2'nd Guessing

[Husky288XP]

I am thinking about registering for the ISA Cert. Arborist test here in PA. My question is will I be able to pass the test? I have read and quizzed myself in the study guide (finding it relativly easy) and I am an Urban Forestry student at Penn State.


Should I just take the test and quit underestimating myself, or wait and just use my degree?

 

[Tree Machine]

Be all you can be

I would think it would be easier to take it while in school, since education is your current business.

Once you get into the field, you'll have to take time off work to go do it, multiplying your real costs.

Go ace the sucker and come back and share your success with us!

 

[Brock2saws]

Learn the material, take the test, you can't lose.

1. You're a forestry student. The material covered in the CA exam is directly applicable to your degree. Even if you fail, whatever material you learn will have benefit to you while completing your degree.

2. Becoming a CA as a student is a plus once you've graduated. You will already be certified by a professional organization prior to entering the workforce full time. This shows initiative and competence to future employers.

3. Currently being a student, you can become an ISA member at a lower cost.


I see no downside if you decide certification is something you want to do. Even if you fail the first attempt, you'll be motivated to try again once you've started the process.

Good luck,
BAB

 

[huskycandoit]

I'm pretty sharp on ID as long as it is nothing really exotic Is the ID section multiple choice too?

 

[Tree Machine]

Does the ID require knowledge of Winter twigs with bud scars?

 

[Tom Dunlap]

Mike,

You're thinking of Rieker mounts [sp?] The samples in cotton filled frames.

No matter where the test is given they'll have local samples. There are criteria from ISA for what "local" means. It could be from anywhere in the chapter or from a specified distance from where the test is given. That would mean a lot for far-flung chapters like Rocky Mountain [Montana to New Mexico], and Western.

 

[OutOnaLimb]

If your gonna be a bear, be a Grizzley Bear. Not a little panda bear or a koala bear. Reach down, grab your sack and take the exam.

Kenn

 

[Tree Machine]

What he said...

Well..... that pretty much says it all. Thank you OutOnaLimb.

Do you feel the support Husky288? Do ya feel the <i>love</i> ?

 

[OutOnaLimb]

I dont play around. Life is to short to be second guessing yourself. More often than not, its better to make the wrong discision than no disciscion at all.

Kenn

 

[Brock2saws]

Mike,

You're thinking of Rieker mounts [sp?] The samples in cotton filled frames.

No matter where the test is given they'll have local samples. There are criteria from ISA for what "local" means. It could be from anywhere in the chapter or from a specified distance from where the test is given. That would mean a lot for far-flung chapters like Rocky Mountain [Montana to New Mexico], and Western.

I recently took the CTW test along with several others who were taking the CA exam. All the id questions were from photos of mature trees, there were no samples. I was disappointed because the photos really didn't give you a good look at some of the trees. They were taken at different distances and (I think) even at different times of the year for different trees.

The trees to be id'd were local trees, but the photos were not the best way to present the stimuli. Rieker mounts would have been much better.

BAB

 

[MasterBlaster]

Reach down, grab your sack and take the exam.

I bet that gets you some odd looks from the other test-takers!

 

[Husky288XP]

Is the section on Tree ID or dendrology both scientific names and common, or just scientific?