SS or BDCS

[jackstatic]

Hey guys, pending my passing SPD I will have SS, BDCS and SD left and am curious as to which test I should take next. SS or BDCS? Obviously I need to take both, but was wondering which might be more beneficial to take first. Does BDCS have some / any cross over with SS?
Thanks

[JDare]

I've seen both ways on here: BDCS before SS and SS before BDCS. I took BDCS before SS and it worked out well for me. Personally, I had some years under my belt of professional experience which I felt helped me a bit with the material on BDCS. I think these two exams (BDCS and SS) can go in either order, depending on which exam you happen to get. I don't feel like there was much overlap compared to the CDS-PPP-SPD Trifecta. You can take SD at any time. I did feel like BDCS covered a little bit of everything from all divisions, so it helps if you've studied for BS, CDS, SPD and PPP already.

Ballast is ok for BDCS (it goes too much into detail but just get the gist of everything and you'll be fine) and definitely watch the Thaddeus videos for SS. Good luck!

[BigDogVT]

BDCS.

Just do it. David Thaddeus recommends it. I recommend it. There is a lot of rule-of-thumb structural-type material (beam depths, joist depths, etc.) and structurally-related materials (concrete, steel, wood, etc.) material that you encounter studying for BDCS that you won't even use in BDCS, but will in SS (and will not necessarily encounter studying for SS). Also, take them one right after the other...

[corbismyhomeboy]

I took BDCS, BS, then SS, and I wish I would've taken BDCS then SS because of the amount of overlap. BDCS will help you with SS! I agree with the recommendation for Thaddeus as well when you get to SS!

Good luck!