NCE

Now that NCE is behind me, I am ready to share my experience and even give some pointers to those who have yet to take it. One of the things that made prepping for and taking this examination so nerve racking is the fact that my graduate school counseling program did not adequately prepare me for this.

They offered all the right courses but I don’t remember any staff professor ever talking to us about the NCE and all that it entails. Sure, it’s not their job, graduate school is built on the premise of fending for oneself, but they could have at least pointed me in the right direction. I am still a bit bitter about that.

If it were up to me, I would not let anyone else go through what I had to. But it’s not. And all I can do now is share my experience, hoping others will find it helpful. First and foremost, this NBCC website is absolutely essential and is your primary resource for relevant info on this exam. Secondly, I would recommend you use as many study materials as possible, including old notes from grad school. Here is a list of materials I used:

NCE Prep Guide
This is a spiral bound, 90 page booklet put out by the NBCC. It contains very helpful information on exam content, pointing out important must-know concepts under each of the eight CACREP areas. There are also a few practice questions from previous NCE tests, to help gauge your knowledge and level of readiness.

Encyclopedia of Counseling
by Howard Rosenthal

Information in this book is broken down into one thousand questions with subsequent justification/explanation for the correct answer. I found this format very helpful and clever because it gave me a taste of the real test and helped me get in the test-taking mode. The author uses a lot of repetition and offers memory devices, which prove extremely helpful. The text is easy to read and comprehend with information organized into manageable tidbits. A few weaknesses I found: typos, insufficient info on social and cultural foundations, a few confusing questions, and a heavy emphasis on psychoanalysis and behaviorism.

Websites
There were several sites I found helpful: One on inferential stats, one on psychological theories, and one with general info. The websites were a nice supplement to notes and study guides. They basically provided a quick reference. And, since I am so bad with research and evaluation, the inferential stats online textbook helped make a lot of things clear for me. Not the most exciting read, but it sure gets the job done.

The exam is the most difficult one I have ever had to take in my academic career. I studied for it for four straight weeks and still felt underprepared. The truth is, prepping for this and taking it is like trying to feel your way out of a never-ending pitch black tunnel. You don’t know what is ahead. You don’t know if you are going in the right direction. You don’t know how long it will be until you get to the end. But what’s worse, you will only find out when you actually attempt to pass the real test, but by then it may be too late. I don’t mean to be so overdramatic, but that’s exactly how I felt in the process. I hope this helps. Good luck with your test. There is life after NCE!