Skipping PA to go straight to PPD and PDD

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Maimouna Sow

July 16, 2022 12:53

Is it a good idea to skip PA and go straight into PPD and PDD?

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  Arham Siddiqui July 18, 2022 13:18

  I found a lot of overlap between PA and PPD while studying and even on the exams - studying for PA could help with PPD. Although, there is nothing wrong with getting PPD and PDD done first and then coming back to PA. Good luck!

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  Rebekka O'Melia July 26, 2022 14:15 (Edited July 28, 2022 12:58)

  I took them in this order:  PDD, PPD & PA last.  It's a solid plan.  As the previous poster mentioned, PPD and PA overlap.  I thought PA was fun!  It's analytical & shorter!

  Rebekka O'Melia, Registered Architect, NCARB, B. Arch, M. Ed, Step UP,  Step UP ARE 5.0 Courses

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  Elif Bayram July 27, 2022 17:43

  The test order depends on many things but mostly on your experience and education. For example, if you are producing a lot of details at work or are involved in CD and CA phases more than the others, taking PDD and PPD first would make more sense. PA can be a tricky exam and tackling it last can be a good strategy too if you don't want to deal with the stress of it before passing other exams. However, I think there is so much overlap between PPD and PA so taking them close by still makes sense for the majority. Personally, I think the order of PA, PPD, and PDD works the best because in this order you start from the largest scale and slowly build your way up to the smallest details (scale). I also think that PA, PPD, and PDD order echoes with the Programming, SD, DD, CD, and CA phases of the project which is customary to many of us. Think of PA as Programing and SD phases, PPD as SD & DD phases, and PDD as CD and CA phases.

  Hope this helps! Best of luck with your ARE journey!

  Elif Bayram, AREQuestions

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  Rebekka O'Melia July 28, 2022 13:11 (Edited July 28, 2022 13:13)

  PPD has the lowest pas rate of all 6 exams! I would not take it first out of these 3. Since it overlaps with PA, I recommend studying for PPD and PA together. In fact, I’d recommend taking them 4 weeks apart or less if possible. PA is definitely a unique exam. I have a good outline for it, but I think the Ballast book’s PA section is not the strongest. PA bounces around various topics.  PA is my favorite exam.  I took it last and passed on the 1st try!  It was my last exam, so it was a great feeling!
  Contact me directly if you’d like more help. hello@stepuparchitecture.com

  Rebekka O'Melia, Registered Architect, NCARB, B. Arch, M. Ed, Step UP Founder,  Step UP ARE 5.0 Courses

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  Maimouna Sow July 28, 2022 13:24 (Edited July 28, 2022 13:26)

  Thank you all for the responses.

   

  So i started studying PA 4 days ago. I'm using PPI, and Pluralsight.

  The Balast Reading on PPI seems to reference a lot of other chapters (PPD). So far it looks like i need to read at least 9 chapters. I think I'll read through all the required reading, plus referenced materials from PPD, then see how ready I am to take PA.

  If I'm not ready, I'll just study it along side PPD, take that, then study PDD with a little PA on the side, take PDD, then come back to PA. 

  IDK, we'll see in the next couple of months. 

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