I have been studying the wold religions DSST that i checked out from the library on base. It has a few practice exams that i have been studying for about 2 weeks. I have also been using a text book I got from the library: "A History of the World's Religions" by David S. Noss. A friend of mine recently told me about this site so i figured i would try it out since my test date is in two days and I have been given some time off to study. What I'm starting to get concerned about though, is that it seems like none of the information from the practice exams in the DSST and the the web site are really meshing up at all. I have searched around the forums and everyone seems to be saying they did very well using instant cert. I have only seen about 25% of the information covered in the DSST in the flashcards on this website though. Since I just came here, I was hoping somebody could help me out so I'm not studying the wrong materials.

Just to clarify a bit, the DSST has 10 practice exams that are 50 questions each, so a total of 500 questions. The problem is that I have only been using Instant Cert for about 4 hours total and I have already seen so much stuff that isnt covered anywhere in the practice exams that its making me wonder if Instant Cert is covering stuff that wont be anywhere in the exams. Thats why I am hoping to get some help from some people that have already taken this exam using instant cert or the DSST. Sorry for the incoherent ramble, time to make more coffee.

Thanks.

Hi there and welcome to IC!

I think we've all been in that situation before, so don't stress over it too badly. The thing to keep in mind about the CLEP/DANTES exams is that most of them cover a wide variety of knowledge. Very broad, but not very deep. The whole point of the exams is to test the knowledge that you would gain from an entire semester worth of that particular class, and to pass it with at least a "C" or better.

All that being said; I've never run into an exam that I failed due to IC letting me down. When I first started testing out of courses using CLEP, I used the "Cracking the CLEP" series of books. Some were pretty good, but they rarely covered all the material on the exams. What I like about the IC flashcards and the forums is that I can find out exactly what's been on other's exams using the Exam specific thread. A prime example is the thread for the World Religions. Concentrate on what they're saying in the thread, study the points that the folks have said you'll need to know (Vishnu, ect), and you should be fine. The forums allow you to take that wide variety of knowledge, and narrow it down into key study points.

Did a bit of rambling of my own there, but hope it helps.

Edit: Just in case you hadn't found the Exam Specific forum yet. I know it took me a few days to come across it:

http://www.instantcertonline.com/for...feedback-only/

And here's the specific thread for World Religions:

http://www.instantcertonline.com/for...ions-dsst.html

Cheers

__________________

Chebasaz
PMP, CISSP, A+, Sec+, MCDST, ITIL

Knocking out the last few for Excelsior BS General Business

Credit Record
November 2008 - 156 Credits
March 2008 - 147 Credits
February 2008 - Completed Excelsior BS Liberal Studies (Management/Administration and History)
January 2008 - 123 Credits
February to December 2007 - 106 Credits Earned

I can completely understand your concern over not knowing what to study! However, I would strongly suggest you continue with InstantCert, even if most of it isn't meshing with the practice exam. I used IC primarily to study for this one and found it to be very, very helpful. The information was NOT irrelevant. You will need most of it.

I haven't seen the DSST practice exams you're talking about but I have taken other DSST practice tests and been somewhat unimpressed at the way the practice test compares to the real test, both in terms of difficulty and in content covered. From my own experience, I trust the material on InstantCert more than any of the DSST preparatory materials.

__________________
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

Thanks a lot for the replies. I did a search for World Religions threads but so many came up and I am so over caffeinated that there is no way I would have ever found that thread, so thanks for the link Chebasaz. And thanks for helping calm my pretest jitters Studyhard. I had seen in a few of the other threads that a few people had past using just IC, but it still freaked me out a bit to see so much new information not covered in the practice tests. Well, back to studying, thanks again.

Hi, I used several books but found the dummies guide to be the most helpful. Thank god (pun intended) for Christianity and Judaism. That saved me as did Islam. Know the disciples of Jesus and which ones were with him as opposed to after. Focus on Christianity, Judaism, and Islam (as they overlap- and thus easy to learn) and brush up on Hinduism, and the asia religions. That got me an A. Best of luck!

I scored a 56 using instant cert, focus on Budhaisim alot of questions in that category

I'm using IC, The complete idiot's guide to world religions and the DSST practice exams. It really seems overwhelming. I'm more stressed over this one than I was Business Law.

__________________
Passed: Information Systems and Computer Applications, Business Law, Principles of Management and Principles of Marketing.

You shouldn't be stressed. This is a walk in the park compared to B-Law. Keep it simple and remember the big stuff. Good Luck!

__________________
Passed
Intro to World Religions 68, Social Science and History 60, Principles of Statistics 60,Western Civilization I 58, Intro to Sociology 55, Astronomy 54, Technical Writing 54, Humanities 50

Courses @ TESC
C Programming - C
Electronic Instrumentation and Control - A


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Retaking the English CLEP

I wasn't using InstantCert at that point, but I did use the other resources you mentioned as well as lots of Google and Wikipedia.

I just took it a couple hours ago and scored a 64. I only used the IC Flashcards and the great info in the Intro to World Religion specific thread on this forum. I wouldn't sweat it too much.

__________________
Results since 2/26/08:
Drug & Alcohol Abuse - 63
Principles of Management - 68
Human Resources Management - 67
Here's to your Health - 66
Principles of Supervision - 62
Organizational Behavior - 57
Intro to Law Enforcement - 65
Criminal Justice - 58
Freshman College Composition - 67
Intro to Computing - 53
Intro to Business - 70
Intro to Psychology - 63
Fundamentals of Counseling - 56
Intro to World Religions - 64
Personal Finance - 56
Analyzing & Interpreting Literature - 67
Social Sciences & History - 62