PASSED my ARE Exams

I passed my final ARE (PDD) exam yesterday 12.19.24!

PcM: 1 attempt

PjM: 4 attempts

PA: 4 attempts

PPD: 2 attempts

PDD: 3 attempts

CE: 2 attempts

After 3.5 years and 16 total attempts I got it done. Shoutout to my circle for constant encouragement when I wanted to throw in the towel. Thanks to this NCARB community for the platform to share my experience as well as read about the experience of others. There is certainly no linear path to get these exams done. Early on, I didn't give the process the respect that it demands. I had to re-wire my brain on how to properly study. I am thankful for those that pushed me to the finish line. So this is my way of telling whomever needs to hear this to KEEP GOING. Everyone is different but the study materials that worked best for me were Amber Book, Elif's ARE Questions, and the NCARB practice exams. I said Michael Ermann was crazy for recommending to study for all exams at once. It seemed daunting. I tried the exam at a time method and passed 2 in 2 years. I buckled in this year and passed the remaining 4.  When I was over watching hours of videos, I turned to Elif's ARE questions which are so good because the content is on par and you can take a quiz easily before you start the day, at lunch, after work, whatever works. Get the ADA bundle too. Lastly were the NCARB practice exams. Rarely did I have 3-4 hours on a Saturday or Sunday to sit and take a full practice exam. I would take the exams in 10,20,30 question blocks, submit and see how I did/ read through the explanation content. One suggestion I have for NCARB is to better explain why answers are incorrect vs only explaining why the correct answers are correct. Anyway, don't overthink it, trust your gut, read through tricky questions carefully, make sure you enter numbers on the calculator correctly (lol), start a new whiteboard tab/ don't delete work if you need to come back to a question, use the strikethrough feature to eliminate answers you know are wrong, review marked case study questions first (search command for case study documents), don't beat yourself up after a failed exam, reschedule in 60 days. "You didn't come this far, to only get this far", you TOO can pass these exams.