# ISA test questions



## Highclimber OR (Feb 25, 2011)

I am wondering if I still have a good chance of passing The ISA exam if I have primarily studied the second edition study guide as opposed to the 3rd edition from 2010?

What (if any) are the advantages of being a member of your ISA chapter as well as the regular ISA?

Is the test that hard?

Any responses are greatly appreciated.


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## jefflovstrom (Feb 25, 2011)

Highclimber OR said:


> I am wondering if I still have a good chance of passing The ISA exam if I have primarily studied the second edition study guide as opposed to the 3rd edition from 2010?
> 
> What (if any) are the advantages of being a member of your ISA chapter as well as the regular ISA?
> 
> ...



I will respond in a a minute or two. 
Jeff :msp_glare:


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## mpatch (Feb 25, 2011)

Highclimber OR said:


> I am wondering if I still have a good chance of passing The ISA exam if I have primarily studied the second edition study guide as opposed to the 3rd edition from 2010?
> 
> What (if any) are the advantages of being a member of your ISA chapter as well as the regular ISA?
> 
> ...



The benefits of being a member is it's cheaper to take the test.
I took the test a bit ago skimmed through the newer green book twice once the night before and again a few hours before the test, ended up getting 81%. I thought the test was kinda easy. Just be sure to read and re-read every question so you know what they are asking. Remember the words "never" and "always" are never right. I have taken 2 ISA tests and the questions aren't that hard but knowing what the questions is is the hard part. I thought of it as more of a reading comprehension test.


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## ATH (Feb 26, 2011)

mpatch said:


> ....I thought of it as more of a reading comprehension test.


 
While I can't answer for the current version of the test as I took it in 2006, I think that is accurate *assuming you know your stuff*. If you have little or no experience or education in the field I think you would find the content pretty difficult. But if you have been in the profession and have taken time to learn as you go, I don't think it is designed to be difficult - after all, it is a minimum compentency test.


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## lego1970 (Feb 26, 2011)

I took it last year useing a study guide book that was 4 years old, and I borrowed a few of those study disk from a local urban forester, that again were several years old. I scored an 89%. I thought the test was kinda hard and it seemed like about 50% of the questions were not in either of the material that I used to study. I had to just take my time and make the best educated guess I could on the questions that I didn't recognize or know from previous experience. Also as mentioned, it seems like most of it was trying to understand the way the question was written. 

The funny part is that I thought there was a climbing and skills test as well. I swore I read something in the past that said there was a skills test and one of the test I thought I had to take was placing a rope in a tree. Like an idiot I spent the nights before practicing setting a rope in a tree. I was so worried about that cause I can't throw worth crap.


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## derwoodii (Feb 26, 2011)

The second edition the black n white one and the thirds the color one, right?
Not much difference in the books read one read em both. 
Test is not hard if you study hard, so can answer the 200 random from over 1000 possible multiple choice questions from either book. 
I used the black n white book 2nd edition to learn but was tested in early 2010 with the newer 3rd color book test. I think a few questions about trees and environment was all had not seen and a few chapters were dropped or amalgamated. 
I done a lot of Arb study over my time the ISA test was a good trip I'm happy to say. It rounded up a lot I knew but put bits in place where things were missing.

I say 40% was easy 40% was harder ands the last 20% you had to use your knowledge and applied thinkin to get em right. Don't forget to look up your local area tree ID list of which 10 will be put on a table. As each sample gets with 3 names to choose the one right, this ID test was nay to hard.


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## NCTREE (Feb 26, 2011)

lego1970 said:


> The funny part is that I thought there was a climbing and skills test as well. I swore I read something in the past that said there was a skills test and one of the test I thought I had to take was placing a rope in a tree. Like an idiot I spent the nights before practicing setting a rope in a tree. I was so worried about that cause I can't throw worth crap.


 
If that was the case then alot of CAs won't be certified. I always wondered why ISA didn't have this as part of the test. If you cant climb a tree safely then you should be a CA.


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## NCTREE (Feb 26, 2011)

Good Luck highclimber you'll do fine...


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## mpatch (Feb 26, 2011)

There is no tree ID on the test anymore. They ask questions about tree ID but you don't have to ID any trees.


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## lxt (Feb 26, 2011)

mpatch said:


> There is no tree ID on the test anymore. They ask questions about tree ID but you don't have to ID any trees.


 
wow, now you dont have to ID trees............you dont have to climb, dont have to ID.........is that really an arborist??

I wish it would get harder & incorporate a skills test! 


LXT...........


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## Goober (Feb 26, 2011)

jefflovstrom said:


> I will respond in a a minute or two.
> Jeff :msp_glare:


 
Don't bother, you don't have a clue.


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## Highclimber OR (Feb 26, 2011)

Thank you all for your input, I believe I will be ok especially if it's more reading comprehension. Some of the sections were not even worth reading if you have experience. Thanks again for the well wishes all.


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## beastmaster (Feb 26, 2011)

I passed it a little over 3 years ago, I thought it was disappointingly easy. Like others have said you have to read the questions carefully.
I thought it would open doors for me, but it seemed to have almost the opposite effect.
The general public is pretty impressed with the Cert. 
I let my Cert. lapse in Dec. last year. It was just another expense in these hard times. Didn't seem worth it.
Get your Cert. but go to school and get a degree(Classes=CEU's) That way you'll get some real knowledge beyond the basics.
Now you don't need to do the Tree ID? Lots of people had trouble with that one. They were probably losing money. 
Chapter members get a magazine subscription and a break on their over priced books and what not. Beastmaster


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## lxt (Feb 27, 2011)

TreeCo said:


> Its sunk to a couple of notches below being a Master Gardener these days. I dropped my CA after 18 years back in 2009 and won't be back.


 

I agree & then we have others wanting licenses & regulations......as long as its a money grab I dont want it!!! when it becomes for the betterment of the trade...then Im on board!!


LXT................


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