Anyone else studying for DPSST in the next month? Want to study together

Passed DPSST 4 months ago. Happy to share what I remember.

On the "DPSST exam" stuff specifically — I found the practice tests here were actually harder than the real exam on those questions. Which was great because going in I felt more prepared than I needed to be.

The time pressure is real though. I came in with maybe 8 minutes to spare and that was after skipping the ones I wasn't sure about and coming back.

Don't try to cram the night before. Seriously. Last-minute stress makes you second-guess things you actually know.

What helped me most with exam prep specifically: stop thinking about it as a topic to memorize and start thinking about the types of decisions it's asking you to make. Once I shifted to that frame, my DPSST scores in that section jumped about 14 points within a week.

Appreciate everyone sharing their experience here. I'm 5 weeks out from my DPSST exam date and feeling more confident after reading this. The consensus on exam prep being the hardest section matches what I'm seeing in my practice scores — going to put extra time there this week.

Honestly the thing that changed everything for me was when I stopped just memorizing the right answer and started figuring out why the other three were wrong. Sounds small but it's not. I'd get a question right on a practice run, feel good, then bomb a reworded version of the same concept later because I didn't actually understand it. So now every time I miss one, or even guess one right, I make myself explain out loud why each wrong option is a trap. It's slow. But it sticks way better.

I'm about 5 weeks out so we're close on timing. Where are you at with the material right now? If you want we could pick a topic each week and quiz each other on the wrong answers specifically, because I think that's where most people get tripped up. Happy to compare notes on whatever you're finding hardest too.

Just passed mine last month so I'll throw in what helped me most. Honestly it wasn't the big study sessions that moved the needle, it was drilling the Oregon-specific statutes over and over until they stopped blurring together. I kept mixing up the use of force standards with general criminal procedure stuff and that tripped me up on practice tests way more than I expected.

The accountability partner thing is genuinely useful though, you're right about that. My study buddy and I would quiz each other on scenario-based questions and having to explain my reasoning out loud showed me exactly where I'd just been guessing. Good luck, you've got plenty of time if you're consistent.

I'm in a similar boat — full-time job, two kids, so I've been squeezing in 30-40 minutes before work and sometimes on my lunch break. It's not glamorous but it actually adds up. The hardest part for me was dpsst/questions/firearms and use of force because I kept second-guessing the legal thresholds, so I've been drilling those specifically instead of just reviewing everything evenly.

Accountability would honestly help me a ton right now. I didn't think I'd care about having a study partner but when I miss a day it's way too easy to just let it slide. If you want to do like a weekly check-in or compare scores on practice sets, I'm down. Seven weeks is enough time if we stay consistent.