Dantes Test
Dantes tests are also known as DSST’s, these exams cover some of the topics that the more commonly known, clep test, do not offer or have available.
I was personally able to test out of over a years worth of college by taking mostly clep examinations as well as one Dante’s examination.
There are a couple differences between Dantes and clep that you will need to be aware of.
Clep examinations range from being worth 3 up to 12 credit hours, often you will find many subjects that are worth at least 6 full credit hours that are available in the clep test subject availability. With the Dantes test all are worth 3 credit hours only.
With clep tests you are only able to apply the credit hours to undergraduate courses, however, with Dantes they have a few available subjects that can be applied for upper level credit courses. The reason being, is some of the tests cover subject knowledge that would typically be covered in 300 or 400 upper-level classes in other words junior and senior level classes
Dantes are generally considered to be more difficult than the better-known clep test. Make sure that statement does not scare you off from considering taking a Dantes exam. The key is to work with your school counselor to see which tests can be used to fill in needed credit hours based on your particular degree plan. If the Dantes test is available for a subject that you have previous knowledge or experience with I would definitely consider taking that test. As I mentioned before I was able to pass a number of clep tests as well as one Dantes tests. The Dantes test that I took was not difficult at all simply because I chose a subject that I had previous knowledge of.
I would definitely recommend trying to take as many clep tests as you can though and using Dantes to fill in any gaps or earn additional easy credit hours. Keep in mind you can use both clep and dantes to fill elective hours or target a specific requirement on your degree based on the availability of the tests.
Here is a list of available Dantes subjects, I’m sure you’ll find at the least a couple that you have previous knowledge or experience with these are the ones you should consider taking:
Upper Level (UL) DSST Exams
• Business Ethics and Society – 3 UL Credits
• Business Law II – 3 UL Credits
• Drug and Alcohol Abuse/Substance Abuse – 3 UL Credits
• Ethics in America – 3 UL Credits
• Here’s to Your Health – 3 UL Credits
• Introduction to World Religions – 3 UL Credits
• Management Information Systems – 3 UL Credits
• Money and Banking – 3 UL Credits
• Principles of Finance – 3 UL Credits
• Rise and Fall of the Soviet Union – 3 UL Credits
• The Civil War and Reconstruction – 3 UL Credits
Lower Level (LL) DSST Exams
• A History of the Vietnam War – 3 LL Credits
• Art of the Western World – 3 LL Credits
• Astronomy – 3 LL Credits
• Business Mathematics – 3 LL Credits
• Criminal Justice – 3 LL Credits (Some schools count as UL Credit)
• Environment and Humanity: The Race to Save the Planet – 3 LL Credits
• Foundations of Education – 3 LL Credits
• Fundamentals of College Algebra – 3 LL Credits
• Fundamentals of Counseling – 3 LL Credits
• General Anthropology – 3 LL Credits
• Human Resource Management – 3 LL Credits
• Human/Cultural Geography – 3 LL Credits
• Introduction to Business – 3 LL Credits
• Introduction to Computing – 3 LL Credits
• Introduction to Law Enforcement – 3 LL Credits
• Introduction to the Modern Middle East – 3 LL Credits
• Lifespan Development Psychology – 3 LL Credits
• Organizational Behavior – 3 LL Credits
• Personal Finance – 3 LL Credits
• Physical Geology – 3 LL Credits
• Principles of Financial Accounting – 3 LL Credits
• Principles of Physical Science – 3 LL Credits
• **Principles of Public Speaking – 3 LL Credits
• Principles of Supervision – 3 LL Credits
• Principles of Statistics – 3 LL Credits
• Technical Writing – 3 LL Credits
• Western Europe Since 1945 – 3 LL Credits