test was easier, but possibly because I took some time to quickly brush up on some of the various rapid development methodologies as a result of missing them in the sample tests.

The third area are some very subtle differences between things like Information Technology and Management Information Systems and similar terms. Also differences or characteristics of Decision Support Systems, Executive Support Systems, Expert Systems, CASE tools, etc. You'll see a number of questions on those topics as well as the heirarchy of management (role of steering committee - which still boggles me. I've seen all of the roles offered as answers taken up by a steering committee, so my guess as to which one wasn't appropriate was a wild guess!)

After that, the questions are a pleasant mix of things that if you've been in the industry, you'll know or have been exposed to. Many of them that I didn't know specifically were fairly common sense (sample exams again were a good gauge for this).

If you don't have an IT background, but are computer literate, I don't think this would be a hard test to prepare for, but I'm guessing it wouldn't be too hard. This test was a good mix of recall and logical deduction. I think it will *generally* be fairly easy to rule out at least a couple of the answers, so if you don't know the question, at least you've got a 50% chance of getting those random obscure questions right.

So, I'll offer a qualified concurance that this was the easiest test I have taken, but I'm *very* glad I did the Peterson's prep tests firsts, otherwise I think I would have gotten an ugly surprise on some of the methods and terms. I am pretty sure I would have passed without prep, but with the non-linear and (I believe) weighted grading method I hear DSST uses, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have gotten the A I want.

I haven't gotten my results yet - I took it a week ago - but will post my result when I do.

Good luck with yours!

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27 Credits to go, 3 Lower/24 Upper
33 Credits achieved via Test
82 Credits achieved via traditional classroom (16 can't be used)
Studying for Abnormal Psychology, and taking Graduate Research and Writing
In queue: Adulthood & Aging; Educational Psych; Organizational Behavior; Human Resource Management