General course order

[Michigander]

I am taking my general courses through the AI and the first one I took was the market analysis and highest and best use. I understood the concepts and the terms but really struggled with the math. In the end I did pass but I certainly wasn't confident.

Should I take the courses in order presented or do you all recommend a different tactic considering my difficulty with the math. I am no longer working with my mentor and am still taking university courses (five to go) and my brain reached titration point recently, but I still want to pursue this, just more slowly.

Plan one two courses in 2013 if I can hack it and would like opinions on which I should tackle first without a mentor and without actually working on commercial assignments.

Thanks!

 

[GCJim]

I am not sure about the AI course track for certified general.
I would take Income Cap I and Advanced Income Cap (Income Cap 2) back-to-back if you can, so that concepts from 1 are fresh in your mind for 2..
Having said that, I rate these 2 courses as among the most difficult of any I have ever taken, graduate school level courses included. While I understood every concept and all the math as well as any, putting it all together and applying what you have learned (e.g., as in, final exam for each), was a BEAR.
I have not studied harder or longer for any exams as I did for Income cap 1, Income cap 2, and the certified general exam, period.
All the best with your studies.

 

[IL1984]

Having just finished Highest and Best Use a couple weeks ago, I feel that it should be one of the last courses taken in the CG path. Some of the financial feasibility calculations are a lot easier if you have taken Income 1, and the actual calculations you would have to do in a real world situation for construction costs would be easier to do if you had exposure to the Cost Approach course. I think that if math is a weakness for you, then the stats class should be next, since it feels like every course, other than Report Writing, talks about some of the topics covered in the Stats course. That will give you a good base for those courses, letting you ease into the course with info that you already have a handle on rather than having concepts you're not as comfortable with right off the bat.

I took the courses in roughly the order they're listed on the AI website, starting with Principles, Procedures, then USPAP for my trainee license, then Stats, Sales, Cost, Income 1, Report Writing, Income 2, then HBU. AI has the report writing course last on their list, but for scheduling reasons, I couldn't take Income 1 and 2 back to back, so I subbed Report Writing in as my 3rd class last year instead. Now all I have left is my elective that Illinois requires, so I'm taking one of the MAI path courses to kill two birds with one stone.

I think the biggest thing that helped me with the Income courses is the fact that I've taken a number of finance courses through undergrad and grad school. I saw you said you still had a couple university courses left to take, any chance that any of them could be a finance course? Knowing the theory behind the mechanics in the Income courses made them much easier. The other thing I'd suggest is that, if math is your weakness, take the Income courses as close to the CG test as possible. That way the info is still fresh in your mind from class and you'll be able to just apply the pure theory as taught in the course rather than what ends up happening when you don't have perfect data in the real world.

Either way, best of luck, there is a whole lot of information packed into those courses that can be tough to digest in such a short period of time.

 

[IL1984]

I am not sure about the AI course track for certified general.
I would take Income Cap I and Advanced Income Cap (Income Cap 2) back-to-back if you can, so that concepts from 1 are fresh in your mind for 2..
Having said that, I rate these 2 courses as among the most difficult of any I have ever taken, graduate school level courses included. While I understood every concept and all the math as well as any, putting it all together and applying what you have learned (e.g., as in, final exam for each), was a BEAR.
I have not studied harder or longer for any exams as I did for Income cap 1, Income cap 2, and the certified general exam, period.
All the best with your studies.

I'm not sure if you're talking about the old Income 310 and Income 510 courses, but they've actually split up the old income course into 3 separate courses now, one that deals with level income and one that is yield cap, and have a separate class for Advanced Income Cap course for the MAI path. It makes it a little bit easier as you have 4 days to cover direct cap, then another 4 to cover yield cap, and then another 5 for advanced topics.

 

[Terrel L. Shields]

take refresher courses right before you take the tests...that's the best I have to offer...which ain't much. I did a hodge-podge over 5 years before sitting the test. But the pre-test prep was what made the difference.

 

[hastalavista]

I took the income (basic and advanced) courses first.
That seemed to work well for me.

 

[Michigander]

Thanks guys. It will be YEARS before I take the test. Just want to start getting a solid education started before I attempt this again. I did find it overwhelming with university at the same time and I am going to schedule my courses during summer break from uni.

Income sounds like a good next class, and definitely a refresher before the time the test comes, if ever.

 

[cpalub01]

I'm taking the HBU course in Branchburg, NJ next weekend. I wasn't worried too much about it until I saw this thread...

 

[Michigander]

Just study. I don't know how I would have passed without doing so. It could have gone either way as it were. We had a good instructor which helps.

 

[JTip]

take refresher courses right before you take the tests...that's the best I have to offer...

Take your CLASSES right before the test...that's my best offer...

I made the mistake of taking my classes FIRST, then taking 4 years to fatten up my log book, another few months to get approved..... 50% of the test questions will be from material that you have not experienced in your training, so the classes are essential for those 'non-practical' terms and situation.

Coming up on 4 years being certified, still burns me up when I think about the cap questions on the RESIDENTIAL test. :new_snipersmilie: