Passed 1st try
Posted: Sat Oct 19, 2019 1:28 pmIt's been almost 14 years since I took my first ARE. A major life event disrupted my progress halfway through and I got back to the exams about 2 years ago. I took a 6 month break before CRE.
The CRE was hard and I'm surprised I passed. The project-specific questions weren't so bad but when I got to the General Section it became a beast. Twice during this section I almost gave up and walked out (don't do that). I finished with 10 minutes to spare and changed a few answers on my marked questions.
It's a little cruel to not allow a bathroom/water break for 3.5+ hours.
For studying, every day I worked through my old Pass X Flashcards from 2014. They're not current but the information is fully relevant. I read most of the CAB materials items and re-listened to some Hanahan Schiff Hardin lectures. I perused CBC and dug into CALGreen especially chapter 5. I took the CAB practice quiz 3 days before the exam and failed-- going back to re-answer, I had not been careful enough in analyzing those questions. I also used TWE, I listened to all of David's recordings once, some sections more. Highly recommend this portion, if you learn well from listening. For me it was great to have while commuting or doing chores. I did one of his practice tests but didn't read much of the accompanying study guide or flashcards. I also used Woo. I did one of his practice exams and read about 1/4 of his booklet. Both these 3rd party are helpful but not as well written or well-organized as the third party material for ARE.
Know Architects Practice Act. Know CALgreen. Know Essential Services Buildings and all the agencies and how they inter-relate, who does what and in what order. Know AIA contracts. Know how to make a decision that is reasonable given the context. Know what you learned for ARE. Parse out the questions and answers carefully and find all the key words. Toss out the words that don't apply. One word can completely define what they're asking you to do and it's often not obvious.
Good luck everyone! COACH thank you so much for this forum. I really learned a lot here, it was an especially wonderful resource during the times I had no one to study with.
The CRE was hard and I'm surprised I passed. The project-specific questions weren't so bad but when I got to the General Section it became a beast. Twice during this section I almost gave up and walked out (don't do that). I finished with 10 minutes to spare and changed a few answers on my marked questions.
It's a little cruel to not allow a bathroom/water break for 3.5+ hours.
For studying, every day I worked through my old Pass X Flashcards from 2014. They're not current but the information is fully relevant. I read most of the CAB materials items and re-listened to some Hanahan Schiff Hardin lectures. I perused CBC and dug into CALGreen especially chapter 5. I took the CAB practice quiz 3 days before the exam and failed-- going back to re-answer, I had not been careful enough in analyzing those questions. I also used TWE, I listened to all of David's recordings once, some sections more. Highly recommend this portion, if you learn well from listening. For me it was great to have while commuting or doing chores. I did one of his practice tests but didn't read much of the accompanying study guide or flashcards. I also used Woo. I did one of his practice exams and read about 1/4 of his booklet. Both these 3rd party are helpful but not as well written or well-organized as the third party material for ARE.
Know Architects Practice Act. Know CALgreen. Know Essential Services Buildings and all the agencies and how they inter-relate, who does what and in what order. Know AIA contracts. Know how to make a decision that is reasonable given the context. Know what you learned for ARE. Parse out the questions and answers carefully and find all the key words. Toss out the words that don't apply. One word can completely define what they're asking you to do and it's often not obvious.
Good luck everyone! COACH thank you so much for this forum. I really learned a lot here, it was an especially wonderful resource during the times I had no one to study with.