Failed Certified General Exam Twice

[Tim The Enchanter]

If at first you don't suck seed...

 

[Elliott]

The more exams you take, you'll find that exam writers use other exams. I've always thought they write the next exam based on which questions get the wrong answer the most (usually because its written in a confusing manner). I had an ex-wife who taught me how to study for an exam and it was essentially an over-learning process. Get your materials together, take practice exams over and over until all you get is 100%. Learn to identify key words.

I'm not one to brag, but the CG exam was super easy and I was the 2nd person in the room to complete AI's comprehensive exam (I pretty much knew I got every question right). Give me a USPAP exam and I struggle and the right answers make no sense to me.

 

[ShaynaPunim1984]

Ideally I'd like to be done with this exam the next time I take it. The practice exam questions, though repeating did help, didn't fill in the gaps of what I'm missing (well, trying to find out that I'm missing). Ideally, I could use practice questions similar to the exam because the wording in it was just awful. Anyone have luck with Steve Williamson's course or learnappraising?

 

[jay trotta]

Not a good tester hear either; skim thru the question, on the second pass read it carefully - the wording is designed to generate an excessive thought process. Bring a rubber band and paper clips to the next one..........Ooops sorry that will lead everyone else to distraction.......ROFL

 

[Terrel L. Shields]

scheduled to take it again August 22nd to give myself a good month to see where things went wrong. Please help. If I get licensed, I get promoted and a raise.

It really sucks that the only way they can reduce the number of people passing the test is to obfuscate the questions to make the test a guessing game. Our real estate commission did the same years ago, and asked questions about French surveying terms, and other obscure information no one was going to know. It is about winnowing the herd and the only thing you can do it gut it out. Follow Marion's advice and try to get the test questions all in a line. Practice DCF, and all those obscure HBU problems you can find.
I know it is stressful and that doesn't help. I took a two day class three days before the test. The instructor had a conflict so the class was Wed & Thur, but he reserved the space for us and most of the people returned on Friday and self practiced the test. I was one of the few going for the CG...Saturday morning, I took the test. And passed first time, but I remember having to calm down after the test and I shook like a leaf for a few minutes until I could get to a café and get some coffee down me.

 

[JTip]

Don't sweat it. It took me several time to pass the CR test and I'm doing very well.

I still believe the test is a conspiracy to make money for the state and the testing centers. As disclosed by a 'reliable source', our fine state takes the test questions that most participants get correctly and replace them with questions with a low correct answer count. So over time the test gets harder....and harder....and harder.....

My advice: Drill down on individual 'units of study', as broken down by your test results. For example: USPAP has 25 questions. You got 19 right. Become intimate with the words, recite verbatim the standards. If you get all 25 right, you passed.

 

[Gobears81]

There is a lot of good advice here. Probably don't need my two cents added, but I'll throw it in anyways-

When I studied for my CG exam, I think I started about 6 weeks or so before - not too far off from when your next test is although you have already started studying, so no worries. I got up an hour earlier each morning, as that is the time that my mind retains the most. I read through every one of the books from my AI QE (save for the electives). The materials that was a bit fuzzy was highlighted and re-reviewed, while the course packets/ books for the subjects that I struggled with the most were reviewed again in their entirety. In your case, if you remember some of the questions that you were struggling with, review the corresponding information. Studying an hour or so a day is preferable to late-night cram sessions, as your brain does not retain much after.

I am more of a quant guy (at least for test taking purposes), as their are simply right answers for those questions, whereas the more subjective material often has a "preferable" right answer to the "not as good" right answer. Some might say overkill (which is what I tend to do for studying), but a way to combat that is to drill that stuff into your head over and over and over, which will make you comfortable enough with the subject matter that you won't stress as much over the "other" right answers.

If you are looking for a prep course, I believe John Urubek's MAI prep course is for a week, but the first five days are relevant info for CG test takers. You'll definitely want to verify that if interested though.

 

[ShaynaPunim1984]

Gobears81 your advice is good. I was studying in the evening and I hated it, but it was the only time I had since I work 8-6pm (sometimes later) at an appraisal firm. Morning sessions might be where it's at for me. I still have all the AI course books, I might just take this time to go through them page by page again and not leave any stone unturned - along with doing practice problems.

Tried to find John Urubek's prep course but he's not in my area (I'm in Los Angeles) and I searched online, didn't find an online course. Do you know of anyone who has materials from his course I could purchase? I found random sources from different retailers, all claiming that they offer a 100% guarantee of passing. Just wondering if anyone heard or experienced success with any particular resource that wasn't through the Appraisal Institute.

 

[Terrel L. Shields]

An 80 year old pipeline welder told me once to "keep a stiff upper lip and a tight bunghole" as he struck an arc and welded a perfect bead on a hitch for my truck. That hitch was still good the day we sold it, some fourteen or so years later long after the old man had gone to the Big Job in the sky.

 

[RSW]

I took the test four years ago and past. It is a pain in the neck. Some of the problems are have extraneous information, and also have answers that are "more right" than other choices.

Sorry to hear about your "Pasting". Why were we not notified?