We have our first CCS study group meeting tonight here in Houston. I’m signed up for the exam in March, along with 3 or 4 other compadres. Any horror stories, advice, or experience to impart to help ease our woes?
Previously, with the old format and MOP, I quipped “just memorize the book and you’ll do fine.” Now, I don’t know if that’ll work. The one thing that is vital, though, is to forget everything about how you actually do your work; the CSI way is now the ONLY way (until after the exam). Good luck.
Don’t try to take the CDT and CCS exams on the same day.
Learn PageFormat.
Forget 90% of the ‘shortcuts’ you use in the office.
Learn how Division 01 is reflected in SectionFormat.
Study AIA Document A201 - General Terms and Conditions carefully.
Don’t miss your study classes.
Read the MOP at least once.
Study bidding procedures, bonds, insurance.
Know limitations of each specifying technique (prescriptive, descriptive, reference standard, proprietary, performance) AND procurement specifying (procurement contracts and the UCC).
DO NOT CRAM OR STUDY THE DAY/NIGHT BEFORE.
Brett,
Lynn and Doug are correct in unlearn all nonCSI methods you use in your current practice.
AIA A201 was my weak area.
I earned my CCS in HI in 1990.
We did not have study groups in Honolulu. I read the MOP, made notes or highlighted text, and studied my notes and highlights on the bus, at the beach, whenever I had idle time. My exam was not that hard but it was a long day.
Wayne
By the Way - for those of you who took the CCS a long time ago - the MOP is now the PRM
Still, you must read it!!
I agree with Doug & Wayne, A201 and Uniformat were my weaknesses.
I didn’t have a study group either and it’s really tough when you spend all day writing specs and then have to read that stuff at night!
I found it difficult and had to retake once. I NEVER have to retake exams, including the ARE (passed all sections first time). I tried the CCS in 2001 (missed by four questions), and retook it in 2004 (passed).
Many practices which I had learned (learnt) at the Very Large Firm where I was employed were in contradiction to the MOP. And it was doubly hard to isolate those practices which were in conformance with the MOP with those that were not. So, ‘experience’ can definitely work against you - beware of ‘intuition’!
It has helped me to work at a location that depended on my interpreting the MOP (finding my own way) rather than doing things the way the boss said.
PRM!!!
Didn’t see this listed so far:
LEARN AND KNOW SECTIONFORMAT
Know the articles, what they’re called, and in what order they appear. Basically, if you are given a one-page paragraph of jumbled up text, know how to unscramble the information and place each sentence in its respective article.
And DO try to pass this time around. Right now, SectionFormat is only three parts; it sounds like by this time next year there may be more.
Good Luck!
I sat for the CDT exam in 03 and CCS in 04. My advice is…study the Manual of Practice/PRM and Learn it, Live it, Love it!
In my post above, I referenced the “old format and MOP” because when I took the exam, that’s what was being used. Sorry if I confused everyone by that reference; of course, the book to learn now is the PRM. It sits in a prominent space on my shelf and I use it at least weekly, especially for those things I don’t do every day.
It might help to diagram/write out the things being suggested above - Doug has a good list - that way, the learning is reinforced by other physcial means (reading is one learn, writing is another and if you attend the study sessions faithfully, hearing is a third). I’d suggest you read, write and study before the session to get the most out of it.
CCS, CCCA, and CCPR are based on the CDT study material plus the additional material for each certification. For those who passed their CDT a few years back via the MOP - be forwarned that the PRM contains about 25 or 30 percent new material. Special attention to the new Project Conception Stage/Design Stage material and the Facilities Management module. Also - the Project Delivery module has been revamped and expanded, with an extended discussion of documents appropriate to each type of deliver. Good stuff all, but a lot of reading. CDT appears to be a 20 hour rather than a 15 hour course.
Since I guess I’m one of the “old” folks … back in the olden days when I took the CCS, we had to a write a sample section, a front end document and some other things. Are those still included on the current exam? If so, knowing the page format is critical for writing the spec section and you need to be able to include the recommended information in whatever front end document you have to write.
Study all material outlined above. Between now and the test, study for 20 minutes everyday, no more - no less. You will pass. Know the Section Format,and where every thing goes.
As another of the “old” folks, I recall the exercise was to re-write unformatted sections in the correct format. Very much a real-life exercise.
"There are three ways of writing specs, the right way, the wrong way, and the CSI Way.
I was an old guy when I took the tests, and worse, a generalist who came late in life to CA and specs as specialties. The hardest thing for me was unlearning all the right and wrong ways I had picked up over the years. Yeah, old guys have a wealth of knowledge and war stories, but we also have some bad habits that are hard to break.
Ill add one more piece of advice for old guys and gals, and it goes counter to common wisdom that says go with your first instincts and dont change answers. I spent some time at the end of each test going over the answers, and changed maybe 10 or a dozen or so on each test from what I KNEW was right to what I had learned was CSI. I know I caught a number of mistakes on that last ruthless MOP/PRM guided check.
This thread is full of great advice; this doesn’t contradict a word, it just adds more weight to what has been said. The quote at the top of my post is the start of our CSI certification classes (I went religiously, for all three tests do not miss them). The end of the quote is a repeat of what has been said often here
If you want to pass the CCS, learn the CSI way
The previous posts offer excellent tips. By way of addition, I recommend studying AIA Document A521/EJCDC 1910-16 - Uniform Location of Subject Matter. Also, you can never read A201 too many times. For me, knowing these documents was difference between passing and failing.
A practice exam is useful. It helps you with answering questions, monitoring your time and adjusting to just sitting and taking a test.
Isn’t this what we specifiers do all day anyway? 
Ron
If you read the prescribed material only once, it will be a struggle to correctly answer enough questions to pass. Each time you re-read the material, however, you increase your chances of passing significantly.
Remember that the correct answers are right before your eyes. You simply have to select the most correct one from the choices given. Usually, one answer is correct, one or two are slightly flawed, and one is obviously wrong.
If you get stuck on a question, move on. Many times the correct answer to a previous question is revealed in a subsequent one.
An important piece of advice is common in several of the above posts: being well-rested before the test. Try to get at least 6-8 hours of good sleep the night before. But this is much easier said than done when you are anxious to attain certification.
Best of luck to all who are taking the exams this year!
I had a big problem with a test (I believe one of the CSI test) because somehow I missed a question and my numbering got off, and I filled in a bunch of black circles incorrectly. Ended up having to do a lot of erasing. Was very frazzled. Since then I always answer questions by writing the letter on the booklet or scratch paper and filling in my circles at the end. Do they still do the fill in the circles?