Program & Analysis 2nd Fail...I don't know what I'm doing wrong
Going into the exam I had my game plan ready to tackle time management. I felt going in I had a great understanding of all topics. Well during the test time STILL got me. I felt I studied so MUCH MORE than what was on the exam. I felt the "best option" type questions are a struggle. The puzzle questions aren't hard but so time consuming. Some of the puzzle type questions were like whole paragraphs literally! As a person who reads slowly or several times I don't know what to do because I take longer to solve.... TECH ISSUES!!! Early in the exam a question took two minutes to load, i alerted the prometric tech who was busy and while waiting the question finally loaded. Next tech issue while working on a case study question the tab of information i needed would NOT load. A red bar with error came up. Again i alerted the tech and tried to answer best i could, due to only having 12 minutes left. Lastly calculator would not open up after I opened the white board. I clicked the calculator tab like 30 times... I'll take two weeks off get my report and study for retake for the third time!!
Update: my score report was Level 4 (section 1) and 2 Level 3 (section 3&4) and Level 1 (Codes and regulations) this is almost how i did the first time. My first report was all Level 3 and 1 Level 4 again in section 1.....I read SWL and SPD took practice exams and really focused on improving section 1, i took practice exams BS and AREQuestions both exams I did GREAT. To see another level 4 is very disappointing. I don't know how to improve it......
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Hi Tony,
What other exams have you passed? If this isn't your 4th exam, move on to a different exam next. You should have already passed CE, PjM, and PcM.
It sounds like you are having 'exam issues' more than anything. Report these issues to NCARB within 14 days of your exam, and you can get a credit. Report thru this. https://are5community.ncarb.org/hc/en-us/articles/1500003015382-ARE-Update-Technical-Issues-Update-Testing-Data-and-Resources
You also need to train yourself to read thru things fairly quickly and look for the most peculiar item, then find the multiple choice solution quickly. Practice doing programming diagrams quickly.
Also do the case studies first.
Hope this helps!
Rebekka O'Melia, B.Arch, M. Ed, Registered Architect, NCARB, Step UP ARE 5.0
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Rebekka,
Thanks for your response, this is my 4th exam I have passed PcM, PjM, CE.
I have reported my issues to NCARB and received credit.
Yes I agree I need to work on reading quickly. I was very shocked I hardly studied Codes and scored well but focused on Environmental context heavily and scored the worst.
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I am happy to hear that you received the credit due to your crazy exam failures... That is wild and so frustrating.
It sounds to me like your level of book knowledge is great, but the test does not work on your book knowledge - it works on your understanding. I speak from experience - the first two times I tested I thought I had all the knowledge I needed, and turned out I did not actually understand everything I knew....
This is where active recall comes into play - which is the major strategy we employ at archizam. It is the major factor that helped Ben and myself finally pass our exams.
The "best option" questions are DEFINITELY a struggle. Eliminate the two obvious incorrect options. Then think to yourself "which is the answer NCARB wants me to pick?" Which is also generally the answer that the Ballast book has somewhere in its thousands of pages.
I HIGHLY suggest study groups. People in study groups have other experiences and knowledge and may know what the NCARB answer to your question may be. I think this was an experience I had.
As far as puzzle questions. They deliberately put them in there to suck your time away. So what I suggest is this: #1 Anytime you see a puzzle question - read it ONCE and give it your best answer #2 - FLAG IT for REVIEW #3 MOVE ON and finish the test - or whatever breakdown of the questions you are doing #4 - When you have time - GO BACK AND RE REVIEW the question and give ti the time it needs to actively solve.
Puzzle questions suck. And they are designed to kill your groove and make you fail.. Same with Calculation questions.
All in all - I suggest focusing your studying on the one section that you did the worst on. Read every reference you can on that subject. (this is how I passed PPD after failing the planning section). That way there can not be anything you do NOT know about the subject. Brush up on the other subjects, and glance over the subjects you did best on - because you know them.
AND BELIEVE IN YOURSELF! BE CONFIDENT! Listen to your PUMP UP song going into the exam. and KNOW YOU ARE GOING TO PASS!
You got this!
Mark, Archizam - ARE 5.0 Practice Exams
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I would recommend the Amber Book, I used only their material and passed. I don't know what other companies suggest you study but theirs was really good. They have free videos on Youtube that are unlisted (you can't search for them) that are great for this division (If you don't want to pay for their subscription.) I know it costs a lot but they have the material really well explained and use a lot of videos. Even if you've covered most of the material the extra 5% you might learn from them might get you over the line to Pass.
How did you do on the BS practice exams? I got 55% and 50% on the two I did so I was a bit worried but I feel like the exam was a quite straight forward.
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