Passed PcM and now PjM
First try on both, now just have CE left.
Wanted to say PjM was much more difficult than PcM. If we are just going by the practice tests, PjM was a surprise, personally. It had a lot of red herrings and mixups. I ran down the whole clock and was 100% convinced I failed.
Resources I used: NCARB practice test, amber book, desk crits, contracts, AHPP with wiley guide.
I took the practice test then went down the results and typed notes into a notepad file. I did this for all 5 of the exams I took so far and it seems to work. I wrote a lot about each of the possible answers in the questions, mainly why ncarb put them there and how they could look like the 'right' answer if I misread the question a certain way. This helped me really memorize their baiting tricks.
The contracts also I took my time and copied them onto a notebook with my own layman terms. It's a long brute-force way to do it but it worked for me.
-
How long did you study? About how many hours? Asking because I’m trying to schedule mine for May 27. I took pcm on April 6 & passed on the first try. I thought it was tough. I took some time off, then spent a few days getting all of the ahpp readings organized. I’m struggling to get back into a groove with studying for pjm
-
May 27 can be doable for you if you study a couple hours a day. Try to get the practice test done a week before the test. the main difference between PjM and PcM is going to be that it's more specific, the AHPP has great sections on reading work plans, budgets, and getting good at figuring out how to use your hypothetical employees. I'm drawing a blank on what else it tested on but that's what the practice test is for. Would definitely use the bulk of the time to get your B101 really tight and under lock.
-
Awesome. I'm studying about 3 a day average, more on the weekends. I am trying to blast through AHPP in the next week. In the meantime, I'm in boot camp (or went through it), and I am doing the YA quizzes. In about a week or two I add Elif's questions and do those each night. Will take the practice exam about a week and a half before, then identify what I am weak in. I just had problems starting because a lot felt redundant, and I wasn't sure where to put my focus.
-
Did you fail any of the other exams or just CE?
A few questions if you don't mind me asking
How many years of experience do you have?
If you have many years of experience, do you think the daily work help you with the study materials, or do you think the resources you mentioned are sufficient to study if someone like me don't have a lot of experience?
How long did it take you to pass all the five exams?
Thank you so much and congratulations I am pretty sure you'll be done pretty soon! -
arqharold
1. Just failed CE. It's my last test
2. Only 3 years architectural but I worked as a sub for a long time.
3. I can't really answer this because I have only worked in junior roles at arch firms. It's also not that common for someone taking the tests to already have PM experience. Studying the resources should be enough
4. I took my first test in november 2025, then my 5th test this march. I grouped PPD/PDD/PA within 2 weeks. Then I tried CE, first fail. Then in March I took PcM/PjM/CE within 2 weeks again, failing CE 2nd time.
5. Good luck to you too, it's a struggle but at least we are all struggling
archjavi
I used amber book and they were great for PPD/PDD/PA. I think it would still be worth it if you only want to use it for PjM/PcM, because you can skip to those sections, watch the videos, do the practice test and flash cards, all under one month of subscription time. Also I think they are doing a sale.
-
blackleighann
How did it go in your last test?
Any recommendation on study materials besides the ones recommended on this tread?
Please sign in to leave a comment.
Comments
10 comments