What are the CLEPs/DSSTs that require the least studying?

[perrik]

The tests which require the least studying are always the ones in the subjects you already know!

I put very minimal effort into studying for the Principles of Supervision, Introduction to Business, and Technical Writing DSSTs (about four hours for the first two combined, less than an hour for the third) and scored 66, 69, and 70 respectively. Someone who's been in the corporate world for years can hit or surpass those scores with little preparation. If you've never sat in a cubicle typing up memos and translating boss-speak, those tests require much more work to score well. It's all relative.

That said, the Technical Writing DSST is, as mightymouse pointed out, a breeze. If you just need a quick 3 credits, this is it. CLEP's Principles of Marketing looked pretty easy, but I stuck with DSSTs because I wanted grades for my transcript.

If you need to gather up a lot more credits, look for overlapping exams with significant crossover material. In addition to the aforementioned computer trio, I found four other good groupings.

Business: DSST Principles of Supervision, DSST Introduction to Business, DSST Human Resources Management, CLEP Principles of Management

Psychology: CLEP Introduction to Psychology, CLEP Introduction to Educational Psychology, DSST Organizational Behavior, DSST Foundations of Education

US History: CLEP US History I, CLEP US History II, DSST Civil War and Reconstruction

European History: CLEP Western Civilization II, DSST Western Europe Since 1945, DSST Rise & Fall of the Soviet Union, DSST A History of the Vietnam War (the Cold War stuff from European history applies here)

Okay, these groupings don't exactly require "little study", but there's enough duplication of material within each grouping to make studying more efficient.