Five down, one to go. High praise for Amber Book.

As you begin or continue to study for your exams, remember these Amber Book/Michael Ermann maxims:

• Failing is not a bug, it’s a feature.
• Study for all the tests at the same time, then take them all at once.

I’m sharing my personal experience for everyone to benefit from, but this shared experience is really for those who don’t know where to start (I mean, how could you, when NCARB tells you in their guide to read 100 textbooks to reference), the process feels like it’s taking too long, or you’ve failed some tests and wonder if it’s worth it to keep going. The following is my experience. No better or worse than anyone else’s. Read it subjectively and take from it what you like. It’s a long read, so my apologies in advance for not making it shorter. But I’m SO passionate about this now, seeing as how drastically my life has changed as a result of the Amber Book course.

Ten years ago I passed SPD (ARE 4.0), then failed three or four after it, and passed another. I took some time off, started a photography company, tried to figure out my life, and worked for firms here and there. I transitioned to ARE 5.0, lost the exams that I’d passed before, then three years ago I passed PcM (a total fluke, I’m convinced, but I’ll take it). Months later failed PjM (admittedly, I didn’t study and then forgot to reschedule, so I took it anyway) and PA twice using ancient and lesser-than study "techniques."  I almost considered giving up—because moving on from multiple defeats is hard. Very hard. As humans we really need some small wins to help keep the train moving. It’s in our nature.

Eight weeks ago, however, I began taking the Amber Book course. I stuck vigilantly to the 8-9 week course (which I expedited to 7 weeks). I took four exams in a row Monday to Thursday of last week (PjM, CE, PPD, PDD), then the final one (PA) yesterday. Five exams over eight days. Four passes and one fail. I might possibly be a prime case study (self-assigned title here) for whatever successes and/or failures come from following what feels like the most masochistic path to licensure, but really is the most gracious. Let me explain.

ON THE TIME FRONT

The Amber Book takes a lot of your time for a short amount of time (a few hours a day for 2-4 months), but protects the rest of it for months and years to come. Michael Ermann uses teaching methods backed by cognitive science of how we learn best, versus other methods (i.e. Ballast, Black Spectacles, and other NCARB approved course providers) that make you think that you need six to twelve months (and let's be real, generally a lot longer than that) of prep and testing (see photo of the exam timeline to-date). 

By the time you do your 6- to 12-month prep, stagger the tests months apart, pass some, fail some, then retake some, you're maybe 2+ years into it, conservatively. Had 2011 me been able to talk to 2021 me and advise me on the suffering I could have avoided, I would have just gone back in time and used that decade to invent a time machine instead of spending all my time and money failing tests based on prehistoric teaching and study techniques. At least then I’d pass my tests before 2012 AND I’d have invented a time machine.

Now look, it’s worth noting that I took a long time to test because I was doing other things that were important for my career outside of architecture and didn’t take the most direct route, but I don’t necessarily think I’m a total outlier because of this. The point I’m making is that rarely is the path direct for any of us. It’s this involved process where we talk and talk and talk to everyone about and find reasons to avoid then find reasons to jump back into. Then there is this thing called life that takes place in the meantime.

You’re saving yourself an immense amount of time by taking this course. There’s no plainer way to put it. And time is money, so let’s talk about that too.

ON THE FINANCIAL FRONT

How many of you on these forums hear people talk about Amber Book as expensive? Well, yeah, it is expensive if you adopt the 6- to 12-month prep as the prerequisite for some annual cost, because this is EXACTLY how other prep courses offer their services. Yeah - now you’re paying $380+/month for Amber for 6 to 12 months. But that’s not how the Amber Book process works, nor is it how it’s encouraged within the course itself. It’s a two, maybe three month process. 

To make things awkwardly transparent, here is how my costs for exams and prep broke down from 2011 to now. (Side note: I just looked up the cost of the full 12-month subscriptions to NCARB approved prep courses and I no longer feel quite as bad about the sums below. Still painful to write out, but at least now I know I’m not the only one willfully wasting money).

Prior to signing up for the Amber Book, I spent $2830 on exams alone. I freelance and am close to opening my own practice, so I pay out of pocket for these tests. $235 of that $2830 went toward one passing exam in ARE 5.0 (PcM). During that time, and not including extra supplemental textbooks, I spent $512.42 on Black Spectacles, $219.58 on Ballast 4.0, $289.43 on Ballast 5.0. This tallies up close to $4000 spent on exam prep and exams, many of which I felt reasonably confident going into... and then failing. Terrible ROI.

Now, any reasonable person looking at these numbers would either tell me I should change careers or talk to my financial planner before purchasing another test or piece of prep material. But the thing is this: at the time I was studying and preparing, I thought I was doing the right thing. And anyone who has purchased a prep course and/or taken and failed multiple of these tests knows exactly what I’m talking about. It’s so discouraging.

Then, in one last ditch effort, I decided to try the Amber Book. $220/mo for two months (get that group discount and save some money) and $1175 on five exams (I’d already passed PcM prior). Eight weeks later and I’ve got five exams in the bucket and one retake in January. To summarize:

• Pre-Amber: $4000+ over 10 years and ONE usable pass
• With Amber: $1615 (plus one retake) over 8 weeks and FOUR passes

I wish I could sue myself for damages associated with the work I lost from 10 years of not being licensed. Anyway.

If you read nothing else here, read this: Amber Book costs money but is inexpensive, worth every second of your time, and an absolutely SOLID return on investment—not just for your exams but for your future as a competent practitioner. It was an awkwardly sad/happy moment for me when I clicked “Cancel Subscription.” It was like coming to the end of a semester and finishing a class you loved with an amazing professor. Truly bittersweet.

SOME OTHER THOUGHTS + STRATEGY

A few other truths to consider:

• The content overlap between exams is no lie. I repeat, the overlap between content in exams is gospel truth. Treat this test like one big test. Don’t second guess that for a minute.
• You’re never going to “feel ready.” And even if you are, you might have a false sense of confidence, because these exams are hard. You just have to take the tests, open-palmed, and weather the storm of maybe not passing some. The night before each test I thought “well, here goes nothing.” I felt competent, but never felt ready.
• You either know the material or you don’t. I’m not saying test anxiety isn’t a real thing. But it’s true: you either know the material, or you don’t.
• Once more, own the content. Don’t move on unless you get the concept. Stay with it, learn it, then move on. It’s key.

Here’s how I studied:

1. First, I scheduled my remaining five exams. This gave me firm dates to work against. I had no excuse except to study. I didn’t let rescheduling be an option.
2. I exercised. What does this have to do with studying? Science shows we retain information better and for longer when we exercise. I would have never passed if I didn’t keep to my normal workout routine.
3. I told VERY few people that I was testing. And no one will know my results until I pass the final test. Keep quiet about it.
4. I created a schedule with the Amber subjects and tracked my progress against the test dates. Click here to see it. This became my guide. I moved things around and made sure I was looking ahead to those exams and staying on track. I logged my hours for that day too so I could see how long I was spending.
5. I took handwritten notes during the course (187 pages to be exact). 
6. I transcribed those notes into Evernote (absolutely critical to the process). Revisiting what you studied and doing so in more depth and in your own words will help you truly learn the information.
7. I let the rabbit holes be rabbit holes. You’ll have a much easier time studying if you pretend to find the information interesting. I loved studying because I just felt like I was absorbing so much information. Embrace YouTube. Watch the 40 Minutes of Competence videos (as many as you can anyway).
8. I studied the flashcards, all of them, and filled in gaps in my notes that weren’t covered in the videos.
9. I scheduled the Amber Book practice tests the week before my actual tests. I took them in the same order and at the same time during the day, and I didn’t take breaks. Earplugs in and all. I treated the practice tests like the real thing. 
10. After the practice tests I reviewed the feedback and all the correct answers to the problems and, again, filled in my notes where necessary.
11. Each night before the real exam I reviewed my notes and flashcards. Around 8pm I called it a night and relaxed because there’s really nothing more I could do.
12. One more note on exercise: I adjusted my schedule to account for 5am group fitness classes down the street. This meant my body was relaxed and it gave me enough time to do my morning routine and calmly walk to the testing center at 8am each day.

Some specific notes and advice about the Amber Book course itself:

• There’s a PDF at the beginning of the course that lays out an 8-9 week start to finish timeline. I did it in 7 because I was just tired of letting these tests linger. However, if you have a full work schedule plus other obligations, AND you take the practice exams, commit the notecards to memory, transcribe notes, watch other videos, etc., give yourself 10-12 weeks. Eight weeks for the videos and note-taking, one week for flashcards, one week for practice exams, and 1-2 weeks for the actual exams themselves.
• I only studied Amber Book, 40 Minutes of Competence, and the internet (for PcM though I did read AHPP and the Professional Practice book that NCARB recommends. Most of the concepts in those sources are covered in Amber.)
• I would definitely read the contracts and glance through MEEB, but otherwise I’d just focus on the course itself and let your mind wander freely with the subject matter. 
• Get the group discount. It lowers the cost significantly.
• Utilize the discussion forum on the videos. The instructors are pretty good about responding to them if you have questions or are confused about the content. Or email them. I don’t know how Michael had the time to reply to me, but he or another colleague did.

A final note: I wanted to write this post when I passed all the tests because that just seemed cooler. But that’s not the important thing here. Some of you reading this are in the throes of work, maybe some have anxiety and struggle with the content. All these things are normal, and you are very capable of passing. If I can do it, you certainly can. The tests can be a daunting thing, but they don’t have to be. Failing can be a discouraging thing, but it doesn’t have to be. Each step in this process is designed to help you feel comfortable with the content and comfortable with how to take the test.

Beyond that, Michael is just a great teacher.

You got this!