Consistent failure, what to do?
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Hi,
I am so sorry to hear that you are struggling.
May I ask, how much reading was involved in these study processes? Because when scores sit in that middle range, it usually means the approach needs more depth with primary sources, not just more of the same routine. That's why I reference books in my question, which is a way to nudge people back to the books NCARB points to. But just reading those highlighted parts may not be enough for everyone. Because of my background (non-US architectural degree + non-native speaker), I had to read many books cover to cover to pass these exams. Same books are also recommended by hundreds of people in this forum alone. So it is OK to try different methods if one didn’t work for you.
- Check out the NCARB guidelines for recommended books for each of these exams. In my opinion, for PDD, there is another book called Building Construction: Principles, Materials, and Systems (by Madan Mehta), which is not included in the guidelines but is a must for PDD. Together with Architectural Graphic Standards, they can do wonders for PDD. But you need to dedicate a certain amount of time to these books and read and take notes as much as possible (preferably cover to cover for the Mehta book).
- Give yourself enough time and don't rush into retakes after failures. It is understandable to want to finish these exams faster, but I don’t think “retake every 60 days until you pass” is a good strategy. That is doing the same thing and expecting a different result. Instead, take the time you need. There is no need to try to fit into a cookie-cutter agenda.
- For PPD and PA there are a few very important books that I believe would impact the result significantly. Reading the active building systems chapters in MEEB can do wonders. Books like Site Planning and Design Handbook or Sun, Wind & Light can change how you analyze questions and pick options substantially.
I can go on and on about the books, but I hope you get the gist. Search in the forum, check out my blog posts, and you will get great recommendations for which book to read for which exam.
It would be good if your work involved more design and construction experience, but you don’t need to work in a design firm to build the necessary fluency. Instead of rushing into the next exam, give yourself time to reset your approach, read thoroughly, and then layer back in practice questions. I believe this shift in approach will help.
Best of luck!
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Thanks for the reply, Elif! I agree going back to the reference books is what I should do next. I partially read the PPD and PA reference books before, but then I found Amber Book and thought that can be an easier way for me to digest different textbooks based on topics. But it looks like there can't be one solution that suits everyone. I'm working more like a consultant and engineer and may not need the license in my whole career path (my current and past companies don't have any RA, and I sometime was the only one with architecture background). But I still want to get the license because I have paid 7+ years in architectural education and have been working in building design field for 5+ years. There are a lot of pauses and life changes during my ARE journey. Maybe it's time to reset my way of thinking, consider it's more like a learning process and enjoy the knowledge. Don't think about the exam for a while, especially when passing the exams is more like a wish with no real impact on my career path.
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Some updates.
I did go to the PA and PPD this weekend, and I got both a "PASS". It's kind of unbelievable when I saw those results, but I quickly noticed why. The biggest change I made within this week is try to "read slowly".
As I mentioned, there were about 1 hour left for both PDD and CE exams after I finished all questions. It might look like a "good signal", but actually it's not. I was so stressed out and afraid of running out of time, so I went through the questions so fast and must missed some details in the questions. I have a full-time job, and there is really not that much time for me to really learn something new this week. What I did is spend 2 hours a day and redo some mockup tests. I enforced myself not to use any "fast scan" skills but read word by word. I used the same strategy during this week's exams, and it really worked!
PPD is the hardest one, I think. It combined PA, PPD, and PDD together. But I really enjoyed working on it today. Once you slow down and dive into it, that feeling of using different knowledge skills to solve one question is great.
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Thank you! I used the material mentioned above. Elif's Question, Amber Book, Gang Chen Questions, Ballast Practice Exam and Problems, NCARB practice exam.
I also included a lot of reference reading chapters to better understand some concepts or summary of different systems. While going through the study, and you got a question like "what if xxx?" or "what's the difference between xxx and xxx?" It's a good time to go to the reference book and check.
Another study strategy I used (but didn't see it been mentioned by others) is ChatGPT. I kept asking questions for ChatGPT to answer. Most are like "what's the difference between dry well, bioswale, and infiltration trench?" "Compare local, central, and district HVAC systems". ChatGPT is good at summarizing knowledge into comparison tables, and I personally love this kind of study method (rather than read through a lot paragraphs)
Hope this helps. Good luck. I'm going back to my PDD and CE review. :)
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