Recommendation for CE Study Materials?
Those of you who have taken the CE exam recently and passed, what study materials would you recommend in addition to the ones listed in the recently updated NCARB guideline?
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Hi Maybell,
All the Free Resources are listed on my website, but NCARB won't allow me to link to anything on my website, so I'll post the links directly.
AIA Contracts:
https://www.aiacontracts.org/find.
Hanahan Lectures:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWO_4OeKbOTkZMwnb6B-AOg
You don't need to buy any costly unending subscriptions, especially for this exam, CE. And some folks (illegally) don't disclose their financial relationship with ARE providers who give them commissions, FYI.
Best wishes with your studies!
Rebekka
Pass the ARE
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In general I’m a huge fan of Amber Book (it was my primary study source for all the exams), but if you only have CE, I’d focus on the contracts and maybe also do the Black Spectacles CE series. They recently redid it and I found it quite good. You can also power through it in just an evening.
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I received my score of 518... super close.
The exam threw more PDD / PPD questions than I expected for this round. Black Spectacles subscription - good practice exams, but I canceled the subscription. Young Architects boot camp & Desk Crits has been a good resource, sigh. but I will retake it at the end of May.
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Thank you all for your input! Super helpful! I have Amber Book and Ballast (which was gifted to me) and have downloaded the contracts from NCARB website and listened to Michael Hanaman's lectures. I'll continue with what I have for now. So many study options out there to choose from and I only have so much personal resource. Firms seem to be unwilling to invest in Amber and Black Spectacle.
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Catherine Simpson, I'm sorry to hear that you were not satisfied with our practice questions. At Black Spectacles, we have a team of licensed architects, learning experts, and a psychometrician who all work collaboratively to create practice exam questions that align with NCARB's process, standards, and rigor. We regularly review and adjust our content to ensure that it is up-to-date, accurate, and reflective of NCARB's current ARE objectives. Additionally, our practice exam interface exactly matches the real ARE 5.0, which helps our members become more comfortable with navigating the exam and tools.
If you ever want to chat about how we can better support you and other aspiring architects on your journey towards licensure, please don't hesitate to reach out to support@blackspectacles.com.
Best of luck on your CE studying and any upcoming exams you have scheduled!
Kiara Galicinao, AIA, NCARB
Black Spectacles
ARE Community -
I feel that Black Spectacles videos had good conceptual content, but did not really prepare me for the CE exam. Rather than teaching how to apply the content to real-world scenarios (which is almost 100% the way the CE exam is given), Black Spectacles feels more like a college lecture introducing you to the topics. I got the same knowledge from the books/other resources that I read and didn't really gain much else from Black Spectacles. The practice exams were a little better.
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Hi Stefanie Sorondo,
Thank you for your feedback, as we genuinely value what our customers have to say and use it to improve our products. Our lecture videos are designed to introduce you to the topics covered on the ARE and because they are aligned directly with the NCARB objectives, you know that you are studying the right thing. They are intended to set the foundation for your knowledge and be used in conjunction with our other study materials (quizzes, flashcards, practice exams, virtual workshops). Used in tandem, our study materials help you not just learn the content, but also practice recall and know how to apply them to scenarios (and the ARE format). I'm glad to hear that you found the practice exams helpful, as those are key to helping you understand how to apply the knowledge learned from videos to scenarios, presented similarly to how they would be on the ARE. Cycling in as many practice questions as you can and understanding why answers are correct/incorrect is a great way to take the knowledge you've learned to the next level!
Please let us know if we can help support you along your journey towards licensure! Our Customer Support Team can be contacted directly at support@blackspectacles.com.
Kiara Galicinao, AIA, NCARB
Black Spectacles
ARE Community
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