Passed the ACE on first try... but not easy!

Hello,

I just found out I passed the ACE Exam which I took 2/13/09. I got a score of 555, with 500 being passing. I am not sure if this is considered "average" or "below average" but I sure did study quite a bit for this exam. I do work full time at my regular job, so I did not have full days available to me aside from weekends. I studied for 6 months overall, with the first 3 being more general overviewing and the last 3 being straight up "drilling" the information.

I recently graduated college with honors, so I was still somewhat in study mode... but let me tell you this test is tough. I figured since this site was so helpful to me, I would try to help out anyone still studying for this exam.

I knew the entire ACE Manual cold. I have every chapter broken down by sections, and overall had about 2,000 index cards which I studied daily. I did all review questions at the end of each chapter, and knew those cold too. I also purchased the prep course from this site, which I HIGHLY recommend. I would recommend purchasing the prep course as early as possible. But you MUST use the manual as a basis for study.. the prep course is only meant to be supplemental and help point out areas that you might not know that well.

With all that being said, I thought I was completely golden for this test. Sitting down to the multiple choice, it was slightly off-putting. There were ZERO calculations (meanwhile, I obviously was prepard for BMI, bodyfat %, karvonen, etc.) There was little to no anatomy based Qs. ALOT of the questions were subjective and based on dealing with clients. I thought this was slightly unfair, considering they are highly based on opinion and for some of the "issues" ACE had never taken an official stance throughout the manual regarding what was the "correct" action to take.

Here's what you should definitely know:
1)Muscle groups and their relationships (i.e. which muscles relax when the others tense, muslces to strengthen to help lower back pain, movements to avoid for certain muscle injuries, muscle imbalances contrbuting to shin splints, runners knee, etc)
2)Postural deviations... and anything relating to them
3)Special populations (pregnant, old, osteporosis, KIDS/TEENS! --> this was one of the simulation questions which I scored fairly low on. It's very tricky to "design" an ACE program for a high level teen athlete because you want to challenge them but they are still considered "kids" so you don't want to push them too hard)
4)Basic nutrition, calories, etc
5)Client interaction, repore, etc (this is another tricky one because the answers are SO similar. This is not an official question but this is the style of alot of them --> "An example of demonstrating respect for your client would be A)dressing the part B)looking them in the eye C)leaning forward when you talk to them D)listening intently as they speak" -->> ummm, really?

There was obv alot more on the test than that but I would make sure to know all of this information. Just know as much as you can, and try to learn "ACE's stance" on certain issues, so you don't accidentally asnwer with YOUR personal first response. ALOT of the questions are subjective and its really NOT as simple as always checking "refer to physician" because alot of times its unnecessary.


Anyone else who took it... do you agree with this?