Tradd
3-18-12, 10:18pm
I'd be interested in input from others who've taken major licensing exams (the bar, medical boards, architectural, etc.) and their experiences the last week or two before the exam.
I sit for the US Customs broker licensing exam on April 2. 80 questions in 4 hours. It's open book. It HAS to, due to the complexity of gov't import regulations. I have to drag about 6000 pages of reference materials (gov't regs, tariff schedule, my prep course textbook - you can take any WRITTEN reference materials into the exam. Nothing electronic is allowed). 75% needed to pass. For the October exam, there was a national pass rate of 25%. Some years, it's been 10%!
How much time did you spend studying the last week or so before the exam? At what point did you just say, "I can't study any more?"
I'm approaching burnout. I've been studying steadily since late December/early January. I'm a bit ahead - the prep program recommended being done with the textbook at least a week before the exam to practice with previous exams and see what you needed to review. I finished the textbook 3.5 weeks before the exam. I'm doing tons of previous exam questions. The whole point is to be able to find the information quickly. The questions on the gov't import regs are cut and dried. The questions where you classify stuff coming into the US with the tariff schedule are pretty complicated and often take several minutes just to read the question (figuring out duty rates and doing calculations by hand - my computer system at work does all the calculations for you!).
Customs puts up all previous exam questions and answers on their website, but the prep program I'm using goes one step further and analyzes the answer. That's a very good thing, since you sometimes look at an answer and scratch your head, wondering how the heck Customs came up with THAT!:doh::help:
http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/trade/trade_programs/broker/broker_exam/
Yesterday I spent 5-5.5 hours working on questions. Today, it will be about 3 hours. My textbook goes with me everywhere - friends and coworkers call it my "appendage.":laff:
So, plenty of good thoughts needed, please! I need to pass this time, so I don't spend a good part of the summer studying for the October exam!
I sit for the US Customs broker licensing exam on April 2. 80 questions in 4 hours. It's open book. It HAS to, due to the complexity of gov't import regulations. I have to drag about 6000 pages of reference materials (gov't regs, tariff schedule, my prep course textbook - you can take any WRITTEN reference materials into the exam. Nothing electronic is allowed). 75% needed to pass. For the October exam, there was a national pass rate of 25%. Some years, it's been 10%!
How much time did you spend studying the last week or so before the exam? At what point did you just say, "I can't study any more?"
I'm approaching burnout. I've been studying steadily since late December/early January. I'm a bit ahead - the prep program recommended being done with the textbook at least a week before the exam to practice with previous exams and see what you needed to review. I finished the textbook 3.5 weeks before the exam. I'm doing tons of previous exam questions. The whole point is to be able to find the information quickly. The questions on the gov't import regs are cut and dried. The questions where you classify stuff coming into the US with the tariff schedule are pretty complicated and often take several minutes just to read the question (figuring out duty rates and doing calculations by hand - my computer system at work does all the calculations for you!).
Customs puts up all previous exam questions and answers on their website, but the prep program I'm using goes one step further and analyzes the answer. That's a very good thing, since you sometimes look at an answer and scratch your head, wondering how the heck Customs came up with THAT!:doh::help:
http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/trade/trade_programs/broker/broker_exam/
Yesterday I spent 5-5.5 hours working on questions. Today, it will be about 3 hours. My textbook goes with me everywhere - friends and coworkers call it my "appendage.":laff:
So, plenty of good thoughts needed, please! I need to pass this time, so I don't spend a good part of the summer studying for the October exam!