I was wondering if anyone would lend me a few books

[Matias]

I just got my reply from ISA, and I am good to go to take the test! I remember several people offering to let me borrow books, and I am finally ready to actually study up and do this thing, so anyone with the literature that I should study up on before testing that is willing to let me borrow said literature, with shipping both ways covered by me of course, or I will just come get them if you are in the northern or central CA area. Thanks in advance!

 

[Tom Dunlap]

What books/literature are you looking for

 

[evo]

What areas do you feel you need to focus on?
Arboriculture by Harris is probably the single most valuable book as it comes to taking the test.
Happy to go though my library, books are very important expensive but you WILL wish you owned them at some point:

Our rural library has a intra library loan program, where they can get nearly any dang book even from college libraries. Might look into that too

 

[Matias]

I wish I had the money to buy quite a few books. I will pursue building a reference library when the time comes.

Tom, I am not 100% on what books I "need". I have never taken the ISA CA exam before, and I could only find study guides and practice tests on the ISA website, but not a list of recommended study, so I was hoping that some recomendations would surface here.

 

[Brando CalPankian]

Check out thrift books. I've gotten $150 books for like $12. You have to check how old the editions are, but it's an amazing resource for study material.

The CA study guide has a list of supplemental books recommended for test takers as well.

I would get the newest edition of the CA study guide first. It's pretty thorough and should provide the majority of basic knowledge needed for the test. The newest edition has a lot of changes over the 3rd edition.

Also, evaluate what your career focus has been. If you've primarily been a production climber and haven't focused on, say, construction management, you'll have a harder time with that section and need to study up on it more.

I'd say no life the biology, as the better you are at that the more intuitive other sections (like urban forestry and PHC) will be.

The test guide outlines how the questions will be weighted as well, so PHC may only be 7% of your cumulative grade. IIRC the heaviest sections are safety, biology, and practical tree work related.

 

[evo]

You will need the paper study guide, there is a list of other recommended material there.
If you are good at taking multiple choice tests and can pay close attention to wording you will probably get a low passing score.

The arboriculture book, all BMP’s (based on ansi standards) will probably be the other single biggest key study materials.
Dirr’s manual is great for ID and some of the leaf shape/biology
Up by roots is valuable

But I’d start with the study guide, give it a skim and pickup books on your weaker domains

 

[evo]

Check out thrift books. I've gotten $150 books for like $12. You have to check how old the editions are, but it's an amazing resource for study material.

The CA study guide has a list of supplemental books recommended for test takers as well.

I would get the newest edition of the CA study guide first. It's pretty thorough and should provide the majority of basic knowledge needed for the test. The newest edition has a lot of changes over the 3rd edition.

Also, evaluate what your career focus has been. If you've primarily been a production climber and haven't focused on, say, construction management, you'll have a harder time with that section and need to study up on it more.

I'd say no life the biology, as the better you are at that the more intuitive other sections (like urban forestry and PHC) will be.

The test guide outlines how the questions will be weighted as well, so PHC may only be 7% of your cumulative grade. IIRC the heaviest sections are safety, biology, and practical tree work related.

Haha!

 

[pcpTR33]

I can send you a copy of the 3rd edition study guide it’s not the latest and greatest but I used it to pass this year. There’s an ISA Facebook group that has 400 question practice test I found somewhat useful but for the most part I studied solely the study guide but I was familiar with most of the ANSI standards we work with.

 

[ATH]

+ another for the study guide. I think if you go through that multiple times and are pretty familiar with it, you should pass. Clearly you are starting with professional knowledge and experience, so that will be a huge help. Rather than the ANSI standards, the BMP guide for each topic is more valuable. Maybe just buy the ones for the topics in the study guide you feel are you least strong topics. Those plus the guide and you will be golden...I think!

nothing different than what others said - just reiterating, use what ISA has prepared for their own test.

 

[Brando CalPankian]

+ another for the study guide. I think if you go through that multiple times and are pretty familiar with it, you should pass. Clearly you are starting with professional knowledge and experience, so that will be a huge help. Rather than the ANSI standards, the BMP guide for each topic is more valuable. Maybe just buy the ones for the topics in the study guide you feel are you least strong topics. Those plus the guide and you will be golden...I think!

nothing different than what others said - just reiterating, use what ISA has prepared for their own test.

+1 to bmps.

 

[evo]

I am unsure what edition is the current one, but do use the most current. The latest expanded quite a bit into tree risk, and urban forestry. It’s not that the previous edition is ‘wrong’ all the information is useful, there is just a bit of shifting that has happened since.

I personally have Arboriculture editions 1-current (3 or 4). Each edition expanded but also had to cut sections to make room for the changes. It’s fun to compare them but maybe I’m a freak in those regards.

Do not but third party study guides, flash cards or apps. I’m seeing screenshots of these and they are not accurate and sometimes plain wrong. The suggested reading referenced in the study guide is all good material that you can’t go wrong with. How much it will help depends on the book and your weak points.

@Matias please feel free to speak to your weakness or areas that need improvement and I’m sure you will find much support here.

 

[Matias]

I am unsure what edition is the current one, but do use the most current. The latest expanded quite a bit into tree risk, and urban forestry. It’s not that the previous edition is ‘wrong’ all the information is useful, there is just a bit of shifting that has happened since.

I personally have Arboriculture editions 1-current (3 or 4). Each edition expanded but also had to cut sections to make room for the changes. It’s fun to compare them but maybe I’m a freak in those regards.

Do not but third party study guides, flash cards or apps. I’m seeing screenshots of these and they are not accurate and sometimes plain wrong. The suggested reading referenced in the study guide is all good material that you can’t go wrong with. How much it will help depends on the book and your weak points.

@Matias please feel free to speak to your weakness or areas that need improvement and I’m sure you will find much support here.

I see 5 practice exams, but I don't see anything labelled specifically as a study guide on the website. They have dozens of seperate guides for all the different subjects, but no singular "Study Guide". Can you maybe point me to the one you're referring to?

 

[evo]

I see 5 practice exams, but I don't see anything labelled specifically as a study guide on the website. They have dozens of seperate guides for all the different subjects, but no singular "Study Guide". Can you maybe point me to the one you're referring to?

International Society of Arboriculture

The International Society of Arboriculture promotes the professional practice of arboriculture and fosters a greater worldwide awareness of the benefits of trees.

wwv.isa-arbor.com

Consider buying a membership if you haven’t already, the discounts will quickly wash the cost

 

[flyingmosstreen]

Arbsession has a bundle on BMPs many options. Sprung for it.

Just grabbed a used copy of shigo tree biology dictionary. Really cool.

Stoked for you @Matias,

I am a few steps behind ya on getting the gumption to sign up for the test.

 

[Woody Woodpecker]

Matias - I know nothing about this field, but I'll offer one piece of bad advice....go take the test early if you can - prepared to fail. However, you'll get a better understanding of what will be asked, your weak points, and what books you need to study.

I say all of that without knowing how much the test costs, how often it is offered, whether or not they let you take it multiple times, whether it's adaptive or just a standard "static" test, etc. So take my advice with a grain of wood.

 

[evo]

Matias - I know nothing about this field, but I'll offer one piece of bad advice....go take the test early if you can - prepared to fail. However, you'll get a better understanding of what will be asked, your weak points, and what books you need to study.

I say all of that without knowing how much the test costs, how often it is offered, whether or not they let you take it multiple times, whether it's adaptive or just a standard "static" test, etc. So take my advice with a grain of wood.

I did that for my BCMA and even though I accidentally passed I still want to take it again.

It depends on the chosen format of the test. Written there is a free retake within x time period, I THINK if you elect to take the third party computer based exam you have to pay that fee again but not the ISA test fee.

Grading the paper exam takes quite a bit of time from what I hear. The computer exam tells you immediately if you passed, but your still not certified until it’s processed at headquarters