I have recently passed my first subject of the Architect Registration Exam (ARE), project management. Here are a few thoughts for those interested.
First off, I did go online and read through some common forum threads on NCARB or other related website such as the Young Architects blogs. It was helpful to give me a big picture of things before I knew anything of the exams.
I had no idea where to start. Then I read that people actually group subjects. That makes sense. Architect’s qualifications are usually less strictly compartmentalized than something like a subjects on a math test. Knowledge in one area could very well inform others. For example, the project management (PjM), practice management (PcM) and construction & evaluation (CE) are grouped together by many test takers because they all include the life cycle of a design project from conception to completion. That helped me focus on a “bundle” to start my ARE journey. I chose to start with PjM, PcM and CE because to me they sounded like the mechanical stuff. I can probably pass by just reading about them.
Secondly I used mostly two sources of preparation material, Ballast and Kaplan (now Brightwood). As you may have heard, Kaplan books are not as well written as the Ballast. From ARE 4.0 to 5.0, these two publishers both re-arranged texts in the book without much editing the content. However, Ballast managed to edit it enough to be more coherent. Kaplan books, although nicely separated into booklets as opposed to Ballast’s one giant brick, are redundant and sporadic.
It helped me reading through Kaplan nevertheless. Knowing it is perhaps less organized, I’d read through them less with less attention to detail and focus on covering topics. Kaplan can be an introduction to many concepts. Ballast will be a much refined read. It helped me understand the type of questions on the exam better.
Other than Ballast and Kaplan, I read the main agreement documents between contractor and owner, A201 of AIA. I’ve also read bits and pieces from the Handbook of Professional Practice. But overall, in a time crunch, Ballast and Kaplan are the best sources. As I said, the three subject “bundle” seems to be more mechanical, which means I needed to know the procedures involved in a project’s life. I can imagine that for the other three subjects, Ballast and Kaplan may not be enough. Buildings codes and specific rules in design may just be too vast to itemize in any single source.
Lastly the one important strategy I had while taking the test was to try to cover as many questions as possible in the first go. I knew from practice exam that time is short so during the actual exam I skipped long questions and anything that required too much thinking. Perhaps half of the questions were about concepts so I could read and question and pinpoint an answer within a minute. If i didn’t know the answer, I wouldn’t have inferred it anyhow on those. Then I’d come back and focus on one that needed a little thinking, or educated guessing, or calculations.
Be prepared to see a few questions that are off topic. There were a few simple math problems that seemed more of Program & Analysis than PjM. In general any test taking tips apply here as well. Try to relax but stay focused. Pick a time of the day where you are not dozing off. For me it’d be a disaster if I picked a slot right after lunch. Prometric centers have roomful of people taking test so don’t expect to be in perfect isolation/silence.
Good luck test takers.