PLCAA certification

Who has taken this course and is it worth it? I am hyped up on it and am about to take it. What was your opinion of it?

If you are curious what i am talking about go to http://www.PLCAA.org

Click CERTIFICATION
Click the top cert offered and read

I am interested in what some of ya'll think being as how i respect most everyones opinion.

(FYI: I can mow a great lawn, but that is it. Anything else is currently out of my realm of knowledge. I believe a "full-service" company needs to offer more than just great lawn mowing/trimming/edging/blowing.)

Of course, i could be wrong.

Acute Cut

 

I think the price is right, $225, if and depending on how many, I can get some hours applied to my CCH's for my pesticide license. I just paid $80 to get 6 CCH's at a confrence.

I do not like the 5 year term though. Is a college degree only good for so many years? That part makes it sound too money oriented. If you took the course, the credentials should last forever!

Like anything like this, it is knowledge! You might be surprised how much you already knew once you started reading the course material. You could get the same knowledge from just buying and reading books on the same subject if you wanted to do so.

The ending credentials you would get from the course do have a value greater than the $225, I think. It does look good for future business credentials, but something alot of guys might overlook, is the self gratification it can give to those that complete the course. That alone could be invaluable toward the lasting success of your business. The more confident you are the better your chances of succeeding.

I might look into further.

 

I have also considered taking the course.I think that my concern is that,I only need to know about cool season grasses.Please let us know what you think of the text and if you will learn anything good.Knowledge is power!and it would be nice to say that you are certified.

Crash

 

Something I just thought of after reading the post on fertilization where this course was mentioned. Someone mentioned being a member of the PLCAA. What I was given as a member price was minimum $200 for under a certain gross sales.

This class is $295 as a non PLCAA member and $225 as a member of PLCAA. I do not see paying $200 bucks to save $70!

I know that the PLCAA offers more for it's members, but $130 more? Not Me.

So you do not have to be a member of PLCAA to take the course for those that have not or could not access the site.

[Edited by Skookum on 01-17-2001 at 03:08 AM]

 

I am currently enrolled in the Certified Turfgrass Professional course. I am getting ready to take my first test. I have already learned a great deal from this class. In my opinion, it is weel worth the money!

 

A CUT ABOVE:
How did you do on your test? I definatly would say this is well worth the money. I personally have learned more in the first two chapters than i have learned in my 3 years of business. I am almost overloaded with all of the info. 5 more chapters till the first test and i am more knowledgeable now than i have ever been before. (Reguardin lawncare only of course, haha)

I have found that with only the limited knowlege i have aquired so far i am now understanding some posts on here much more clearly. After the next chapter (soils) i should be smarter than anyone on this site. And it only took me 3 weeks. (Majorly joking all)

In all serious to those who were watching for more posts here, i am enrolled now and am thoroughly impressed with the amount of info given to me. I PERSONALLY think this course is worth 10 times its cost. I only wish i had done it 3 years ago when i started business.

If anyone has any questions about the course please feel free to post here or email me.

 

I got my materials last March. My problem has been making myself sit down and study. I still have not taken the first exam. I have read everything up to it, but I did not do well when I did the self-test. So now I have started back at the beginning with a highlighter and I am studying, not just reading this time. The info is very helpful and the book is a good resource to have around.
Has anyone taken the first exam? How was it?

 

I went a different direction and enrolled in the Professional Landscaper course by Harcourt Learning last September. The price on it was much more but the knowledge gleaned has been essential to me already. I'm about a third of the way through the course right now, but have slowed down a lot since my initial gung-ho run. I need to get myself to sit down and take two tests that I somehow keep putting off.

To tell the truth, I expected to have most of the course banged out by now because of rain delays, but it's been a pretty dry season.

-TGC

 

TGC,
Do you have a link to that course?

Thanks,
Derek

 

Cutting Edge:
I used to do the same things you do when i studied. It usually came to not so good results. I practiced diff ways to study and finally my old superviser on the military gave me what now works for me.

Start from the beginning. Read slowly. Anything that you can make into a question put down on a note card.
One question per card. It seems to take a while, but really it is faster than re reading constantly.

When you get done with a chapter put those cards in one stack. I like to do this because then i can better define which chapters i am not so good at.

When you are ready here is what you do. Go through all the cards three times. Then on the third or fourth round make two piles. Ones you got right and ones you didnt. Be honest here. No saying, "well i knew that, duh". If you miss it put it into the bad pile.

As you get your two piles, go through the misssed ones again and try them again. Put the ones you get correctly into the good pile. Do this repeatedly until you get them all right. It sounds like it takes a while, but after the cards are done you can go back and learn them within half hour or so. (After a few days away or so)

When you get to the test you can go back to all the cards and do one big "Wrong/right" pile. Then you know EXACTLY what you dont know and can go over those cards more closely.

I have no knowledge about grass so everything seems new to me. On chapter one i had about 110 cards. On chapter two i have about 350 cards. Chapter three i have 35 cards so far. (I ran out, lol) When i get to the end of chapter 3 i will begin my going over them. I have done all this in only a week, a couple hours a night, and seem to be moving pretty well.

Try it on one chapter, see how it goes. But you have to give it an honest try though. 5 cards for chapter two may not help you as much. On the other hand, you may be smarter.

I hope this note turned dissertation helps.
Acute Cut

TGC: I would be interested in seeing that one too. This cert is good for grass, but i want landscaping too. TWO certs would be soo cool.