Preparing to start taking my exams and was wondering has any licensed architect here or know someone that has taking any study courses like Funkaar studios (approx. $3,000 for the full course) to prepare for the exams. I want to complete all my exams within a year.
I currently have all the index cards and all the main reading materials and can get the AIA contract documents.
Zbig
Jul 20, 15 2:12 pm
How many years experience? More experience usually translates into better chances in some of the sections and lower chances in other sections. Easier on the practical aspects, harder on the theoretical and historical.
If you are experienced, you don't need any comprehensive study course. I studied from the books with the only exception of Structural where I took the Thaddeus course. It took me one year, but with dedication and enough study time, it can be done in less time. The only issue being that you will be scheduling some sections before you take others.
Head over to the arecoach forums and introduce yourself. That forum is specific to the ARE.
shellarchitect
Jul 20, 15 5:05 pm
Unless you're a fresh grad I suspect those courses are prob a waste of time.
get your hands on Kaplan for everything but structural, use ballast for structures. and spend a lot of time on the arecoach. There are a couple really good study guides, Caroline's notes, and Jenny's notes.
Just be aware that there is a lot of over-studying over there, some people fail a test and assume that they should have read every book ever written.
Get into it now before the test changes format
Anob
Jul 20, 15 5:16 pm
Almost 4years of architectural experience.
Zbig
Jul 21, 15 8:15 am
Anob,
With 4 years your are pretty much in the middle. I hope you still remember the historical and theoretical aspects of the profession that us old-timers have forgotten after learning in school. You probably have good experience on the practice of architecture, but not great yet. You have the best of both worlds. You don't need expensive courses, the only exception being Thaddeus for structure. Even that is only needed if you are struggling with the structural concepts like I was.
Kaplan books for each section are great for all sections.
Some of the additional material is very important, especially the AIA documents. You only really need to know the important ones and have a strong knowledge of the design and construction process.
Some of the vignettes are procedural. You practice so you don't miss a step, and you can ace them. A few require creativity to solve, but not style. No points for style.
Again, I recommend signing up for the AREcoach forums where you can get feedback on your practice vignettes and solve questions that you are having trouble with.
LITS4FormZ
Jul 21, 15 8:52 am
I just passed building systems and only used this course. Watch the videos(that are actually well done) for 12 hours, take exam two days later and you will pass.
I passed SS recently and i highly recommend NOT using Kaplan. It was chock full of errata. Coach's ARE forum is a fantastic resource. I also recommend either Thaddeus or Mitalski's course for SS (I took Mitalski- he's great). Ballast is far superior to Kaplan but often a bit too comprehensive.
s=r*(theta)
Jul 27, 15 5:28 pm
I agree, if you have 4yrs of good varied experience (not just drawing bathroom elevations for 4yrs) all you really need is AREcoach, kaplan, ballast, ncarb study guides at their website, and a few books here and there. otherwise, i definitley would not pay $3k, plus $1,470 (if you pass all exams on the 1st try) plus whatever you pay for study material, and ncarb fee if you dnt pass them all in one year, and licensing fee once you pass them all.
(i have 5 1/2yrs experience, and i have passed spd, cds, ppp, studying for bs & sd to take in the the next month or so
Good afternoon,
Preparing to start taking my exams and was wondering has any licensed architect here or know someone that has taking any study courses like Funkaar studios (approx. $3,000 for the full course) to prepare for the exams. I want to complete all my exams within a year.
I currently have all the index cards and all the main reading materials and can get the AIA contract documents.
How many years experience? More experience usually translates into better chances in some of the sections and lower chances in other sections. Easier on the practical aspects, harder on the theoretical and historical.
If you are experienced, you don't need any comprehensive study course. I studied from the books with the only exception of Structural where I took the Thaddeus course. It took me one year, but with dedication and enough study time, it can be done in less time. The only issue being that you will be scheduling some sections before you take others.
Head over to the arecoach forums and introduce yourself. That forum is specific to the ARE.
Unless you're a fresh grad I suspect those courses are prob a waste of time.
get your hands on Kaplan for everything but structural, use ballast for structures. and spend a lot of time on the arecoach. There are a couple really good study guides, Caroline's notes, and Jenny's notes.
Just be aware that there is a lot of over-studying over there, some people fail a test and assume that they should have read every book ever written.
Get into it now before the test changes format
Almost 4years of architectural experience.
Anob,
With 4 years your are pretty much in the middle. I hope you still remember the historical and theoretical aspects of the profession that us old-timers have forgotten after learning in school. You probably have good experience on the practice of architecture, but not great yet. You have the best of both worlds. You don't need expensive courses, the only exception being Thaddeus for structure. Even that is only needed if you are struggling with the structural concepts like I was.
Kaplan books for each section are great for all sections.
Some of the additional material is very important, especially the AIA documents. You only really need to know the important ones and have a strong knowledge of the design and construction process.
Some of the vignettes are procedural. You practice so you don't miss a step, and you can ace them. A few require creativity to solve, but not style. No points for style.
Again, I recommend signing up for the AREcoach forums where you can get feedback on your practice vignettes and solve questions that you are having trouble with.
I just passed building systems and only used this course. Watch the videos(that are actually well done) for 12 hours, take exam two days later and you will pass.
http://arebuildingsystems.com/
I passed SS recently and i highly recommend NOT using Kaplan. It was chock full of errata. Coach's ARE forum is a fantastic resource. I also recommend either Thaddeus or Mitalski's course for SS (I took Mitalski- he's great). Ballast is far superior to Kaplan but often a bit too comprehensive.
I agree, if you have 4yrs of good varied experience (not just drawing bathroom elevations for 4yrs) all you really need is AREcoach, kaplan, ballast, ncarb study guides at their website, and a few books here and there. otherwise, i definitley would not pay $3k, plus $1,470 (if you pass all exams on the 1st try) plus whatever you pay for study material, and ncarb fee if you dnt pass them all in one year, and licensing fee once you pass them all.
(i have 5 1/2yrs experience, and i have passed spd, cds, ppp, studying for bs & sd to take in the the next month or so
Happy studying & i wish you the best!!!!!