2 exams left: SS or BS next? Passed BDCS in Oct.

[arearcher]

I'm trying to decide which exam to take next. I have SS and BS left. I've read BS is standalone and BDCS has overlap with SS.

Also looking for opinions about whether to buy the Thaddeus and/or Amber course.

[lukukachoo]

I did BDCS, SS, BS and it seemed to work pretty well. Like you said, the info covered in BDCS is more closely related to SS. The Thaddeus seminar was really great and so was the Amber course. Good luck!

[corbismyhomeboy]

I just took BDCS at the end of September, followed by time off for the holidays, then BS, and now I'm back to SS. Looking at the study material, I REALLY wished I would've done SS then BS simply because of the overlap of material from BDCS. The SS info already (only a week in) is relying on knowledge of BDCS info (materials info, detailing). If you're unsure which exam to take, look at the SS and BS Ballast/Kaplan chapters and see what you're comfortable with and the overlap with other sections.

The Amber Course for BS is AWESOME. It does take quite a bit of time to get through (just the video alone is around 20-25 hours long, not including pausing for notetaking) but Ermann gives you examples, studies he's conducted, and demonstrations of the ideas he is talking about so it really sinks in! NONE of it is just him standing in front of a chalkboard talking like a lot of the videos out there you see. It's clear he's taken the time to put together this video and book. If you're a visual learner, it's great. I wish this kind of video system existed for every exam...!

[gbalaka]

If you just passed BDCS, I would say that perhaps SS would be a good choice as your next one (that's what i did).

I suppose there's some overlap between BDCS and SS, but it's very little in my opinion. Once you get into Lateral loads, there's very little BDCS in that.....

I see BDCS, SS and BS are three standalone exams. The majority of overlap is in CDS, PPP and SPD.

And there's certainly no overlap between SS and BS.

I took BDCS, then SS and just recently BS.

And i have SD as my last one in a few weeks. I'm actually looking forward to that one.

[arearcher]

Alright. Signed up for SS, giving myself 8 weeks to prep. Building Systems with 6 weeks to prep. I think that's reasonable. Hopefully I'll be done by the end of June and can enjoy a summer for the first time in recent memory

[corbismyhomeboy]

Good luck! I'm trying to finish up SS so I know how you feel. We can do it!!

[nickedemus]

Alright. Signed up for SS, giving myself 8 weeks to prep.

I think that's a good move. I took SS after BDCS and found that the prep I did for BDCS was applicable to SS.