CE Fail...?! Now what?
Hello all,
I just failed my second attempt at the CE exam this week. I passed PCM and PJM last year and early this year respectively and since they have a lot of overlap, I felt pretty good going into CE the first time. However I scored 50% on most objectives with 70% on two. So the 60 days after that first fail I locked in and focused on getting the details on all the process and passed the NCARB, Ballast, Amber book practice exams and I reviewed all the answers I got wrong too. I went into the exam confident but came out with a likely to fail...what am I doing wrong??
The contracts get renewed in 2027 so I'm a little desperate to get CE done this year but feeling very discouraged and don't really know how to study for it now. I'm planning to move on to studying PA just to get a break from CE content but studying for PA is also discouraging because I've never passed an exam on my first try and not sure if I'll be able to do PA on the first go...
Any advice on studying for CE, if moving onto PA is a good idea and if so, how can I pass PA on my first try??
Any words are appreciated,
Thank you
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What content areas are you falling short on? How far off is your scaled score from the passing threshold?
AHPP and AIA contracts are the top items to hone in on for studying to understand this exam. Any and all practice questions and mock exams, especially NCARB's, to get more reps in. WeARE, Designer Hacks, Walking the ARE are a few other resources to seek out for additional practice.
I'll always recommend making your own index cards for terms, contracts, typical CA items that come up (CCD, CO, minor change, etc) to help contextualize and understand it the best way you can. There's no one size fits all method to succeed so it's about finding what will work for you.
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Hi Claura,
What were your scaled scores for the two CE attempts? Since CE's threshold ranges from 58 – 66 percent, if you're scoring in the 50-70% on the objectives, it sounds like your scaled score is over 500 - is that correct?
If so, you need to be spending time reviewing what you already know for your retakes far more than the amount of time you're spending on additional topics - most people with lots of retakes close to the cut score that I speak with don't adequately weight the amount of time it takes to hold onto the knowledge you have gained in the two months till you can test again. The contracts and the architect's responsibilities as covered in AHPP are important, but a lot of people underestimate how useful the technical questions on CE can be to reaching a passing score.
Best,
Ralph, the Amber Book Team -
I'm so sorry to hear about your struggles with CE claurak. I know it feels frustrating after you studied so hard, but rest assured that you are not alone and you WILL overcome this obstacle!
Ralph Hale brought up a great point about the technical content in CE, which many candidates don't realize exist (as they aren't explicitly stated in NCARB's CE objectives). If you have a strong background or some experience in construction administration (i.e. reviewing submittals/shop drawings, attending site visits, writing field reports), that will help tremendously. If you don't have much experience in this area, it might be beneficial to tackle the technical divisions (PA/PPD/PDD) before circling back to CE. It helps to think of ARE concepts sequentially as you would see them in practice - progressing through the design phases, then into construction.
If you're feeling like a fresh start could help your journey and motivation, I'd definitely recommend you switch gears to PA as you said. It's definitely a change from the professional practice divisions, but it's often helpful to get a reset and change of pace when you've been at something for a while. Once you conquer those technical divisions, you'll come back stronger than ever to CE :)
I wouldn't worry too much about AIA contracts being updated just yet, as NCARB likely won't make immediate changes to the ARE based on those 2027 updates (which I don't imagine will have drastic changes regarding contractual roles and relationships - which is what CE is all about).
Keep your head up! You got this! Wishing you the best of luck.
Kiara | Black Spectacles | Community
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Ralph Hale My scaled score the first time was 481 and this time around was 515. Using the Amber Book score calculator, it seems like I still did miss quite a few even though I felt confident. I can take it again the second week of June, but should I keep reviewing for CE or start on PA?
How should I continue studying for CE without feeling like I'm going in circles drilling the same topics and not making progress?
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abruno168 As mentioned above, my scaled score was 515. I used the AHPP, AIA Contracts, Ballast, NCARB practice exams, WeARE and Hyperfine to prepare and at this point, I'm not sure what else and how I need to study. Even this second time around I felt like I already knew a lot of the topics I was studying and it was difficult to know if I was studying effectively. I did purchase the WalkingARE exam for this time around but what else can I do to improve??
I can retake this exam beginning of June, but would you recommend studying for PA for a few weeks, then review CE again and take it when I'm able to in June? or maybe a different technical exam?
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Hi Claura,
Jumping from a 481 to a 515 is significant and you're now quite close to passing - I just replied to your email, but to follow up I'd definitely not delay your CE retake much past when your eligibility opens back up. It sounds like you're doing a lot of scattershot study of new material - with a 515 you want to spend most of your time retaining the knowledge you have, and a little of the time before your retake improving your understanding of key topics to get you the couple of additional questions correct you need to actually pass.
Best,
Ralph, the Amber Book Team -
claurak, A legitimate question when you were taking the test.... did you find yourself thinking about what or how you would answer the question from a 'work' aspect?
One thing I have tried to do is not allow extracurriculars to get into my head. I try to only focus in on the question and available answers at hand, nothing else or what-ifs. It is hard and really had to put mental blinders on when taking CE/PcM/PjM to not think about how I would do it at 'work' but what they want right here in the question.
Also, I wouldn't stress too much about AIA contracts changing to much. These contracts have gone through thousands of lawyers reviews and have settled themselves very well to be in accordance with Architect's needs. Just remember that the AIA contracts are written by Architects to protect Architects, and are usually in the best interest and protection of the Architect (unless complete negligence is found in design during the construction and post-construction phases).
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claurak
That's pretty close to that passing threshold, >500 you should feel good about your knowledge of the materials. I wouldn't shift focus to PA just yet, hone in on CE and work to pass this exam before switching subject matter and potentially losing that knowledge. Perhaps it's something about the wording of questions, or application of the materials that could be tripping you up. Did you change your gut answers when reviewing a second time, if you had the chance to go over them while taking your exam?
To me, I think your best course of action is to sit with the subjects that tripped you up or based on your percentage correct from the score report could use some focus. Is it the phases of construction, pre-construction, and post-construction, is it code evaluation on the built conditions, is it resolving issues based on the A201? Also take some time with the NCARB exam, understand the wording and verbiage used for questions and answers, what are they looking for, what is being asked. What worked for me was printing out the A201 and really working through it, marking it up, understanding the full scope of responsibilities for all involved parties. AHPP with the Wiley Guide was also useful to review and understand more for CE.
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abruno168 Adam B Ralph Hale
Thank you all for the advice!
It sounds like not moving onto PA quite yet is what is being most advised and focus more on retaining information and refining knowledge. I'm about 6 weeks out from my retake and my game plan now is to review topics I saw on the exam that I wasn't as familiar with for a few weeks and then do a more focused review a couple weeks out.
What would you all recommend in terms of observing construction? Many study materials don't really go over what you should look for when on a construction visit and it seems like you just need to know how construction works overall, but many study materials don't seem to have a lot of this practice.
Also, I'm also worried about the exam format changing at the end of this month and that it'll throw me off to a point of not being able to pass just because of exam interface... is this inevitable or something I can prepare for?
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claurak
For observing construction, I would recommend some of the more visual textbooks (Architectural Graphic Standards, Building Construction Illustrated, Fundamentals of Building Construction, as a few examples) as a starting point. If you have a set at work that has been issued for construction, ask if there are relevant project photos and updates. Use the set to look at the work being performed in contrast to site conditions during construction, look if there are any nearby developments under construction and look around. What's going on with the construction, what phase is it at, can you estimate its completion %? This site has some great diagrams of construction processes and assemblies.
As far as the new exam format, start to familiarize yourself with the changes using the mock exam from NCARB. I believe most of the changes are relevant to case studies (more case studies, less materials per case study) but it's good to understand how that impacts your testing approach going into your next attempt.
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Claurak,
Construction observation questions are about one of two things, mostly:
1. who's responsible for paying for something under the contract (architect is supposed to inspect rebar before concrete is poured, truck shows up early and the concrete gets poured over the rebar, burying it. The architect can require the rebar to be uncovered for inspection, but who pays to fix everything if it was done correctly vs incorrectly).
2. What's wrong with this building detail? These questions are building systems and materials and methods of construction questions - what's wrong with this flashing, what's the required ADA clearance or ramp slope here, that kind of thing.
Best,
Ralph, the Amber Book Team -
Good morning abruno168,
I took my PJM exam yesterday and I received a FAIL feedback. I am trying to move on to CE as i wont be able to retake PJM after 60 days. What chapters do you recommend reading on the books recommended in the thread above? "Architectural Graphic Standards, Building Construction Illustrated, Fundamentals of Building Construction" I am subscribed to Blackspectacles and i am also reading the AHPP and AIA contracts but i would like to also read more material from those books. Thank you in advance.
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gonzalezleonj
Sorry to hear, never gets easier seeing that screen after you submit at the end. But it's good you stay on path and determined! There's some overlap in materials through PCM/PJM/CE, especially AHPP and AIA contracts, so definitely keep those within your rotation and reference for these exams. I wouldn't limit your studying to isolated sections or chapters, as I think getting the exposure to all parts works best.
The core of CE studying will be the A201 and G-series AIA contracts and the relevant Wiley Guide readings of AHPP. Following that, 2010 ADA, FBC, BCI, AGS are great to supplement the exam content that will come up. MasterSpec/CSI info to understand the spec sections and which materials are applicable to certain sections is also useful.
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So sorry to hear about your PjM exam gonzalezleonj! I know how disappointing it can be, but it is great that you are forging ahead to CE. These two divisions have a ton of overlap so you've already laid the foundation for your studies ahead! I agree with abruno168 in that the AIA contracts are heavily covered in CE, so it's important that you understand contractual roles and responsibilities of each party - specifically the expectations and limits of the architect's role during construction.
also agree that you should not isolate your studying to specific sections or chapters. Instead, you can use practice questions as a way to gauge which technical topics might be worth diving deeper into through the NCARB-recommended resources (i.e. weatherproofing, submittal review, site visit documentation, etc.).
Lastly, if you haven't already met with one of our licensed architect consultants for an ARE Consultation, please reach out to me at kiaragalicinao@blackspectacles.com! We are here to help you overcome this obstacle and provide some helpful tips as you conquer the remaining ARE divisions.
Keep your head up! You've got this!
Kiara | Black Spectacles | Community
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Ralph Hale Sorry to piggyback but I wanted to also ask about my 2 CE fails. First weighted score was 520. Second was 525. This to me is a red flag that I am doing something wrong. My percentages were 76, 66, 68, 57 (precon, observation, admin, closeout). When I took the second test I could also feel that I had perhaps studied the wrong thing. I spent most of my time learning the contracts but it was very minor. Wondering if you have any insight, would be appreciated.
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morooster,
The 525 is definitely 1 question from passing, the 520 is probably also one question from passing but may be two depending on whether it was on the high end or low end of the 58-66% correct to pass range. 50% of all divisions taken score within 4 questions either side of the cut score, so you're generally in the passing range - you didn't fail those, you just didn't quite pass. It's more like an SAT or an ACT than a midterm or final for a university course.
CE's technical questions (~40% of the exam) cover a very broad range of topics. There are far more technical topics that may be covered than there are questions to cover them, so there's a high degree of variability there - everything from soil boring log and site planning questions that look similar to PA, to building detail questions that are very similar to PDD. You won't get all of them right, but it's difficult to pass CE if you get less than half of them correct. The remaining 60% is mostly project manual/administration of the contract for construction/who's responsible for what questions - if you have access to the Amber Book Course, there's a 40MoC session in PcM flashcard 138 that is a great refresher re: responsibilities between owner, architect, and contractor. The contracts are important, but they're not the only "professional practice" component that CE covers.
I see two common easy-to-fix errors from people who score very close to passing as they prepare for a retake that result in additional retakes:
1. You don't adequately weight your experience and instincts as a practicing professional and second-guess yourself more than you should - if you don't know but have a hunch in the moment, go with the hunch, and don't second-guess yourself. Only change answers at the end of the exam if you have a reason to - it can be as simple as you remembered something, but a reason is not "it's the end of the exam and I'm feeling wishy-washy". The confident professional that was answering questions at the start of the exam is far more likely to be correct than the perfectionist architect that most people turn into by exam-end!
2. You don't adequately weight the amount of review time it takes to maintain your existing knowledge, and over-study specific topics you saw on the exam you just took. Any score over a 500 is 4 or less questions from passing - that generally means you should plan for 75% of your time preparing for your retake reviewing the topics you already know. Our minds are leaky buckets and it takes effort just to keep the water level constant. A lot of people spend most of their review time on new topics/things they saw on the exam that they didn't know - and don't adequately maintain the knowledge they had, it's better when you're very close to spend most of your time maintaining your knowledge, and a little bit of your time adding to it.Another question - how far apart were the two attempts and did you have any technical problems taking the exam otherwise?
Best,
Ralph, the Amber Book Team
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