Passed and DONE

[shedliving]

I've been logging into the website and hitting refresh every day since I took the test. Waking up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat, reliving the vignette, decision by decision (even though it's extremely easy). This was it for me - the final test. As soon as my alarm went off yesterday I logged in on my phone, dreary eyed - 8 days had gone by since taking the exam so I didn't expect to see anything - but there it was...Structural Systems and a PASS!!! I thought I was dreaming. Slapped myself awake, called NCARB half awake asking if this is real. They were like - Yes, it's real, but you're not going to get an email for another few hours. Later in the day I got the email, and late last night (like 1 in the morning) I got an email from NCARB that said "Congratulations! You have completed IDP and ARE". So Thrilled!

My first thought about this test - take it after you take everything else - Particularly Building Design and Construction Systems. You have 125 questions, and maybe 20 of them are math problems - almost half of those are simple enough to solve with basic multiplication and division, without need for a formula.
DO NOT STRESS OUT ABOUT THE MATH. I can't believe the complexity of the math problems on the ballast practice test and review questions - it's way beyond what you need for this test. Too much time spent on math is a bad idea.

I say, take BDCS first. This test will be so much easier if you do that. At one point I felt like I was just clicking off the right answers, no more then 15-20 seconds per question - it was just so obvious what the right answer was, and I felt extra confident because of taking and passing BDCS. Please do this first! (my one and only request)

Know what moment and shear diagrams look like for simply supported and continuous beams - just familiarize yourself with this. Review a few times.

Prepare yourself generally for questions to do with lateral earthquake forces, wind forces, but beyond that don't stress. Remember - the math problems are MINIMAL on this exam, and if you can just get 1/2 or 1/4 or them right, you're ahead of the game. Everything that Mike and Jenny say in their notes is good general stuff to review. Make your own notes, study more the things you aren't sure about.

Study every day - I did something I never thought I'd have to do which is pass 3 exams in 2 months. Three of the Toughest - PPP, BDCS, SS. The only way I was able to make this happen was to study every day. Gang Chen says something good in his book which I bought - I didn't do his practice test, but I just read his tips. He says something to the effect of "your short term memory is like a glass of water with a hole in the bottom - the water keeps draining out, so you have to keep filling it up again" Just keep reviewing, reviewing, reviewing.

One last thing - I think the absolute BEST resource for understanding general structures/structural concepts is a set of videos by Professor Stephen Ressler
Understanding the World's Greatest Structures: Science and Innovation from Antiquity to Modernity. Worth every penny:

Relax - this exam really isn't so bad. Easy for me to say now, but it really is.

That's it for me! Done with this process. Everyone who hasn't passed already, victory is definitely within reach - just keep reviewing! You WILL do it!

[Lukas Podolski]

Great post, thanks! And congrats!

[cathaejo]

Wow!!! Congratulations!!!