Why am I having hard time to benefit from PA posts..? Pease help!
Hi All,
PA will be my 4th exam, I passed PjM, PcM and CE already but when I read PA posts here I feel like I am totally strange to what is going on with this exam. Partly because I cannot match the information people share here whit the reference books or with the Handbook that I already read. Like when I read Handbook, I thought I knew what is being asked. But when I read people's comments here I am lost. This didn't happened to me for other exams. I immediately knew what an exam taker meant when they share their experience. Is it because this exam is so broad and the experiences of people are not overlapping enough for me to have a clear idea..? Let me tell you what I have already read and please please help me to understand where to focus on in these books. I feel like I am misreading everything about this exam or I am way behind.
- Site Planning & Design Handbook: I read this book, it felt pretty hard to read. A lot of people say pay attention to soil types in Ch 7 however to me it didn't feel like it is giving me overwhelmingly detailed information about soils. There was two tables explaining the types and size comparisons if I remember correctly. Since NCARB says don't memorize information and have a general understanding rest of the book is an ok read and I don't have any clue what can be asked from this book...?
- BCI-2015: It was good to read this book side by side with 2015 code, I became familiarized with code I guess. But again I don't know how to benefit from it for the exam or where to focus.
Like Area/Height Calculations: I am curious about what kind of calculation/math questions are we talking here? Basic FAR calculations for a given site with setbacks and everything..? Or questions that ask you to draw FAR information in a specific scenario from given documents like zoning and building codes? Can anyone help me how to study on this please. Are there any similar practice questions out there? Or did I missed the BCI section related to this?
-Space Planning Basics & Architectural Primer: Both were very easy reads and felt like I already knew what they were talking about. I guess overlaps with my experience. But again they have very generic information about architecture. Not sure how it will help the exam..?
- Ballast 5.0: Along with this I read 4.0 PPP and SPD sections. Honestly I don't trust 3rd party materials for ARE 5.0 exams but since everybody recommends it I read them. Didn't get the practice questions yet.
- Skimmed thru Sun, Wind & Light: I feel like this books makes the most sense with what I read here and I should go deep in this book.
I hope I was able to explain my issue here. It feels like I am not able to follow/understand what people experienced about this exam. Especially after reading almost all important reference books for this exam feeling this much concerned is so frustrating. I would appreciate some help very much.
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Elif,
Take a look at my post here. I've outlined my full study approach to this test as well as described what it covered. Scroll down past the first part about comparing 4.0 to 5.0 https://are5community.ncarb.org/hc/en-us/community/posts/360000009867-4-0-5-0-Transition-advice?mobile_site=true -
Dont overthink this test. it was about 30% technical and 70% problem solving on my exam. I would suggest get familiar with the new 2015 IBC method of calculating allowable increases, site analysis, topo, and be alert and well rested for the exam. My PPD post outlines the 2015 change to ch 5 allowable increases. PPD and PA have a ton of overlap.
Just think of PA as the moments in your professional career a client requests your analysis on a site, and prepare a preliminary program with whatever preliminary data is available. Where on this site does it make sense to situate this building? How will water move on this site? Where does it make sense to put a front door on this building given these programmatic requirements? What happens if there are toxic materials like asbestos present? What renovations will need to be made to convert a historic bank into a restaurant given a program. ADA, zoning, IBC implications?
This was a very open ended exam. All the info you need is in the questions. Read the question twice and understand exactly what they're asking.
I wouldnt wait too long to schedule PPD after. A lot of people here will say PPD PDD together, but my PPD and PDD exams had nothing in common. Conversely my PA and PPD exam seemed very similar. Lot of the same site, sun, energy topics. Good luck
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David, I read the entire post and it is absolutely amazing how much detail you went into to put it together. Thanks so much! I guess, I have a better understanding of what I should focus on now. Unfortunately I don't have much code experience so I am a bit nervous about that part. BCI-2015 seems doing great at explaining it though. I reviewed it but I didn't know I should really focus on issues like; frontage increase before reading your post...So, many thanks again!
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