Certified General Exam

[jasperwayne]

Hi All. I just completed my second attempt and passed the Certified General exam. I wanted to send a quick note for all those out there studying or preparing to take this test. First, you have to study. When I say study, you need to do a little each day and give yourself time to download and retain all of the concepts. It is not likely that one can cram one or two weeks before the test and pass. This is what I tried to do the first time around and failed. I was overwhelmed and after sitting there for six hours trying to work through some of the problems, I left defeated. But....after having gone through it a second time, don't give up! This test is meant to push you. Not only is it meant to push your understanding of the concepts, but it pushes you mentally with not having a break for lunch and a six hour block of time to finish it. I cannot stress this enough....Compucram and sites like this will not help you pass the certified general exam. Below are a list of resources that I used for the test prep the second time. This was so unbelievable helpful that I completed the test in 3.5 hours and took another 45 minutes or so going over flagged questions to "double check". The test gives you so much information that you do not need to determine the answer. This is why I cannot stress enough, you must understand the concepts forwards and backwards. I hope that my information is helpful to someone out there going through this. Don't give up.

The Appraisal Institute study handbooks are a must for both Income 1 & 2. While the exam is heavily geared towards income 2 concepts, income 1 gives you the foundation that you need to fully understand and feeling comfortable with the 12C. You must also know depreciation, cost approach and highest and best use concepts. Both tests that I took were heavy on income, USPAP, determining depreciation, economic life from depreciation, cost approach and highest and best use. Study USPAP. A lot of the concepts covered from USPAP were taken from Advisory Opinions and Frequently Asked Questions sections. Finally, this is completely up to you, but I purchased all four focused learning tests from "appraisaltestquestions". I don't want to make it a hyperlink as I am sure you guys have come across this site. These questions were vital in me getting a feel for the type of questions to be asked. Now I know they do not give you answer sheets for the tests. This is actually a good thing in my mind because it forces you to really dive into the concepts, learn the process and be more confident in the testing style. I have a very close friend that is an MAI. He and I would have dinner once a week and after dinner would spend two hours going over test sample questions and concepts. Having a tudor to help understand the concepts and really know what is needed from the question was invaluable. He and I had four study sessions and it was the best learning experience that I could have asked for. Good luck!

 

[frobro]

Great info in here. It may get moved to the Education section of the site, but i'm sure this will be helpful for anyone taking the exam in the future. They absolutely give you way more info then you need, so figuring out what the question is actually asking and what information is actually needed is huge.

 

[Mike Kennedy]

CONGRATS!!!! $$$$$$$$$$$

 

[bcbmom08]

www.stevewilliamson.com practice test questions for 4 weeks and I passed on the first try.

 

[Illuminati]

Thanks for the info.

I'll be taking it sometime next summer.

 

[Summer]

Hi All. I just completed my second attempt and passed the Certified General exam. I wanted to send a quick note for all those out there studying or preparing to take this test. First, you have to study. When I say study, you need to do a little each day and give yourself time to download and retain all of the concepts. It is not likely that one can cram one or two weeks before the test and pass. This is what I tried to do the first time around and failed. I was overwhelmed and after sitting there for six hours trying to work through some of the problems, I left defeated. But....after having gone through it a second time, don't give up! This test is meant to push you. Not only is it meant to push your understanding of the concepts, but it pushes you mentally with not having a break for lunch and a six hour block of time to finish it. I cannot stress this enough....Compucram and sites like this will not help you pass the certified general exam. Below are a list of resources that I used for the test prep the second time. This was so unbelievable helpful that I completed the test in 3.5 hours and took another 45 minutes or so going over flagged questions to "double check". The test gives you so much information that you do not need to determine the answer. This is why I cannot stress enough, you must understand the concepts forwards and backwards. I hope that my information is helpful to someone out there going through this. Don't give up.

The Appraisal Institute study handbooks are a must for both Income 1 & 2. While the exam is heavily geared towards income 2 concepts, income 1 gives you the foundation that you need to fully understand and feeling comfortable with the 12C. You must also know depreciation, cost approach and highest and best use concepts. Both tests that I took were heavy on income, USPAP, determining depreciation, economic life from depreciation, cost approach and highest and best use. Study USPAP. A lot of the concepts covered from USPAP were taken from Advisory Opinions and Frequently Asked Questions sections. Finally, this is completely up to you, but I purchased all four focused learning tests from "appraisaltestquestions". I don't want to make it a hyperlink as I am sure you guys have come across this site. These questions were vital in me getting a feel for the type of questions to be asked. Now I know they do not give you answer sheets for the tests. This is actually a good thing in my mind because it forces you to really dive into the concepts, learn the process and be more confident in the testing style. I have a very close friend that is an MAI. He and I would have dinner once a week and after dinner would spend two hours going over test sample questions and concepts. Having a tudor to help understand the concepts and really know what is needed from the question was invaluable. He and I had four study sessions and it was the best learning experience that I could have asked for. Good luck!

I thought it was useless without the answers. The Q and A book from the appraisal institute was just as bad.