DSST Difficulty List

Disclaimer:

Just like the CLEP Difficulty List, a bit of personal bias may creep in on the DSST Difficulty List as well. I've tried to judge these from the viewpoint of an average test taker, and put my own strengths and weaknesses aside. We'll see how successful I've been.

A few notes:

DSST's are generally considered to be tougher than CLEP's due to many of them being recommended for Upper Level Credit by ACE. For that reason, there will be many more level 3, 4, and 5 Level DSST's than there were CLEP's. Keep this in mind when deciding which to take.

You may come across one that just blows you away at level 2, or you may be eating the level 5's for breakfast. The DSST Difficulty List is meant to be a starting guide to help you plan the order of the exams you wish to take. Study for all of them like they're level 5, and you'll never have to worry about being unprepared.

I've also tried to group them in terms of difficulty by category as well. The exams at the end of Level 2 are more difficult in my opinion than the exams at the beginning of Level 2, and so on.

Finally, I have listed them in an order to take advantage of study material overlap. Studying for some of the earlier exams will help you out with others further up the difficulty ladder. If you decide to take an exam without taking the earlier exams first, you may find it more difficult than it would be otherwise. I always list the earlier exams that may help on each exam's study guide. Click on the DSST's link below to see if there are any related exams.

DSST Difficulty List
One being the easiest, and five being the hardest

Hopefully this list helps you in determining which exams to take in what order.

If you think I'm waaaaaaay off base with the difficulty of a particular exam on the DSST Difficulty List, then please let me know via the "Contact Us" button. I may not agree and it may not be changed, but if I get enough "OMG!" emails, I'll bow to public opinion sooner or later. ;)

Best of luck with your test taking!

-Justin