InstantCert in your own Words - Personal Reviews

[Bunbu]

...as is well known on this forum, I have a dissenting opinion. I will share it because it was the lack of dissenting opinions expressed on this board that made me feel an unwarranted comfort in using InstantCert.

The shortened story is that InstantCert takes forever to go through and doesn't teach you anything. I can imagine it being a good source for review, but that is not how it is advertised- all the claims are about InstantCert being a main source for study, when it is most definitely more of a supplemental resource. Sure, if you memorize each card, you will likely pass your test, but that takes forever in comparison to just looking over the highlights of a textbook which would yield the exact same results in much less time. Also, if you use InstantCert only, ok fine, you will have just enough information on enough potential questions to pass your test, but you will not actually learn anything.

Conclusion: InstantCert is an auxiliary study tool, not a primary study tool. My advice for those who wish to use it is study first, and if you need some extra help, InstantCert probably isn't a bad way to go. If you want to save time and money, skip InstantCert altogether.

I have to agree with you here. I've tried using IC exclusively but I always found it dry and boring. It is a great supplement to reinforce the material learned elsewhere but using it as your sole resource is nothing but cramming information without any practical or applied value. That's not saying that it doesn't serve its purpose; for what I've seen in this forum it seems to work quite well.

[ryoder]

I agree with maniac craniac. Instantcert is a good resource but not a great resource. Think of a teacher in school who only used flash cards to teach math. It's just not enough. The best textbooks introduce the basics, delve into the details and provide actual case studies that reinforce the concepts. The business policy textbook has served me well and so have the financial management and accounting textbooks I used to pass straighter line tests. I am using these textbooks to this day for my MBA classes.
I also passed all of my tests with A grades and I don't think instantcert alone is capable of doing that.

Bottom line for me. In life always over study, over prepare and over tip your waiters!

[burbuja0512]

I have to agree with you here. I've tried using IC exclusively but I always found it dry and boring. It is a great supplement to reinforce the material learned elsewhere but using it as your sole resource is nothing but cramming information without any practical or applied value. That's not saying that it doesn't serve its purpose; for what I've seen in this forum it seems to work quite well.

Next time, try it like this:

Dedicate one evening's study to one set of cards. Know that you are GOING to get through that set or you're not going to sleep

Then, look at the first card. Let's say it's a Humanities card that talks about a certain artist, say Georgia O'Keefe. Now pretend you know nothing about her. Google her, go to her Wikipedia page. Read about her life in 5-10 minutes and take a few notes. Check out a few other paintings of hers... get a feel for her art style and be able to recognize her works. Then, move on to the next card. Repeat the process unless the card is already familiar to you.

About halfway through the set of cards, when you're bored, go through the specific forum feedback and see what comments other members have posted. Take a few notes. Go back to where you left off in the cards.

That's how I've done it every single time.... well ok, and posting here in between cards lol. I don't find it boring at all when I do it like that. Again, for the more difficult tests, my habits have been just slightly different, but this pattern is what I've done for the majority of the exams.

Try it and see how it goes It still may not be for you, we all have different learning styles.

Edit to add: after re-reading this it dawned on me why I like IC so well. It enables me to take bites of topics. I don't have to read through a whole chapter. I seriously think I have adult ADHD or something. I have a hard time reading a chapter in a text in one sitting. I love taking one idea, learning about it in 15 minutes or less, and moving on to the next thing. I ALWAYS felt overwhelmed when I would start on my set of cards, yet in a short time, I would really learn them.

[Bunbu]

Next time, try it like this:

Then, look at the first card. Let's say it's a Humanities card that talks about a certain artist, say Georgia O'Keefe. Now pretend you know nothing about her. Google her, go to her Wikipedia page. Read about her life in 5-10 minutes and take a few notes. Check out a few other paintings of hers... get a feel for her art style and be able to recognize her works. Then, move on to the next card. Repeat the process unless the card is already familiar to you.

That's a great system Burbuja and proof that you're not depending solely on IC as your main source of material. You're using it as an outline of sorts. At the end the amount of reading you're doing is equivalent as getting a book with all the material compiled for you (not as economic as IC and wikipedia)

[Maniac Craniac]

I guess its just me that it takes longer to go through the cards than it does to get the basics of a textbook down? I spent less time reading an entire (concise) psychology text book than I did going through the psychology cards in InstantCert. In fact, I gave up half way in because it was taking so darn long and I wasn't learning anything.

[Maniac Craniac]

That's a great system Burbuja and proof that you're not depending solely on IC as your main source of material. You're using it as an outline of sorts. At the end the amount of reading you're doing is equivalent as getting a book with all the material compiled for you (not as economic as IC and wikipedia)

Yeah, Burbuja's system is what I imagine IC is most useful for. I disagree about the economics, though. Most of my textbooks have come from the library.

[barcotta]

Most of my success is owed to the REA books and not instantcert. I only used instantcert for about three of my twenty or so exams and courses. I find the flashcads a good way to review before taking the test but would never rely on them. Reading a well written book has advantages beyond learning the material. I believe that good readers make good writers so pick up a book and start reading.

I owe none of my success to any REA book. They struck me as overpriced so I didn't use them. I relied on the flashcards and other sources and did all right.

[barcotta]

Title: I just might get banned for this but...

Now, you know full well that Steve is not nearly merciful enough to save you from yourself and there is no chance you will be banned. If you want to stop participating, you'll have to ban yourself. We've heard this song and dance from you before. Please spare us the charade.

You stated that IC takes forever to go through and doesn't teach you anything. That is indeed a very shortened story since it is so broad and pejorative that it makes any response feel futile. I would expect that you would characterize Mother Teresa as an opportunistic, do-gooder who never really did anything for anyone anyway--and call it your "opinion." (and please don't try to characterize this as a comparison between IC and MT--the comparison is between the overwhelming majority's knowledge and experience and your "opinion.")

I'm surprised that you found a lack of dissenting opinions on this board, because my recollection is that several posters felt they learned best via more traditional sources and posted on this regularly. They just didn't make broad, pejorative, unsupportable statements and call it their opinion.

So, IC didn't teach me anything, right? It's AMAZING that you know that. How do you do it? I assume that if you really meant that you didn't learn anything when you tried to use IC you would have said that. Instead, you somehow feel confident in your knowledge that I didn't learn anything. Or is it just your opinion that I didn't learn anything?

For those of you who are in love with textbooks--please go read your textbooks and leave the rest of us alone. In my opinion, textbooks have done more to unceremoniously crush every last ounce of the intellectual curiosity children are born with than any other educational tool to date. I would rather shove hot needles in my eyes while rubbing my elbows on crushed glass. But that's just me... and my opinion.

Does this response make you feel as though dissenting opinions are not tolerated or accepted on this board? If so, it shouldn't. I'm just offering my opinion of your opinion--something I know you would support.

In any event, it is my opinion that IC is a fantastic tool that is priced right, delivered right and is a high-quality, supremely useful product that does EXACTLY what it claims to do.

[Lindagerr]

I have to say IC and this forum has been a saving grace for me and my persuit of a ( make that Two going on 3) degrees.

I started out doing TECEP exams and DSST studying with textbooks and as a good friend says about sailing "I was going nowhere slowly at great expense" Once I found IC I had a support system I had a direction of study and I had a shortened study time per test.

I have ADHD and I can not read a text book without falling asleep. When I take a course and have to read a textbook I need to be checked on every 10-15 minutes to make sure I am awake. I love to read for pleasure and I read A LOT, but if I find the textbook dry and boring I fall asleep.

I can study with flashcards I also read the specific exam feedback, ask others for advice, look things up on wiki, and take peterson practice test. I learned all of these things from IC.

I did my AA in General Studies and I probably would have done my BA in Liberal Studies if not for the advice I got from IC members. Some of these bebefits have come during times I was not a paying customer and some during months I payed. All in all I feel the money I have spent on IC a great investment that has paid me back many times over.

If you are younger, like to read textbooks and have a really good memory for all the extra $hit in those textbooks then maybe you don't need IC flashcards, but anyone at any age can benefit from the specific exam feedback and other member feedback and support on IC.

Just my opinion.

[dcan]

Once I found IC I had a support system I had a direction of study and I had a shortened study time per test.

:iagree: This nails it.

I wanted to take CLEPs for literally years but didn't know where to start. All the official guides say they are based on "typical college courses" in that particular subject. How the $#@% am I supposed to know what is taught in a "typical college course" without taking the course? banghead

As I said before, FCP led me to IC which led me to this forum. So far my test odyssey has been different from most. I took Public Speaking before finding IC and bought two used textbooks to study. I am about to take College Composition Modular, and IC can't help me with the essay -- but it did help some with the flashcards, though I found it after I'd studied a book already. And next I plan to take A&I Lit, which again isn't a "flashcard" type of test. So I haven't gotten a huge payoff from IC itself yet.

What I [b]have[b] gotten is this forum, and access to an amazing set of people whose personal stories have fired me up like never before. You have all laid down a path that is pretty easy to follow, step by step, in a way that was never presented to me before.

This is not to say passing one of these tests is "easy", but rather that the combination of study guides, strategies, and knowledge of what to expect on the actual tests has done wonders for my anxieties about the tests.

So again, thank you to everyone who participates. I hope to give back more than I get to make this place even better.