Seeking Help for PDD
Hi everyone,
I’m preparing for what I hope will be my final attempt at PDD. I’ve come just short of passing, consistently scoring in the low 500s.
I’ve put in a lot of time and effort, using a wide variety of study materials, including:
- Amber Book (videos, flashcards, practice exams)
- Ballast (book + practice questions)
- Black Spectacles
- Designer Hacks
- Gangi Chen, NCARB practice exam
- Contracts (A101, B101, A201, etc.)
- Building Construction Illustrated, Building Code Illustrated
- Some MEEB and AGS-based guides
- Study groups and handwritten notes
My stronger areas are consistently Codes and Cost Estimating.
My weaker areas have been:
- Integration of Building Materials & Systems
- Project Manual & Specifications
Currently, it feels like this is more about question interpretation, time management, and test strategy than content.
I’d really appreciate hearing from others who’ve been in a similar spot:
- What helped you close the gap and finally pass?
- Any strategies for breaking down questions or managing your time?
- How did you approach your final attempts differently?
- Any focused tips or materials that helped improve your weaker areas?
Thanks so much in advance for any advice or encouragement. Really hoping to wrap this up soon!
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Hi, I'm not sure if you have tried Elif's ARE Questions. It has the highest "knowledge density", but not as dry as the Ballast book. If you read the reference book's chapters she mentioned under each question, a 20-question quiz can take you hours to digest fully. I think it can be a good combination with whatever video tutorial material you are using. And I think Gang Chen's questions are pretty good too. It's a bit easier than Elif's but also has very detailed explanations.
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It's $99 one time payment for the Elif PPD and PDD bundle. I found it very useful. You didn't say whether you already passed PPD, but you want to study for them together either way. My advice is to ignore the area scores. You studied amber book so you know how he says you shouldn't spend a week trying to get 1 more point in a certain area. My second advice is to take the case studies first, these require the most energy and focus on PPD and PDD.
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I have passed PPD, and I did study for PPD and PDD together prior. I still use some materials (notes, videos, etc) from that combination since there is a great deal of overlap.
PDD is my last remaining exam, so would getting the PDD only bundle from Eilf's ARE questions perhaps be a better option?
I have not tried case studies first on an exam before, I was worried with the amount of time they take and the thought they require I would suffer on the rest of the exam. Has there been a significant help having them first? Anything to keep in mind with doing them first (timing, pacing, mental fatigue, etc.)? I am definitely willing to adjust my test taking strategies.
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It depends on how much time you’re having at the end of your exams. By my third exam I was finishing with 1/3 time left. I started taking case studies first actually due to someone here saying it’s better for preventing the computer from lagging. But anyways. When I would take the case studies first I would spend unlimited time on them, like 10+ minutes on a single question if needed. Once you have those studies out of the way the standalone questions really feel like a breeze. Rather than dreading the hardest part of the exam when you’re already tired and 75 questions in.
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I have typically had around 1.5 hours at the end for case studies, but have varied on time finishing them. Rushing to answer questions quickly on some or having time to go back and recheck flagged items on others. I will keep this in mind and try on some practice exams to note the differences between doing the case studies first.
Perhaps I will at the very least get the PDD only bundle for $55 since it comes high recommended not only in this posts but in others in the forum as well. Would having the PPD & PDD bundle be better? I am already done with the PPD exam, but since there is overlap between the tests the larger cost could be better for the long term.
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I would probably get both, but it's up to you. There's probably 20-30% content overlap on the two exams. I studied for them both as one exam, I can give you my study strategy.
In the week leading up to my exams I would read my amber book flashcards notes out loud to myself at a normal volume/normal pace. If you don't have notes it's worth going through again and taking notes. I would read them 2-3 times leading up to the exam.
I would alternate this with taking 3-4 Elif quizes per day. The explanations on the question results are long and helpful. Finally, 2-3 days before the exam I would take the ncarb exam and treat it like the real thing. Next day spend 2+ hours reviewing the answers (including correct answers). Final day before the exam I would just relax and not study.
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Thank you for all your help and advice JCorrington, I think i will get the bundle. Studying them together helped me pass PPD prior so perhaps taking a fresh look with more focused information will be a big help.
I also appreciate the study strategy as well. If you have any advice for the test itself (beyond the case study adjustment) for better understanding or answering questions, it would be greatly appreciated!
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The only advice I have for PDD is make sure you can read drawings and know where to look for information. If you know how to read drawings then half the question are very easy. For point and click questions showing a wall section or detail you should be an instant 100% confidence answer.
The study material is still needed for certain things like, calculate the length of a stair with multiple landings, determine building construction type/occupancy/occupant load, determine partition type needed, stair width/number of stairs needed, things like that.
On the Elif quizzes you're just given a link to the IBC and need to navigate the entire thing on your own to find the answers. But on the exam the code excerpt will be like 10-20 pages. Once you can navigate the whole code book quickly to find answers then navigating only 20 pages is easy.
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JCorrington, kkgalicinao, lyfian0924
Are there any programs, books or tools that can go more in depth analyzing my test taking? Where I can take a PDD practice exam (or multiple) with it and it will go in depth analyzing where issues may lie. Something more detailed than simply which content area the the question was in, but if I tend to have issues with the choose many question type, topics like HVAC, elevators, and such, or if it can track I keep making certain mistakes or missing certain items consistently in questions.
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I used amber book only and passed PDD first try I would say just really try to understand a little bit of everything for the technical stuff and then just kill the calculations cause those are free points. Also remember you only need about 60/100 to pass so if you dont know one dont worry about it just try to make sure that your 100% confident you got 60 of them right or at least 50 of them and then get some kind of luck or grace on the other 10 you need, PPD is kinda harder in my opinion cause you really need to get 70 to pass.
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I also used amber book. I had a different strategy regarding calculations though. I decided I didn't want to stress over footcandles, CFM, etc because there are SO many different formulas. I basically just didn't study that stuff. In the exam, I don't think there were more than 1-2 questions that actually needed math. Knowing the concepts is way more important.
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I recommend using ChatGPT or another chatbox to review. It can summarize, compare, and contrast different topics and provide exam-style questions for the topic you request. It is really a powerful review tool.
And a very important thing; it's free (the basic plan) which is fine for this.
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All,
A little late, but maybe this will help someone else:
Know that #5 Cost Estimating is only 2-8% of PDD - it can be as few as two questions, it's no more than 8. I see scores fluctuate wildly in that section all the time because it is so tiny - there aren't enough questions to make a meaningful assessment of your understanding of that content, but there also aren't enough questions to seriously impact your overall score either, even if you miss all of them.
Area 1 and Area 2 are where the majority of questions are - they're also some of the broadest Content Areas on the ARE. There are way more technical topics that could be covered in either of those areas than there are questions available though - so it's common to see a lot of questions on one or two topics (acoustics and lighting in your case it sounds like), and then not see those same topics the next time you test.
Because of this, the most important thing for studying for a retake of PPD or PDD is that you can't bias your review with the topics you just saw - you should still review them, but you can't review just them. You'll be taking a new set of questions when you test again, and they might have a bunch of acoustics and lighting questions again - or they might have none at all, and instead have a bunch of electrical and plumbing questions. You have to be prepared for either scenario.
The big difference in PPD and PDD is that PDD is a lot more detail-oriented. Many people let themselves get tripped up in the specifics and second-guess their professional judgement. You are a practicing professional, trust your judgement, don't second-guess yourself. For questions you have a hunch about, only change your answer if you have a good reason to. Lots of people talk themselves out of passing when reviewing their questions before completing the exam.
JCorrington has some great advice too - don't stress the questions you don't know, spend as little time on them as you can so that you can bank that time for other questions on the exam. To further that, you will miss about 30 questions on PDD - the game is to identify those questions quickly and spend as little time on those 30 questions as possible (but don't leave them blank either!) Eliminate the answers you know are wrong, then guess consistently from the remaining answers.
Happy studying,
Ralph, the Amber Book Team -
Hello everyone who commented to this thread. thanks for doing so. I took a lot of your advice. In additional to my past/current use of items like Gang Chen practice exam, Black Spectacles, Amberbook, the contracts, I also did some new things.
I bought Elif's Are questions for both PPD and PDD (did all quizzes in both and 1 one of the practice exams), improved my drawing reading skills, used Chatgpt to help analyze my scores and direct me for where to focus studies, read through architectural graphic standards, worked on not second guessing/confidence, and even adjusted my test taking to do the case studies first. I felt much better going into this exam, and felt I knew far more information, equations, and had improved my mentality for finishing this exam and getting licensed.
Unfortunately, this work did not come to any sort of fruition. I had my re-take today and received another likely fail on my screen. While I wait for my score report for an official diagnostic, I am trying to think where I went wrong and what the difference is between failure and passing. To be frank I feel like I have exhausted most options, and am not sure what to do to make this fail into a pass. I have been very close in prior attempts and seem to improve with each one, but cannot seem to step over that line.
Reviving this thread for advice, suggestions and general commiseration.
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Hi cyeam,
You should have access to 20 minutes of help with your Amber Book subscription - book a session with one of us for after your score report should show up, and bring it and your prior ones. I think we're missing something in text that could be unpicked more quickly and effectively discussing it in person.
If your retake was today, you'll probably have your score report by the 5th, you'd definitely have it before the 12th.
Best,
Ralph, the Amber Book Team -
cyeam5150 I apologize for jumping in a bit later to this discussion. I'm so sorry to hear about your struggles with PDD. It sounds like you've been doing all that you can to diversify your study materials and test out different strategies to improve your performance. I understand how disappointing it can be to miss by just a few questions - BUT that means you are SO close to passing!
I'd love to set you up for a meeting with one of our licensed architect consultants to review your score reports and help you develop a game plan for your retake. Can you please send me an email kiaragalicinao@blackspectacles.com so we can get you on the books?
Looking forward to hearing for you soon!
Best,
Kiara | Black Spectacles | Community
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Cyeam:I am an ARE mentor. I hold study sessions each Tuesday 4:30p-5:30p PST west coast time zone on Zoom. Let me know if you want to join. -
Cyeam
Study sessions are No cost. We typically have a group of ten people. It’s more QA on targeted questions that students have on any of your exams. The Gradiom program is 20-yrs old with comprehensive lectures on each division. There is a detailed schedule for the lectures on the website. But study sessions are no cost.
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