PA Practice Exam VS Real Exam
For those who have taken the NCARB practice exam and real exam, how did they vary? I have heard the practice exam was far easier than the regular exam. I took the practice exam and got a 71% with a week until my exam.
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Hi naroose,
Scoring 71% on a practice exam is great! According to NCARB, you need to score between 65-71% to pass the PA division - so using that as a general gauge, it sounds like you are in great shape!
I always encourage ARE candidates to look beyond the overall score of a practice exam - how you're performing in each content area/objective, which types of questions you struggled with, how you approached the questions and applied different strategies, how you managed your time, and your understanding of the topics presented. These all contribute to how you will perform on exam day. Practice exams can definitely be used as a tool to test your readiness, but they are primarily intended to be a learning tool.
Good luck on your exam next week! You're going to do great!
Kiara | Black Spectacles | Community
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kkgalicinao I scored a 71 on the Ncarb exam and then scored a 45% and 60% on the two black spectacles exams I took. All exams seemed to focus on different things. The NCARB exam focusing more on where to place certain items on a site. The black spectacles exams focusing more on soil remediation and building remediation/restoration. Feeling a bit mislead with the range of scores i have gotten.
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naroose That's totally normal! Just like all ARE exam forms vary in content and difficulty levels, practice exams do too. This is why the ARE is so challenging in that you feel like it's a lottery - it's hard to predict exactly what you're going to get on exam day! Sometimes you're unlucky and get topics that may feel unfamiliar or question types that are difficult to decipher and answer; and sometimes you're lucky with the right combination of topics you're prepared for and question types that work in your favor. This is exactly why I encourage you to take the overall score with a grain of salt and instead use the practice exams more as a learning tool (as described in my last comment).
I know it's challenging, but the more you practice, the easier it will come!
Kiara | Black Spectacles | Community
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