When studying for the LEED exam there was an online site to take practice exams.
Is anyone aware of online study sites and or practice testing for the CCS exam?
This would be my second attemp for the CCS certification and I want it to be my last.
M. Convertito CDT
For CSI certification exams, go to the Prometric website: http://www.prometric.com/CSI/default.htm
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Hello all:
My CSI chapter (Boston) does not offer a prep class for the CCS exam and I am not aware of any chapters that do. I too am planning to take the CCS exam in the spring. I would love to participate with anyone who is game in an on-line/telephone study group that suits us. We can share resources and encourage each other. I took the CCS exam a long time ago and my mentor at the time said - if you do not study you won’t pass. He was right. Mark - you can reach me, if this plan appeals to you at clinton@smma.com
Cynie
CSI does offer a CCS Prep Course that can be purchased from CSI for $235/$295 on line at:
It is unfortunate that your chapter does not offer such assistance. As an instructor (many times over the last 15 years), I have always found that having a group (as well as an instructor) helps the preparation.
(I do not recommend the two margarita preparation method attempted by several of our students some time back.)
Peter;
So its a three margarita minimum then?
We learned in psych classes that it was important to take the exam in the same frame of mind that you were in when you studied.
Study drunk, test drunk. Same for sleep deprived.
Same concept as taking a car for a test drive, that’s why I always take along a 6-pack.
Kidding aside,the CCS Prep Course is great but there is NO substitute for person to person teaching and study. I have only a toe in the 21st C., a bit of a Luddite I guess.
The problem is that there are not enough people taking the CCS exam locally to warrant a live class. Too bad.
Okay Cynie, all kidding aside, here’s the real answer. As an instructor, you know how to prepare an exam. When I was studying for my CCS exam, which I passed on the first try, I went through the MOP and A201 (it was 1987) and made up my own exam. That was in the days before CDT so our exam combined multiple guess, T/F (or maybe it was fill-in the blank), and essays, including a letter to an errant consultant expounding the benefits of complying with ‘CSI Format’. Out of the 25 people who took the test that year in Washington, DC, my study partner and I were the only two who passed. Passing rate that year was just under 25% nationally.
Set aside one hour per day to read. Immediately jot down 5 to 10 points and turn them into ‘exam’ questions. Record where the answers are to be found so you can go back to the source and reread anything that doesn’t make sense. You will probably have numerous questions about what seems to be conflicting information before you’re done.
Another good starting point may be to take whatever CDT practice exams you can find and expand on those.
Either way, as you know from teaching, you learn more from writing an exam than you do from studying for one.
If you can find others who are willing to do the same, trade questions as you go and try to answer each others exam questions. That way even if your schedules don’t line up you can still benefit from studying together.
Best of luck to all who are sitting for the exams.
Thanks Ken. Good advice. The idea of writing the test questions is a good one, it will make it more fun. One hour a day. I did that for LEED, it worked. Happy Thanksgiving.
And when I have passed the exam I will have a margarita.
I took my CCS sometime around 1990. If there was a study group, I wasn’t aware of it. I just studied on my own using the (then) Manual of Practice. I think I had CSI-supplied study materials but can’t really remember. Each day I’d cover some ground until I felt well-prepared. I think being well disciplined and really studying are key.
Like John B, I studied solo using the MOP circa 1990. I passed on the first try in April 1990.
One of my current colleagues took the most recent exam but was difficient on Conditions of the Contract and Div 01. Seems to be a common thread.
On the other hand, another colleague took the most recent exam for both the CCS and CCCA and past both.
Whew! I tip my hat to that gentleman.
I studied on my own back in 2002 but was also instructing the CDT program for the chapter at the time which helped in the review of the material.
Since then I have offered mentoring assistance for both the CCS and CCCA in addition to the chapter sponsored CDT exam prep and recommend that the CCS candidates participate in these program which are based directly to the PDPG and then I mentor for the CCS specific materials together at a separate time.
The current CCS test is based on the information in both the PDPG and CSPG practice guides along with the two AIA docs and their EJCDC equivalents.
The problem I have found is that many of the potential mentors for the CCS took the test so long ago that both the resource materials and the test format are very different and apparently unfamiliar to the available mentor pool. This is not always the case but the test is still based on the content of the resource materials and being familiar with how they are presented will go a long way towards success wit the current testing.
Teaching the CDT content is a great way to prepare for CCS. You certainly go into much more detail when preparing a class than you do when studying for an exam.
I presume you are already familiar with how to prepare yourself mentally and physically for taking a test. One other aspect to think about that no one really advises is your mindset. You need to think like CSI, go into that test as a devout convert to CSI principles. Any time you have to think about the way you do things and the way CSI says to do things, remember what the test is based on.
One mantra I always have told my students before sitting for CSI exams is that everything they know is wrong (with apologies to Firesign Theatre). When sitting for CSI exams, everything is by the book, literally.
Best of luck.
The Los Angeles chapter and CSI both offer study courses as live webinars for CCS. I think mentors may still be a better way to hold oneself accountable to study the material actively, though. Seeking a mentor in your area from the recent successful candidates may be better than hitting up your favorite experienced specifier, unless that specifier has stayed current by teaching.