Just Tested - Thoughts
Posted: Mon Feb 20, 2017 7:23 pm
(Will update in a couple of weeks(?) once I know if I passed)
Here are my thoughts (without getting too specific) based on what NCARB provides in the 5.0 study guide:
OBJECTIVE 1: Integration of Building Materials & Systems
I assumed this will involve doing actual calculations, especially given the equations provided in the reference material. This was not the case. Really was more of a focus on systems in general, and construction materials specifically. If I had to do it again, I would spend a day just reviewing Building Construction Illustrated rather than Structures. Drag & Drops and Hot-Spots are a nice addition - I felt those were very straight-forward although I also found I drew more from project experience and common-sense than from anything in the study guide. Multiple choice ranged from suspiciously easy to extremely specific.
OBJECTIVE 2: Construction Documentation
Fairly accurate. If you've taken CD's recently, you should be good here. Again, really a focus on details and integration of systems.
OBJECTIVE 3: Project Manual and Specifications
This really blurs with Objective 2, didn't feel there were many questions specifically targeting specs.
OBJECTIVE 4: Codes & Regulations
Know your ADA. Know historic preservation.
OBJECTIVE 5: Cost Estimating
Felt like there was more than 8% of the questions covering estimates. Simple math but questions were often multistep to get to the answer, so they took longer.
CASE STUDIES
There are/were 2 (I assume it's always 2 for PDD). Personally I found the case studies to be extremely simplistic. Again, was thinking there would be calculations required here, which proved to not be the case. I also found that 50% of the questions had nothing to do with the reference material (like I didn't even need 50% of the reference material) and at least 2 questions there was not enough information provided to answer. Spend some time with the practice exam mostly to get used to the interface, which as many have noted, is not great. The zoom feature on the documents is especially problematic, so get used to the idea that 'zooming in' actually means you want to 'zoom out' because the default is to go from PAGE WIDTH to 300% regardless of what you select. Still, an improvement over the vignettes.
My strategy was to do the first case study, switch over and do 50% of the multiple choice questions, take my break, and then do the remainder of the multiple choice and then the final case study - it took me about 3 hours to get through the entire exam, and I spent the last hour going back through and double checking all my answers. As all questions are worth 1 point and the case study is not scored independent of the rest of the exam, I don't know if it really matters which you start with.
All in all, I left feeling like it could either way. There's at least 3-5 I know off the bat I got wrong, but I've left 4.0 exams convinced I failed only to find out I passed, so here's hoping. Retake of PPD on 3/20 (was part of the 1/30 outage), which I would LOVE if it was my last exam!
Here are my thoughts (without getting too specific) based on what NCARB provides in the 5.0 study guide:
OBJECTIVE 1: Integration of Building Materials & Systems
I assumed this will involve doing actual calculations, especially given the equations provided in the reference material. This was not the case. Really was more of a focus on systems in general, and construction materials specifically. If I had to do it again, I would spend a day just reviewing Building Construction Illustrated rather than Structures. Drag & Drops and Hot-Spots are a nice addition - I felt those were very straight-forward although I also found I drew more from project experience and common-sense than from anything in the study guide. Multiple choice ranged from suspiciously easy to extremely specific.
OBJECTIVE 2: Construction Documentation
Fairly accurate. If you've taken CD's recently, you should be good here. Again, really a focus on details and integration of systems.
OBJECTIVE 3: Project Manual and Specifications
This really blurs with Objective 2, didn't feel there were many questions specifically targeting specs.
OBJECTIVE 4: Codes & Regulations
Know your ADA. Know historic preservation.
OBJECTIVE 5: Cost Estimating
Felt like there was more than 8% of the questions covering estimates. Simple math but questions were often multistep to get to the answer, so they took longer.
CASE STUDIES
There are/were 2 (I assume it's always 2 for PDD). Personally I found the case studies to be extremely simplistic. Again, was thinking there would be calculations required here, which proved to not be the case. I also found that 50% of the questions had nothing to do with the reference material (like I didn't even need 50% of the reference material) and at least 2 questions there was not enough information provided to answer. Spend some time with the practice exam mostly to get used to the interface, which as many have noted, is not great. The zoom feature on the documents is especially problematic, so get used to the idea that 'zooming in' actually means you want to 'zoom out' because the default is to go from PAGE WIDTH to 300% regardless of what you select. Still, an improvement over the vignettes.
My strategy was to do the first case study, switch over and do 50% of the multiple choice questions, take my break, and then do the remainder of the multiple choice and then the final case study - it took me about 3 hours to get through the entire exam, and I spent the last hour going back through and double checking all my answers. As all questions are worth 1 point and the case study is not scored independent of the rest of the exam, I don't know if it really matters which you start with.
All in all, I left feeling like it could either way. There's at least 3-5 I know off the bat I got wrong, but I've left 4.0 exams convinced I failed only to find out I passed, so here's hoping. Retake of PPD on 3/20 (was part of the 1/30 outage), which I would LOVE if it was my last exam!