3rd fail...meh, over it.

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Brandon Estes

August 10, 2020 22:29

I have taken PPD and PDD each 3 times now and failed each time.  Three times is the limit I set for myself so I am done playing this game.  I have passed all content areas on PPD and PDD, but they jump around like a shell game.  The fact that I can pass a content area with a #1, then receive a #4 in the same content area on a different attempt, says to me that these exams aren't accurately/consistently measuring my capabilities.  Passing PDD/PPD is more like pulling a slot machine lever and hoping for all cherries on the same line: it's not about passing 1 exam, it's about passing 5 exams (content areas) at once.  If you pass a content area you shouldn't be tested on it again.  I am a 3+2 tester and have used all the textbooks, Hyperfine, Amber (not YoungArchitect's stuff - too much $$, and Amber was a waste too) and it’s all the same material, reorganized with a different name.  So I quit.  Having made that decision I feel more free/liberated than I have in many years, since working on my internship hours.  I wish I would have made this decision sooner!

 

With planners, engineers, code professionals, attorneys, project managers, construction managers, fire/life safety professionals, architectural designers, interior designers, etc, I am not sure why architects exist at all.  The profession in its current form is obsolete, decision-makers (AIA/NCARB/NAAB) stifle competition, and thus stifle innovation.  I think AIA/NAAB/NCARB could learn from the engineering model: have one general exam and optional speciality exams such as: envelope, sustainability, accessibility, thermal, research.  But I don't think this will ever happen because it would expose the giant fissure in the discipline: there is nothing an architect does that can't be done by somebody else.  Architecture education is based on an 18-century model and licensure is based on a 19th-century model of the architect as an Howard Rourke ideal.  Current architecture discipline is antiquated like a Victorian house: it’s pretty to look at but it’s not applicable to life today because it’s based on obsolete principles.  NCARB licensure can be likened to Blockbuster Video in our Netflix economy: it's also so out of touch with modern times.  

 

I don’t know if my thoughts will help anybody but I know many test takers are struggling with ARE 5.0 issues like I was.  Here is how I arrived at this decision to quit: a license is nothing more than a rented piece of paper from your state and you (I) do not need a piece of paper to do what you want (unless you want to stamp a drawing, and I could not care less about that).  But if you want to do single-fam, 2-story-or-less residential, you do not need a license.  For me, it wasn't just the cash up-front, but it’s the time spent studying, the stress, the opportunity costs, the constant gray cloud following me around: study, study, study, gotta pass, gotta pass, my future depends on it.  If I wasn't studying, I couldn't enjoy whatever else I was doing.  The reality is that, “No," my future does not depend on a license.  In fact, a license might be a hindrance and prevent me from seeing/seeking other opportunities. 

 

It might be a bit more pricey, but if you are on the fence about licensure, consider getting another degree - at least it’s not rented; you own it for life.  I earned an MPA in 2.5 years at night for about $17k from a state U and it was LESS stressful than attempting licensure!  If you can get through a B. Arch, you can easily do a Master's in another field.  My MPA has increased my earning potential much more than a license would have and it has widened my marketability.  I have parlayed into code development which has no visible ceiling that I can see, and there are no arbitrary or inflated license/cert/registration requirements.  Though I wanted the license to validate my efforts, I realized that validation is not a good reason for becoming licensed.  And architecture just isn’t important enough to get stressed about - I will say it again: architecture just isn't that important.  In fact, some states are attempting to deregulate architecture to increase competition and innovation, and to break up the monopoly that a handful of organizations have on the discipline.  I support this.  Competition breeds innovation and architecture is in dire need of innovation.  Can you imagine if medical professionals resisted innovation to the point that in 2020, the practice of medicine was the same as it was in 1920?  I think architecture is the only discipline that has done this and consequently, it is not longer relevant. 

 

If you are struggling, wondering if it's worth it, or simply getting tired of paying $$ to be on the hamster wheel, my advice (if you want it): set a limit for yourself and if you are not licensed by that time, walk away and don't look back because ARE 5.0 is designed for people to fail - it's not you, you are not stupid; ARE is a money-making racket.  How do you think the executive quarter-million dollar salaries are funded?  Every minute (year) spent on this process is time NOT spent doing something else that may pay off more like a better job, a different career path, another certification, another degree, time with family, learning piano, your happiness, etc...  Architecture just isn't that important, certainly not as important as other architects would have people believe.  Understanding this is especially important for those of you who are in your early 30's or younger... I am about 40 and I wish that I had cut the cord 8 years ago.  I am grateful for my Master's degree and subsequent opportunities, but the time and $$ I have applied toward the licensure process will never be returned to me and looking back, it was a total waste.  The things I could have done instead would have brought me much more joy.  But, not to dwell on the past - this is why I am cutting the cord now.  Life is too short.

 

 

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  Laura Tietjen August 18, 2020 23:15

  Thanks for this post.  I relate to it on so many levels.  I have failed so many times.  I am on the 5.0 5 test track.  I have passed every one (with many fails in between) and have not been able to pass PDD. I have failed it 6 times and every time, I study whatever I think I did poorly on and then when I retake the test, nothing I studied for is on the test.  I feel defeated but Ive put too much effort and money to give up at this point.  I am really hoping to pass it this next round or I might have to quit as well.  I have been practicing residential design for sometime and I am very familiar with the IRC.... unfortunately, most the questions are IBC related and geared toward the commercial realm.   Best wishes to your next phase of Life...hopefully not getting dragged down with studying materials and taking tests. 

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  Sean Dorsy September 24, 2020 18:22

  I can not upvote this post enough and sad to see it has received a single downvote. There is an expansive disconnect between academia, the profession, organizations, and other built-environment collaborators. School teaches us such a limited scope and throws us into IDP/AXP for firms to then undervalue. We have to learn drawing and management principals on the fly, while being tasked at the direction of a firm. Often times, it is hard to establish adequate hours to align with IDP/AXP and many have to jump between firms to finish a checklist. This hinders vertical growth. Even then, IDP/AXP only prioritizes tasks that make us good little soldiers to employers and does not set us on the path for independent practice. As a young unlicensed professional, wouldn't it be great to have a better understanding of contracts, budgeting, firm (not project) management, negotiation, etc.? As a profession, we are undervalued to our clients because we undervalue ourselves. We will end our careers the same way we entered the profession... over-worked and underpaid... because we were brainwashed that this is the way it is. The school-to-licensure pipeline needs to be integrated, shortened/accessible, and embraced by mentors and leaders. Even for the smartest and best of us, as it is now, our success is a gamble between many factors that are out of our control. I have yet to mention the ARE's and how in many ways it is more of a hindrance than a benefit. Everything about this process is ridiculous.

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  Jonathan Chertok November 21, 2020 03:18

  brandon, are you still around? i would like to touch base with you! REGARDS, jonathan

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  GianCarlo Greco September 20, 2021 17:12

  I totally understand your frustrations, and think that setting a timeline for yourself and saying "if i'm not done by this time, i'm going to let go of licensure" is a good idea. I've talked with a couple of unlicensed professionals, and they've had mixed comments as to whether they wished they got licensed, or if they are happy to not be. I think if anyone has more experienced members of their firm who are unlicensed, that can be a great resource to talk with them about their journey. All the best, GC

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  Devon Hackwell February 23, 2024 16:11

  I'm quite done too, at least until the test reflects reality, and unashamed of it. A pyramid scheme of financial toll gates is not really my forte. Older tests were easier, in fact so easy that architects ended up failing in the field and NCARB was contacted to address architects' underdevelopment. Now, with the update, this is their hodgepodge Frankenstein attempt at a testing system to address a holistic approach. It was quite literally designed to be more difficult. Unified study materials don't exist; NCARB please take a look at the exam/study materials the BAR creates for up and coming lawyers. Also realize that architects are 'deemed' important but financially in the real world, get about a 70-100k salary. This does not justify the education price tag, the long studio nights, the costs of taking the ARE, nor the accreditation.

  It may seem like people are just complaining; but these are real world problems that need to be addressed before the industry disappears. The reason I bring these up is because I love the profession, and care about it's future. And as it is now, the system is putting all of the pressure on young, poor college students. If you don't address a festering wound, it will never heal.

  There is no application of the academic system nor the NCARB to the real world practice and application. I know NCARB wishes to remain impartial, but Bentley and Autodesk products dominate the market, and if you don't know how to use them, you're not a practicing architect, and likely not going to work in the industry. Their online proctors were a joke; and I don't honestly know how more barriers could be installed between academic settings and architect licensure.

  Don't be surprised when there aren't more architects, or when students walk away.

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  Wenjie Hu February 24, 2024 19:00

  Yeah. So so related. 

  To be honest with myself, what originally reason made me want to be an architect, is just about making big money. What was the reason I wanted to get the license so badly, it is really that I am so done with this industry. I have worked with some licensed architects who purely know nothing about how to read codes, how the building actually put together how to draw building sections and wall details. In every project I worked on after him, there were huge zoning mistakes regarding the setback or FAR that I had to fix by changing the design layout completely.  

  This field is dead, so dead. The salary will never increase, and the dream will never be fulfilled.  

  Many and many of the answers to the questions tested in the exam should be "Go talk to your structural, civil, MEP engineers. Find the right experts and resources, ask the right questions, and rely on their professions". With more and more help from others, the newest software, and fast searching platforms, however, the exam is expecting the young graduates to know more and more. So stupid.    

  There will be no more excitement or innovations. What was the coolest thing that came out and blew your mind in the decade can be compared to what Mies van der Rohe or Le Corbusier. Those legends are what we still admire and keep talking about. Look what we did after these legends. Nothing. Only more and more Political correctness. 

  Architecture used to be my biggest dream, so it is so sad to face the failure of the whole industry. But see how the contractors treat us in a residential project, or small-scale commercial project, we are like nothing. The contractors will never listen to us or build per plans. They think they are way too smart than us because they build and we only know how to draw or answer the test questions. Only when there is a problem that needs my name to clarify it, I will suddenly become the "architect" "architect". 

  I will quit this industry right away once I pass my final 2. PPD and PPD. Since I am still young and still have 3.5 years left. Plenty enough to play around with the last two. It does not need to be so emotional and personal. Just an exam. Passing it won't make you a "good" architect but a good exam tester. 

  After all, I will just make money from this piece of paper. Walk away and enjoy other stuff that really excites me.

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  RJ February 25, 2024 21:46

  if the 50% percentile who fail would band together and boycott Ncarb's exams they would lose a lot of $$ and would eventually change things, but until then the saga continues...

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