Average length of study time to prepare ?

[RBOWMAN]

It seems that there is alot of variance in length of study time for preparing to take a test. Okay, let's all compare.....I take an actual 24 hrs. of hard study time per exam. I make sure I get 95% of each instantcer section correct before I test out. I know everyone is different, but for my 81 clep and dantes credits to date, it has worked. Just thought it would be interesting to compare. Take care and good studying and success to all!!

[Trajan]

I take about 2 weeks, although I really need to speed things up and try to take 2-3 exams in 2-3 weeks. Rbowman, do you study for an exam and then cram for 24 hours, or is the 24 hours inclusive of all your study time per exam?

[RBOWMAN]

I take about 2 weeks, although I really need to speed things up and try to take 2-3 exams in 2-3 weeks. Rbowman, do you study for an exam and then cram for 24 hours, or is the 24 hours inclusive of all your study time per exam?

Trajan, It's 8 hrs a day for 3 days..uninterrupted.

[tampalizard]

So far, I would say the tests I studied most for were the first ones I took. I probably spent 12 hours total...spread out over weeks of course..on Business law 1 and Marketing. Since then I have studied significantly less and I guess I am going to find out the consequences soon as I have 8 tests scheduled between May 8th and June 6th. I have 3 scheduled on the 4 days between May 15th and May19th. I will admit, I am a good "tester". Sometimes I think I have more skill at test taking than I actually have knowledge. I think that is part of why I pass. It also helps that I am not in a supreme "money crunch" or on a big time limit. So...if I don't pass I COULD live with it. Of course I WANT to be done with this but I don't NEED to be done. This makes me more relaxed than people who are not in the same position. The last two tests I took were upper level ECE tests. I probably spent an hour going over the Human Resources Material (I felt pretty comfortable with that subject) and maybe 2 hours on the Labor relations (Something I knew very little about as I live in Florida and we have no Unions) Since there was no InstantCert materials specifically on that, I had to spend time deciding what I needed to know. Also, I do have a good memory and as long as I can memorize the info, I am usually OK. My problem is going to come in with the subjects that are not based on memorization...namely Algebra, Statistics and Principals of Finance. I have decided to give them a shot as I am TERRIFIED of math and I will NEVER feel good about taking the tests. I might as well do it and see what happens. I remember sitting in 3rd grade absolutely crying hysterically when the teacher brought out the flash cards. "A real childhood trauma". Since then I have a panic reaction immediately upon seeing those numbers...especially if they are surrounded by lines...ie Roots and other formulas. Oh well...life goes on. It also helps that I have a VERY FLEXIBLE testing center for DSSTs and CLEPS. So if I find myself starting to fail or getting freaked out...I can always call to rebook- even the same day. Lucky huh? I will study about 2 hours for each of the upcoming test. I left Algebra out by itself by 1 week to give me extra time. We will see what happens!:confused:

[ShotoJuku]

[SIZE="3"]Three weeks.........[/SIZE]

[snazzlefrag]

- Three to five days on average (many hours of focussed study).
- One or Two days for a few of them (if they overlapped with material I already knew, or were in subjects I already felt comfortable).

I was 'scared' of the following two exams and studied much more to ensure a pass.

- Two weeks for CLEP Humanities (intensive study...I got a 73 because of it though).
- Three weeks for DANTES Statistics (intensive study...I got a 71 because of it though).

That's my story and I'm sticking to it!
hilarious

[Sammy]

I have a wife and kids and am always distracted. I feel that I am a rather easily distracted person and have difficulty just sitting down and studying for any length of time. I guess that is why I spread my study time over a 4 week period and only study at half hour spirts up to 1 hour. Statistics was the major exception. I had to really put my head into that one. I sort of have the time to finish my degree so I don't do three day crams. Though I am tempted to try it for my final exam since if I fail, I can chose another social science.

[snazzlefrag]

Statistics

tampalizard,

The Statistics exam has a lot more questions on "principles and concepts" than actual mathematical calculations. I only had to actually use my calculator perhaps a dozen or so times out of 97 questions.

For example (I'm making this up):

Instead of asking...

"What is 2 + 2?".
A. 4
B. 5
C. 6
D. 7

They might ask...

"When two positive numbers are added together, the result is always:

A. A Positive Number
B. A Negative Number
C. Zero
D. All of the Above

That's the best I can do, sorry! But basically, they want to know if you understand the concept rather than whether you can calculate the solution.

Hope that helps,
Snazzlefrag

[tampalizard]

Thanks for the info snazzlefrag. I really don't fear that one as much as the other two. Statistics is an ECE and at least I will get the results immediately. Algebra is a Clep so ditto....the Principles of Finance is a DSST so I will be sitting on the mailbox as so many other have done with that one. Thanks again!

[snazzlefrag]

Thanks for the info snazzlefrag. I really don't fear that one as much as the other two. Statistics is an ECE and at least I will get the results immediately. Algebra is a Clep so ditto....the Principles of Finance is a DSST so I will be sitting on the mailbox as so many other have done with that one. Thanks again!

tampalizard,

Are you already locked in to taking the ECE version of Statistics? If not, you might want to consider taking the DSST version instead. It is much cheaper ($60), and it is UNTIMED. Both of these factors make the DSST version, for me at least, a no-brainer as opposed to the ECE version.

In addition, DSST let's you take your OWN calculator into the exam, whereas ECE makes you use their basic online calculator (no stats functions). I used the BAII+ from Texas Instruments (about $30) and it handled ALL the statistics-related calculations for me.

Just FYI,
Snazzlefrag