Failed ICC exam twice — what finally helped me pass on attempt three

I've been a residential building inspector for about six years now and finally decided to pursue my ICC certification last fall. I bombed it the first time with a 68% — needed a 75 to pass. Went back three months later, scored a 71. At that point I was seriously questioning whether this was worth it.

What changed for attempt three was actually finding a decent ICC practice test online that mirrored the real question format. The actual exam leans heavily on energy code and structural load calculations, which I'd been glossing over in my study guide. I started spending about 45 minutes a day on practice questions specifically in those areas, and I paid way more attention to the IBC table references. Passed with an 82% in December.

For anyone else grinding through this — what study materials actually clicked for you? I've talked to guys who swore by the Upstryve prep course and others who just used the codebooks straight. Curious what's working for people lately, especially with the 2021 code cycle being tested now.