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:

DSSTs are generally considered to be tougher than CLEPs 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 DSSTs than there were CLEPs. 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.

Here's the list. One being the easiest, and five being the hardest.