Comp exam prep

[dacsavannah]

I just smashed the Income Module yesterday and I only studied Gary's stuff. Now please don't take that as just study his stuff...but that's all I did. I've also studied in the past, the Adv Income class lecture notes and book, and Ted Whitmer's stuff. I think they all contributed.

Good for you! I just sat for income on Wednesday (all 4 this cycle - first time). I have no idea whether I passd any or all of them. I felt pretty comfortable with a lot of the stuff, but I was always just a few dollars off of the nearest answer (but nowhere near the others), especially on the answers that were larger numbers (hundreds of thousands or millions). Cap rate or yield rate I was usually right on one of the answers. So those are the ones that I am concerned about. I really think it will come down to how they actually grade the thing. I have gotten the impression from lots of folks that it's not as simple as running the old scantron through the machine and spitting out a grade. The good news is that it is not some kind of mythical beast. It's tough, but mostly fair. The key is the preparation. Like you, I had tons of material at my disposal, but no time whatsoever. I was struck by how many things were on the non-income modules that sure seemed like income topics to me. Pass or fail, the process left me wiped out. Felt like I had run a marathon.

What is your understanding of the timing of receiving grades? One module told me 15 days, another said 30, and somewhere on the website I think I saw "don't call us for at least 45 days". Here's hoping you passed.

 

[kiritf]

Good for you! I just sat for income on Wednesday (all 4 this cycle - first time). I have no idea whether I passd any or all of them. I felt pretty comfortable with a lot of the stuff, but I was always just a few dollars off of the nearest answer (but nowhere near the others), especially on the answers that were larger numbers (hundreds of thousands or millions). Cap rate or yield rate I was usually right on one of the answers. So those are the ones that I am concerned about. I really think it will come down to how they actually grade the thing. I have gotten the impression from lots of folks that it's not as simple as running the old scantron through the machine and spitting out a grade. The good news is that it is not some kind of mythical beast. It's tough, but mostly fair. The key is the preparation. Like you, I had tons of material at my disposal, but no time whatsoever. I was struck by how many things were on the non-income modules that sure seemed like income topics to me. Pass or fail, the process left me wiped out. Felt like I had run a marathon.

What is your understanding of the timing of receiving grades? One module told me 15 days, another said 30, and somewhere on the website I think I saw "don't call us for at least 45 days". Here's hoping you passed.

Thanks man. You never know, it's possible to nail it all down in one shot. I went in and passed 3 out of 4. Then I kept having kids.... lol, I literally was trying to take the test about a week after being at the hospital with my wife with the newest kid. I finally have had a little window to get the studying in. The thing is, don't stop going after it, because the longer it takes, the more time you put in-between yourself and when you took adv income and adv. applications. I tested out of AA, but i still studied a lot for it. I got too far detached after a few years. I was almost to the point of just retaking adv. income.

I checked today and the comp exam people told me 30 days from the last exam date, which was today. They tend to take ALL 30 DAYS for the 15 or so tests I've taken with them. Why?, they seem to have a great reason, but it's not good. IT'S A COMPUTER SCANTRON TEST THAT COULD SPIT OUT THE RESULTS IMMEDIATELY. They tell you that they have some questions they're testing, that they are studying the data, etc. That's all stuff that's mutually exclusive of my grade. It's just annoying because with such a big family, I have to plan a lot. It's all good. I have no idea what the passing score is and I like the reason they don't disclose it. It is an excellent reason (example; two guys in court on opposite sides and one guy got a 90% on his comp exam and one guy got a 75%, but both are MAI's).

I don't know if it's terrible to talk about the possible grade. I don't know what it is. From my test taking with them and sort of gauging stuff in my head, I'd guess it's in the 70% to 75% range. Nothing crazy. I was just upset this last time because I nailed it, but I just ran short on time to really finish those last couple. It shouldn't matter, but I won't be having a party until I get that email. Yes. I threw my wife a party for her grad degree she went back and got in special education. Really fun 80's party. I want one. I put as much into this. I've asked for a piano bar party. There's guys around here that you can hire to come to your house and play on our baby grand and do sing along tunes. Please AI???!!! Don't mess up my Piano Bar Party...

 

[dacsavannah]

I think ( and maybe I'm giving them too much credit here) but I'm not sure if they know which questions they are going to count each time. Say 200 people took the income module this go 'round, and 187 missed the same question. I think they kick that one to the curb. I was also told that there were a few questions that are known to not be counted. There was one on the cost module that I swear I thought was a joke. It was a 'you have to know the rule for this' geometry-based question, that didn't state the necessary assumption in order to even make it a legitimate question. I promise it was constructed on the order of "which weighs more, a blue dog or a brown dog?" except with shapes. I want to repeat it here, but I don't want to get in trouble.

I have a feeling that it's not just a raw percentage score that they are looking for. I think all of the questions on each module fall into one of several "areas of proficiency" that are being tested. We can all recognize the questions that are essentially testing the same skill over and over. I'll bet they don't like the idea of passing somebody who got a 75%, but missed every single one of the yield cap questions, for example. The only reason I can imagine that they don't at least indicate a pass/fail right away is that there is more at play than a raw score. I think it matters to some degree which questions you miss, not necessarily how many you miss. I could be wrong.

Looking for an invite to that party!

 

[kiritf]

I think ( and maybe I'm giving them too much credit here) but I'm not sure if they know which questions they are going to count each time. Say 200 people took the income module this go 'round, and 187 missed the same question. I think they kick that one to the curb. I was also told that there were a few questions that are known to not be counted. There was one on the cost module that I swear I thought was a joke. It was a 'you have to know the rule for this' geometry-based question, that didn't state the necessary assumption in order to even make it a legitimate question. I promise it was constructed on the order of "which weighs more, a blue dog or a brown dog?" except with shapes. I want to repeat it here, but I don't want to get in trouble.

I have a feeling that it's not just a raw percentage score that they are looking for. I think all of the questions on each module fall into one of several "areas of proficiency" that are being tested. We can all recognize the questions that are essentially testing the same skill over and over. I'll bet they don't like the idea of passing somebody who got a 75%, but missed every single one of the yield cap questions, for example. The only reason I can imagine that they don't at least indicate a pass/fail right away is that there is more at play than a raw score. I think it matters to some degree which questions you miss, not necessarily how many you miss. I could be wrong.

Looking for an invite to that party!

I dig it. Both points are very good. The first, they sort of really do say, but they don't say. I think it's just halfway tough to explain some of it, because they don't talk about the raw score and then it makes this explanation even harder. I guess we've managed to get this far, so it is what it is and we'll get through it. I regret not just making the time after the initial test to really "study study" for the income. It should be much easier because it's one test, but man, that's a long, hard test!

I'm the same in talking about the test, probably as we should be and have certified and signed that we won't. I think what we're discussing is fine. I think you laid it out right. If we were talking about the question where they were asking for X from these variables and these are your options and put specifics in, then we'd be in violation. First, I don't want to be in violation. Second, we've worked WAY too hard to give anybody anything at all! Lastly, the questions aren't any secret. It's the same material in Adv. Income,, Adv. Applications (speaking of the Inc. Module and well, all of them), and all of the review courses/booklets. I found Ted Whitmers stuff for all but the Income Section to be great, but found Gary DeWeese's material for the Income to be phenomenal to be able to study on your own with. I did not get Gary's other material. His Income Module study guide has about 150 questions+, but has about 340 slides on the power point where problems are worked out and that small bit of extra explanation is given (such as pointing out something as a "distractor" as opposed to being necessary).

Cheers man! and absolutely! come to the Piano Bar Party!

 

[dacsavannah]

Done and done

I got my results yesterday and I'm very relieved to have gone 4-for-4. I did not want to have to do that again. I was not overly confident about any of the 4, but felt like I had done well enough that this was a possibility.

The good news for anyone who is planning to sit for the exam is that there is no "dark magic" involved with the material or presentation. There is plenty of study material out there that will have you well prepared, between the advanced course materials, Whitmer, Urubek, DeWeese, etc. The key is scheduling the time to prepare and practice. I sincerely believe that anyone who has passed the advanced courses should not fear the comp if they prepare sufficiently.

On to the demo . . . . start getting my pin ready, Chicago!

 

[hastalavista]

Thanks for the update; it is reassuring.

I plan to sit for the Comp this year and then do the Capstone next year. With luck, they are going to have a Capstone Class in the Northern California Area.