Has anyone taken the Introduction to World Religions DSST? If so, how was it... any particular areas to concentrate on?

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I got a 78! I way overstudied. Know the names of founders and key persons and different religous texts for each. I used instantcert and bought an 8th edition "Religions of the world" by Hopfe and Woodward. I read through it after going through instantcert. I always like more than one source and you can see I got a 78.

Is it true that the DSST tests are pencil and paper, take three weeks to get results and cannot be retaken for six weeks?

Yes, Pencil and Paper with no time limit. It may take upto 4 weeks for results though my 2 exams took about 3 weeks and 2 weeks. Also in my earlier reply, you can by the older edition used college books at amazon for as low as $3 instead of most recent editions for over $100. I go to Thomas Edison so I look up their current course book and purchase an older edition from Amazon.

The Candidate Bulletin says you have to wait six MONTHS before you can retake if you fail an exam. There's no way arround it, either. Chauncy Group will void your exam if you submit one too soon - meaning: you paid, you tested, but you won't get a score.

Abner, I took this one just this past Wed, I'm kinda embarassed to say that I knew more about Hinduism, Buddhism, and basic religions than I did Christianity and Judaism. Guess I thought that I already know those religions simply from personal experience. However, when it came to things like which 2 apostles wrote the most about Jesus' birth, test anxiety took over and I couldn't remember. So, don't get fooled into not really studying the religion you have the most experience with personally, living it and knowing it accademically can be two different things!
In addition to Instacert, take advantage of DSST's practice test. There's two versions, each you get to take twice and their only $20 apiece. It's good supplement.
Good luck!

I finished the Intro to World Religions Test Wednesday, and now WAIT for my results. I feel fairly confident that I did well using ONLY InstaCert! I did take a sample test offered by DANTES the day of the exam (early Morning), and indeed a couple of the Questions Re-Appeared, but nothing of real importance not covered by Instacert.

I too was caught off-guard by the amount of Questions on Christianity and Judaism, and do recommend that folks give these two sections a little more attention - especially the Explainations!

Well, now its off to begin studying for the Biology Clep!

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Just a reminder,

There are several different versions of each exam. Two people could take the exact same test on the same day, and at the same testing center, but encounter different questions.

The version of the exam that I took had MUCH more of an emphasis on Hinduism than on Judaism. In fact, Judaism was way down the list of religions in terms of the number of questions asked. Hinduism, Christianity, and Buddhism were the big three on my version of this exam.

So anyone preparing for this exam should make sure they are studied up on Hinduism and Buddhism too, just in case they get the same version of the exam that I got.

I felt that Intro to World Religions was a challenging exam. There were quite a few 'ambiguous' questions that could have gone either way, and there were several questions that I had to completely guess on. I studied hard for this exam but I still wasn't sure how I had done when I left the test center (DANTES exams often leave me feeling that way). However, I ended up with a 76. So it is definitely possible to do well on this exam with enough study!

Hope that helps,
Snazzlefrag

Whew - I passed with a 69. I must admit I was a little disappointed that it took a little over 3 weeks to get my results back!

But - That one's behind me, and it's a "A" with Excelsior so I am happy!

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I get result today, pass with 49 . the exam I take come with alot of question about primal and general encept about religion which is not cover by instant cert. only a few question about taosism and confusiasm. but finally pass without further worry.