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ARE order of exams. Thoughts?

tduds

First off, the good news: I took my first ARE in April (Structural Systems) and passed! Such a relief! Now I'm trying to chart out a course for the remaining 6 that gets them out of the way quickly but lets me keep my sanity.

I've heard a lot of recommendations from peers & coworkers about how to order the exams so that you're taking tests with significant overlap back to back... so the question is, now that SS is out of the way, what next? I'm thinking either Building Systems or BDCS, since they seem fairly technical compared to some of the other design + pro practice related ones. My plan for now is to take one of those two in late June, take the summer off, then try to complete one a month through next fall and winter.

What does everyone think? Does the order matter that much? Are any similar enough to be worth studying for concurrently? Anything in your experience that makes the process smoother (or any cautionary tales)? 

 
May 2, 16 5:01 pm
SneakyPete

I started w/ CDs, then PPP.

 

This was done because of the 4.0 - 5.0 transition.

Neither exam was super difficult, the vignettes being the worst part. 

May 2, 16 5:12 pm  · 
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tduds

I'm hoping to wrap up the whole process before 5.0 takes over... although the prospect of only 5 exams is tempting.

May 2, 16 5:14 pm  · 
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SneakyPete

Unfortunately the exam you took wouldn't allow for the 5 exam path with only 5 exams. You're in the pipeline, but you'd need to take 5 MORE on top of Systems, as that exam doesn't transition 1-to-1.

May 2, 16 6:05 pm  · 
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tduds

Yep, I know I've committed to all 7. Mostly because it's looking like 5.0 won't roll out until November or December at the earliest and I don't feel like waiting.

May 2, 16 6:11 pm  · 
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SneakyPete

Fair enough. I'll let others do the advising on order, as I don't have any insight. Sorry.

May 2, 16 6:29 pm  · 
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Sam Apoc

More important than order imo is momentum.  I think you're on the right path with the one-a-month thing.  Also, if you can swing it financially, go ahead and schedule the exams.  If you can't (or don't want to) do it all at once, then definitely schedule the next one as soon as you're finished with another.  It's way too easy to let a two week break turn into a two month break without that looming deadline (again, imo of course - you may be different).

fwiw, here was my order, which I found to be pretty good:

1. Building Systems

2. Schematic Design

3. Site Planning

4. PPP

5. CDS

6. Structures

7. BDCS

May 2, 16 7:05 pm  · 
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tduds

Sam: do you think SS was a good precursor to BDCS? Someone in my office suggested taking them back to back. Looking at the study guides this past weekend, BDCS seems pretty technical, but in a very different way than SS.

May 2, 16 7:26 pm  · 
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gwharton

I scheduled the ones I felt would be the hardest/most likely failed first, in case I failed one. That way, I could reschedule taking it not too long after I worked my way through all the others (back then, you had to wait longer to retake a failed exam, not 60 days). And I scheduled one exam per week until I was done. As it turned out, I passed them all on the first go.

May 2, 16 8:09 pm  · 
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awaiting_deletion

agree with ghwarton, thats exactly how i did it, I failed 2 or 3 I think.

May 2, 16 8:32 pm  · 
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shellarchitect

I did SD, CDs, PPP, SPD, bdcs, bs, SS. I found that CDs, PPP, and SPD are fairly similar, if nothing else they all have contact documents and ada questions. the rest are fairly stand alone. maybe some overlap between bdcs and SS, but I think that's a stretch, most important thing is to schedule them and get them out of the way to move on with your life/career. SD is an easy one, take it last or in the middle as a break from reading.

May 2, 16 10:42 pm  · 
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senjohnblutarsky

I went:

BDCS, SD, SpD, CDS, PPP, BS, SS...

I think. 

BDCS had material that helped on all the others.  In the end, it won't matter what order you take them in.  Just cover the right material and you'll be fine. 

May 3, 16 8:09 am  · 
 · 

I went:

CDS, SS, BDCS, BS, PPP, PPP (again), SPD, SD.

SD is great to save until the end - I studied for a couple hours the day before and that was it.

May 3, 16 10:01 am  · 
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null pointer

I went PPP (fail), SP, PPP (fail, fuck my life), SD, BDCS, CDS, PPP (finally..), BS, SS. 

May 3, 16 10:25 am  · 
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nicholass817

Here's the order in which I took the sections:

  1. Structural Systems
  2. Building Systems
  3. Schematic Design
  4. Construction Documents & Services
  5. Programming Planning & Practice
  6. Site Planning & Design
  7. Building Design & Construction Systems

Tackled the "tough" ones first and that laid the groundwork for a good study method for the rest of them....I thoroughly read Ballast (then skimmed Kaplan), constantly reviewed the ArchiFlash cards, skimmed reference material, and participated in AREforum.com daily.  The ARE forums are gone but http://arecoach.com/coachforum/ replaced it.  

If you want it I have a culmination of study guides and such that people posted to the AREforum.com.  It's been almost 3 years since I finished, but the information is still valid...for now.  

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/n0w2j43ocrqwtnu/AADDx719BGNWc4gXYA449cFBa?dl=0

May 3, 16 10:34 am  · 
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tduds

Thanks all, this is reaffirming.

gwharton: One per week?! You're a masochist, man.

May 3, 16 12:05 pm  · 
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shellarchitect

pretty nice stuff up there, i think its interesting how different people study.  I didn't like ballast, preferred kaplan for everything but structures.  

Kaplan's structures has either a ton of errors or is just really poorly written

May 3, 16 12:42 pm  · 
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tduds

Agreed on Kaplan. their structures practice exam was awful. Ballast was great!

I would recommend using multiple guides though, since they're all mostly just guesses as to what the exam is. You want to master the material, not the guide.

May 3, 16 12:50 pm  · 
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YourYoureYore

Now that you've done SS, I would recommend the following: BS BDCS SD CDS PPP SPD BS and BDCS are more technical. SD is obviously just a vignette and the other three are more conceptual. I did CDS, PPP, SPD, SD, SS, BDCS, BS. BDCS wasn't that difficult and I actually studied the least for it, but it has overlap from SS and BS, so if I did it over (please Lord, no) I would do it after them. Good luck

May 6, 16 8:36 pm  · 
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tduds

Alright I thought it over... registering for BS in late-June. Here goes nothin.

May 7, 16 5:53 pm  · 
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Jamb'd

tduds: The best advice I can give you is just take the exams and don't over think them.  Obviously, study hard for the exams.  If you fail, just keep taking them.

What worked for me was to schedule the exams in groups.  Once I passed the first one, I scheduled them in groups of three.  I spaced them about 4-6 weeks apart based on how difficult I thought the exam was.  Scheduling was key for me.  It didn't allow me to back out of taking an exam or come up with excuses to push an exam back on the calendar.  Prometric's rescheduling fees aren't cheap either which helps with this strategy.

My exam order went: BDCS (fail), BDCS (4 yrs later!), PPP, SPD, SPD again, CDS, SS, BS, SD.  Once I got going, I think it took me 13 months and that was with a lengthy holiday break.

My last piece of advice, don't underestimate the vignettes.  They are not difficult per se, but as I'm sure you're heard and experienced, the software is horrendous to use.

May 10, 16 5:32 pm  · 
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gwharton

+1 on being careful with the vignettes. One helpful bit of advice is that they tend to have a "gotcha" somewhere that you need to be on the lookout for. For instance, the building section I had to draw off of a plan had a ceiling height in a hallway that was actually determined by a gigantic duct clear on the other side of the building. The hallway was continuous through the whole building and the RCP didn't show any soffits or steps, so the finish ceiling had to be low enough to clear that duct even though it wasn't anywhere near where my section was taken.

May 10, 16 5:59 pm  · 
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tduds

Building Systems Passed!!

5 more to go, gonna take the summer months off to enjoy the outdoors (to stay in my girlfriend's good graces) then I'm thinking SD in late Sept.

Jul 13, 16 1:36 pm  · 
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tduds

Welp, after an unintended 9 month hiatus (Job searching really impedes on one's study time) I bit the bullet and registered for two more this morning.

I can study for SD in 12 days, right?

Feb 10, 17 1:52 pm  · 
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Wilma Buttfit

Yes.

Feb 10, 17 2:25 pm  · 
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s=r*(theta)

No more than 8

Feb 10, 17 6:04 pm  · 
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BulgarBlogger

SS, BS, SD, CDS, SPD, PPP, BDCS

Feb 10, 17 6:22 pm  · 
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SneakyPete

I took a 5.0. The content aligned with the profession better, and the lack of vignettes was a blessing. The software is slow, and the material for the Case Study reloads every time you go to a new question which is REALLY annoying when it's a 45 page pdf of code language with no hotlinks.

 

That being said I'd rather this than use that abortion they called 4.0

Feb 10, 17 6:25 pm  · 
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tduds

Took SD this morning. One hour for the interior layout vignette is bullshit. Especially considering you get 4 hours for the building layout.

I could do either in 90 minutes. One is infuriatingly short, the other is unnecessarily long. I think I passed, but I was annoyed with how panicked my first solution was.

Feb 22, 17 4:33 pm  · 
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ivorykeyboard

im taking BDCS and SD back to back in March, and then im done. I haven't really studied too much for either. Any tips ?

Feb 23, 17 2:54 pm  · 
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shellarchitect

sd just takes practice, not really difficult though

BDCS I really don't remember much of, seems like it was pretty similar to a couple other exams

Feb 23, 17 3:46 pm  · 
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s=r*(theta)

^ Imho BDCS is mostly a synthesis of all the exams with minimal new concepts introduced. if I were you I would definitely review SS, BS, & SPD

Feb 23, 17 5:35 pm  · 
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tduds

In summary, this was my order: SS, BS, (long unemployed break), SD, SPD, PPP, CDS, BDCS.

6 out of 7 passed. I failed CDS by a hair. In retrospect, taking CDS and BDCS in a two week span may not have been the best idea. But I had a goal of wrapping up the tests before July 1st.

I'll be retaking CDS after a well deserved summer break.

Jul 12, 17 5:50 pm  · 
 · 

Congrats on all the passes tduds. CDS can be tricky. My advice, take the time to really learn and apply the material. IMHO, cramming for the test with the assumption that you just need to learn enough to pass and that the material doesn't apply to the "real world" is a recipe for failure. I'm not saying that is your approach, but I have heard plenty with that approach fail miserably.

Also, make sure you finish with CDS before next summer and you're forced to transition to 5.0 and take 4 tests to finish.

FWIW, my planned order was CDS, PPP, SPD, SD, SS, BS, BDCS. After a long, unintended, break after passing CDS and PPP, I took SPD, waited a little bit for 5.0, then transitioned and finished with PPD, then PDD.


Jul 13, 17 11:16 am  · 
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tduds

Thanks.

Yeah I only bombed the contracts section, which I knew was my weakest section before I took the exam. My brain just doesn't work that way.

I'm planning to take the summer off, then re-take in the fall. I've got a couple hundred more AXP hours to rack up between now and then anyway, so it's not like this changes my timeline much. Just gotta memorize those damn Schiff Hardin lectures!

Jul 13, 17 11:45 am  · 
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I found chapters in the CSI Project Delivery Practice Guide a lot more helpful than the Schiff Hardin lectures ... YMMV. Link to buy, but you can find PDFs online pretty easily. You could also probably borrow a copy from your local CSI chapter ... just tell them you're studying for the CDT exam.

Jul 13, 17 12:01 pm  · 
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tduds

Good to know. Thanks!

Jul 13, 17 12:07 pm  · 
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wurdan freo

Skip episode I... then watch in the following order


IV, V, II, III, VI, VII, VIII, IX

Jul 13, 17 2:51 pm  · 
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