GEEZ...ARE 5.0 questions are MORE ambiguous than 4.0!

GEEZ...ARE 5.0 questions are MORE ambiguous than 4.0!

Postby vrcat25 » Sun May 28, 2017 9:07 am

I finally took my first 5.0 test PPD after transitioning and am quite sure i failed. I only studied for 3 weeks and i can honestly say that no amount of studying could possibly prepare me for this test. It's not that the questions were difficult, it's that approximately 50 questions were ambiguous, vague and with no clear cut answer. We all know that the questions are for the most part, hypothetical or "best guess", but for 5.0 there seems to be even more. For example, there were multiple questions where you have to pick a point in space on a graphic or site plan where you feel as though something or a variety of items belongs. Part of the problem is that the programming is bad and instead of giving "options" or bubbles, you literally pick a point...TALK ABOUT RIDICULOUS! It kind of felt like "pin the tail on the donkey" without ever having the gratification of knowing how far off you were. On top of that, you may have to pick a point on a site plan in a case study where you feel as though an item goes and i'm not talking about a small site plan. I'm talking about large site plan with multiple buildings and site elements. For example, lets say a case study asks you to place an escalator in the most appropriate location given the information..how do you know if it's to be located on the inside or the outside and how can you possibly know with pinpoint accuracy where in one of the buildings it needs to go??? It boggles my mind that so many bad questions can appear on one test. If it were only a few, I wouldn't have such an issue and wouldn't even mention it, but again, there were approximately 50 ambiguous questions like this.

On top of everything else, there is a BIG time factor. I'm not being arrogant, but I pride myself on reading and comprehension and have always been a very fast and avid reader. You could probably even say i'm a speed reader. It's not uncommon for me to read over 200 pages per evening of MEEB and AHPP. I do have a full time job and don't just sit at home studying all day. With the case studies, you have to read/scan thru multiple codes and even formulas and search out pertinent information. Sure, you are giving a "search tool" and you better use it. This will save you time so that you can figure out a code formula or 2 that may appear on the case study...

All in all, this test felt like a "Rat Race". I may end up passing it, but I still felt like a rat... BTW, thanks to the 15 minute anytime break, i had just enough time to run to be bathroom...I really hope that NCARB releases the pass rates soon. I would be surprised if more than 50% pass. Maybe I just had a bad test and bad luck. What makes me think otherwise is that somebody else posted a similar description about this test and how he felt that the questions were bad. If you haven't taken this test, you will know exactly what i mean after you do. If you have taken this test and passed even, you have to admit that some of the questions are poorly constructed and lack common sense or any sense at all. I also had multiple questions that relied on climate condition factors, but were give NO CLIMATE REGION. I repeat, NO CLIMATE REGION was given for questions that RELY on the climate region. Another person has posted in the forum a question that was very similar and i know exactly which question now...

Good luck to everybody and make sure you prepare for a marathon rat race, but understand that if there's a bad question, don't get hung up on it. Save your time for some of the more reasonable questions. There's not many so be ready to just keep marking and answering so that at least you don't run out of time. If you spend the time needed to answer the bad questions and even the ones that are just formulas, you will definitely run out of time. I'm not sure i'll be more prepared for PDD, but at least I'll know what to expect. You have to be willing to throw away a few of these questions and hope that you make the cut score. Does anybody know what the percentage is approximately? I've heard somebody say it's 62%, but not sure where the heck they got that from...
vrcat25
 
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