Pass and DONE... YES!!

Structural Layout Vignette and Multiple Choice

Pass and DONE... YES!!

Postby Joseluis778 » Wed Mar 14, 2018 9:03 pm

Wow, I can't believe I'm writing my own "Pass and done" post. :D

First thank you Coach, sparky, and everyone in this forum for all your help and all the invaluable information. I found the "pass posts" to be the most helpful, so I'm writing my own hoping that it will be of some help to you as well.
I gave myself 2 months to study. My approach step by step:

Step 1: Read Kaplan, (that was brutal). I skipped 90% of the calculations as advised on another post, pretty much reviewed only the basic ones.
Step 2: Read Ballast (better than Kaplan, more concise, but I found the calculations to be too much as well, I tried reading trough them but I got lost pretty quickly. Didn't let that bother me since I was planning to read it again.
Step 3: Signed up for PREPARE INC EQUALS course with Marc Mitalski. Highly recommend. He focuses a lot on the calculations, and explains everything in simple terms. He focuses on what you need to know as an Architect, and not all the crazy calculations that an Engineer would be required to do. I was able to finish the course in 2 weeks (the subscription is good for a month). I also signed up for the Practice Questions ($12/Month). What a steal! You can also use it to setup a mock exam with a time limit. Great for practice the Multiple Choice and calculations.
Step 4: Review my highlights from Kaplan and Ballast. Also review some of the EQUALS videos, and practice, practice, practice questions, mostly from EQUALS course, but I also practice 200 questions from Kaplan and also the NCARB sample questions (twice).
Step 5: Coach's video for the vignette. Highly, Highly, Highly recommend! Wow, what a time saver. Everything you need to know to pass this vignette, right to the point. I felt really confident after watching the video only once. I watched it a second time just before the exam to make sure I didn't forget anything. The vignette was more complex than both 3.1 and 4.0 practice vignettes, but I kept calm and developed a logical solution following coach's tips. Thank you coach!
Step 6: Listened to BAR (Building at Risk) Audio on Seismic. Read BAR on wind design. Read FEMA 454 chapters 4, 5, 8 and 9. I enjoyed reading on Seismic and Wind.
Step 7: I memorized the key formulas (highlighted in Purple in Jenny's notes) the night before the exam, and the next morning. Also practice the vignette the morning of the exam just because I had some free time.

Tip: It is important to practice the questions so that you can get the hang of answering each questions quickly, within a minute preferably. This is key I think because this is such a long exam you can lose track of time pretty easily.
Whenever I encountered a question with a calculation that was taking me too long to answer, I marked it and moved on, sometimes even without answering it. Then review at the end with the time left. I had 20 minutes left on the MC and 30 min left on the vignette.

After the exam the wait was the worst, as usual haha. I tested on a Monday, got my score the second Friday after my exam. Every day that passed I felt less and less confident about it, but it was a pass! :D Can't wait to get my seal :P

Good Luck to everyone! Don't give up! There is light at the end of the tunnel! :)
Joseluis778
 
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Re: Pass and DONE... YES!!

Postby Archer40 » Thu Mar 15, 2018 10:02 am

Congratulations and thanks for the great post!
Did you take Pro. David thaddeus courses? Did you use Ballast Q&A book?
Archer40
 
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Re: Pass and DONE... YES!!

Postby Joseluis778 » Sat Mar 17, 2018 7:11 am

Archer40 wrote:Congratulations and thanks for the great post!
Did you take Pro. David thaddeus courses? Did you use Ballast Q&A book?

Thank you!
I did not use Pro. Thaddeus courses, only Mitalski.
I did the ballast practice exam once.
I also forgot to mention I read Jennys notes fully, before I memorized the purple formulas.

Good luck on your exam!
Joseluis778
 
Posts: 66
Joined: Fri Jun 19, 2015 6:32 pm

Re: Pass and DONE... YES!!

Postby ataribeats » Sun Mar 18, 2018 9:00 am

Reading your post gives me confidence. I've been studying for 2 months non-stop. Wake up early study, then 8 hours of work (take the lunch break to go through online material), come back home (eat) and keep studying and I still don't feel like I'm prepared. I've been doing Kaplan questions since yesterday and I'm not doing great, but not too bad, I guess. But, I have done NCARB 3.1 and 4.0 practice tests and it went really well. So, I guess Kaplan Q&A are hardcore as usual?

I'm testing in a week and my plan is to go over my notes and check Thaddeus vids on the stuff I feel weak.
Fingers crossed.
ataribeats
 
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Re: Pass and DONE... YES!!

Postby Yoiyoi » Sun Mar 18, 2018 10:36 pm

Anyone knows what the Mitalski course costs?
Thx
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Re: Pass and DONE... YES!!

Postby Archer40 » Mon Mar 19, 2018 12:25 pm

Joseluis778 wrote:
Archer40 wrote:Congratulations and thanks for the great post!
Did you take Pro. David thaddeus courses? Did you use Ballast Q&A book?

Thank you!
I did not use Pro. Thaddeus courses, only Mitalski.
I did the ballast practice exam once.
I also forgot to mention I read Jennys notes fully, before I memorized the purple formulas.

Good luck on your exam!


Thank you very much for your reply, I am testing in a month, need to keep studying hard!
Archer40
 
Posts: 145
Joined: Thu Jul 14, 2016 8:51 pm


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