Failed PA for second time this year....
Failed PA for second time this year and starting to get frustrated.
Went through Amber Book (took notes on videos) and went over flashcards multiple times.
Read sources Site Planning Design Handbook and Sun ,Light And Wind
Reviewed Elfies ARE Questions
Yet on test day, both times, questions feel off and never feel confident during test with that feeling of "I got this " or "I know this"
Anyone with a better study methodology?
Austin
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Making your own personal flash cards and notes works well in my experience. Flipping through them every day and retaining that information is crititcal for PA, so that ease of repetition and being able to define it in your own terms or definitions helps. Problem Seeking textbook is another vital resource for this exam to understand spatial arrangements, programming and hierarchies of spaces. Desk Crits book also was a great help to break down and simplify the concepts to understand for site design, factors, etc.
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Austin91 I'm so sorry to hear about your struggles with PA. It is a difficult division, especially if you're transitioning to it from the professional practice exams as it requires quite a mindset shift, so I totally understand your frustration. Know that you are not alone and we are here to help you overcome this obstacle!
It's very common to feel confident about the content when studying, then go into exam day and feel like questions are out of left field. You can study with hundreds of practice questions, but they will always look a bit different on exam day even when they are about the same topic. When you're taking a practice exam and encounter the same (or similar) question, try to approach it as if it's the first time you're seeing it. This helps you practice an objective approach and not add assumptions to a scenario, which can commonly happen on exam day. It's also important to review practice exam results thoroughly - focus on deeply understanding why answer choices are correct/incorrect - rather than trying to memorize answers. It also helps to restructure practice questions on your own - reword them, change the answer choices around, and see how well you understand a concept from all perspectives.
Here are some additional strategies you could try:
- Active recall: quiz yourself about what you are learning so that you can understand a concept thoroughly beyond its face value.
- Diversify study materials: rotate between books, videos, flashcards, quizzes, practice exams, and other practical applications. Consider the study process as a cyclical ecosystem - in that you are learning concepts in a different ways and revisiting appropriate materials as needed.
- Explain concepts out loud: either to yourself or to a colleague, it's a great way to check your understanding and become more confident in your knowledge.
If you're looking for a helpful free study material, check out our ARE Live Podcast. These are monthly sessions featuring mock exams with study strategies and test-taking tips, along with live Q&A answered by a licensed architect. All past episodes are saved in our library and you can filter by division or topic.
Here is a great episode that provides some additional study strategies and test-taking tips:
ARE Live: How to Pass the ARE 5.0 in 2026
If you have any questions, don't hesitate to reach out to us! Wishing you the best of luck!
Best,
Kiara | Black Spectacles | Community
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@austin91 - what's your scaled score? Half of all divisions tested score within 4 questions either side of the cut score. If your scaled score is at or over 495, then you're in that range, and most of your study should be spent maintaining where you are. Next question is what do your sectional scores look like for the two attempts? You don't have to pass each section to pass the exam as a whole, you just have to get enough questions in total correct. I look at sectional scores to look for weaknesses to address or to ignore, depending on the pattern and their significance, and for strengths to double down on.
I see a lot of people struggle with PA who either struggle with the relatively abstract logic-puzzle programming questions, or are from somewhere that doesn't have a significant winter or doesn't have a significant summer - Alaska or Miami, for example. In those places, the sun path and thermal control are skewed towards one season enough that you don't have a good intuition built from experience for the opposite season, and it takes a bit of extra work to nail down.
Best,
Ralph, the Amber Book Team
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