I have been watching the boards for quite some time now and really gained some great insight prior to taking the exam. Ordered the materails May 7, 2008 and was in receipt less than a week later. Studied religiously and thought that I was prepared or the exam so I registered. The date was this past Friday July 25, 2008 at the Akron University, Ohio. Maybe it was just me but wording for both the statements/questions and multiple choice answers appeared to be ambigious. After awhile, I just figured the wording was by design to add stress and determine if you had a clue as to what you should know. As you all know the data to study was, is, and can be extremely overwhelming especially since no professor is saying, "Remember this, you will see it again." So, we pick and choose what we think, based on a plethora of sources, might be substantive and asked on the exam. Well, some of what I studied was there but some that I didnt was there as well. And, as unfortunate as it is, you never really know what you missed to be able to review and learn for the future. Four (4) hours max time and I spent 3 hrs 40 min and was "fried" at the end but pleasantly surprised to reveal that I passed. Although a life long private athlete (have always exercised, lifted, martial arts 2nd black belt in Aikido, currently runner - completed 19 marathons and many shorter events) my personal experience and knowldge seemed to help little. Or, did it? Again, without knowing what was missed dont know for sure. Anyhow, glad its over and looking forward to what I might do with this cert. For those of you still studying, good luck but keep in mind you can only learn so much from this type of teaching/learning. Take Care.
I really do feel that if you study hard and know your stuff, you will pass. However, you're right, some of the questions were ambiguous. You just have to really stop and dissect them.
It's a shame that the exam seems set up to be confusing rather than testing more specifically on what is studied. Not that it should be purely black and white, but ambiguity for the sake of it doesn't necessarily have anything to do with real life application :)
Thanks for the advance warning though, I'm taking it two weeks from Thursday and I'm curious to see what it'll be like.
just remember ...what is the worst that can happen??? you have to take the test again with a better idea of what it is about!!! OK so is that so bad?? not that you will have to take the test again I am just saying it is not the end of the world....
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If a person wants something that they have never had, they have to do something that they have never done. - Shawn Fears, CPT
just remember ...what is the worst that can happen??? you have to take the test again with a better idea of what it is about!!! OK so is that so bad?? not that you will have to take the test again I am just saying it is not the end of the world....
Hi Shawn,
That's VERY true!
I'm not in a total state of panic or anything (though I'm sure my posts sound like it :)), I am just second guessing myself.
When I'm studying, I feel like I really have a strong grasp of everything, it's rare that I come across anything I don't feel I have down pat for the most part.
I also score consistently well, very few mistakes if any, on all the practice tests and stuff both written and the CD-ROM (and I make sure I really understand why the correct answers are correct rather than memorizing the answers, something easy to fall into after doing it this long).
Still, I guess I've read too many posts where it comes across to me that the exam seems to be filled with ambiguous stuff that is unlike any of the practice test materials, so that gets me concerned that I'll be seeing something totally foreign.
I guess I'm at the point where I'm just ready to take this thing so I can move forward. The good news is that it's only 2 weeks from Thursday so it's not too far off. It'll be here before I know it, which is a good thing!
Thanks again for everything, it really does help and I appreciate you and everyone else putting up with my ramblings about this. My wife just rolls her eyes at this point when I voice my concerns because she feels I'll do really well also and thinks I'm should just relax about it (she wants this exam over more than me I can assure you! :))
I hope I didnt give the impression that all was ambigious. Cant really put a percentage on how much was and maybe it was just me. I studied for about two months and from reading the posts many of you have studied longer and would thus have a broader knowledge base on which to make decisions. I didnt have some of the resources that some of you had utilized. I only had the manual, practice test that came with it and the data from the weekly ACE coach (which I had them send me all 12 weeks at once so I didnt have to wait). I didnt have the exercise CDs that are spoken of and I didnt pay to do the online practice tests available. So, having said that Im sure you will all do quite well. As for me, I am a 30 veteran police officer and Chief of Police for a small city in northeast, Ohio. And as I said in my initial post, run in all sorts of distance events but predominantly marathons, indoor bike, weight/resistance training, and a fairly extensive backgound in the martial arts. Will look to work with AARP or at some local fitness center in the area on a prt-time basis to see if I might want to consider retirement from community service and do fitness more. Time, will tell.
