Progamming and Analysis ARE 5.0 The New Test - Released December 14
Hey Out There!
Well...I just finished taking the ARE 50 Updated test format for P & A. How do I put this? The test did not go well, I would like to place most of the blame on the “new” Digital Whiteboard. I am still seething with frustration, so buckle up because I am about to unload.
Full disclosure, due to cut scores not being released and/or ready until they have had at least 400 people take this exam. According to the Zoom cast, Link here., the mostly likely date for those cut scores to be ready will be around January 14ish 2021. Because of that, it is in my best interest, and honestly, in the best interest of all the other guinea pigs out there taking this test, to simply wait until all 400 test scores have been gathered. It would not be fair to me or them, at this point in time, to give anyone a leg up. Think about it. If I did poorly, which I am sure I did, then if I created a write up identifying topics I ran across, and you took the test within the cut score window. You may well score higher than me, and in doing so, could quite possibly knock me out of the cut score curve.
This applies to anyone currently taking these tests right now. It would behoove all of them, to wait until January 14th, before saying anything. I apologize for the delay. I DO want talk about my test experience, but if I am going to have any chance of passing, I have to wait until Jan. 14, 2021.
Here is what I used to study for the Test:
- Ballast ARE 50 Review
- Ballast ARE 50 Practice
- Walking the ARE 50 PA
- AHPP
- Problem Seeking
- ADA
- ANSI ICC A117
- IBC 2018
- IBC 2018 Illsutrated by Ching
- Building Construction Illustrated by Ching
- Sun, Wind, Light,
- Amber Book
- Planning and Urban Design Standards
- Site Planning and design
- Anything that was available on the Forum at the time
- ARE50 Handbook and the new NCARB ARE50 Mock Exam.
- I was going to add all the sections, but figure at this point it wont matter yet.
I spent a LOT of time studying for this particular exam. This is not my first rodeo having recently passed CE, PjM, and PcM. I had to take CE twice. I began studying on October 25, 2020 and was averaging about 15 hours a week, sometimes 20, depending on time off. The last three days before the exam I was putting in 9 hours a day. I even took the Mock exam with the new whiteboard. Just to see how it might feel. More on that later. I felt as ready as I could be, considering the breadth of the information, knowing that this new test would have less questions and less time.
The test itself, at a glance, looks just like the old exam, and feels similar. The obvious handicap is you do not have scratch paper, nor do you have a pen. I would like to state that is a BIG handicap. Let me mention that I took the mock exam at home, on a computer that has two 25" screens, a very robust video card, and tons of RAM.
At Prometric, you have one 17” screen, and I think at best on-board video. That means a very basic video card built into the motherboard. I have no idea how much RAM, but having looked at the workstations Prometric provided, it would not be much. These testing machines are nowhere near what I have at home.
The whiteboard on the mock exam, worked ok. It responded to my mouse quickly enough, I was able to horribly scrawl words and dims, and most of all I was able to open multiple windows, without affecting the exam performance. According to NCARB Live: ARE Testing Strategies, which you can watch on YouTube, the Manager of Examination, Nick Respect, during the Q& A session, addressed a question about the whiteboard window limits, explicitly states he and his team were able to open, and utilize ( at minute 25:12) 175 pages tabs.
Let me be blunt. That is a load of Crap. I had eight tabs open before my testing machine began to show immediate lag on the monitor. I was only twenty questions in. Now, when you have a technical issue, you are supposed to notify the proctor. However, my computer wasn't completely freezing up...it simply had lag. I had a decision to make. Flag a proctor, who by the way was managing several other test-takers, and lose time on my test. Try to explain and replicate the problem for them. From there its anyone guess what their protocols are.
Or do I try to get through it. I chose the latter. There I waited, about 20 seconds before my computer regained control. Ever so slowly, I deleted all the extra tabs on the white board. I would say this cost me about 2 or 3 minutes. Doesn’t sound that bad right? But hang on, this test is different:
- It has less time to complete
- Any delays add up quickly and every minute counts
- Slow tabs and lag are very disruptive to your thought process, and your test flow mojo
- Since I couldn’t have more than one or two tabs open with notes, I had to monitor how many were open, in order to not slow down my machine’s performance. Thus, negating any ability of advantage by having additional notes at the ready.
Aside from this inconvenience, is that fact that writing notes, quick equations, thoughts, and layouts is just plain slower on the white board. Sure, you can write text, but you have to click T, then click where you want place them, and then type. And if you want a different notation to type you must do it all over again. It became very frustrating to try and quickly label some rooms on poorly drawn floor plans, or make a quick math equation, or mark off spaces.…you know so could deduce the best choice. I cannot tell you how many times I wanted to just draw on the actual damn test. Time and time again I ran into this situation. Even simple things, like writing out math equations. The process is extremely disruptive. By my estimate I probably lost about 10 – 15 minutes dealing with that damn tool. I would have killed to have had that time back. This tool is not only not fully baked, but also just dumb. What the hell is wrong with having a pen and paper?!
Oops almost forgot. That awesome 17” screen you get to take the test on…is now chock full of stuff. The PDF reader is still garbage, but I can live with that. Now with the whiteboard there is so little real estate on screen. I had a hell of time navigating between all the information on the whiteboard, exam questions, and the case studies information. It was an absolute mess.
Oh and you know that break you can take any time? Well you gotta be real careful. You get these prompts that you are about to begin a new section of questions…but it does not tell you what section that is. I was hoping to take a break before the Case Study…I really needed it after all the earlier frustration, but nope clicked “ok” and bam! There I was in case study madness. At the very least I had to answer the question, because it had been viewed…if I walked away, well that was a strike against me. Honestly, it was a shitty thing to deal with.
I am not sure what the goal for NCARB was here. This format felt much more difficult than the former. Without a doubt the whiteboard, at least for me, made my life a living hell. The frustration alone completely threw me off my game and I am quite sure it affected my ability to answer many questions clearly. I simply dreaded any questions that had calculations in them. I knew that not only would I have to do battle with that crummy calculator, but I would have to battle the white board too. The residue of frustration tainted every question thereafter.
I think this whiteboard change is an absolute disgrace to a professional registration board. I hope more people are outraged that we have to pay for this type of indecency. This is no small investment on my part, in time or money. If they are going to make me take a new format for a test, it better damn well run the same or better than the previous method. This wasn’t even….close.
I don’t know, maybe I’m just 45 year old white guy that cant adapt? Even though I practically live at a computer workstation for my line of work. As I said earlier, my gut tells me I didn’t pass. Although I have said that about the CE, PcM, and PjM, and I passed. Still, this felt different. I can acknowledge that yes, there were some problems I just got wrong, this is true of anything. However, I can say with absolute certainty, that if I did fail, it will be a direct result of the whiteboard and how much frustration it caused, how much delay it cause. I feel I am owed a free retake for this debacle.
I’ll know more in a month…until then NCARB…balls in your court.
Everyone else…Stay awesome!
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Jared,
Thanks for giving your honest take on the exam situation. I also took PA just before the changes to the exam were made and had my exam completely crash. I had the same exact feeling as you that I didn't pass, mostly because I was so flustered and frustrated from the software... but on the bright side somehow I passed and I hope the same happens for you. All the best luck with your exam results!!!! Also make sure you report your exam issues to NCARB.
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Yes, we've been complaining about similar software issues for 4 years now. NCARB seems to be doing more to deny there is a problem and little to correct the actual issues.
Why is it so difficult for NCARB to develop a ARE Testing Software that works with the Prometric's test taking equipment? We're just trying to take a test. Its not that complicated.
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Hello Everyone,
Thank you. Honest thanks. I have reached out to NCARB. I have no idea what the next steps will be but I will keep you posted.
On another note, a side effect from this new exam format, wrist pain. When I completed my exam, my wrist was extremely achy. Because, yeah you do not get to write things down. Which got me thinking about people with wrist issues...this could be a real problem. If you consider the fact, that everyone in our profession, has some degree of wrist issues, due to how we work. This test becomes less accessible. Seems like that would be a problem for an industry that lives and breathes accessibility.
Again, thank you for the support. After a good nights sleep and your kind words, the sting from yesterday feels a bit lessened.
Stay Awesome.
-Jared
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Jared, you are certainly not alone. I have pointed out the wrist pain issue to NCARB several times and in several different ways. I have hand/wrist arthritis and have requested special accommodation from NCARB -- no reply from them as yet.
This whole thing smells like discrimination to me. Older hands/wrists are less able to handle the rapid repetitive contortions required for "writing/drawing" with a mouse (even without physiological issues) and I will also go so far as to say that smaller, less muscular wrists (like many women have) may also be less able to handle this unnaturally rapid repetitive physical movement in a manner that provides optimum efficiency for a timed exam.
My suggestion to all is for everyone to request the special accommodation of using scratch paper! Make your case and don't back down. If we all do it, NCARB will be forced to listen.
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Hello Robin,
That actually is a great suggestion. I have two, possibly three more exams to take, (Depends if I bombed PA). PPD and PDD. I have now delayed those test each an additional two months. I am hoping some of this will be settled by then. I do not look forward to taking those exams under these circumstances, not that I was looking forward to taking the exams in the first place. Still knowing what I know, it will be exceptionally more difficult. I would rather an exam be more difficult due to content versus BAD UI. Isnt the point of a test to examine our knowledge, not how to navigate an application?
Cheers,
-Jared
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Jared, I am in the same boat. I'm pushing back PPD and PDD in hopes that this all settles and somehow either NCARB comes to their senses on the issue or is forced to by other means. The tests are hard enough, why the heck do I need to learn how to use a glitchy digital whiteboard when the program is already overburdened as is? In this field, we are trained well in problem solving... and I know for a fact that If any one of us came up with the idea of making a digital program just to temporarily write stuff down on instead of using a simple physical whiteboard we would have been ripped to shreds in critique. The problem is simple and the solution is even more simple... so why the heck is NCARB making this so hard for us? Where is the rational?
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This is why I cancelled my exam at the end of December...this is a crap show!!!
I've heard some people talk about cancelling their exams in January in protest of the whiteboard...so that's what I've done. I don't want to keep throwing $235 at NCARB in hopes that I will somehow have the right combination of questions and a miracle occurs and I pass.
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