PA Pass - First Try – ARE 5.0 Community

Hi all,

I took PA yesterday for the first time and received my official pass today - so happy! Here is what I studied, my suggestions, and what I thought of the test.

Ballast - I began studying by reading the PA relevant chapters of Ballast to get an overview of the testing material. I actually found Ballast to be much more helpful for this exam than I did for PcM, PjM, and CE.
Site Planning and Design Handbook - I found this book extremely helpful for the environment conditions and site analysis areas of the test. Chapters 3-8 and the addendum about ESA were where I focused my reading and note taking.
Problem Seeking - (just the first half) This book is definitely necessary for the building analysis & program area of the test. I also honestly enjoyed reading it.
Building Codes Illustrated - I don't think this book was totally necessary, but I did find it helpful, especially the chapters on accessibility, fire protection, and soils.
Architectural Graphic Standards - I mostly used this book for reinforcing concepts, I would not say it's a must-have for this exam.
Designer Hacks and Black Spectacles for practice exams. I took a Designer Hacks quiz usually twice a day throughout each work day and took a Black Spectacles practice exam twice a week. Of course the real test is harder, but these are helpful.
Other than those resources, I found additional information online such as ADA 2010, NPS guidelines, Green Building Alliance's information on brownfield remediation, and examples of boring tests.

I took copious notes from everything I read. The week leading up to the exam, I typed those notes into one study guide- organizing all the information by test sections. It is really important for this exam to constantly reference back to the ARE handbook so you don't get too far deep into subject matter.

One big thing that really helped me for this exam was having (minimal) experience with code. If you work at an architecture firm- ask if you can work on the code summary sheets of your project. (This request will probably be welcomed!) This really helped me understand real life implications of code, and I was much more confident with those questions.

I did find the actual exam to be pretty difficult, especially because there are a lot of questions requiring calculations (efficiency, FAR, etc.). My usual test routine is to aim to get to the case studies with 1.5 hours left, and I found myself really rushing to get there. Luckily, the case studies weren't terribly complicated and I ended up finishing with more than enough time to check my marked answers.

On to PPD, good luck everyone!

Pritesh Saxena February 26, 2020 15:44

Congrats on the PASS Allison. Is there any chance I can get a copy of your notes. I failed miserably in my first attempt and have my second next week. I can use your notes to brush up the syllabus. Thank you...

Pritesh Saxena February 26, 2020 15:45

contd ....my email is archpritesh@gmail.com

Allison Friedel February 26, 2020 17:25

Pritesh,

I encourage you to make your own study guide. This will be much more beneficial to you in absorbing the material. Good luck!

-Allison

Nicolle Gitlin February 27, 2020 13:09 (Edited February 27, 2020 13:10)

Hi Allison,

Where did you find examples of boring tests? Could you please provide a link.

Thanks!

Allison Friedel February 27, 2020 15:29

Nicolle,

I mostly google image searched "boring log samples" to get myself familiar with how they look and how to interpret them. This article is helpful as well: https://www.ntsafety.com/2016/09/06/engineers-corner-reading-soils-reports-and-bore-logs-from-a-contractors-perspective/

Lemuel Guidos March 04, 2020 13:36

Was the first half of problem seeking actually that helpful for the programming section, or would you put that on personal experience? I know the second half talked more about the calculations that you ran into, just curious how you tackled programming

Allison Friedel March 04, 2020 14:29

Yes, I did find it helpful. I wouldn't put that part on personal experience because I don't have a lot of work experience with programming. If you think the second half will be helpful to you with calculations, then obviously read it.

Madeline Wentzell November 29, 2021 00:58

Thank you Allison!!!

PA Pass - First Try

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