Just completed ARE 5.0 in 9 months. Here's what I studied.

I passed PDD on Jan 5th and have now completed ARE 5.0 exams!  I turned 48 a month before completing PDD, work full time and have three kids.  I have about 17 years experience almost exclusively in residential design.  I put off taking the ARE for so long and finally set a goal in 2021 to start taking the exams.  And I'm so glad I finally did it.  If you have started taking the exams or are considering starting to take the exams, please know this.... YOU ABSOLUTELY CAN DO THIS!!!  It's challenging to find time to study when working full-time and raising a family.  Understand that your social life will suffer to some degree.  Having people in your life that are supportive and understanding will make a huge difference.  But this is absolutely worth doing and if you put in the time you will cross the finish line.  My goal was to finish all the exams in 9 months which kept me focused and made it easier to convince myself that the sacrifice of time was only in the short term.    Below is what my ARE exam preparation looked like:

Before focusing on studying for any exam I read ARE 5 Review Manual (Ballast) from beginning to end while taking notes which took about 5 weeks.  This was to gain an overall understanding of the breadth of material covered by the exams.  I remember reading through the different sections and wondering how I would ever be able to master all the information.

Test Order and Study Materials for each exam:

First, I strongly recommend taking an exam you feel most confident about for your first exam.  Passing the first one will be a huge confidence boost.  Second, definitely take CE, PJM and PCM one after the other in some order.  There is a lot of overlap between these exams.

For each exam the first thing I did was listen to all the Black Spectacles video lectures.  This was a great general overview of the material covered in each exam.  Then I re-read the Ballast chapter for the exam taking more detailed notes.  Also, I took all three Black Spectacles practice exams for each section.  The exam format is almost exactly the same as the actual exam and are really good at preparing you for the type of questions you will get and identifying areas you need to study more.  I also take relatively detailed notes for each resource I read, and then about 4-5 days before each exam create a condensed set of review notes to study.   

1.  CE- passed in mid-June.  Approximately 45 hours of studying for this exam.  Additional study resources- Architect's Handbook of Professional Practice.  AIA Contracts/Docs

2.  PJM- Passed in mid-July.  Approximately 65 hours of studying.  Same resources as CE and listened to the Schiff-Harden lectures on A201 and B101 two complete times.  I would listen to these while driving to and from work.  Way better than just studying the documents themselves.

3.  PCM- passed in late August (squeezed in a family vacation the day after taking the PJM exam).  Approximately 50 hours of studying.  Same resources as CE and PJM.  Listened to Schiff-Harden lectures two more times each.  AIA code of Ethics.

4.  PA- passed October 1st.  Approximately 65 hours of studying.  Additional resources- Site Design Handbook, ADA Guidelines, IBC (briefly), and Graphic Standards (briefly).

5.  PPD- passed in mid-November.  Approximately 110 hours of studying.  Additional resources- Building Codes Illustrated (great reference, especially if you do not work with the commercial code a lot), Building Construction Illustrated (really good reference), Graphic Standards (briefly) and The Architect's Studio Companion (about 3 hours total).

6.  PDD- passed January 5th.  Approximately 110 hours of studying.  Same resources as PPD.  Used Graphic Standards a little more for PPD.  Spent a lot of time studying my PPD notes as well.  PPD and PDD cover so much material it can be a little intimidating in the beginning.  I find using difference resources to learn about the same material is really helpful in developing a better understanding.  

Good luck to everybody currently taking the exams or considering starting this journey.  It definitely takes a commitment but it will absolutely be worth it in the end!