ARE 4 out of 6 Pass - Sharing advice + Seeking advice
I thought it would be beneficial to share my experience here, perhaps it would help others, and maybe someone would offer new valuable advice to help me with my retakes.
Background
I'm a foreign architect with 12 years of experience abroad, I am licensed in other countries, and have worked on several large-scale projects in various countries and in different sectors. I recently moved to the US and would like to get my license here. I have a full time job, and can study on weekends and evenings only.
Take 1 >> PcM and PjM Pass, CE Fail
I took PcM and PjM and CE back to back within a week or two apart. Passed PcM and PjM first try, failed CE.
- AHPP: The only resource i really studied was the AHPP, i read it cover to cover. Took me two months (or more, lost track!).
- YouTube: i recommend watching AIA official contracts page + the financial formulas for PcM + Black Spectacles/Amber Book/ Hyperfine explanation practice problems.
- Black Spectacles: i signed up and used their practice questions. They were as close as it gets to NCARB's 100-word-essay trick questions. Their YouTube videos explaining the thinking behind the practice questions were very helpful. Nevertheless, i did not find their subscription video lectures useful at all, watched the first 10 then stopped.
- PcM and PjM exam experience: I was able to confidently answer PcM and PjM questions by studying only AHPP.
- CE exam experience: this exam is a mix of everything, AHPP and YouTube were not enough to pass. I failed the test by 1 question only (frustrating!).
Take 2 >> PA and CE Pass, PPD and PDD Fail
I signed up for the Amber Book, studied for 8 weeks, then took PA, PDD, PPD, CE on 4 consecutive days. Passed PA and CE, failed PDD and PPD.
- Amber Book: studied from the Amber Book ONLY, took me exactly 8 weeks. Though i skipped their Pro Practice chapter and their Practice Exams.
- YouTube: i watched the official AIA Contracts YouTube videos, Archicorner's code and ADA videos.
- Ching's Building Construction Illustrated: reviewed building envelope details.
- PA exam experience: the exam was as expected, it was not easy. But what i studied in the Amber Book was sufficient to pass. Black Spectacles YouTube practice questions with explanation were beneficial.
- CE exam experience: As i mentioned above this exam was a mix of everything (refer to NCARB guidelines), it is not only Contracts and Admin, the NCARB guidelines clearly say there's a construction site observation component to it. The Amber Book was the perfect resource for this exam because it addressed all various relevant topics: Site, Code, Pro Practice, Construction. Therefore, in my opinion, CE should be the last exam you take, not the first one. I passed CE second time around.
- PPD exam experience: as i mentioned i studied the Amber book for this, and it had a lot of great content that perfectly handled the building systems component of this exam (refer to NCARB guidelines). However, the Amber book was not enough to pass. I strongly recommend and encourage to review the study resources outlined in NCARB guidelines in detail, specifically: "Heating, Cooling, Lighting: Sustainable Design Strategies", and "Designing for Earthquakes FEMA 454" - someone recommended FEMA on YouTube and they were right. I failed the test by 3 questions only (was so close!).
- PDD exam experience: this was a nightmare! It had nothing to do with Amber Book or Building Construction Illustrated. It was waaaaay more complicated. All possible math questions you can ever think of across all possible topics that you can imagine in all disciplines. Impossible unrealistic questions. I failed miserably and have no clue how will i ever pass this test.
Take 3 >> Next Steps, any advice?
My plan is to no longer take shortcuts, and study the actual books. This will take me forever. Thoughts?
For PPD, i am thinking to review my Amber Book notes, study FEMA, and "Heating, Cooling, Lighting: Sustainable Design Strategies Towards Net Zero". I feel i can handle this one.
For PDD, i am planning to focus on "Fundamentals of Building Construction: Materials and Methods Edward Allen" and "Building Structures James Ambrose", and maybe "Olin’s Construction Principles, Materials, and Methods H. Leslie Simmon" too? Not sure. Any advice?
I will also purchase some of the recommended practice problems (I heard Elif's were good). Any other recommendations?
Any advice on how to deal with the extensive math questions?
Appreciate all the advice i can get! Thank you in advance!
YouTube List
- The official AIA Contract Documents Page: https://www.youtube.com/c/AIAContractDocuments
- Black Spectacles practice questions with explanation ONLY: https://www.youtube.com/c/Blackspectacles
- Amber Book: https://www.youtube.com/user/professorermann
- Archicorner - great ADA and Code videos: https://www.youtube.com/c/archicorner
- Hyperfine: https://www.youtube.com/c/HyperfineArchitecture
- Design Make Launch - financial formulas: https://www.youtube.com/c/HyperfineArchitecture
- RMSM: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdAMp1P2NGtUYSod0ny0JDw
- US Access Board: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5tRWTtV5eSw68N3tSpmyWw
- Designer Masterclass: https://www.youtube.com/c/DesignerMasterclass
You can find the FEMA book online:
https://www.wbdg.org/FFC/DHS/fema454.pdf
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The math questions for ARE are pretty straight forward. ARE exams focus on testing you understanding of the concepts. You can skip all the complicated math questions in you study materials.
Gang Chen, Author, AIA, LEED AP BD+C (GreenExamEducation.com)
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Hi Violetta!
Congratulations on passing 4 of the 6 exams. Great job! Also, you have good tips. For example, I couldn't agree more on reading AHPP cover to cover to pass pro-practice exams. Also, I don't think what you have so far done looks like the shortcut, well done!
For PPD and PDD I may have a couple of suggestions.
For PPD:
- Great decision on HCL. Reading that book is gonna take you very close to passing this time.
- Fill in the gap in your IBC knowledge, and do many occupant load calculations to practice. For this portion, the Building Code Illustrated book is a good source but also take as many practice questions as you can. Try a few new providers out there, if you feel like questions adapted from ARE 4.0 exam are not doing the thing for you.
- Add FEMA Chapters 4,5,7 8 and 9 to your list.
- Structures becoming more and more important in this exam. Make sure to study lateral loads. Simplified Engineering: Chapters 1 to 4, Structural Design: A practical guide for architects, Chapters 1 &2, and Building Structures Chapter 9.
- Lastly, check out MEEB to cover the HVAC, plumbing, electrical, and elevators portion. If you finish HCL, you can maybe skip the first 11 chapters of MEEB 12th edition because they cover the same topics. Jump directly to the 12th chapter and start with HVAC.
- Lastly, I have post on my website where I talk about my PPD strategies that you might be interested in.
And For PDD
- Fundamentals and Olins books are great. I have another favorite, which covers almost everything Fundamentals book cover but is much easier to read and has over 1000 questions in it. It is not one of the books referred by NCARB though. It is called Building Construction Principles Materials and Systems by Mehta. I love this book and keep referring to everyone and they come back with success stories too. I also have a blog post for PDD too, called "How to Pass PDD?" Check it out if you are interested. Unfortunately, not allowed to post the link here.
To get faster in lengthy math questions, you have to solve hundreds of practice questions. Since you may not be able to find that many, I suggest changing the numbers in the practice questions and solving them over and over again. I think the best way to get fast on any questions is to practice them so many times. I am talking about thousands of questions here. So try to add more questions to your collection. Practice questions are one of the more engaging ways of studying. In other forms of studying (like reading or watching) you are kind of the audience, not very actively involved. But when you are solving a couple of hundred questions every day, you are on the stage. Your mind really engages in the process.
Hope these help.
Best of luck with the last two. I feel like you got this! 😉
Elif Bayram, AIA
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Hi Violetta,
I'd recommend reading the Ballast exam review guide's sections for PPD and PDD. ASC is #1 for PPD. Reviewing the Fundamentals book is good too. I'd skip HCL and MEEB... MEEB is overwhelming and a time waste. The necessary topics from those books are covered in Ballast.
You will need to review structural formulas (beam reactions and moments) for PDD. I say skip any long math calculations on the ARE, especially if you aren't 100% sure of what you're doing. Be prepared to do simple math like construction cost changes. It's simple enough...
If you have not gotten out into the field to do site observations in the USA, I highly recommend doing that now. Construction methods may be different here than in your home country.
Do lots of different practice exams before your retakes. Keep at it - you're nearly there!
Good luck!
Rebekka O'Melia, Registered Architect, NCARB, B. Arch, M. Ed, Step UP, Step UP ARE 5.0 Courses
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You're welcome Violetta. I would definitely read Architect's Studio Companion. It should help you synthesize everything for PPD. It's pretty easy to read; there are lots of charts and diagrams. Memorizing the basics of it may take a bit though. Keep working at it! Hope this helps!
Rebekka O'Melia, Registered Architect, NCARB, B. Arch, M. Ed, Step UP, Step UP ARE 5.0 Courses
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Yes, get Elif's questions and her Structures video course. It helped me pass the exams a couple of months ago. The content is slightly tougher or slightly more elaborate than the exam question content, so therefore also beneficial... especially the multi-step calculation questions.
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