Passing The State Exam For Licensed Appraiser

[Slick-0125]

Hello everybody.
I could really use some advice on passing the state exam for Licensed Appraiser in the state of Maryland. I have tried 3 times so far and the best I've scored has been 63%. Reaching the required 75% seems impossible at this juncture. I have worked in the field for more than 4 years now and I've bought the most expensive software to prepare for the exam (Compucram) and I thought my biggest issue would be to get to the exam but boy was I wrong. Passing this thing seems impossible with more times taking it getting harder and harder. Any advice on additional software to prepare for it would be greatly appreciated. Please note that most of you have taken this exam along time ago and it has since been redesigned. There are 125 questions that need to be answered in no longer than 1.9 minutes per question. Thank you all in advance for your input.

Slick

 

[hastalavista]

The Appraisal Institute has a license prep program which I think is good (I think Compucram is good as well).
It is on-line, has somewhere around 1,300 questions, covering every facet of the exam (for all licensing levels; so it would include some income problems that you could skip). Last time I looked, it was something like $100, and it is accessible for one year. Like Compucram, you do it when you want on your schedule.

My experience is that most fail the test because they are challenged by the testing process rather than the material. Both the Compucram and the AI aids are effectively a memorization-drill; you do it over and over again until the questions and answers become more or less second hand. Memorization-drills work well if the applicant understands the underlying fundamentals. The key is matching the actual test-question to the same test-aid question; once you do that ("Oh yeah, this question is the same as question X in the test-aid program... so I know that the answer should be Y"), things should go smoother.
What the test-aid programs will not do is help you learn the fundamentals. So if you suspect there is a fundamental issue (rather than the test-taking process itself), then the best thing to do is go back to your source material and review it more thoroughly.

Don't give up; just hit the books (test-aids or original source material if necessary) a little harder!

Good luck!

 

[McMurphy]

Which educational provider did you pay for the 150 classroom hours?

What is the response from your supervisor(s) after 4 years in the field?

https://www.dllr.state.md.us/license/reahi/reahireq.shtml

 

[Joe Flacco]

You got a college degree bro?

 

[Charles Decker]

Did you get a breakdown of how you scored on each portion of the test?. I'm thinking you're just weak in one area and mediocre on another with the other areas you're good. You said 1.9 minutes per question. Does the screen automatically jump to the next question? I think not. You are only lacking about 12 questions from passing. If you get stuck, try and eliminate 2 answers. At least you get it down to a 50/50 guess. Good luck.

 

[Slick-0125]

Which educational provider did you pay for the 150 classroom hours?

What is the response from your supervisor(s) after 4 years in the field?

https://www.dllr.state.md.us/license/reahi/reahireq.shtml

Hi and thank you for responding. My 150 classroom hours were done from Hondros Institute. Supervising appraiser isn't much help because he took his exam some 20+ years ago. Continuing education is nothing (I've had to take continuing ed. to renew my trainee license) compared to what the AQB exam is nowadays.

 

[Slick-0125]

The Appraisal Institute has a license prep program which I think is good (I think Compucram is good as well).
It is on-line, has somewhere around 1,300 questions, covering every facet of the exam (for all licensing levels; so it would include some income problems that you could skip). Last time I looked, it was something like $100, and it is accessible for one year. Like Compucram, you do it when you want on your schedule.

My experience is that most fail the test because they are challenged by the testing process rather than the material. Both the Compucram and the AI aids are effectively a memorization-drill; you do it over and over again until the questions and answers become more or less second hand. Memorization-drills work well if the applicant understands the underlying fundamentals. The key is matching the actual test-question to the same test-aid question; once you do that ("Oh yeah, this question is the same as question X in the test-aid program... so I know that the answer should be Y"), things should go smoother.
What the test-aid programs will not do is help you learn the fundamentals. So if you suspect there is a fundamental issue (rather than the test-taking process itself), then the best thing to do is go back to your source material and review it more thoroughly.

Don't give up; just hit the books (test-aids or original source material if necessary) a little harder!

Good luck!

Thank you for your input. My biggest issue has been that a good 45% of the exam questions are not on the Compucram platform therefore i'm always stuck on those issues.

 

[Slick-0125]

Yes I do. How does that play into this.
Thanks for your reply.

 

[Slick-0125]

Did you get a breakdown of how you scored on each portion of the test?. I'm thinking you're just weak in one area and mediocre on another with the other areas you're good. You said 1.9 minutes per question. Does the screen automatically jump to the next question? I think not. You are only lacking about 12 questions from passing. If you get stuck, try and eliminate 2 answers. At least you get it down to a 50/50 guess. Good luck.

Thank you for your input. No the screen does not automatically jump to the next question but developing the answers to 125 questions in 240 minutes comes to 1.9 minute per question and to be honest, a good portion of the questions need more than just two minutes just to do the math etc. The highest score I got so far has been 68% as of yesterday.

 

[Terrel L. Shields]

Yes I do. How does that play into this.

It plays into his long term narrative that a degree is necessary...

@Denis DeSaix is right. Some people have trouble with tests that are more a psychological issue than knowledge issue. Failure makes you more anxious. That causes brain freeze. Perhaps a mild chill pill a few hours before the test would help. Talk to your doctor.