Rant's testing odyssey

Dantes

I think the best advice for dantes is using the Dantes books and
Look up every Item in their study area. Business Law II is tough
I ended up with a a, and it surprized me, Supervision, read the
Dantes Prep stuff closely. MIS, Blindfold yourself, and remember MIS Terms from 1994-1997 and you should do it in your sleep.

The Drug and Alcohol took 15 minutes to remember the 70s and
read the fact sheet.

You will do fine.

For A laugh take Intro to law Enforcement and Criminal Justice
Just look up the people and their theories from the fact sheet.
Great way to clean up old credits with A"s I was laughing my
ssa off while doing both, figure an hour each and you will be gramatically correcting the tests. Good Break tests

 

Completed the DANTES Business Law II, MIS, and Principles of Supervison exams today. Unfortunately no grades yet, so no idea how I did. The Business Law II exam was easier than I was expecting, but difficult nonetheless and I'm not certain that I passed. I spent a lot of time studying commercial paper as I was having a hard time getting each and every concept down. Fortunately, there weren't a lot of commercial paper questions, but unfortunately I wasn't quite as strong in the Sale of Goods area as I didn't get that chapter of my book completed. The other major area covered was Business Organizations. The Fact Sheet is quite accurate. Again, I used the Barron's Business Review Series Business Law text. This book alone should get you through both Business Law exams with a good score. I was on this test for 90 minutes.

As mojoehand mentioned, the MIS exam isn't quite a gimme. It was a step above the CLEP Info Systems exam as it dealt more with development processes and the role of the different systems in a business. I wasn't quite so familiar with the formal development processes heading into this one, so I did a Google search for "Management Information Systems lecture notes" which led me to some general lecture notes. I also did a search for "SDLC lecture notes" which led me to notes specifically relating to the development life cycle. As gmund48 mentioned, you'll need a good handle on technical terms from the mid-90's for this one. All in all, I'm confident that I passed this one. This one took about an hour.

On to Principles of Supervision, this was the easiest of the day. I used the DSST prep guide for this one, which gave a decent overview of the topic but wasn't quite complete. However, most of these questions can be answered with common sense if you have much experience in the business world. I was finished with this one in about 40 minutes.

No progress update for these until the grades arrive, hopefully they'll come quicker than the 3-4 week estimate.

Next Up: either CLEP Principles of Accounting or ECE Business Policy. I'm not doing any studying tonight as I'm a bit burned out, so I want to go over both exam overviews tomorrow to get an idea of which way to head. I'm leaning towards Accounting.

And thanks to mojoehand and gmund48 for the pointers.

 

Well, you're moving right along! Glad to help on the MIS exam. When I took it, I was sure I passed, but wasn't sure how well I did. It took 7.5 weeks to get that score. When it finally arrived, I was pleasantly surprised to find that I did extremely well and got an "A".

From your posting, it sounds like you found the appropriate material to study, so I'm sure you did fine. Funny thing - prior to studying for the MIS exam, the only definition I knew for SDLC had nothing to do with systems design

I'm sort of bogged down in my testing cycle at the moment. I am still learning statistics. Hopefully I'll be able to test in another week or so.

As for waiting for test results, I feel your pain. I am still waiting for results from three DANTES. The first of which was taken on 2 March.

 

Wanted to update this thread since I received some DANTES scores a few days ago. I got a 70 on the MIS exam and a 58 on the Principles of Supervision exam, both A's at Excelsior. I have not yet received the Business Law II score, which makes me wonder if that doesn't bode well for my score considering I took all of these exams on the same day.

Anyways, a business trip put my behind on my test schedule. I did knock out the CLEP Principles of Accounting exam last week with a 66. I have to get those exam notes from my other PC and get them posted for reference. With the time off, I'm struggling to get back to studying to get this degree finished. I really need to be completed with testing early enough in May so that I can hit the June deadlines for the grad programs that I'm applying to. Ugh!

I should also relate my recent experience with Excelsior. Back in February, I paid the $60 to apply so that I could get an unofficial credit evaluation. I waited and waited without hearing anything, so I gave them a call. Turns out they were waiting for a transcript that had a single course on it taken at UML last fall. I asked them to just do the eval without that, which they agreed to do.

Knowing that I needed to get officially enrolled soon so that there would be time enough to have the official eval completed and make sure I hit all of the required credits in time for a June graduation, I went ahead and enrolled a week or two ago. A few days after enrolling, I received an email saying that my unofficial evaluation wouldn't be done now that I was enrolled. Apparently, once you enroll, that halts the unofficial evaluation process, and the clock on the official evaluation starts ticking on a new 6-8 week wait period! I was pretty upset, called the Business office, stated my case that I had been waiting 6 weeks for my unofficial evaluation and that I was seemingly being punished for paying them an additional $1000, and they agreed to give me a faster turn-around. My official eval should be in my hands by next week.

Progress: 60 credits in 54 days, 103 credits obtained total. 15 business credits remain (haven't deducted the 3 for Business Law II), 6 electives remain.

 

Rant - any update since this last post? Did you ever get your Business Law II exam results?

Cheers,
Mark

 

Wow, long time without posting. Here's an update.

I received a job promotion in late April that has really killed the free time I was using for test prep. And I also think I burned myself out with cramming so many tests into such a short period of time, I'm just having problems getting motivated. I'm down to the final 5 tests of my odyssey, but they're the toughies: Finance, Business Policy, Production Management, Statistics, and an elective. I really think I've psych'ed myself out on these tests.

Since my last update, I received my Business Law II exam score of 51, which at the time was a failing grade with Excelsior as a 52 was the lowest score for a C. This cut-off made no sense to me, so I essentially petitioned the business advisor's to change the cut-off for this exam. My basis was that this exam was for advanced level credit, and the minimum score for a C was signficantly higher than any other DANTES test, including very simple lower-level exams where a 46 would earn a C. I told them that I understand that you can't really compare scores between different exams, but I couldn't understand why this was the only exam where a score over 50 was required to pass. At first they told me there was nothing they could do, but they apparently saw the light as my transcript was updated to reflect a B for Business Law II.

I also failed the DANTES Finance exam by 1 point. I'm really mad at myself over that one, I took it with a pretty bad cold and couldn't think clearly enough to do some deductive math reasoning on a few questions where I didn't know the standard formula. I can still think of a couple compound interest questions that I should've gotten and would've put me over the passing score. Looks like I'm headed to the BYU Independent Learning course to get my Finance requirement knocked-out.

At any rate, I've also received 3 credits for a few MCSE exams that I took a few years ago. At this point, my goal is to finish these last few exams (someone, please kick me in the butt) and hopefully take a graduate course in the fall to get my feet wet.

My ever-changing short list of graduate schools:

University Colorado-Colorado Springs MBA
University of Illinois-Springfield MS-MIS
NYIT/Ellis MBA (thanks Unixman) (haven't decided if the lack of AACSB matters to me)
NYU MSMS
Indiana MBA (would have to wait until Fall 2005)

Please, please someone kick me in the butt to get me going again, I'll pay you money

 

Sorry to hear about Finance

Rant,
Glad to hear your still alive. I think I speak for a lot of people when I say we love reading about your and Unixman's testing odyssey. Finance kicked my butt too. Business Policy, I thought was realitively easy, certainly more so than finance. Statistics was easier than I made it up in my mind. For my elective I did Principles of Supervision (cake). Good luck. You're almost done, and thanks again for your update.

 

11 reasons to DO IT NOW!

OK Rant, here you go:
11 reasons to finish now:

1. Undergrad girls always go for Grad students!! (Think of Beautiful mind) That's what they said in Grad admissions.

2. You'll be able to write a book on your odyssey, become grossly overpaid, filthy rich beyond your wildest dreams (ala Dr Bear)

3. With your bestselling book, will come book signings, groupies, indecent parties and stories you can't write about.

4. You'll be able to send copies of your Diploma to all of your former teachers, bullies, nemesises who said you'd never make it out of grade school.

5. You'll be able to wear that awesome graduation gown to all of your family events, until they all give you a graduation gift(s).

6. No more cramming for CLEPs or Dantes, EVER!!! No more Comex, Instacert, eBay...........looking for study guides.

7. With your new degree you will move up your company ladder and demand more money, just like the cast of friends.

8. You'll be able to mock all of your friends who didn't finish their degree. This alone should get you going. "lowest education buys the beer!"

9. You'll be able to tutor Hot, needy, vulnerable young ladies in obtaining their degrees, due to your prominence int his area.

10. If you don't finish it will weigh you down FOREVER. Trust me on this one.

11. Last but not least. You will be ale to check the box indicating: College graduate from this point forward. No more being embarrassed with the Some college box. Imagine the relief.

 

I agree with the others, bro. Keep it up, you are almost there! Besides, if you give in, we will just rag you until you get back on track.

Never say never!

Keep on keepin' on!

Win one for the Gipper!

Hey baby, is that a CLEP scoresheet in your pocket, or you just happy to see me?

 

Guys, thanks for the words of encouragement. Hoping to get back on track with the CLEP Biology this weekend to knock out the remainder of my elective requirements. It's a low-risk test that won't really hurt, except for the $40, if I don't pass. After that, it's either time to tackle Statistics or Business Policy. I'm enrolled in the BYU Finance independent learning course, haven't really gotten into it yet and have to line-up a proctor for a mid-term in that course.

Ultimate, I'd be interested to hear some feedback on the Amberton MBA.

 

Hi Rant,
As for AMBERTON, I am very pleased for the following reasons:

1. Cost: $600 for a 3 unit class. They also offer student friendly payment option. 12 classes x 600 =$7,200
2. Majors: Strategic Leadership, General Business, Management,
3. Outstanding courses within the major: Persuasion, consumer behavior, motivaton, non verbal communication, human development, etc. Plus the standard: Operations, ethics, strategic leadership, etc.
4. Extremely friendly and supportive staff. I never feel like I am inconvienencing someone. They are always friendly and advise on who to call, what department. They always call back when I leave a message.
5. RA: Regionally accredited
6. Classes require a lot of work! There just enough interaction with the Professor and students, but I am not held back by lot's of group work. I learn a ton each week which I really enjoy.
7. Each class requires a lot of research, and reading, which should help prep for PhD.
8. Both DL and B&M. Most professors are the same that teach the class in their Brick and Mortal University.
9. It looks like all the Professors are full PhD's, with extensive backgrounds.
10. Eventhough the University is Christian based, they are very accepting of all faiths. They are not obnoxious about it. They are conservative and not liberal like most schools either,which I prefer.

I hope that helps, feel free to PM me if you have any questions. Keep at it, you're almost done.

 

I hear what you're saying about a job change taking up your free time - I did a role change as well as got married in May, which slowed me down a lot. But as others say, once you're done there'll be no more cramming, CLEP, DANTES, ECE, TECEP, etc. Just a "leisurely" grad school experience where you don't have to study a semester's worth of material in a week or so.

BTW...remember that you've got until September 30th for the Business Policy ECE. I'd say get the Stats done and then focus on Business Policy.

Good news BTW that they gave you a B for Business Law II (my next exam in my own voyage).

Finally, if you haven't looked at Marist College, this one's on my current short list - AACSB totally via DL.

Cheers,
Mark

 

Thanks for the recommendation on Marist, I hadn't come across them before. Looks like a good program, affordable at $1500 per course, and a decent slate of electives including a few IS electives, which is something I'm looking for as an IS professional. I really like the shorter 1-course at a time scheduling as well as the multiple entrance dates. Their MBA/IS certificate looks interesting as well, although I question the usefulness of a $9000 graduate certicate when one already holds a graduate degree. Now to see how Marist's reputation compares to some of the other schools I'm considering. Marist is small, but I've heard the name before.

 

That's the option I'm looking at - to me the value would be that although I have 15+ years of IT experience, my undergrad will be in business - so at some point in the future if I was going for a CIO/CTO type job some sort of certificate, diploma, degree, etc. in IT or IS would be useful.

BTW, it wouldn't be $9000 for the certificate, as you would take 3 of the 6 courses required as MBA electives - making it only around $4500 extra (9 credits), which is very cost-effective. However, if one was starting out in IT I wouldn't recommend this option - it's better suited I feel to someone looking at a relatively senior management position requiring extensive IT experience.

Cheers,
Mark

 

Well I took the CLEP Biology exam, which would be fulfill the last of my elective credits. I went through the 115 questions of the exam, answering all but 20 on the first past. While down to the last 5 of my review, I received a lovley Fatal Exception on the workstation, and the exam was gone. Checked with the attendant, the server I was connected to had crashed, and my exam was gone. To make matters even worse, I had contemplated just ending the exam a few minutes earlier as I was tired of sitting there. This was the 4 completely different computer the poor guy had to deal with in the 2 hours that I was there. I'm rescheduled to take it again on Monday. I doubt the questions will be the same, but perhaps someone that's repeated CLEP exams can confirm this?

Mark, have you been able to find much info on the quality or prestige with Marist College? I'm intrigued by their MBA program, but I don't know what the Marist name would mean to a resume as opposed to Colorado-Colorado Springs, UMass, or Illinois-Springfield

 

Not really, although I have work colleagues up in the Albany area that find it well-regarded.

However, as I'm based in NY State, it's not a reach for me (i.e. wouldn't raise any eyebrows) to have an Excelsior undergrad followed by a Marist grad degree (they're probably only 20 or so miles from each other). I also liked the combo of the AACSB MBA + IT certificate, the serial nature of the classes (8 weeks each) and the reasonable cost (allowing most of it to be reimbursed by my company).

I'd imagine that UMass would probably have the most name recognition, but I'd think that prestige-wise they're all about the same (i.e. not Yale or Harvard).

Cheers,
Mark

 

Passed the CLEP Biology exam today with a 58. Before I get into the exam content, I'll first add some additional detail around my difficulties on Saturday.

The exam proctor today was a different person, so I explained what happened on Saturday and explained that I shouldn't be charged for today's exam. She knew nothing of it, the weekend proctor left no notes, so she pulled up the "attendance roster" from Saturday (sounds like this is a term used within the CLEP software) and she saw that my exam was still "in progress". Long story short, she made a call to CLEP tech support, and it sounds like had the weekend proctor called them, I could've gotten back into my exam. Since I had left the site since those problems, I couldn't resume the original exam and instead had to start over. That wasn't a big deal since I was expecting that the original exam had been lost and I'd have to start over. Moral of this story, if your testing workstation crashes in the middle of your CLEP test, make your proctor phone CLEP tech support to get you back into the test.

At any rate, I'd say less than 10 of the 115 questions on today's exam were new, meaning 105+ questions were ones I had seen on Saturday, a definite bonus as it took me a half hour to complete the test today. This wasn't a terribly difficult exam, I put less than 2 hours of prep time into it. I purchased Xenia34's CLEP study guide from eBay, and I found it to be useful for the price, but I could've found plenty of prep materials via Google. Xenia34's guide also had a few sections that weren't covered at all on the exam, so I wasted some time studying those. Two good sites that I used for review after the Saturday attempt are here and here.

As far as the exam, it's pretty wide-ranging as it should be since it's essentially a combination of animal and plant biology for 6 credits. The exam covers everything from DNA/RNA (proteins, chromosomes, etc.), cell division (mitosis/meiosis), ecosystems (consumers, producers), plant respiration and reproduction, and genetics. I had 4-5 questions that dealt with homozygous and heterozygous, which I never did fully comprehend even after studying for them after the first aborted test. All in all, a lot of topics but not a terribly difficult test to pass as evidenced by the small amount of time I put into prep on this one. Excelsior gives a Pass/Fail for anything over 50, so I was comfortably above that minimum, and I'm confident that I could've scored in the 60's with another hour of preparation.

 

Hi Rant,

It's been a couple months since your last post. How did your last tests go?

Brandon

 

Also curious to see your progress....

I know this thread it kind of old. I hope you did finish your BA degree. Did you ever get started on your Master's?

 

Re: Also curious to see your progress....

YB Stop the spamming.