Michael Ermann's Online Seminar/Amber Online course

[rogerphall@YAHOO.COM]

Hi,
I am looking for advice on this seminar. It claims that you can study it for 3 weeks and pass without studying anything else. Can anyone back that claim up?
$295 or $395 is a lot of cash to throw away so I want people's opinions before I decide whether or not to purchase it.
Thanks in advance for your advice,
-R

[Quigaboo]

I took the class in NYC over a 3 day weekend. It finished on Sunday and I tested the following Thursday. The only other prep I did was skim through MEEB over 3 hours the night before I tested. I did no other studying before or after. It was worth every penny IMO!

[sowestal]

I just completed the online course of videos this week. I've taken this BS test twice unfortunately at my own devices for studying (and I've passed all the other ARE sections, so I have been confident of my study methods). This is the first time for me to try this course. It's been awesome! Even though a lot of information was review for me as I have covered it before in either Kaplan, Ballast, MEEB, or other compiled notes...this course by far condenses it all in a straight forward way (and interesting too!). And there is plenty it covers that I haven't seen before. Kept my attention. I filled half of a 100 page composition notebook with taking notes while watching the videos. Anyway, all to say, I think it's worth every penny. If you can do it, I recommend it. I don't think it's fair to say it guarantees a pass, as I don't think anything can do that, but I am very happy that I have taken this course and hope it does help with my last go-around! Good luck.

[shortindiangirl]

I'm in the process of doing the videos and have followed various posts from people who have done these videos and taken the test. Everyone says it helped them, but nearly everyone who has passed from them have ALSO studied other materials. I haven't seen a single person who has truly done nothing else but the Ermann videos and claims to have passed on that strength alone. Also I've been observing that those who rely heavily on Ermann and don't study much else feel like crap coming out of the exam (although the majority seem to go on to pass anyway).

I test on Monday the 2nd and I'll refresh this post after the exam. But all that said, as I review these videos I am finding the following things (much easier to say all this with a clear conscience BEFORE having taken the exam):

- Do I believe that these videos can entirely replace studying - NO. Even he suggests it's not a bad idea to review the diagrams from MEEB as a supplement. But I bought it already adjusting my expectation - because I'd already been through both Kaplan & Ballast.
Do I feel like it was worth it anyway - absolutely YES.
Here is why:

- Ermann says a lot in a small space of time. His every word is referencing concepts or systems that should be independently studied. A single word sometimes references something rather large and there is NO WAY you would remember it from that single word he said once. However, if you have done the supplemental study work, then these words will confirm what you know and embed it better into your system. And each word serves as a reminder of what is important and in the context of more difficult concepts that he lays out well.

- Both Ballast & Kaplan are really weak on electricity (I have an undergraduate degree in Physics, so I'm not saying this because of my particular mental blocks), and the Ermann videos really help with that topic. He makes the whole multi-phase, multi-wire stuff far less confusing, but importantly he is able to clearly lay out what to focus on.

-I have already gotten my money's worth (2 more videos / topics to go). The primary benefit of his videos are showing you where to focus and putting some limits around the vast scope of this exam. The secondary benefit is that he shows you real life examples, and pictures of things to help make it all more real, also highlighting the stuff that is obsolete or seldom used versus what is more typically or commonly seen on projects / buildings. And the tertiary benefit is that he simplifies concepts and explains them in a concise, memorable way.

- For supplemental study: I found Ballast to be generally more helpful than Kaplan for this entire subject matter and concepts, but if you could get both, I'd say you should supplement 80% with Ballast and 20% with Kaplan. And of course the MEEB diagrams as everyone says. And lastly some practice exams (Kaplan has two, one within the BS topic and one as a separate BS practice exam). For the practice exams, I find the best technique is to take them, and then while grading them make sure to go through every answer, right ones as well as wrong ones, understanding every single thing thoroughly. IE, why are the wrong answers wrong. Do you know what questions they would be the correct answers to ? Do you understand why those wrong answers were chosen for that question, and under what circumstances those would make sense etc.).

- Ermann says that his 12 hrs of videos take 18 hrs to go through with the pauses to work on problems. I'm finding that every 1.5hrs of his video takes me 3 hrs to go through if I reference everything he says and look back on my study notes from Kaplan / Ballast. But part of the reason this study material reference is time consuming for me is because I spread out my study time and what I read from Kaplan & Ballast was several months ago.
So if you spread out your study time like I did, you will need the extra time for his videos - let's say 24 hrs total + the time to have read Ballast and Kaplan in the first place (let's say 30 - 50 hrs depending on your endurance) + time to do practice exams (let's say 8-10 hrs to do and grade them in the thorough manner I explained above) + Vignette time (3 to 4 hrs) = 24+30(or50)+8(or10)+4 = 66h-88hrs total.
If you crunch your study time together so you can spend less time trying to recall stuff you studied several months ago, then you could probably reduce his video time to the 18hrs as he claims it should take. Then it would be 60-80hrs or so.

- Ermann's video on the vignette is probably his weakest one and I don't think that has significantly contributed to my speed improvements. I think he lays out some very good basic stuff and it forms a solid foundational strategy for the vignette, but I think you can get to the same level of confidence by spending the time on this forum right here, doing the alternates and carefully reviewing good comments from fellow forum members.

Note: I had bought the Amber book on Amazon well before I considered the videos. As a result of my not wanting the book with the videos, he was willing to give me a $40 discount on the videos. With the partner benefit that made my cost $255.
Bottomline: I'd say that even at $295 I would have gotten my money's worth.

Hope this helps. I took the time to write this all out because I struggled with this decision myself. Oh, and its a great way to procrastinate
Anjana.

[rogerphall@YAHOO.COM]

Than you So much for the advice on this. I will definitely go through the online course AND study all other materials. This will be my last exam, god willing. Good luck to you on your exams.

[shortindiangirl]

Tested today, and I will re-endorse the videos. For my MC, I needed every source of information, in every form and shape and it was still a doozy. Having tested now, would I pay $295 for the videos if I went backward in time ? Yes. If I fail the test, would I want to watch the videos again, YES (but I would kind of hope that Ermann would give me a discount for 2nd time post-fail viewing).

Totally worth it. Gives structure and focus to both core concepts as well as peripheral information on various systems, as well as exposure to calculations. Worth it. 4 out of 5 stars. Docking for spelling errors and a few other minor quality issues).

[Quigaboo]

I just want to point out that his seminar is like boot camp. Many people get the online video and watch it over a drawn out period (a few hours a day until it is done). What you may not realize is that the seminar is given over 3 straight days (11 hours a day +/-) with very little break time. When you finish you feel overwhelmed and beaten up. I will say that he HIGHLY suggests you take the exam as soon as you can and even the next day if possible. The longer you wait, the more you forget. That is why I tested 4 days later and passed. I ran into at least 12-15 people at the Thaddeus seminar 3 months later and every one of them passed as well.

It's designed to be intensive and I feel you will get the most out of it if you view as much of it as possible at a time. (NOT OVER A PERIOD OF WEEKS). I failed my first 2 exams CDS and PPP). Passed this as my first and then continued to study in an intensive manner (like the seminar) for the remainder of my exams and had passed the following 5 and am waiting for the results from my last exam. I only know 2 people that took this class and failed and it was because they waited to long to test.

[Adritere]

Did you pass??

[kav27]

I took the 3 day in-person course this winter then took the exam within the following week and passed. I would highly recommend this course, even though it is a lot of material in a short amount of time it is incredibly helpful. I did not use any other study material.

I think the advice in previous posts to get through the online videos in a similar condensed time frame is a good one. You'll get 80-85% of the content in those 3 days. After this if you wait too long you start to loose more knowledge then you are gaining - your attention is needed elsewhere in life,