AICP exam prep November 2009

[CPSURaf]

Mike Wacisz study guide offers really tough test questions, as well as summary of key planning law, books, theories, etc. At first i just used the green bible, apa position papers, etc but then when i received the study material, i just solely relied on his material. His questions were pretty hard, and a little off-beat, but it prepped me to get into AICP mode, and a few of his questions did appear on the real test, which made things a whole lot easier for me.

[manja]

HI everyone:

I am at the biggining of the whole certification process for May 2010 exam. I would like to know if someone ever used the above noted Study Guide? The writing of esseys look like very complicated to me. Reading all instructions related to the exam make me very confused regarding what to packages I should choose for the exam prep. Please, advice what would be the best for Florida. Thanx.

[CPSURaf]

Originally posted by manja

HI everyone:

I am at the biggining of the whole certification process for May 2010 exam. I would like to know if someone ever used the above noted Study Guide? The writing of esseys look like very complicated to me. Reading all instructions related to the exam make me very confused regarding what to packages I should choose for the exam prep. Please, advice what would be the best for Florida. Thanx.

Search the threads, many people, including myself point to study material, and remember, this is a national test, not just a state by state test.

[miamax]

Originally posted by CPSURaf

Search the threads, many people, including myself point to study material, and remember, this is a national test, not just a state by state test.

Has anyone that has passed the AICP test, found the AICP study flashcards to be useful. I am contemplating buying them, but am on the fence. Just spent a lot of money on the testing fees. Thanks.

[Tresmo]

Originally posted by manja

HI everyone:

I am at the biggining of the whole certification process for May 2010 exam. I would like to know if someone ever used the above noted Study Guide? The writing of esseys look like very complicated to me. Reading all instructions related to the exam make me very confused regarding what to packages I should choose for the exam prep. Please, advice what would be the best for Florida. Thanx.

The study guide won't help with the essays, you have to do that all on your own. The Study Guide should give you an overview of topics covered on the exam and help you study. There are no essay questions on the exam itself. The essays are part of the application for the exam. And CPSU is right, search the forums, plenty of people have made good suggestions for test takers. Focus on the nation, not your particular state, as it's a national test.

Originally posted by miamax

Has anyone that has passed the AICP test, found the AICP study flashcards to be useful. I am contemplating buying them, but am on the fence. Just spent a lot of money on the testing fees. Thanks.

Since no one else has replied, I'll give my two cents, I've never heard of them or heard of anyone using them, for good or bad. The people I know who passed used other materials. Maybe someone else has used them.

[ofos]

Originally posted by miamax

Has anyone that has passed the AICP test, found the AICP study flashcards to be useful. I am contemplating buying them, but am on the fence. Just spent a lot of money on the testing fees. Thanks.

Everyone has their own learning style. I did not purchase flashcards but did make my own for learning historical dates and legislation after going through all the reading materials. Going through the effort of making the flashcards and then using them helped me reinforce their content.

[miamax]

Originally posted by ofos

Everyone has their own learning style. I did not purchase flashcards but did make my own for learning historical dates and legislation after going through all the reading materials. Going through the effort of making the flashcards and then using them helped me reinforce their content.

Thank you! The flashcards seem to be easy to carry (take anywhere type of thing)

[akepps]

Hi...I'm not taking my exam until probably a year from now. But I was wondering if anyone who is taking it next month (or already took it) might feel like selling me their prep books or cds?
-Angela

[veena610]

Has anybody used the flashcards sold at www.flashcardsecrets.com/aicp
How good or bad are they?

[ThePinkPlanner]

I just wanted to check in on the November test-takers. I started reading a few months ago, but since November came I've delved into full study mode. I ultimately decided not to purchase the official AICP study guide; I hope I don't regret it. I have the green bible, the PA chapter materials, Planning in a Nutshell, Everyday Ethics, and I've subscribed to Planning Magazine for the better part of the last 5 years. I also took the exam planning webinar in the spring.

[dandy_warhol]

D-day for me is 11/16.

I've been using the Planetizen AICP Course, Planningprep.com, APA Policy Guides, and Census publications.

[FueledByRamen]

Well, I haven't hardly done a lick of studying. I haven't had the time. I got ahold of an old version of the Wacisz law/history/ethics study guide and it was helpful though out of date (its from 2004 so it missed Kelo, Chevron/Lingle, etc.). I also have the APA Study Guide, but so far its been worthless (sorry, PinkPlanner)....its just a list of facts comparable to the Penn. Chapter Study Guide (but the Penn Chapter Guide at least parallels things and gives you the opportunity to learn - not just memorize - things).

I test first thing on Monday morning and think I'll cram the Penn Study Guide this week and weekend (and cross my fingers). Everyone I know that is AICP said I should pass without a problem, so I'm a bit complacent now. We'll see

[Tresmo]

Originally posted by FueledByRamen

Well, I haven't hardly done a lick of studying. I haven't had the time. I got ahold of an old version of the Wacisz law/history/ethics study guide and it was helpful though out of date (its from 2004 so it missed Kelo, Chevron/Lingle, etc.). I also have the APA Study Guide, but so far its been worthless (sorry, PinkPlanner)....its just a list of facts comparable to the Penn. Chapter Study Guide (but the Penn Chapter Guide at least parallels things and gives you the opportunity to learn - not just memorize - things).

I test first thing on Monday morning and think I'll cram the Penn Study Guide this week and weekend (and cross my fingers). Everyone I know that is AICP said I should pass without a problem, so I'm a bit complacent now. We'll see

I think it would be worth your time to review the APA Policy Guides. They're free on the APA site and I've noticed a lot of practice questions coming from them.

[ThePinkPlanner]

Originally posted by Tresmo

I think it would be worth your time to review the APA Policy Guides. They're free on the APA site and I've noticed a lot of practice questions coming from them.

Thanks for the tip on the policy guides. I'll check them out.

[Tresmo]

Originally posted by ThePinkPlanner

Thanks for the tip on the policy guides. I'll check them out.

Specifically, the numbers sections in the intro of each guide, i.e. "x% of farmers are over the age of 65."

[FueledByRamen]

FueledByRamen, AICP

[dandy_warhol]

Originally posted by FueledByRamen

FueledByRamen, AICP

Congrats!!

[FueledByRamen]

Thanks! I ended up with a 62 which is honestly a little higher than I expected.

My questions seemed to revolve mostly around planning process & implementation (maybe focusing more on environmental & brownfield stuff), laws & acts (not case law so much), a bit of history and its effects (City Beautiful and Garden Cities), and ethics "story" questions. AICP states that ethics is only 20% or so of the exam, but in terms of how much time I spent on the ethics questions, it seemed more like 40%.

The resources that I believe helped me the most were:

PA Chapter Study Guide (though I tanked their practice exam the night before the real exam)
http://www.planningpa.org/career_aicp.shtml

Flashcards I found here:
http://www.flashcardexchange.com/flashcards/view/442372
http://www.flashcardexchange.com/flashcards/view/902884

Georgia Chapter's "2009 AICP Exam Reviews" (specifically the "Plan Implementation," "Plan Implementation Tools," and "Planning and Land Use Law" files)
http://www.georgiaplanning.org/aicp-exam-reviews

and the study questions in the APA's Exam Prep 2.0 (though the book was useless in my opinion).

[NJVAplnr]

Aaaaand another AICP pass.

My exam, from what I remember (kind of a blur), was heavily focused on both smart growth and environmental issues. Just so glad it's over with....now I can resume having a life on weekends instead of just studying!

Good luck to the rest of you guys taking it....

[dvdneal]

Got my pass on Tuesday. Scored a 60 for whatever that's worth.
I got a lot of what Ramen had. Overload on ethics, but not much on the environment by any means. Similar law issues. Lots of design and planning process questions.

I used the APA study guide and the PA guide. I found the chapter guide worthless comparatively. My only recommendation is that the guides give you the materials and a brief discussion, some of my questions asked for a little more detail than what was provided in the guides, but you already knew that - I hope.

[melegem]

Originally posted by miamax

Has anyone that has passed the AICP test, found the AICP study flashcards to be useful. I am contemplating buying them, but am on the fence. Just spent a lot of money on the testing fees. Thanks.

Just took the test today, and passed with a high score. I actually found it to be pretty straightforward and easier than I expected.

As with other commenters, I relied on the 3rd Ed. (2000) Green Bible - which was very useful, as well as the 2.0 study notes, which were good as well.

As for flashcards, I got a bunch (People, Ethics, Law, History, Movements, etc.) for FREE from studystack.com. Simply download, print and cut out for yourself. They were very useful, and many topics appeared on the exam. Good luck!

[ThePinkPlanner]

Congratulations to those who passed. I'm surprised by the reports on all the ethics questions. The exam was supposed to be overhauled in 2008 to include only 5% ethics, down from the previous 15%. I haven't spent a ton of time on that section, though I'd like to think that many of them are rather common sense for a practicing planner. I'll let you know my results- I test on Tuesday.

[dandy_warhol]

I passed with a 64!

I found it easier than I dreaded and about what I hoped. I had a few ethics questions but not a ton - a few situational and a few "the code says what?". Maybe 2-3 legal case questions, heavy on citizen participation, environmental/sustainability issues.

I used the planetizen review course, planningprep.com, APA policy guides, the GA and PA chapters as referenced in FueledByRamen's post, Mike W's review guides, and the ACIP code of ethics. I never opened the Green Bible.

I think the planetizen and planningprep were worth the money. I found the questions and topic areas comparable to the actual test.

I have a ton of study material that I am happy to provide to a future test taker, otherwise it is all going in the recycling bin!

[agoodman0305]

Hi everyone,
Congrats to all those who've passed this month...it's good to hear for those of us who are still dreading it. I'm taking next Tuesday, yep, the last possible day we could sign up.

I have a question regarding the "spatial planning" section that's been giving me mixed messages. It stemmed from this practice question:

1. Planning for flooding typically occurs at what level of government?
a. neighborhood
b. city
c. state
d. national

Part of me thinks the answer should be D because of FEMA, but the other part says C because FEMA doesn't actually do the brass-tacks planning itself -- they just fund/review it and provide guidance so that lower jurisdictions can develop their own disaster relief plans.

Any insight there? Am I over-analyzing the definition of "planning" here? Thanks everyone.

[PlannerMama]

I think the key word is "typically". so my answer would be D. National