DANTES Here's To Your Health!

Hi everyone, Hope you all are having a great time.
I have a quick question.
I have ordered the DANTES Here's To Your Health exam and will have to take it by next week i think.
I want to know if i need any study guide at all for this one. I understand that it's an easier exam compared to the rest after reading many threads here.
I have instacert, do you think that would be enough?
Thanks a lot for your help,
Adoncia

 

That exam is almost 100% common sense, I wouldn't worry about it too much.

 

That said, the value of InstaCert (or others like it) is the practice it provides... and with CLEP and DANTES exams, practice, practice, practice -- over and over and over again... 'til you're sick-to-death of it -- is the best preparation you can do (that is, assuming you basically know the material already).

First study to acquire the knowldge... but then don't just rely on that. Practice, practice, practice. (Did I say "practice?")

Though, because it is easy, the particular exam you're planning to take may not require it, with most DANTES/CLEP exams even than InstaCert can provide. In other words, it's possible to "use-up" all of InstaCert's practice questions... so using yet another InstaCert-like competitor, or buying a study guide with a CD-ROM in a pocket in its back which contains hundreds of practice questions is often required.

I'm telling you, Adoncia... trust me on this... assuming you have already acuired the knowledge, then whether it's merely the SAT, or CLEP/DANTES, or the LSAT or even the bar exam, practice, practice, practice -- 'til you're so sick of it you could scream -- is the key to success.

Remember that passing an exam has, surprisingly, little to do with how well you know the material in ways that you may actually later use out in the real world. That kind of learning and knowledge acquisition should come from something other than repetitive drilling. Passing an exam of the CLEP/DANTES variety, assuming you've acquired the knowledge, involves, almost exclusively, programming your brain to cough-up the required information in just seconds, when you most need it. Nothing more. For that, you must drill, drill, drill, drill. Nothing more.

Doing so not only intensely-focuses your attention on the actual material that you need to know in order to pass the exam; but it also acclimates your brain to the kind of high-pressure, only-a-few-seconds-per-question, computer/terminal-based test-taking skills which must be second-nature to you when you're sitting in that test center if you're planning on doing well taking the not-on-paper versions (i.e., the computer-based versions) of the various CLEP/DANTES exams.

Practice, kiddo. Just practice... 'til you wanna' scream. Then scream. Then practice some more.

Have I made my point?

 

I don't think you would need to study. That was probably the easiest one I took.

 

Gregg

I did not take this exam but heard it was easy. I agree with Gregg though regarding any exam. Take it serious and study even if you think it might be easy. It feels good going into any exam knowing you're prepared and ready to go. Even then I failed a few!

 

Adoncia,

If you read any magazine articles (Reader's Digest, Prevention, Parade Magazine Inserts) you will have a substantial background for the kinds of questions on this exam, if I recall correctly.

The interesting thing about DANTES Here's to Your Health is the possibility of using that credit to complete your general education physical education requirement (in conjunction with a summer-school activity of 1 credit, if necessary.). That's what I did with it.

Not every school will go along with this and I ran into some resistance, too. I ended up having to submit a copy of the Exam Syllabus, found in the DANTES Study Guide, to the Dean of Sciences at my local Community College and then BEG for credit substitution.

At first, the professor of Physical Ed. didn't want to grant credit. I really ended up asking my advisor to appeal to the Dean (go over her head, essentially.) But they finally did grant me the credit; it turns out I was the first student they ever granted this to.

So, study up and Good Luck on your next test!

 

One thing to remember is that Excelsior assigns a GRADE for all DANTES exams.

If a pass is all you need then perhaps you shouldn't worry too much about it since most people agree this is an easy 'common sense' type of exam. However, if an "A" grade is desired, you may want to do some studying just to make it a sure thing.

I haven't taken this exam yet, but you can be sure that when it comes time, I will study until I feel confident that I can not only pass....but pass well!

It would be a shame to get a "C" on arguably the easiest of all the CLEP/DANTES/EXE/TCEP exams.

Just my two cents.
Beholdweb

 

I used Instantcert and google on this one for a nice pass. Mine had some questions on cancer, hospice etc (was about a year ago). wasnt half bad at all.

 

Thanks so much everyone,for your advice and suggestions.
I feel confident just knowing that i have all of you to help and guide me.
Thanks Bruce,Randell,FWD,twicehalflife,
longwaytogo and beholdweb.
Thank you very much Gregg.Your suggestion about practicing makes so much sense,especially about conditioning the brain to function under pressure.That is so true.I did'nt think about it this way.
I now think, had I practiced for my first CLEP Analyzing and Interpreting Literature exam,i would have done better.I got intimidated by the test due to the time constraint.
Maybe i need to devote more time to each subject from now and practice as much as i can,instead of cramming and trying to go too fast.
Thanks for making me understand this.
Thanks again everyone,
Adoncia

 

My thoughts on DSST Health

Just to echo twicehalflife, I took this exam using only Instacert and Google.

Most people report this as one of the easier exams, but out of 5 exams I sat in a single day (11 in three days), I'd say it was one of the harder ones. There was no way I would have been able to pass if I hadn't already taken CLEP Natural Sciences and DSST Drug & Alcohol Abuse. IMO it would be a good strategy to take all three together and in the order of CLEP Natural Sciences, DSST Drug & Alcohol Abuse, then DSST Here's to Your Health.

Instacert will be sufficient to pass all of them with an A. In addition to the different types of cancer, know very well the different types of exercise methods (isokinetic, etc.).

Let us know how it goes!

PS- I scored an A on all 11 using nothing but Instacert and a little bit of Google

 

thanks

Thank you LiveFromHouston,
Your words are very encouraging.
I went through the instacert questions and seem to know many answers except the ones with names of scientists,exercises etc. Do you know of any particulat site that i can go to through google? or what words should i use to get similar matter?
Which were the 11 exams that you took?
How did you manage in 3 days? Did you have any previous experience with the subjects.I am really curious to know.
Thanks again for your advice,
Adoncia