6-Week DSST Principles of Finance Study Plan: Week by Week

This DSST Principles of Finance study plan gives you a clear way to prep in six weeks without guessing what to study next. Start with the $5 study guide, because it shows 10 free sample questions before you buy and lays out what is inside the printable PDF.

The guide is 38 pages, built from the official units and weights, with one chapter per content area, heaviest-weighted first. It also gives you 183 key terms with examples, 46 practice questions with explained answers, common exam traps, a 2-page cram sheet, and ready-made 2-, 4- and 8-week plans. Add the $19 prep course if you want more step-by-step practice and quizzes during the full six weeks.

Start with a baseline, not a full review

The best first step in a six-week plan is a short check of where you stand now. Take the free practice test before you read much at all. It has 25 original questions that follow the official exam outline, and every answer has an explanation. That makes it useful even if your first score feels rough. You are not using it to predict your exam result. You are using it to spot weak areas early.

After that, get your core material in place. The printable DSST Principles of Finance study guide is the lean option: $5 once for a 38-page PDF you can print or read on a screen. It is built from the official units and weights, starts with the heaviest sections first, and includes 183 key terms, 46 practice questions, explained answers, common traps, and a 2-page cram sheet.

If you learn better by doing a lot of small checks, add the Principles of Finance prep course. It costs $19 once and includes 11 chapters, 146 lessons, and 93 quizzes, with a quiz after every subchapter. The guide plus the course is $24 total. If this is your only DSST exam, that is a simple setup. If you may take more than one DSST exam, a plan can make more sense later.

How to use the 6-week table

The table below should drive your calendar. Do not try to spread every topic evenly. This exam is not weighted evenly, so your study time should not be even either. In this DSST Principles of Finance study plan, the early weeks lean hard into the two 20% areas first, then move into the 12% and 11% areas, then finish with the smaller topics and review.

Use the table in a simple weekly routine. On four or five days each week, read a small part of the guide, then do the matching lesson or quiz in the course if you bought it. Save one day for mixed practice and one day for catching up. If a topic is taking longer than expected, do not panic and rebuild the whole schedule. Just protect the heavy topics first and trim time from the 8% and 7% areas before you trim time from the 20% areas.

The guide and course do different jobs. The guide keeps you focused and shows you what matters most. The course gives you more repetition through 146 lessons and 93 quizzes. That pairing works well over six weeks because you can learn a topic from the guide, then test it right away in the course. By week six, you want review to feel familiar, not new.

Weeks 1 and 2: win the heaviest topics first

Your first two weeks should center on Financial Statements and Planning and Time Value of Money. Each is 20% of the exam, so together they make up a large share of what you will face. That is why the study guide puts the heaviest content areas first. Follow that order. It helps you spend your energy where it can matter most.

In week one, focus on Financial Statements and Planning. Read that chapter in the guide slowly. Pay attention to the key terms and examples, not just the definitions. Finance questions often look familiar until one word changes the meaning. The guide flags common exam traps, so watch those closely. If you have the course, use the matching chapter lessons right after each reading block. Because there is a quiz after every subchapter, you can catch confusion fast instead of carrying it into the next week.

In week two, move to Time Value of Money. This is a topic where many students know the idea but miss the setup. Work through examples until you can explain what the numbers mean in plain words. At the end of each week, do a short mixed review from both topics. Do not wait until week six to combine them. This DSST Principles of Finance study plan works best when you revisit earlier material every week, even while you move forward.

Weeks 3 and 4: build the middle of the exam

By week three, you should already have a base in the two biggest areas. Now move into the next group: Working Capital Management at 10%, Capital Budgeting at 12%, Cost of Capital at 11%, and Risk and Return at 12%. These topics are large enough to deserve real time, but they are easier to manage once the first two weeks are done.

A good split is to keep week three focused on Working Capital Management and Capital Budgeting, then use week four for Cost of Capital and Risk and Return. Keep the same pattern all month: read the guide first, then do the matching lessons and quizzes in the $19 prep course. The course matters most here because these topics can blur together if you only read them once. Frequent quizzes make you sort out terms and methods while they are still fresh.

At the end of week three, go back and review your notes from weeks one and two. At the end of week four, do a larger mixed review from all six topics you have covered so far. Use the 46 practice questions in the guide as a way to check understanding across chapters, not just inside one chapter at a time. If you miss something, return to that guide section first. The goal is not to read more pages. The goal is to fix the exact gap that caused the miss.

Week 5: finish the small areas and start mixing

Week five is where many students either settle the material or start rushing. Do not rush. This week has two jobs: finish the last content areas, then stop studying in isolated blocks. The remaining topics are Valuation and Characteristics of Stocks and Bonds at 8% and International Financial Management at 7%. Those are smaller parts of the exam, but they still count, and they can be good score builders if you prepare them cleanly.

Read those final chapters in the guide, then use the course lessons and quizzes to check that you can tell similar ideas apart. On valuation questions, small wording changes can steer you toward the wrong answer. On international finance questions, keep your notes simple and concrete. Try to explain each term as if you had to teach it to someone else in one or two lines.

Once those topics are done, switch your review style. Stop asking, What chapter am I on. Start asking, Can I move between topics without getting lost. That is where mixed practice helps. Pull practice questions from different areas. Revisit missed quiz items from the course. Re-read the trap notes in the guide. If you are thinking about more DSST exams after this one, the DSST prep hub shows the full set of available DSST prep options, but keep this week centered on this exam only.

Week 6: retest, use the cram sheet, then book the exam

The last week should feel lighter in volume but sharper in focus. Start by taking the free practice test again as an end check. Because it includes explanations, your retake is still useful even if you remember some items. Look for patterns in what you miss. If your errors cluster in one content area, go back to that chapter in the guide and the matching course quizzes. If your misses are spread out, your issue may be pacing or careless reading, so focus on trap notes and mixed review.

This is the week for the guide's 2-page cram sheet. Use it the night before, or in the final two days if that feels calmer. Do not treat the cram sheet like your only study tool. It works best because you already spent five weeks learning the full material. Now it helps you refresh the big ideas, terms, and likely trouble spots fast.

You can take DSST exams year-round, and the exam fee is $100, plus any fee the test center charges. Prometric runs DSST exams. On an internet-based DSST exam, you see your result right after the exam. If you need to retest, there is a 30-day wait. Before you schedule, check your college's DSST credit policy, because each college decides whether to award credit. Then set your date while week six is still active, not months later.

Frequently Asked Questions about DSST Finance Plan

Final Thoughts on DSST Finance Plan

If you have six weeks, keep your prep simple and consistent. Start with the $5 DSST Principles of Finance study guide for the weighted roadmap, key terms, trap notes, and final cram sheet. Add the $19 prep course if you want more lessons and quiz reps during the plan. That gives you a clear path for $24 total. If you are ready, open the guide page first, try the 10 sample questions, and map your week one today.