Need advices/motivations on how to study PCM/PJM
I’ve studied PA/PPD/PDD and passed PA. I’ve been failing PPD/PDD a few times by just a few questions every time, and at this point I don’t even know what else to study. My brain is like, “Ma’am, we’ve done enough.” So I’ve decided to move on to PCM/PJM since everyone says they’re “lighter”... but GOOD GOSH y’all, I just can’t.
I was genuinely excited about the technical content—I actually enjoyed studying it. But professional practice? It’s painfully dry. We’re talking Atacama Desert levels of dryness, during a no-humidity convention. And to make things even more challenging, English isn’t my first language, which makes parsing all that legal jargon feel 100 times harder. Sure, I’ve picked up some of it through work experience, but I’m not entirely confident that’s enough to get me through the exam.
I passed the PCM/PJM NCARB practice test, but based on my experience with PA, PPD, and PDD, those feel easier than the actual exams. So now I’m just doing practice tests on WEARE and Elif, because if I have to read another contract or crack open AHPP again, I might combust. I only use the materials now to clarify key answers, and I don’t know if that’s a good way to study these.
I’ve tried Black Spectacles and Amber Book—both are great materials—but the pro practice content itself puts me to sleep. I’m considering going back to Amber Book to restudy since it helped me a great deal with the technical exams. I just need advice on how to keep moving forward as efficiently as possible.
Thank you,
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For pro practice, digging into the AHPP Wiley Guide and going section to section, chapter to chapter helped me in understanding the concepts. It can be tedious along with reading contracts, but knowing them all in and out and the applicability of the conditions will make questions simpler to read through and finding the correct answers.
Having physical contract copies to highlight, mark up, and creating flash cards in my own terms/words to understand and break down the terms, concepts, and situations was the critical assist for me in passing pro practice. The source material is vital since the content of the exams is based on the contracts and the AHPP; they should be your main references.
Desk Crits also has great breakdowns and simplification of the concepts and terminologies for this set of exams.
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nm0065 This might sound bad, but I basically just got over and put up with AHPP. I reviewed the essential contracts a few days before the exam, so everything was still pretty fresh. My set of exam also included a lot of questions related to the work I already do, which helped a ton.
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