Isa

[Ryan Willock]

I've decided that i'm going to start working toward ISA certification!! i just joined the ISA and my local chapter so I guess its time to start studying!!

 

[rahtreelimbs]

Good for you Ryan!

Best of luck!

 

[Ryan Willock]

thanks Rich!! any comments or suggestions would be much appricated!! ( Doug, this excludes you!LOL ) any tips as well:angel:

 

[treeclimber165]

Search back a few months for the threads that Budroe started concerning prepping for the test. Since he's one of the most recent people here to take it (and PASS!), he'd be a good person to ask.
Good luck on it, Ryan.

 

[Ryan Willock]

thanks Brian, i'm way ahead of you on looking through old threads and those with budroe!!!

 

[TheMDTreeman]

Ryan,

I am going to try the ISA myself in February, I have a friend in it, he teaches a three day course, and then the fourth day you take the test. I hope it is not as hard as the Maryland Tree Expert exam. I just took that and passed 5 sections and failed 5 sections. I thought that was pretty good being the test should be called a Maryland Tree Genius. The bummer is I have to retake the whole exam again. And I hear the ISA Certified Arborist is just as tough. Anyway good luck and I hope you pass. Get the study guide too. They say it is real good material.

 

[Don McQuilliams]

The certification test isn't too hard. I took it back in 1997 and passed the first time through. Just get the study informatin and spend some time learning it. Allot of the test is common sense but they do throw in some tricky ones to keep you on your toes. I encourage anyone that wants to be involved in the tree care industry to get their certification.

Good luck and Happy Holidays..

 

[budroe69moni]

go for it!!!!!!

hey ryan,
go for it!!!! make sure you invest in the study guide!
they pull a bunch of questions out of that.
i also used the audio cassettes of the book, i plugged
them in whenever i was driving around in the jeep.
the one thing that thru me for a loop was when i started
taking the test and none of the questions were in order
like in the study guide. they jumped all over the place.
i also studied the tree climber's companion, tons of good
info in there too! reading old threads and asking questions
on this site helped the most!!!!!! thanks again everyone!
good luck brother,
budroe

 

[Dan Flinn]

I took the test last December the same way mentioned before - A three day class and then the test. For me that was the only way to go.

I had the most trouble with diseases and treatment. Questions like "Is Fire Blight bacterial?" Also, get the list of the species that you will be expected to identify. I went to the a website from Florida and printed every one (about 225). I was most worried about that part, but as it turned out, I breezed right through it.

The study guide is very helpful!

Good luck!
Dan

 

[r/ctree]

The exam is not extremely hard it is just setup in an odd way. It looks like they took the same 190 questions and just scrambled up all the sections. Its not how fast or slow you take the test just go with what you know first and go back and look at the ones you don't . Read more than just the isa exam book. It does not cover all the questions. Study the areas that you deal with the least the most. If you don't do alot of fert study that more than say climbing. I just got mine in oct. Good luck !

 

[Nickrosis]

In my opinion, they are poorly written questions. If they would just find a good teacher to sit down and write all the questions, I would like the test a lot more! Unfortunately, that test is their holy grail and criticism is not accepted well.

Also, climbing takes up a tiny part of the test, but they threw some technical questions in to make it difficult. I don't know...

Nickrosis

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

I talked to a few people that took it at the TCI Expo and heard that there were a number of the "trick" double negative questions in there.