World Religions or Soc/Hist. Exam?

Just got my transcript review from COSC. I was very pleased to receive 80 credits for my AAS degree in nursing. I need a "global society" requirement and I want to do it by test only. Which would you recommend, Dantes World Religions or the clep social science/history exam? I've never had a religion class. My history credits are 6 years old and are only American History, can't remember the world history I had 25 years ago or american government, etc. Can you recommend a study guide for the religion test? Wouldn't it be easier to study the major religions of the world than all the ground covered by the social/history clep?

Very excited! Got more credit than I thought I would. But I have to also take a math, College Mathematics clep? Thanks for your help.

 

I guess the first question would be - Do you know more about Religions or social science/history.

I used DANTES Environment and Humanity exam, which was not easy, for the "global society" requirement. I did take the CLEP social science/history exam and used the
Comex book to prepare.It was not a great book but it did help.

 

I know very little about religions of the world, and much more about history etc. But since the social science/history is so broad and covers so much, I thought the religions might be easier. I just don't have a clue what to buy to study world religions, whereas, there are guides for the other. Any suggestions as always are appreciated.

 

I would try to find one of the books listed here - http://www.getcollegecredit.com/NEWFACTSHEETS/Intro%20to%20world%20religions.pdf

I used the book that was recommended for the ECE-Research Method in Psy exam and did pretty well and almost every question I got on the test was covered in the book.

Hope that helps. Good luck.

 

I took the DANTES World Religions test a couple of months ago, VERY EASY !!! Finished with lots of time ot spare.

Studied for 4 days, got an A+

this is the book I used


http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1580626483/qid=1072561511/sr=1-2/ref=sr_1_2/104-7373222-2936748?v=glance&s=books


The Everything World's Religions Book
by Robert Pollock

Publisher: Adams Media Corporation; (August 2002)
ISBN: 1580626483


It is actually a good read
talks about the different factions of Islam, Christianity and Judiism, I thought a good thing to know in today's world, helped my understanding of the nightly news

the hardest part of the test was remembering which of the names I had read were Hindu and which were Buddhist


the Dantes outline is pretty correct about the percentage of questions on each subject


http://www.getcollegecredit.com/NEWFACTSHEETS/Intro%20to%20world%20religions.pdf

 

For the money, the CLEP is the better option (6 credits vs. 3 credits). Another advantage is that if you only score a 50, you will get a "P" and your GPA will not be hurt (not so with the DANTES). I think being an adult American will make the CLEP easier than the DANTES for most people. You already have a fair idea about our government and history, which are two big sections on that test. Also, most adults already know basic psych and sociology facts. The CLEP's disadvantage is that, like most general exams, it is harder to study for.

I would try a practice CLEP and see how you do. If you pass then the decision should be easy, if you come close then maybe put some effort into your weakest area. If you bomb it, then say hello to your new best friend: DANTES.

 

I took both exams, and passed both of them. I actually thought the World Religon Exam to be a harder test, but I feel that I learned more preparing for it. As for preparation, I went to the library and borrowed a book on World Religons. It has been two years or so since I took the exam, but I recall that it covered monotheism--christianity, islamism, and judaism. It also covered early animalism and hinduism. Those are the main religons that come to mind. Also, as a veteran of many CLEPs, I usually use the library first, but if I need a textbook to study in preparation, Barnes and Noble and Amazon both have extremely cheap, older versions of textbooks. If the text currently used is a 14th edition, then I can usually pick up the thirteenth edition for just a few dollars, and they usually contain all the subject matter I need to prepare for an exam, just a few thoughts....

 

Hi, I've taken both. Both are pretty easy. Do you need 6 credits or will 3 do? Other than that, it's a coin flip.

Good luck,

Mike

 

I was granted 80 credits, so I need 40. I have 4 deficiencies for the core. I'm taking Analyzing and Interpreting Lit and Intro to Criminal Justice (fulfils 2 cores) on January 15 so that leaves 31 credits, 15 of those must be upper credit, I have all the intermediate credits, so that leaves 16 at lower level needed.

I also need a math, can't get COSC to take the college math I had, so I was thinking of taking College Math clep (6 credits, one core or Business Math 3 credits), now that leaves 10 (or 13) lower level. I was thinking of taking the GRE Psychology test which would knock out 12 more (I already have two psych classes so I guess I don't get the 18 they offer for credit). Those 12 would go 3 to upper and the other 9 to lower. So now that leaves 12 upper and one (or 4) lower credit needed to finish, that last credit being "world-something" and something general depending on which math I take. So I guess that clep social/history would clean that up, wouldn't it?

So right now I'm thinking the upper will be finished with:



GRE Psych 3
DSST Human Resource Management 3
DSST Organizational Behavior 3
ECE Abonormal Psych 3
Dsst Fundamentals of Counseling 3

And I don't know, DSST Technical Writing or Drug and Alcohol Abuse, I guess, 3.

And my concentration will be Nursing/Psychology/Organizational Management?

Perhaps, cmt, you are right, the 6 credits makes more sense. I guess I'll just buy 2 or 3 prep books and hope they cover enough to get through it.

I just took a mock test in the Analyzing and Interpreting Lit and scored a raw 68% (34 out of 50) so I think I'll be okay there, don't really understand how they score the darn things.

What does this plan look like to someone who's done it?

 

good and bad

You might get more than 12 for the GRE, you need to ask your advisor (when you get one) to be sure. I think I remember Intro. to Psych. being the only one that duplicated.

I like the CLEP Social Science/History because it can fill 2 of 4 core requirements (6 credits spread over Global Society, Historical Development, Relationship to Groups and Communities, and/or Western Civilization and Culture). One reason I am not pushing the DANTES World Religions exam is because it has a very low pass rate (I'm sure you have the link, let me know if you don't).

You're not going to like me after this. The only DSST that you have listed there that counts as upper level credit is Drug and Alcohol Abuse . Believe me, I have gone through this myself, but was not warned so I have had to start from the beginning in some areas. Use this, and only this, as your guide: http://www.cosc.edu/Advising/StandardizedExams.cfm

Scrap the student handbook and catalog when you are planning exams - they have already misled you. You can see my post about this under the "ECE - Organizational Behavior" thread. I wish I was wrong, so maybe you should check with your advisor, but I was told that my DSST's are no longer awarded as upper credit and my transcript reflects this.

The GRE, DSST Drug and Alcohol Abuse, and ECE Abonormal Psych will all work as upper level. Take the ECE versions of the DANTES Human Resource Management and Organizational Behavior and that will also work towards upper level credit.

Your score on the mock Analyzing and Interpreting Lit. is good, don't sweat that one at all - it's in the bag! Time is the only thing that trips some people up I think.

If I was not clear, just let me know and I'll try again .

 

Geeeeeezzzzz! Thank you for telling me this!!!!!!!

I had no idea, I was working from what I have. I have bookmarked the correct page you gave me. Lordy, now I have to figure out what to use to study for these plus it's going to cost me more than I had planned. Thank you cmt for pointing this out to me. I almost didn't post my plan, thankfully, I was bored this morning so I thought I'd post it to see.

Well, this is a real bummer. Have you got some suggestions for books for these exams? Did you take them yourself, or did they throw them out because you'd taken the DSST ones?

Again, thank you.

 

The cost was the biggest bummer for me. Those ECE exams ain't so cheap, however, they are still a bargain.

For the ECE exams I find the recommended texts from the content guide and then buy a cheap used and sometimes earlier edition to study with. I have not spent more than $10 (with shiping) for any books. So far, the only ECE exams I have taken are Research Methods in Psychology (which CAN be used for both your research core requirement AND upper level credit in your concentration), and Organizational Behavior. I studied more for these than for the CLEP and DANTES I have taken, but since I don't receive a ranked score back I don't know how well I have done. All I know is that I scored an A. This makes it difficult to judge how much I should be studying (did I barely score an A or was I in the 99 percentile?). Another thing to consider is that the process to schedule an ECE exam takes longer than CLEP and DANTES (not too long, but longer).

If you take DANTES HR Management and ECE HR Management the ECE will cancel out the DANTES (only the higher level credit is awarded).

 

Would you be interested in selling your two books for the research and organizational tests?

 

Check your PM!