Congrats tintt ... on the pregnancy ... sucks about the beer.
Are you trying to finish the ARE before baby comes? That's my goal (before my baby comes), but I feel like I'm quickly running out of time. I've already taken PPD, and have PDD coming up next month so I'll have taken all the exams, but I probably won't know if I pass before she comes unless the numbers start getting closer to the 600 administrations needed for the cut score faster.
I've been CADding a lot lately and this weekend started listening to the podcast My Dad Wrote A Porno. Definitely not for everyone, but it's got me crying with laughter as I work. Imagine MST3K but with badly-written erotica.
maybe the next archinect gathering could just be face-timing from everyone's local bar, keeping up on what each other is doing through untapped (does that update real-time?)
sounds kind of horrible. not positive i would attend
EI, I finished the one I had and I transitioned, but haven't taken any in 5.0 yet. I have to take 2. I meant to take both before the new year but gave myself a break. Er, procrastinated, fell if my momentum, whatever.
When you come back from your break, my suggestion would be to study for both PPD and PDD at the same time. I don't think any of the study guide publishers have figured out the dividing line between what will be in one division versus another at this point. Ballast can't even keep it straight between their own review manual and their own practice exam.
To be honest, I don't even think NCARB has that dividing line well defined. There were definitely questions on the PPD exam that felt like it was the level of detail that should have been on the PDD exam. There were at least two that I can easily remember because they were very similar to two of the PDD sample questions in the ARE 5.0 Handbook.
EI, I have been studying for everything all together already. I have no plans to purchase any 5.0 materials. There has always been some crossover and I imagine the tests in 5.0 have even more crossover. I think that's good because it requires knowledge that can only be integrated through experience and not just studying to pass. Makes me wonder how the schools who are starting to offer the license concurrent with the degree are going to do it and if those persons are going to do well.
You're probably well on your way then. My office's 4.0 study materials have all but disappeared at this point except for some scanned copies of some materials floating around in various places on the server (if you know where to look). I could find everything I needed for the 3 divisions in 4.0. However, I was having trouble finding materials for the last 4 divisions to use for studying for 5.0. In the end I felt spending the money to get something 'complete' in 5.0 would be worth it so I forked over the cash for Ballast's review manual.
I'm not that impressed with it. I think I would have been better off just sticking with 4.0 materials and supplementing where I felt there were some holes. It's been a good overview, but when it gets into detail or depth in a subject matter, I don't think the detail is worth it (i.e. it won't be on the test). And where more detail would be warranted, there is nothing. After taking PPD, I went looking for answers to questions that troubled me and I have found very little to help in Ballast. Yet, I have found some of it in the 4.0 materials (from Kaplan for example).
EI, I have some old study material from the '90's that I use. The content doesn't change all that much from ARE version to ARE version, just how it is organized. Sustainability has changed since then but not enough to matter. Kaplan tends to be more detailed and Ballast is more general and simplified but I have both and am glad I do. I do a lot of my own supplementing. I have other books especially for the history and theory stuff and the MEP and Structural stuff. And you need a copy of the main contracts of course, the study guides won't give you enough you have to read them yourself.
I've also found that there are plenty of videos on youtube that fill in the gaps. Like I didn't know what a slurry wall was, had never seen one, couldn't picture it from what was written in the study guides but I watched a few youtube videos and voila. I have yet to see it on the test though. There are videos on acoustics, force diagrams, concrete. wood grading and joinery, door hardware... things that aren't exclusive to archs but other disciplines like engineering or trades have to study as well. Not so much on CD's or AIA docs for example. Watching videos is a good break from reading. I better get back on that.
do you have to do 5.0 at this point? It would seem to me far easier to finish in 4.0, even though it is more exams since the study material is better and pass rates are bound to be far higher.
I'm midway through, and intending to finish on 4.0. 5.0 seems like an improvement, but like you said, the study materials are well-vetted and I expect to have an easier time passing the ones I have left.
I believe you can continue with 4.0 until some time in 2018, as long as you've already started. I think the cutoff to start 4.0 was sometime last summer.
No vignettes and a loophole where I only have to take 5 tests total means the transition to 5.0 was worth it for me. I hated 4.0. I have never failed a multiple choice portion but failed 2 vignettes in 4.0 with minor errors. They gave me an easier vignette the 3rd time I think they took pity on me. I had to practice the software about 10 hours and I was in denial before that, thought I could just run through it once and figure it out. I think 10 hours is a ridiculous amount of time to spend learning an arcane, overly simplistic, sim city type program for a professional examination. Glad they got rid of them.
Yeah the vignettes are bullshit but I never really had a problem with them. It's just about putting yourself in the right mindset, which is to solve the problem with as little consideration of "design" as possible.
I'm taking SD in January. Meant to take it in September but, you know, life took over.
It was the site section I failed twice. No chance for overdoing the design. I think I just couldn't pan and zoom properly. Put me on the short bus if I belong there.
CDS and PPP were pretty easy for me with my experience. All I really needed was a quick review and then to study for the vignettes. SPD was a little harder, I needed more supplemental material ... even then, most of the effort was spent figuring out the vignette.
I'm finding that I need to pull out old college textbooks for some of the MEP and structural content areas; things I don't get a lot of exposure to in my current role. Everything else the new PPD and PDD divisions are covering is pretty straightforward for me; a quick review is all I think I need. For PPD I felt comfortable with everything that came up except for some MEP items that surprised me (more E than M or P).
My choice to switch to 5.0 instead of finishing out 4.0 was similar to what tintt outlined. Add to that a self-imposed deadline of a baby coming and that I wanted to finish testing and just be able to focus on being an architect dad rather than an aspiring architect dad. Taking two tests instead of four was just too much of an opportunity to pass up.
I believe you can continue with 4.0 until some time in 2018, as long as you've already started. I think the cutoff to start 4.0 was sometime last summer.
You had to have requested your eligibility to test in 4.0 prior to the release of 5.0 on Nov 1st.
Thanks for the channel. Just what I need to get back into it. I like to watch fire documentaries too. Like this one Hartford Hospital Fire and this one MGM Las Vegas.
I have passed the 3 required 4.0 exams to transition to 5.0, which I did Nov. 1st and took both PPD & PDD, that said, IMHO PDD is basically PPD with a watered down steriod shot. at this point I refuse to buy any 5.0 material so I just reviewd the ncarb guide *joke* and all my 4.0 ballast, kaplan, jennys notes & various websites specifically,
• $100 gift card = $110 per ea. exam (plus $420 w/ work reimbursement upon pass) So even if i fail both (which I hope not) its like failing one exam
• 5 total exams
• no more stupid vignettes (failed bdcs & spd in 4.0 by failing vignette somehow)
• I would rather have 120 mixed questions of structures, building systems, building design & construction systems sprinkled wit PPP, than 90 questions of each alone with a 16th century vignette to top off
• I wud rather do hot spots that relate way more to daily practice than vignettes
• I wud rather do case studies that relate to daily practice than spd vignette
NCARB emailed me and told me I was guaranteed to get the gift cards if I test before the end of January. Makes me think not too many are taking them and they need more test takers to establish the cut scores. They grade on a curve apparently. I agree with all u say theta. 16th century vignettes, ha ha. Give me a case study or hot spot anytime over a vignette that tests your ability to get properly coached on what "near" means to NCARB or whether you have previously determined if looking across a parking to a pond is a nice view or not. Only in NCARB world is that a nice view. What if there is a tall trucked parked in the lot? Oh don't overthink it! Pretend otherwise!
"I would rather have 120 mixed questions of structures, building systems, building design & construction systems sprinkled wit PPP, than 90 questions of each alone with a 16th century vignette to top off"
and
"I wud rather do hot spots that relate way more to daily practice than vignettes"
This is why we abandoned the US exams. Ours are exactly as you describe... and metric.
congrats to all the people "expecting". (a euphemism i hate).
kids are the best. so fucking hilarious. mine entertains us every night. at first i was like, is it weird that i don't go out any more? and now i'm like, hahahaha all you suckers who have to go out for entertainment. all i have to do is sit on the sofa with a glass of wine and watch my kid bust out some jokes and games. sweeeeet.
Oh it gets worse. I'm the only one in the office next week, so I have no help at all with this deadline. I already hate the holidays anyway, but sure why not pile more work on the single guy that no one cares about?
Many moons ago I was the newbie that had to manage the phones for the week of holiday silence. Good thing is that with all that silence I was able to get work done AND find out what else was going on the office by looking at what people left on their desks.
Regardless I'll raise my egg nog beverages with you in mind.
I remember a whole team of us working Christmas Eve one year in order to get out a series of projects for the University of Arizona. It was all code related fixes to old buildings, mostly exterior stairs to address fire escape issues. I recall one of the senior partners popping into the office at about 8:00 pm and saying nice job people.....but he didn't even leave us a bottle of wine...oh humbug! The project had to be done before the end of the year and the Engineers needed the last week to finish up their work by January 1.
Josh I feel for you. Seattle always felt a bit lonely to me-like the airport-hustle and bustle but no one stays long. Get yourself down to the market some & buy some good treats. Out here on the other coast I could use more good friends too. This Christmas is extra weird - family divisions over the trump. Going to spend it with a very tiny group. I promise you-2017 will be a ton better. In the short term, cut a few corners so you get some time off.
Thread Central
(Yes, Non Seq, I edited it! LOL)
It's ok, I've kept 5% of the thanks as a finder's fee.
Sorry anon, can't do it. Pregnant ladies don't drink beer.
Congrats tintt ... on the pregnancy ... sucks about the beer.
Are you trying to finish the ARE before baby comes? That's my goal (before my baby comes), but I feel like I'm quickly running out of time. I've already taken PPD, and have PDD coming up next month so I'll have taken all the exams, but I probably won't know if I pass before she comes unless the numbers start getting closer to the 600 administrations needed for the cut score faster.
EI, yes that is the plan.
Have you taken any of the 5.0 exams yet? IIRC, you still had one 4.0 exam to take before you could transition, right?
I've been CADding a lot lately and this weekend started listening to the podcast My Dad Wrote A Porno. Definitely not for everyone, but it's got me crying with laughter as I work. Imagine MST3K but with badly-written erotica.
maybe the next archinect gathering could just be face-timing from everyone's local bar, keeping up on what each other is doing through untapped (does that update real-time?)
sounds kind of horrible. not positive i would attend
EI, I finished the one I had and I transitioned, but haven't taken any in 5.0 yet. I have to take 2. I meant to take both before the new year but gave myself a break. Er, procrastinated, fell if my momentum, whatever.
curt, that is a terrible idea. :)
When you come back from your break, my suggestion would be to study for both PPD and PDD at the same time. I don't think any of the study guide publishers have figured out the dividing line between what will be in one division versus another at this point. Ballast can't even keep it straight between their own review manual and their own practice exam.
To be honest, I don't even think NCARB has that dividing line well defined. There were definitely questions on the PPD exam that felt like it was the level of detail that should have been on the PDD exam. There were at least two that I can easily remember because they were very similar to two of the PDD sample questions in the ARE 5.0 Handbook.
EI, I have been studying for everything all together already. I have no plans to purchase any 5.0 materials. There has always been some crossover and I imagine the tests in 5.0 have even more crossover. I think that's good because it requires knowledge that can only be integrated through experience and not just studying to pass. Makes me wonder how the schools who are starting to offer the license concurrent with the degree are going to do it and if those persons are going to do well.
You're probably well on your way then. My office's 4.0 study materials have all but disappeared at this point except for some scanned copies of some materials floating around in various places on the server (if you know where to look). I could find everything I needed for the 3 divisions in 4.0. However, I was having trouble finding materials for the last 4 divisions to use for studying for 5.0. In the end I felt spending the money to get something 'complete' in 5.0 would be worth it so I forked over the cash for Ballast's review manual.
I'm not that impressed with it. I think I would have been better off just sticking with 4.0 materials and supplementing where I felt there were some holes. It's been a good overview, but when it gets into detail or depth in a subject matter, I don't think the detail is worth it (i.e. it won't be on the test). And where more detail would be warranted, there is nothing. After taking PPD, I went looking for answers to questions that troubled me and I have found very little to help in Ballast. Yet, I have found some of it in the 4.0 materials (from Kaplan for example).
The new job is going great, though.
EI, I have some old study material from the '90's that I use. The content doesn't change all that much from ARE version to ARE version, just how it is organized. Sustainability has changed since then but not enough to matter. Kaplan tends to be more detailed and Ballast is more general and simplified but I have both and am glad I do. I do a lot of my own supplementing. I have other books especially for the history and theory stuff and the MEP and Structural stuff. And you need a copy of the main contracts of course, the study guides won't give you enough you have to read them yourself.
I've also found that there are plenty of videos on youtube that fill in the gaps. Like I didn't know what a slurry wall was, had never seen one, couldn't picture it from what was written in the study guides but I watched a few youtube videos and voila. I have yet to see it on the test though. There are videos on acoustics, force diagrams, concrete. wood grading and joinery, door hardware... things that aren't exclusive to archs but other disciplines like engineering or trades have to study as well. Not so much on CD's or AIA docs for example. Watching videos is a good break from reading. I better get back on that.
do you have to do 5.0 at this point? It would seem to me far easier to finish in 4.0, even though it is more exams since the study material is better and pass rates are bound to be far higher.
sorry, can't help much if 5.0 is your only option
also, videos are great for the vignettes especially, look at vimeo as well
I'm midway through, and intending to finish on 4.0. 5.0 seems like an improvement, but like you said, the study materials are well-vetted and I expect to have an easier time passing the ones I have left.
I believe you can continue with 4.0 until some time in 2018, as long as you've already started. I think the cutoff to start 4.0 was sometime last summer.
No vignettes and a loophole where I only have to take 5 tests total means the transition to 5.0 was worth it for me. I hated 4.0. I have never failed a multiple choice portion but failed 2 vignettes in 4.0 with minor errors. They gave me an easier vignette the 3rd time I think they took pity on me. I had to practice the software about 10 hours and I was in denial before that, thought I could just run through it once and figure it out. I think 10 hours is a ridiculous amount of time to spend learning an arcane, overly simplistic, sim city type program for a professional examination. Glad they got rid of them.
Yeah the vignettes are bullshit but I never really had a problem with them. It's just about putting yourself in the right mindset, which is to solve the problem with as little consideration of "design" as possible.
I'm taking SD in January. Meant to take it in September but, you know, life took over.
It was the site section I failed twice. No chance for overdoing the design. I think I just couldn't pan and zoom properly. Put me on the short bus if I belong there.
I love the animations that Hayward Baker has on youtube for structural and civil concepts.
CDS and PPP were pretty easy for me with my experience. All I really needed was a quick review and then to study for the vignettes. SPD was a little harder, I needed more supplemental material ... even then, most of the effort was spent figuring out the vignette.
I'm finding that I need to pull out old college textbooks for some of the MEP and structural content areas; things I don't get a lot of exposure to in my current role. Everything else the new PPD and PDD divisions are covering is pretty straightforward for me; a quick review is all I think I need. For PPD I felt comfortable with everything that came up except for some MEP items that surprised me (more E than M or P).
My choice to switch to 5.0 instead of finishing out 4.0 was similar to what tintt outlined. Add to that a self-imposed deadline of a baby coming and that I wanted to finish testing and just be able to focus on being an architect dad rather than an aspiring architect dad. Taking two tests instead of four was just too much of an opportunity to pass up.
I believe you can continue with 4.0 until some time in 2018, as long as you've already started. I think the cutoff to start 4.0 was sometime last summer.
You had to have requested your eligibility to test in 4.0 prior to the release of 5.0 on Nov 1st.
Thanks for the channel. Just what I need to get back into it. I like to watch fire documentaries too. Like this one Hartford Hospital Fire and this one MGM Las Vegas.
I have passed the 3 required 4.0 exams to transition to 5.0, which I did Nov. 1st and took both PPD & PDD, that said, IMHO PDD is basically PPD with a watered down steriod shot. at this point I refuse to buy any 5.0 material so I just reviewd the ncarb guide *joke* and all my 4.0 ballast, kaplan, jennys notes & various websites specifically,
http://are-review.blogspot.com/p/cds.html, in the mean time i am waiting to here back about scores so I consider this my break incase I need to retake any exams
Happy Testing ;D
So you are setting curve then, theta. Good to know.
^ honestly i was more along the thoughts:
• $100 gift card = $110 per ea. exam (plus $420 w/ work reimbursement upon pass) So even if i fail both (which I hope not) its like failing one exam
• 5 total exams
• no more stupid vignettes (failed bdcs & spd in 4.0 by failing vignette somehow)
• I would rather have 120 mixed questions of structures, building systems, building design & construction systems sprinkled wit PPP, than 90 questions of each alone with a 16th century vignette to top off
• I wud rather do hot spots that relate way more to daily practice than vignettes
• I wud rather do case studies that relate to daily practice than spd vignette
NCARB emailed me and told me I was guaranteed to get the gift cards if I test before the end of January. Makes me think not too many are taking them and they need more test takers to establish the cut scores. They grade on a curve apparently. I agree with all u say theta. 16th century vignettes, ha ha. Give me a case study or hot spot anytime over a vignette that tests your ability to get properly coached on what "near" means to NCARB or whether you have previously determined if looking across a parking to a pond is a nice view or not. Only in NCARB world is that a nice view. What if there is a tall trucked parked in the lot? Oh don't overthink it! Pretend otherwise!
"I would rather have 120 mixed questions of structures, building systems, building design & construction systems sprinkled wit PPP, than 90 questions of each alone with a 16th century vignette to top off"
and
"I wud rather do hot spots that relate way more to daily practice than vignettes"
This is why we abandoned the US exams. Ours are exactly as you describe... and metric.
Canadian smarties pants.
I would encourage anyone who delayed taking the exams to take them now. Wurdan, I'm talking to you.
tintt, 5.0 exam testing update,
https://are5community.ncarb.org/hc/en-us/articles/115000084348-ARE-5-0-Administrations-Update!
oggi è una bella giornata ;D
good to know. gracias.
I mean grazie.
I met a potential client for one project, only to find out they need proposals for two! Ruh-oh!
I don't understand any of what anyone is saying in here anymore. They are changing the exams?
Beta, not a bad problem to have ;-) Josh, a VERY bad problem to have!! Send them a copy of the Grinch. WTH?!
congrats to all the people "expecting". (a euphemism i hate).
kids are the best. so fucking hilarious. mine entertains us every night. at first i was like, is it weird that i don't go out any more? and now i'm like, hahahaha all you suckers who have to go out for entertainment. all i have to do is sit on the sofa with a glass of wine and watch my kid bust out some jokes and games. sweeeeet.
Josh, isn't that what you want?
To distract me from the lonely life I lead? Not even my friends can stand me for any elongated period of time.
Cheers Josh, don't beat yourself up like that.
Josh, I feel for you.
Many moons ago I was the newbie that had to manage the phones for the week of holiday silence. Good thing is that with all that silence I was able to get work done AND find out what else was going on the office by looking at what people left on their desks.
Regardless I'll raise my egg nog beverages with you in mind.
Josh, perhaps a nice pretty salesperson or delivery girl will stop in next week while you are there alone.
I remember a whole team of us working Christmas Eve one year in order to get out a series of projects for the University of Arizona. It was all code related fixes to old buildings, mostly exterior stairs to address fire escape issues. I recall one of the senior partners popping into the office at about 8:00 pm and saying nice job people.....but he didn't even leave us a bottle of wine...oh humbug! The project had to be done before the end of the year and the Engineers needed the last week to finish up their work by January 1.
I'm so Over NCARB.....lol.....Mean Joke!
(Josh isn't in Seattle. David is.)
To meet your doppelgänger? (Sorry, couldn't resist)
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