Ballast ARE Review Manual and SS exam

Structural Layout Vignette and Multiple Choice

Ballast ARE Review Manual and SS exam

Postby raaz227 » Thu Jun 01, 2017 7:57 am

Man, these Ballast chapters are a heavy read. I've done well with this book on four other exams but I feel like I'm spinning my wheels. I find myself trying to understand all the given equations and details.

Anyone who used this book and passed, how much did you really spend on reviewing each chapter? How much did you focus on their sample questions? Is this much detail really going to come up on the exam? I feel they really testing your understanding.

I have already read B@R wind and started seismic. I have Mikes notes and looking forward to those. Also I have Jenny's notes and Ballast Sample Q's. I know people love the Thaddeus course but I would like to save that as a last resort.

I'm just trying to budget my time.

Any insight is greatly appreciated. Thanks!
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Re: Ballast ARE Review Manual and SS exam

Postby corbismyhomeboy » Thu Jun 01, 2017 10:54 am

I tried reading Ballast, and just could not stomach it. Try skipping the example problems. They are way too involved for what will be on this exam. Do the same if you are planning to read Kaplan. I hear there is a good set of 500 questions Kaplan puts out that are very helpful. I personally didn't do that, and focused on just getting through Ballast, Kaplan, Thaddeus course, FEMA docs, and all of the ArchiFlash flashcards. Instead I used the ArchiFlash (NALSA) flashcards as my practice questions. Make sure you look up the reference material so you know what you'll have walking in since for this one NCARB doesn't actually give it to you prior.

I know you are waiting to buy Thaddeus as a last resort, but I will say, I am confident that I wouldn't have even come close to passing this exam if it wasn't for that course. I spent a solid MONTH trying to read through Ballast, and got very little out of it due to the density of information. I felt like I was spinning my wheels, getting nowhere, and the time until my exam just kept ticking down. If you are thinking about getting it, you have access to the videos for 8 weeks, and it will take you awhile to get through all of them. I was able to power through them in 3 weeks only because I had a weird flu type virus for almost one whole week causing me to be bedridden for 3-4 days where I could just watch the videos for 6-8 hours/day.

Regardless of if you get Thaddeus or don't, really try to focus more on the concepts and don't worry too much about the math.
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Re: Ballast ARE Review Manual and SS exam

Postby raaz227 » Thu Jun 01, 2017 11:21 am

corbismyhomeboy wrote:I tried reading Ballast, and just could not stomach it. Try skipping the example problems. They are way too involved for what will be on this exam. Do the same if you are planning to read Kaplan. I hear there is a good set of 500 questions Kaplan puts out that are very helpful. I personally didn't do that, and focused on just getting through Ballast, Kaplan, Thaddeus course, FEMA docs, and all of the ArchiFlash flashcards. Instead I used the ArchiFlash (NALSA) flashcards as my practice questions. Make sure you look up the reference material so you know what you'll have walking in since for this one NCARB doesn't actually give it to you prior.

I know you are waiting to buy Thaddeus as a last resort, but I will say, I am confident that I wouldn't have even come close to passing this exam if it wasn't for that course. I spent a solid MONTH trying to read through Ballast, and got very little out of it due to the density of information. I felt like I was spinning my wheels, getting nowhere, and the time until my exam just kept ticking down. If you are thinking about getting it, you have access to the videos for 8 weeks, and it will take you awhile to get through all of them. I was able to power through them in 3 weeks only because I had a weird flu type virus for almost one whole week causing me to be bedridden for 3-4 days where I could just watch the videos for 6-8 hours/day.

Regardless of if you get Thaddeus or don't, really try to focus more on the concepts and don't worry too much about the math.


Thanks for the advice!
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Re: Ballast ARE Review Manual and SS exam

Postby spike » Fri Jun 02, 2017 2:36 pm

I just passed my Structures a few weeks back...and I had the same issue with Ballast....goes into so much detail that you wonder if its really worth it.
I consider myself ok at structures not the greatest but feel I have an understanding of things. frankly speaking I took my sweet time studying for structures maybe an hour or two everyday. Read through Ballast ...skipped all the too complicated problems but really trying to get an overall picture...and marking with post its the things that I had to revisit....problems important facts etc.

the last two weeks I went back and started solving the problems and and brushing up things that I was not too familiar with....earthquake problems and truss problems were not my Fav :(. I am still not confident solving them.

understanding is the key.....about the diff forces and where they act and what kind of structures experience what kind of forces.
I did not do the Thaddeus course and got through half of Kaplan questions. I did do the 3.0 NSLA flash cards which has always always been very helpful for me.

I think I just got lucky.

Wish you luck too
Last edited by spike on Sat Jun 03, 2017 2:39 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Ballast ARE Review Manual and SS exam

Postby gbalaka » Fri Jun 02, 2017 2:52 pm

Kaplan was a much better read for the SS exam. The example problems were also a lot easier to understand.

Do not get caught up in the extremely long problems. Just understand the main concept behind the main equations....shear diagrams...moment diagrams.. that sort of thing.

I refused to touch Ballast for SS....it's just WAY too detailed and you forget about the big concepts. We're not structural engineers.
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Re: Ballast ARE Review Manual and SS exam

Postby raaz227 » Fri Jun 02, 2017 3:08 pm

Thanks all! This is really helpful and boosting my confidence. I was really getting bogged down. The last couple days I've started picking up the pace with Ballast. I also discovered the Dilip Khatri videos - they are great!
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Re: Ballast ARE Review Manual and SS exam

Postby raaz227 » Thu Jul 27, 2017 7:01 am

Well, after getting most of the way through Ballast and getting overly frustrated I sprung for Thaddeus. Totally worth the $$. I really enjoyed his teaching strategy. It was really engaging. I didn't stress over the math as Thaddeus and others on this board suggest.

I took the exam on 7/13 and had few math problems. Some of the answers I used my best judgement. The idea of knowing the concepts couldn't be more true. After an agonizing two weeks (because of an apparent power outage at Prometric) I got my PASS today!! Thanks to Thaddeus and ARE Coach.

On to SD on 8/21..
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Re: Ballast ARE Review Manual and SS exam

Postby techtonix » Thu Jul 27, 2017 8:10 pm

damn, I wish I had read this thread BEFORE wasting two weeks on Ballast. I say wasting because almost none of their equations I ended up understanding. I LOVED Ballast for the other 6 tests I passed however.

I've been diggin these videos by Khatri on the equasions only
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mblno8v ... freload=10

WHERE DO I GET THE FEMA stuff from? and the B@R stuff?
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