Okay so I've been lurking here for months and I feel like I owe it to this community to actually post something useful. I failed the ACC exam in October and again in January — both times I thought I was ready and both times I was wrong. The second failure genuinely made me question whether coaching certification was even for me.
What finally turned things around was being brutally honest about where my gaps were. I stopped re-reading my notes and started drilling with an ACC practice test every single day for three weeks. Timed. No open book. That pressure revealed I was weak on ICF core competencies and the ethics section specifically. I also found a study guide that broke down the competency model in plain language instead of ICF jargon — that was a game changer.
Passed last week with a score I'm actually proud of. Happy to share my full prep timeline if anyone wants it. What's tripping people up most right now? Curious if others struggled with the ethics scenarios like I did.