fails. help!!

fails. help!!

Postby dgarch » Thu Mar 29, 2018 7:57 pm

I'll just say it - i cant seem to pass these exams. I've studied, I know this material, and i simply dont think I can study any more. Its all in my head and becoming very redundant. I've taken SPD, CDS and PPP and failed them all, but usually just one category at a level 2, and everything else at a level 1. I failed both the CDS and PPP vignettes, but the hard part is that i have NO idea why. And I watched the dorf video, I practiced, etc.

I can say for sure that I am an intelligent person and I do well at my job, and have degrees from two great universities. I am stopping myself from falling into the mind set of "well i guess its not meant to be" but there is something I'm obviously doing wrong. I don't fully understand why it is my peers seem to be able to pass these things and I continue to fall short. I keep thinking there is a strategy to answering some of the really obscure questions that I haven't caught on to. Any advice on answering really random questions?

Any advice or test taking strategies are appreciated. sorry to make this a therapy session, and thanks!
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Re: fails. help!!

Postby atmosquare » Fri Mar 30, 2018 1:21 am

you should upload your vignettes on this site for feedback.

another idea is to transition to 5.0, if vignettes are no good for you.

good luck
Last edited by atmosquare on Wed Apr 04, 2018 6:46 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: fails. help!!

Postby Melon Panda » Sat Mar 31, 2018 3:19 pm

Welcome to the ARE World! Now you know it’s real!!!

- MP
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Re: fails. help!!

Postby standard » Sun Apr 01, 2018 11:03 pm

First - dont ever believe that you cannot pass these exams. You can. Youve made it through many years of university schooling and this is no harder than any other test. It's kind of late at this hour - but I'll try to explain some of by best guesses at the problems you are encountering and how to address them. But as a previous poster mentioned, look into the 5.0, I think the old tests are retiring soon anyway.
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Re: fails. help!!

Postby nickedemus » Mon Apr 02, 2018 5:11 am

dgarch wrote:I failed both the CDS and PPP vignettes, but the hard part is that i have NO idea why. And I watched the dorf video, I practiced, etc.


Some advice I can give you for the vignettes:

* Don't get creative with the solutions. Do exactly what they ask of you in the program.
* Don't be sloppy with your line work.
* When you are practicing, set yourself up the same way that you would when you are in the testing center. Staple 2 11x17 sheets down the middle, fold them, and use them for scrap paper. Set a timer.
* Practice over and over again, even if you're bored to tears solving the same problem over and over again. Building muscle memory helps a lot.
* Get to know the quirks of each vignette. It's all the same platform, but each vignette has different tolerances and different tricks to get the tools to do what you want them to do.
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Re: fails. help!!

Postby drummer03 » Mon Apr 02, 2018 8:00 am

I was able to pass the PPP exam on my Sixth Try. The five "FAILS" I had previous to my "PASS" were due to Failing the Vignette. I had the same vignette on Exams 1 and 3 and still failed it. So trust me I know how that feels. This Vignette is straight forward. The only thing I can tell you that I did different from exam 1 to Exam 6 is that I literally took my time on the 6th try. Like you stated there is no feedback and I had no Freaking Idea what I was doing wrong. I just knew I kept getting 3s on the exam report. This was infuriating. My advise is this: you know how to do it! you watched the videos, read samples, practiced with the software so when you get to the Exam just check every line, every measurement, setbacks and line of sights. check them, check them and check them again. I know this sounds like a no brainer but many times we get done with these vignettes so fast that "we checked" out and miss the mistake.
Good luck. Don't give up. Don't let this Exams mess with you Confidence in how competent you are.
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Re: fails. help!!

Postby amb0020 » Mon Apr 02, 2018 10:39 am

I would try making a checklist. That way, when you're done with the vignette, you can go back and check off everything to needed to do. This helped me a lot. I'd also watch the NCARB videos for the vignettes. They explain critical fails and non-critical errors you might be making. Some are better than others though. Don't get discouraged; you'll get there.
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Re: fails. help!!

Postby nickedemus » Tue Apr 03, 2018 5:45 am

drummer03 wrote:just check every line, every measurement, setbacks and line of sights. check them, check them and check them again. I know this sounds like a no brainer but many times we get done with these vignettes so fast that "we checked" out and miss the mistake.


amb0020 wrote:I would try making a checklist. That way, when you're done with the vignette, you can go back and check off everything to needed to do. This helped me a lot. I'd also watch the NCARB videos for the vignettes. They explain critical fails and non-critical errors you might be making. Some are better than others though. Don't get discouraged; you'll get there.


I forgot, I did this too. Part of my practice sessions would include checking my vignettes for errors. So, if I had 60 minutes to complete the vignette, I would aim to complete it in 45 minutes with 15 minutes left over for checking and error correction. And I would go through the checking process EVERY TIME. And one of the first things I did during the practice sessions was jot down a list of the things that needed to be checked and come up with a system for ensuring they got done. I set up my scrap paper with a specific area for this. In fact a big part of the practice session for me was to figure out the best way to set up my scrap paper in general. This became part of the muscle memory that I built.
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Re: fails. help!!

Postby kerzzo » Fri Apr 20, 2018 7:22 am

as I was growing up, one of my mentors said that if Frank Loyd Wright , lecorbusier and van der rohe took the exam without any preparation and understanding what the exam would be about, they would fail pretty badly.

a lot of these topics we already know in real life, but the way NCARB asks and torture us about on these exams is a different animal.
just don't get discouraged, It is not easy, but keep trying.
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