It really sucks having to wait 6 months to retake any test, 4 months I understand but 6 is over kill. I just took the Social Science and history test and failed with a 48, ouch. So close, yet not close enough. The worse part is I don't even know how many questions would have gotten me a passing score because no one even really knows how these things are really graded, would two more questions right passed me? Or would I have needed 10 more? Who knows.

Anyway, guess I'll start cramming for Astronomy next...

__________________
Cleps Passed: English Comp w/essay, Freshman Comp, A & I Lit, Princ of Management, Humanities, US History 1 and US History 2

Dantes Passed: Astronomy, Supervision, Bus. Math, Intro to Bus, Human Resource Management, Ethics in America, Tech Writing, Intro to Computing, World Religions, Personal Finance, Intro to LE, Org Behavior, Environment & Humanity, Here's to your Health and Criminal Justice.

Failed: English Compw/o essay(47), MIS(39), Sociology (47) , Information Systems (38), Social Science and History(48)

That is really unfortunate, Shadow. It is frustrating when you are really close.

As for how many questions/ scoring this is what I have deduced from my reading of the systems and some statistics studies for psych and my eventual stat exam:
The reason the scales are 20-80 with 50 being the passing median is that 99.7% of all scores fall within 3 standard diviations above and below the mean in a normal distribution. So basically they make the passing mark based on the average score of C students 50 and then each standard diviation is worth 10 scaled points. That means that if you scored exactly 1 standard diviation above the mean you would get a 60 and 1 SD below is a 40. So if the average passing grade is 55% and the SD is 12% you would need to score a 67% raw score to get a 60 on the scaled score. In this example, if it was a 100 question test, every 1.2 questions right earns 1 point so to bring your 48 up to a 50 would take 3 questions. Of course to do these calculations you need to know what raw score equals a 50 and what the standard diviation is which I don't know if they post those or not but basically that is how they score. You seem really close so don't be discouraged.

FYI, I calculated that getting a 70-75% raw score on any DSST almost garuntees you at least a 60 which is probably an A at Excelsior no matter what the exam so if you know the answer to half the questions and can narrow down anything you aren't sure of to 1 of 2 answers giving yourself a 50/50 shot of guessing correctly you should always score high enough to not only pass but get an A.

I'm sorry. That's a bummer. Your perseverence is very, very admirable.

Best wishes on the astronomy test next.

I'm sorry! Don't beat yourself up....just eat some chocolate, read a good book for awhile, then persevere and study just a little extra next time! Hang in there! You can do it!

__________________
DONE! History degree from TESC!

CLEPS:
College Math-69, Sociology-70, Humanities-72, Am. Lit-61, English Lit-69, S. Sciences & History-65, Eng. Comp/w essay-75, Microec.-64, Macroec.-73, Western Civ. I-71, Western Civ. II-71, American Gov't-71, US History I-75, US History II-65, A&I Lit-77, Prin. of Mgmt-76, Prin. of Mktng-76. Biology-69

DSST's:
Civil War & Reconst.-70, Modern Middle East-63, World Religions-76, Tech. Writing-67, Prin. of Supervision-67, HR Mgmt-69, Rise & Fall USSR-64, Vietnam War-60, Ethics-69. Intro to Bus-67, Org. Behavior-69, W. Europe-60

You guys (gals) are so nice!

__________________
Cleps Passed: English Comp w/essay, Freshman Comp, A & I Lit, Princ of Management, Humanities, US History 1 and US History 2

Dantes Passed: Astronomy, Supervision, Bus. Math, Intro to Bus, Human Resource Management, Ethics in America, Tech Writing, Intro to Computing, World Religions, Personal Finance, Intro to LE, Org Behavior, Environment & Humanity, Here's to your Health and Criminal Justice.

Failed: English Compw/o essay(47), MIS(39), Sociology (47) , Information Systems (38), Social Science and History(48)

Shadow,

What about utilizing Penn Foster courses for any exams you failed to shorten the 6 month gap?

They only charge $55 per credit + a $20 exam fee, and this INCLUDES the book. A much better alternative to waiting 6 months.

__________________
MCDBA, MCSE+Security, MCTS