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2.5 Years, Done with ARE

PostPosted: Wed Aug 02, 2017 7:11 am
by B-Money
Longtime lurker here...

I did the 3+2 ARE 4.0 & 5.0 Method
Took CDS, SPD, PPP then took a summer off before transitioning to the new 5.0. Was hesitant to jump the 4.0 ship but was glad I did. Many fails in both 4.0 and 5.0.

Study Materials Used for 5.0:
Building Construction Illustrated - heavily read
Building Codes Illustrated - lightly read
Ballast PPD and PDD sections - read and re-read
Jenny's and Caroline's BDCS, BS, SPD, PPP, Struct Notes - flipped through when I had breaks
Brightwood Word bank Questions - daily use
Designer Hacks PDD Exam Questions - daily use
Someone to help cook, clean, laundry - heavily used

Study Strategy:
Schedule my exam for a Monday about 3-4 weeks out.
Building Construction Illustrated - read cover to cover which took me about 14-18 days.
Ballast PPD and PDD. These need to be studied together. By the time I retook both, I had a good base of studying both sections and had marked sticky notes in sections to review for both PPD and PDD.
Took the last week to review all the sticky note tabs I had in PPD and PDD (about 55 tabs total, averaged out to 7 tabs to review a night.
Took mix of 35 questions every day. Literally every day. (10 from Brightwood, 25 from Designer Hacks or visa versa).
The last Saturday I used the Ballast PDD and PPD practice problems (250 questions total).
The last Sunday I used the Ballast PDD and PPD practice exam (240 questions total).
Get some good sleep with no phone distractions (airplane mode from Sunday until Monday after the exam).

5.0 Exam strategy:
Take all the multiple choice questions in order (took me about an hour, hour 20)
Skip, but mark, any equation or fill in the blank questions
Once I reached the case studies, I went back and did all of the calculation questions (took me about 20-30 mins)
This left about 1 hour 45 mins to 2 hours for the case studies
Finish the case study questions (about 45 mins left in the exam)
Hit my break (15 mins to cool off before reviewing everything)
Use the remainder of the time to review the questions I marked
Usually had time to review 60 questions and then narrow those down to 20-30 that I was really not sure of for a final review in the remaining 15-20 mins
Happy to answer any questions, I just wanted to share my personal strategy because I found it helpful when I read other people's strategies while studying.

The best advice is to not give up, it's OK to fail. They are doable.

BMoney

Re: 2.5 Years, Done with ARE

PostPosted: Thu Aug 03, 2017 9:44 pm
by cloudyy
Congratulations! And thanks for your strategy.

Re: 2.5 Years, Done with ARE

PostPosted: Sat Aug 05, 2017 2:53 pm
by tmston2
congrats!

Re: 2.5 Years, Done with ARE

PostPosted: Sun Sep 10, 2017 2:26 pm
by Lucas Edens
Congrats!

What would you say was the most useful resource?

Thanks.

Re: 2.5 Years, Done with ARE

PostPosted: Tue Sep 12, 2017 8:17 am
by B-Money
Lucas Edens wrote:Congrats!

What would you say was the most useful resource?

Thanks.


Definitely Ballast for me, but also the consistency of reading everyday paired with questions after reading.