Pay the money, do the prep, and don't leave anything to chance. Have your intro down cold when you walk in the door, because that's the only thing you know they'll ask (95% of the time). I did ECIC, RST, and Checked & Set for the app review. Yeah I shelled out a lot of money, but I got the CJO and I guarantee I wouldn't have been successful on my own. They didn't give me the answers, they taught me how to frame my answers. RST has ride reports almost daily, and it's a great place to connect through facebook with other people who are prepping.