Six Sweet Green Squares! Done with ARE

What a journey!!!!! How it would go in my head and how it went in life were definitely very different. I was working full time, had a family, and was doing my best to balance life and preparing. I was not successful on my first attempt for many so my tips mostly come from what I learned study wise. This post is for those of you looking for someone who didn’t quite nail it every time, but managed to make it through. Perseverance! Or stubbornness? A win either way. You can find a million posts on what to read for each, and believe me I tried nearly all of them, but my top two favorite most helpful actual books overall were Architects Handbook of Professional Practice and Architects Studio Companion. I would use them as follows: AHPP- read at start of your preparation for PcM PjM and CE. I found the mostly plain explanations easy to take in. I found myself cross referencing the NCARB Handbook with the chapters oh AHPP to help my decide what to read. ASC- read maybe after having started to prepare for PPD and PDD. It’s written in a way that clicked for my brain, almost like I took notes myself. I used this to get familiar with MEP and structural systems. I loved the charts and matrixes on how to choose based on criteria. Outside of reading material,the Engineering Mindset videos on YouTube really helped me connect what I was seeing in 2D on paper. If I ever needed more context or information I would continue down the rabbit hole. Personally MEP was a little challenging for me to grasp, so I just started watching videos meant for people learning to maintain HVAC systems etc and I found that super helpful! This is not something I would have done without someone suggesting it to me. Overall study tips I wish I knew sooner: -20min on/5min break is an amazing way to get through reading. I made significantly more progress in my reading when I switched to this method. Stick with it even when you feel fine because 5min past your planned break you won’t be. -Poke holes in what you think you know. I went into every exam thinking I was ready and would inevitably encounter questions that took things one step further than I understood going in. I found that rounding out reading with some YouTube videoed seemed to help in MEP/Structural/Construction/Materials areas -With all exams always remember that more important than memorizing terms and technical material is understanding context. Try to imagine the scenario that you would encounter this in the field. Why does it matter that the question mentions certain conditions? Why does it matter that the answer has been phrased a certain way? -The NCARB Handbook may not seem like it has much at first glance, but it really does set the tone for what you can expect for the exam. By my final exams I treated it as a rough draft of more questions I needed to find answers too. The answers to the questions also had nuggets of information I found important to look further into. Try to reframe the question to justify why the other answers are wrong or what it would take to make them right. Good luck to all! Be kind to yourselves on this journey, take any unexpected changes in stride. As someone who cared so much about passing everything on the first attempt- it still feels amazing and just as rewarding to be done!!!!!!!!!!!! Now. CSE. Woooooooo………