PPD Pass and DONE.

PPD Pass and DONE.

Postby ThomKat » Fri Apr 02, 2021 11:12 am

I got a pass on PPD yesterday – it was my last exam. I started the exams in 4.0 and passed CDS, SPD, and PPP on the first try each, then transitioned to 5.0 and failed PPD and PDD back to back. I was discouraged and frustrated so I took some time off from the process (more time than I should have) before getting back to studying.

Materials:
Elif’s AREQuestions (https://arequestions.com) - Elif took these exams and made practice questions based on her study experience. These practice questions are pure gold.
Architects Studio Companion (ASC)
MEEB
Ballast ARE Review Manual
HyperFine
FEMA 454
Karin’s Notes
Heating, Cooling, and Lighting (HCL) – this especially if you can’t use MEEB

My Strategy for my retake:
I did Elif’s quizzes, anytime I missed a question I would find that topic in MEEB, Ballast, ASC, HCL, internet searches, etc. and study the topic IN ALL OF THE BOOKS/RESOURCES. For example, if I missed a question about the refrigeration cycle in Elif’s quizzes then I would open MEEB and read that section/take notes, then go to Ballast and read about it/take notes, then go to the internet and read about it there/take notes, etc.

Also, figure out what type of leaner you are – audio, visual, tactile, etc. I realized during this process I am a tactile learner. I process and learn by doing and writing so I have hundreds of pages where I drew diagrams, jotted down notes, etc. I have a friend who just passed her ARE’s also and she is a visual learner so she purchased the Amber videos and that worked best for her.

I was terrified to take this exam now without scratch paper since I am a tactile learner. I felt like not having scratch paper was like trying to take the exam without one of my arms. BUT I will give NCARB credit – they really did eliminate a lot of the questions that require scratch paper and only having 100 questions was a breath of fresh air. I did not feel rushed or overwhelmed.

After taking PPD three times, I was really confident about this last exam, but even still there was some questions I had to guess on. I will say some questions have ONE SINGLE WORD that changes exactly what they are asking for. USE THE HIGHLIGHT TOOL!!! I highlight every important word/phase in every question. It forced me to really read each word in the question and understand what was being asked. I know highlighting important words/phrases like that sounds incredibly tedious, but it worked for me.

I did the MC questions, took a break, then came back and finished up the case studies. I finished in about 3.5 hours.

Hope this helps – good luck to everyone still testing.
ThomKat
 
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