Q's Re the base "arborist certification" ISA exam

[eye.heart.trees]

I'm hoping for some insight from anyone who's taken the Pearson Vue online test, I am studying from the book and am a bit unnerved by....well the book itself says "Just knowing this book isn't necessarily enough to pass", so even 100% learning-by-rote would not necessarily be a way to an A+...but I am already pretty familiar with a very very large portion of the material, but my problem / the reason I'm posting this thread is because I guess I'm wondering/worried whether it's more "technical", or more "knowledge-based"
FOR EXAMPLE-- I grow bonsai / am a gardener and am very very familiar with pH, with auxins/hormones and with the components of the living tissue, can talk Re meristematic tissue at length....but, what I knew as "Apical Dominance" is referred to in the text as "Apical Control".....my worry/concern is whether, *in general on this test*, is whether it'll be "written answers" where my writing can show I clearly understand it, or if it's "technical" multiple choices and I'll see something like :
Apical:
a - control
b - tendency
c - bananas
d - all of the above

I'd be stuck guessing between A&B and could very well get a 0 for a question on a topic that I'm actually very very familiar with... so yeah I guess I'm hoping for insight on just how the test gleans what you do/do not know, I mean I read the practice-tests and feel like this book is "mostly review" for me but then I ponder getting 0's because I didn't know they call it "apical control" and doing terrible because of 'technical' hangups like that!

Thanks a ton (and yes I understand that the material is inherently "technical", hopefully my usage of the word here is clear, I mean more like "nitpicky, jargon-focused technical" not "depth of knowledge on the subject")

 

[mikewhite85]

I took the test at a pearson vue center 10 years ago so it may have changed some but as I recall the exam will use basically the same language as the study guide, almost word for word.

If you read through the study guide a couple times you'll be fine. Penn State Extension also has an "Arborist Short Course" every winter, which my crew has taken online. It's very well done.

 

[eye.heart.trees]

I took the test at a pearson vue center 10 years ago so it may have changed some but as I recall the exam will use basically the same language as the study guide, almost word for word.

This is a "monitored testing" facility I presume, to prevent you cheating with notes?

Biggest Q I have really is Is it more multi-choice, or fill-in-the-blank (ie w/ specific words), or essay/written-thought answers? I guess I'm incredibly comfortable with it if it's essay-form or "here's a Q, write the answer in 300 words or less" or "a sentence or less"...if it's filling-in blanks, IE "___ is the most important elemental nutrient for trees to uptake" and I have to write 'nitrogen', I'm happy with that...if it's all multi-choice answers, I almost wonder why they'd bother saying in the book "don't presume that this book alone is sufficient for passing the test"!

 

[eye.heart.trees]

I guess I'm kinda worried of overpreparing, of spending an extra month studying and going in and finding I get just a slightly-better score then, than I'd get right now (as right now I'm not learning new concepts, I'm ensuring I know their stuff, for instance I had to learn for the 1st time how to do tautline hitches & blake hitches as I never ever used those, but they're in the book...) Would hate to spend the extra month studying only to find I still get an 80%-something and was tripped-up by not being able to discern an image of a tautline from a blakes(well I can do I can do that now, but that is the type of 'studying/learning' I'm doing at this point)

 

[Jed1124]

The test is multiple choice. Get the ISA Certified Arborist study guide, read it, and answer the questions at the end of each chapter.
That’s all you need and should not have any problem passing.

 

[mikewhite85]

Multiple choice. It's pretty easy. Don't overthink it and you'll do fine.

 

[mckeetree]

Multiple choice. It's pretty easy. Don't overthink it and you'll do fine.

Real easy. The test is so watered down nowadays the credential is essentially meaningless except for marketing purposes. When I first took it years ago there was actually a field portion of the test and at that time as someone with an associates degree in horticulture and being a licensed applicator for 20 years I recognized the value in it.

 

[Del_]

I guess I'm kinda worried of overpreparing, of spending an extra month studying and going in and finding I get just a slightly-better score then, than I'd get right now (as right now I'm not learning new concepts, I'm ensuring I know their stuff, for instance I had to learn for the 1st time how to do tautline hitches & blake hitches as I never ever used those, but they're in the book...) Would hate to spend the extra month studying only to find I still get an 80%-something and was tripped-up by not being able to discern an image of a tautline from a blakes(well I can do I can do that now, but that is the type of 'studying/learning' I'm doing at this point)

I've read your postings here and at the buzz and you certainly aren't 'over prepared'.

It was a real test back in 1991 when I passed it.

It's watered down and is little more than a revenue cow today.

 

[mckeetree]

If you can't pass that test you are pretty much of a dullard and not just related to arboriculture. I think my 7 year old granddaughter could pass it...without studying for it.
It's just a cash cow for ISA.