Finally FINISHED ALL THESE TESTS...!
I posted in the PPD forum last week after my pass on that test and gave myself a week in between. I had already taken both of them once (failed PDD and then wasn't able to finish PPD due to evac at test center). Today my screen froze 4 times and I was moved to two different test stations and still managed to get this win so if you're feeling frustrated or down, remember - we are all having a whole assortment of issues and it's still possible to get through this.
Same as for study on PPD:
FIRST ROUND:
- Amber Videos
- Gang Chen practice exams
This wasn't a terrible bundle, but after taking the tests I realized I sorely discounted how many actual details and such would be on the exams. I did appreciate that there was less "architecture trivia" than 4.0 and more thoughtful questions to work through.
SECOND ROUND - success for PPD (I take PDD this week):
- Amber Videos (refresh on topics I felt weak in)
- Gang Chen practice exams (just to get more questions)
- Hyperfine Assignments & Case Study (this was huge, it got me to really dig into some areas I was missing knowledge in, at least ARE specific knowledge and the assignments are enjoyable in a way that trying to organize to study on my own is not)
- DesignerHacks practice tests (have 30 mins on a lunch break? Do a practice exam. Have 10 mins before dinner is ready? Do a practice exam. Can stay an hour late at the office before heading home? Take a practice exam.)
Only thing I did differently from PPD is that I reviewed the Hyperfine assignments the night before and went through all my flashcards I had made while watching the Amber videos.
Key things I knew I had to review:
1- quick visual of some different types of details
2- fire ratings, fire barrier/wall types, fire suppression systems, firesafing in details
3- basic structures equations, i'll be honest I didn't focus very much on actual equations, just made sure I could do some of the quick math ones - it was my sacrificial lamb for these tests
4- convection, radiation, conduction, evaporation (because I like to get these mixed up)
5- very quick run through of spec sections, just memorized a few keys ones and figured I could bumble around to figure out anything that was super rogue
I WISH YOU ALL LUCK!