How Accurate is the NCARB Practice Exam?
So I have passed PcM, PjM, CE, and PA - in that order. I am getting ready to take PPD at the end of this week (in 3 days) and I started taking the NCARB practice exam and so far, I am 14 correct out of 15 questions answered. I DO NOT remember the other NCARB practice exams being so easy; I actually remember them being harder than their corresponding actual exams. My question is this - for people who have taken (and/or passed) the PPD exam, is NCARB's practice exam an accurate representation of the level of difficulty? It currently has the lowest pass rate of all 6 exams, but based on this practice exam so far, it seems like the easiest one so far. Am I being lured into a false sense of security? Or am I really just overly prepared for the exam?
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My practice vs real exam results:
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PcM: practice = Fail; real = Pass — real felt harder (surely nerves, it was my first exam)
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PjM: practice = Fail; real = Pass — real felt easier
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CE: practice = Pass; real = Pass — real felt easier
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PA: practice = Fail; real = Pass — real felt about the same
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PPD: practice = Pass; real = Pass — real was a little harder*
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PDD: not taken yet
*I just did PPD last week. The case studies felt more involved (longer reference materials, not necessarily harder questions). What really hit me was answering 100 questions straight through. In the multiple-choice section, there were maybe 3 questions I had no clue about. I’d say I went in about 85% prepared compared to what I wanted.
Surprisingly, I’ve learned to like case studies on PA and PPD; they’re closer to real life, and most answers are right there in the references. If you approach them carefully and strategically, they can be easy points.
I also think my 30 years of experience as a principal designer (mostly abroad) helped, especially in PA and PPD.
This week I came across this post that outlined almost the exact strategies I’ve been using, it really resonated with me.
https://are5community.ncarb.org/hc/en-us/community/posts/12414008216983-Finished-PDD-and-done-Passed-all-6-exams-in-2-weeks-on-1st-try-Part-2Good luck on your exam!
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Thanks for the quick reply! I'm thinking I'm probably just ready for this test. Yes, while 100 questions in one sitting is really daunting, if they are similar to the type of questions I'm seeing on the practice exam, I should be ok. For the most part, they aren't taking too long to read/reason/answer. And I agree with you, if you have enough time to dig for the answers, the case study questions are mostly freebies. They take a lot longer per question, but the answers are almost always buried somewhere in the supplied resource materials.
And just as an update- I am now 43/50 questions correct. I think I'm ready :)
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The difficulty curve between the first 3 exams and the final 3 is steep. PPD and PDD are a different world than the pro practice exams, just based on the number of questions alone, the amount of mental fatigue and anxiety you feel after question 65 and you still have 35 to go.. You need to score almost 80% to reliably pass PPD as you know. It's well known for feeling random & disorienting, and having a high failure rate.
Also, you get the most value out of the practice exam if you take it in one go, with no breaks, no other open tabs on computer, etc. I think the practice exams are the most useful studying tool out there, so I always cherished them and avoided retakes to begin memorizing questions. Take it once all the way through and study the heck out of the results page.
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When you say first 3 and last 3... are you separating PcM, PjM, and CE into the first 3 and PA, PPD, and PDD into the last 3? I've taken them in that order ^ so far, and in my personal experience, each one has been easier than the last. I'm not sure if it's because my knowledge is building upon itself more and more with each test, or if I'm just getting better at (or more accustomed to) taking the tests, or if I'm just doing a better job of preparing. I should also mention that I did the entire Amber Book video course in about 6 weeks, and for the last 2-3 weeks, I have been answering PPI's qbank questions (I've answered about 800 out of the 1100 they provide). I guess I'll find out tomorrow if the trend still holds, after I take PPD. But of the exams I've taken, they have gotten easier with each test. And of the Practice exams I've taken, so far, PPD was by far the easiest. So I was just really thrown off by that.
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Yes, that's the order I did as well. I also used amber book. The exams do get easier (if you've studied enough) as you get used to testing and the material overlap increases over time. BTW, for the last 2 exams I did the case studies first. They're 15 questions each if I remember correctly and having them out of the way early helps.
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Update - It was about as easy as I expected it to be. I finished and submitted with an hour still on the clock, and as I was going through the test one last time to double check my responses, I felt really confident about more than 70% of the questions, which is generally the passing threshold. Thanks for the responses, everyone!
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Hey amberdr00 - Yes, I did think the NCARB practice exam for PPD and PDD were both pretty accurate to the real exams. I thought the practice exams were among the easiest of the lot, if not the easiest. And I also felt like PPD and PDD actual exams were both much easier than the rest of the exams. However, I don't think most people would agree with that. I think my ease with them is a result of my study habits and being overly prepared for both exams.
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I've been feeling the same way taking the tests! So far I have passed my first 4 (PcM, PjM, CE, PA) on the first try, I am planning to take PPD december 23rd. I think the more tests I take the more I understand what ncarb wants from us, but it still makes me nervous to feel so confident about it! Thanks for the insight.
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No worries! I was feeling the exact same way for my last two exams (PPD and PDD). The more I took the exams and studied, the more I understood what I needed to do to be successful. By the time I got to the last two (and the reason I made this post in the first place) was that I was feeling way too confident and I thought that I surely must have been being lured into a false sense of security. Turned out I wasn't - the exams are just MUCH easier when you study adequately and prepare enough. Good luck on your remaining exams!
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I would say that if you scored that well on NCARB's practice exam, you have a good chance of doing well on the real one. Just don't psych yourself out! Unfortunately, I took my last exam about 4 months ago, and the details are already a bit foggy. My advice would be to take the summary results from your practice exam and focus on the areas/categories where you got the lowest scores. I would also cross reference NCARB's exam guidelines and focus on the categories that make up the largest portions of content on the exam. It looks like these two sections can make up between 51 and 63% of the test. I'd start there :)
SECTION 4: Project Integration of
Program & Systems
SECTION 3: Building Systems, Materials,
& Assemblies -
Hey dmsylves, congrats on passing! I’m taking ppd soon and my experience feels pretty similar to yours. The Ncarb practice exam felt unusually easy (unlike my past exams), and Amber Book did too. But Elif’s questions and WeARE feel very different. I’m not scoring as well on those, and honestly the way they’re written seems a bit off. I think ncarb and amberbook questions seem more straightforward, while these feel too specific or random for ppd. How was it for you? Were you scoring well on those too? I’m trying to figure out if I should focus on improving those scores before scheduling.
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