"Score pending" after technical difficulties but a "provisional pass" on the final PSI screen
Prefacing with saying that this might be my anxiety speaking for me--
I have had some good luck over the past couple of weeks of passing both the Project Management and Construction/Eval exams. During both times the provisional result at the end of the exam noted a "likely pass" and within 24 hours of taking the exams my scored results were released.
Yesterday I took the PA exam and had technical difficulties after completing question 61 (so I was pretty deep into the exam). I immediately notified the proctor about the "504 gateway error" and blank white screen in front of me that did not allow me to move forward. Technical assistance was added into the chat and they were able to help by relaunching the exam on the PSI side of things. I was told to close the program (not end the exam) and relaunch. I did all of this, went through the security screening to get back in and was able to access the exam immediately starting from where I was when the software froze. I completed the exam and the provisional results showed a "likely pass."
I am concerned though because it is now over 24 hours since my exam and the score report has not been released with the same timeliness that I experienced during the last two exams. I know that there can typically be an 7-10 day delay in the final score report being released, but I am wondering if anyone else has experienced something similar, or, if perhaps with the new code changes and question format changes integrating on Feb. 27th that perhaps there is just a generally longer wait period for formal score releases--even with provisionally passing scores?
Anyways, thought I would reach out to the community here to help assauge my anxiety. Many thanks!
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Hi Grace! I'm sorry to hear that your score is also pending too but am grateful to know that I'm not the only one--thanks for sharing. Maybe there are more of us and perhaps it does have something to do with the exam changes put in place a few days ago. Sooooo hoping that the official score gets released soon!!
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Hi Mohsen, thanks! Yes, having more confirmation like this does help.
On my end, I did not notice any major shifts at least in the PA exam that I took. I actually kind of felt like the case study section seemed almost a bit more direct and less intensive than during the last three exams. I was surprised. Usually, I try to push to have the multiple choice questions answered within the first hour and 40-50 minutes of the exam (for the three hour exams). In this instance I had 1 hour and ten minutes allotted for the case study questions and was able to address all of them within that time period, and felt like they were definitely more direct than the ones I saw in the practice tests and just in general when comparing to the actual exams that I took earlier this month. I felt like the multiple choice questions seemed a bit harder to answer than I was anticipating--or, I guess I could say that there seemed to be more deliberate obscurity. There were more "drag and drop" questions than I have seen in the other exams where you have to evaluate many different program constraints or site constraints at the same time. On the whole though, there are not really major changes that I noticed, or at least there were not changes that threw me in a bad way or question types that I had not seen on study material such as the NCARB practice exams. Hope this helps!
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This actually helps a lot, because I am studying for PA now after passing PcM PjM and CE.
I would appreciate some study content advice.
I read problem seeking and just finished the first 3 chapter in the Site Planning and Design handbook. I went through the amber book code and site courses. Just wrote notes but haven’t done any practice tests yet.What else do you recommend me to study based on your experience? What source do you think might be more relevant to cover more content for the exam?
Thanks 😀😀😀
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The Amber Book has been the best resource I have come across, and actually the main one that I have used. At this point my method has been to review as many Amber Book sections as I can get through (the Pro Practice section has been the most helpful for me in the other exams, but it seemed like maybe only 10-15% of the questions in the PA exam covered pro practice specific information). Site and Codes sections were really helpful for the PA exam. I also have almost finished the Systems section and did find this helpful for PA at least a bit.
The practice exams that NCARB offers are important--I would advise taking one or two of these and really reviewing the answers after you finish the exams.
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I am just getting some further confirmation; this is due to the new update:
https://www.ncarb.org/blog/updates-to-are-guidelines-reference-guide-security-policies-and-more?fbclid=IwAR0Yybuk-Zm07nUDItA_W9ggfgP3cSWjWVP9obcmY5QQ6A10rKKL78mjGmU_aem_Afwv4ZW-CL8moJZzt9rddrAPMj4KNvuzgCFEPOit3XSTaIc--RWPIeq8t6ZWc2r_JFci’m sure things are going through more rigorous verification processes to check against any foul/prohibited activity. i’m so anxious to see that box turn green but, oh well! 🤷🏻♀️ hopefully it’s not too long before i get my official results in.
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Hi all! Thanks a ton for the resources shared here and the thoughts and updates.
I did receive confirmation today that I passed the exam and the score report has been released. My test date was Thursday the 29th, so a solid 8 days was used to review the exam and release the score. Just to note--I have not yet received an email from NCARB, but when I go to my profile and refresh the exam section I can see the update there. I'm assuming an email will come in later this afternoon as well. So, all in all it does look like the 7-10 day review policy is being followed.
On to the final two... ;) wishing everyone good luck!
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