Passed! Done! Finito!

I completed all the ARE tests and am finally done!

To start off - use and trust Amber Book. I haven’t used any of the other major study products, but I can say without hesitation that if you want to be licensed and do so in the most time efficient manner, then Amber Book is the best study material for you.

For some background, I graduated 5 years ago, am married, have two young children, and work full time. Despite all these wonderful things that take serious time commitments, the biggest hurdle preventing me from getting licensed was the lack of a clear and concise plan of attack for the tests. The time investment to figure out what study materials to use, how long to study, when/how to schedule the tests, what order to schedule the tests, etc. kept me from even starting the process. The goal is to be licensed, right? It seemed like I would first have to be an expert on the intricacies of the various study materials and know the pros and cons of all….

Then, I heard about Amber Book from a coworker of mine and I saw that this was the package deal I needed to get licensed. Amber Book gives you study materials that are DIGESTIBLE, UNDERSTANDABLE and TARGETED to the ARE tests. Not only that, but they give you a schedule of how long you should study and when you should take the tests so that you don’t forget what you studied before even sitting down for a test. This checked every one of the boxes I had for testing materials.

Is it expensive? Yes, so sign up for a group discount.

Is it a large time investment? Yes, but not as much as you would expect. I often studied 12-16 hours a week and was able to get through all the materials. I took off Fridays and weekends from studying.

Is it worth it? Yes, every penny. Even though I had to pay for 3 months because of how my tests landed, I still believe it is the best bang for your buck.

So, despite waiting 5 years to get around to studying and taking the tests, I was able to complete the entire process of studying, taking, and passing all six divisions in 2 months and 6 days. Many thanks to Michael Ermann and the Amber Book team for their excellent work!

Should you be curious about my thoughts on the ARE tests, the online testing option, and the order I took the tests in… well, I will include that in another post.