PDD test questions.
I have been involved with the Architectural business for almost 30 years. In the last 15 years as a Senior Project Manager I've been involved with Design Development, CDs, RFIs, comprehensive architectural detailing including glazing, waterproofing, Expansion joints, MEP coordination, CA site visits,....shop drawings! I've been in charge of the Design and Production team for Mega-Multi-million projects in Dubai while working for a South Florida Architectural Firm, team peers respect my knowledge and advice.....unfortunately, it appears that I am not as good as it takes for testing to pass the ARE.
I just found out that I fail PDD. Bluntly, I already took the CD's test 4.0 quite a few years ago and passed, and still, I remember the feeling that the odds of passing the test was high, the questions were quite related to what I was doing or working at the time.
This new PDD test, I was surprised with the number of questions so unrelated to what I've been doing in the past 20 years, as per NCARB guidelines I can not be too descriptive about the test, but in general, Who does those things in reality?...or who calculate this or that?....is not more important waterproofing, than cold weather issues in Florida?. Once we were the selected architects to work on the CDs for The Glass House by Richard Meier, of course, Northern architects for the northern cold states....that is why he picked us since we were a top-notch architectural firm in South Florida.
I am really surprised by the level of technicality of many of the questions for this test....and what is so ironic is that the rule of thumb in everyday business is not to presume that you know the code, or partitions ceilings, etc, assemblies by heart, you need to research and double-check in the code or resources we have right in our shelves, the trick is to know where to find the answer you may already know, in what chapter, what section or what table.
Liability is a game-changer in our profession, let the team of engineers do their work and see if they come up with crazy columns, shearwalls, odd mech. systems, or good locations for plumbing riser and coordinate that through bi-weekly meetings, better if your projects are done via BIM where things are less stressful. I wish I could calculate the volume of this and that, how much the beam can span...well if you are spoiled since more of our projects are multifamily residential, hotels, or offices, and Post-tension is at your feet, just knowing no more than 18 FT spans between columns or no more that 8 FT slab cantilevers for an 8" thick slab will do the trick. Yes, of course, I have worked in smaller projects like Single Family residential projects, and just by using the rule of thumb 1/10 of the span for the height of beams will do, under normal loads and I have been not that far from reality.
I do not want to mislead anyone, maybe since I have been there for quite a long time, grayed hair is starting to grow on my sideburns, and maybe the field of my expertise has led me to do just what I do, I have this opinion
....who knows where your career will lead you if you are a young Bachelor candidate, maybe it will lean towards the structural field, acoustics, MEP systems ( around 1995, I worked for an Architectural-Engineering Firm in Boston for 3 years and we basically design for the machines, phone, and electrical sensible machines and everything was targeted to what Mechanical system was the proper system to choose), if I would've stayed there I may have become an expert calculating the entire energy calculations for a room or a building!...nope, thank you....I even refused a full scholarship at MIT offered by my boss to become an HVAC designer, since I wanted to be an architect.
All I know is that I am frustrated, I believe my design skills and technicality contribution at the architectural firms that I have worked for have left one after another architectural contribution to our society, and full pockets of tons of millions of dollars to some of my previous firms.
I am so bad to memorize stuff, but I know I am very good at what I do in our Field. What can I tell you...never give up right?
In some other countries, there are other ways to become licensed in architecture by experience via an exposition of a real project and your full involvement from Design to CA, and the panel is loaded with elite architects. I guess I am dreaming out loud.
Good Luck,
Peace out.
-
Why don't you sign up Young Architect Boothcamp & Amber Video?
It may be ideal for someone like you with experience.
Just prepare with others & take again & again while memory fresh & with little more input till pass.
(I passed PcM,PjM & CE-credited, taking PA,PPD & PDD.)
Good Luck!
-
Wow. It is so frustrating to know the material and fail the exam. Especially when you passed in 4.0 and do this for a living! So frustrating. In my experience the exam was straightforward and not loaded with tricky or overly-technical questions. the exams do vary pretty widely I think and you may have just stumbled into a particularly bad one. don't give up. You're smart, you know this stuff...you just need to know more about the exam and what to study. Use your experience to tweak your studying and hit it again soon while it's still fresh in your mind! Talk with others. You WILL get thru this!!!!
-
Edgar, your experience is unfortunately not unusual for someone with actual real world experience. As a fellow 4.0 transitioner, with 10 years of experience, I have found that these 5.0 exams are absolutely ridiculous. I more than once have felt like I had studied for the wrong exam because the content was so far off in left field and it is maddening!
I now ask myself "How would a 25 year old straight out of school answer?" That has helped me from over complicating things or applying my own experience. (ha, what a joke right?) I also have to remind myself that my ability to pass these exams is not an accurate reflection upon how I perform as an architect.
All I can say is that I commiserate and feel your pain because I am in the same crappy boat.
-
I agree with you that NCARB exam is not really related with real world, but the exam is the exam. How many Licensed architects calculate the structure load? In fact, when an architect does a structural calculation, it teaches that there is a big lability issue, but there are still structural calculations questions in PPD and PDD. I understand that an architect have to understand all other parts, but sometimes it is too much detail.
-
How many Licensed architects calculate the structural load? maybe for small projects, and maybe they have all the time in the world....but as far as getting your numbers just to compare them with the numbers of the structural engineer maybe, but as soon as you share your calculations with the engineer, and in the future, something fails!...say goodbye to your career. You will be paying damages for the rest of your life.
How many first-timers Licensed architects I have known that were kept drawings restrooms, stairs, elevators, etc., for years!, since obviously their architectural experience and proactiveness didn't push the envelope! ...and what used to scare me, was the fact that they were ready to sign and seal!...not now since I've seen enough. Also, I have taken my hat off to young licensed architects on fire! assimilating and focusing from the get-go.
I believe there are pros and cons with these tests....cutting some corners and dead ends and filling them with substantial information that will help the young architects for the real world should be the key to their success and the success of all.
-
Hang in there Edgar! I've yet to meet a licensed architect who believes these exams successfully gauge your ability to protect the health, safety and welfare of the public. We're all having the same issues, I'm almost 8 years into my career in architecture and I have to check what I've learned as architectural practice at the door when I sit for these exams. This has been a major issue since NCARB rolled out 5.0 but the little changes they have made have unfortunately just made things more difficult. I'm halfway through my exams and the best advice I have for you is to not burn yourself out. Make a study plan, stick to it as best you can as a working professional and when you fail, just think of it as a preview for what you need to study more. Best of luck to you!
-
You are absolutely right. Best of luck to you too.
...exams should be open books as in real life...I wish I could have the time to get into classes or boot camps....with all the multimillion projects on my shoulders I even get phone calls from clients over the weekends! these money makers-developers don't sleep....welcome to our career!....the more you love it the more you take in, let's do it!, the less time for the rest to do....
Although, great news about the rolling clock!...definitely will help.
Please sign in to leave a comment.
Comments
11 comments