The best way to prepare for any ARE 5.0 exam is to make a study plan plan and stick with it.
That is the most common advice I give when people ask me how to prepare for the ARE 5.0 exams. Read on for more detail (and some of my favorite quotes about plans)
Whether you are just getting started with the Architect Registration Exams or you’ve passed some or failed some, my advice for preparing for your next exam is pretty much the same. I get asked about exam prep quite a bit, so here is my process for preparing for the ARE 5.0 exams.
You should expect to spend a solid week or two coming up with your plan.
RESEARCH THE ARE 5.0 EXAMS
“Setting a goal is not the main thing. It is deciding how you will go about achieving it and staying with that plan.” ― Tom Landry
To prepare for the ARE 5.0 exams you have to spend some researching what’s actually on the exam.
The very first thing to do is to download the NCARB ARE 5.0 Handbook. This is the official guide to the exam, published by the people who wrote it. This will give you your first look into the content, format and requirements of each exam. Spend some time with this book!
Get Involved
Next, get on one or more of the online forums. My favorite was the NCARB ARE 5.0 Community, also hosted by NCARB. Erik Walker runs a new and growing Walking the ARE Facebook Group. You don’t have to participate, though it’s better if you do. For now, just spend time reading posts about the exam you want to take. Look for post-test reports, where people who have just been through it discuss their experience. Look for people asking questions about the content and see what kinds of answers are being posts.
One common mistake I hear I often after someone has an unsuccessful exam is that they didn’t know what to study, so they just read Ballast. Or Kaplan, or whatever. Your goal with this phase is to get an understanding of what will be on the exam, and most importantly, what YOU think YOU need to learn so you can feel confident on test day.
GATHER ARE 5.0 STUDY MATERIAL
Never begin the day until it is finished on paper.” ― Jim Rohn, entrepreneur, author, and motivational speaker
You will need to invest in some study material, and in my opinion the best use of your resources (time and money) are the Primary Resources. These are the books and references listed at the back of the NCARB Handbook. Most importantly, these provide the source material for the actual exams. The Primary Resources are things like Architectural Graphic Standards, the Architects Handbook of Professional Practice, the actual AIA contracts, the actual IBC (and Building Codes Illustrated by Ching) and so on. I would (and did) spend most of my time studying from these books.
There are also lots of free resources out there. Check out my page of Free ARE 5.0 Study Material.
Next, decide on Third Party Material. This is study material made by others, such as Amber Book (click here for info on the Amber Book Group Discount), or Designer Hacks or the Hyperfine ARE 5.0 study material I made. All this Third Party stuff should supplement your primary materials.
Once you gather your material, spend a good amount of time going through it to see what’s included. Leaf through AGS to see how much stuff they have on concrete and how much you might want to learn. Scroll through the AIA A201 to get a handle on the different sections and what you might already know about. Look at the Amber Book list of videos to see what they think is important. Read through the Hyperfine assignments to see what I think is important. Then make a decision on what’s important to you.
MAKE A PLAN
“A goal without a plan is just a wish” – Antoine de Saint-Exupery
It’s time to actually make a plan. Ideally you have spent a week or two researching the exam and gathering materials. Pick a date for your exam and then think about all the things you want to learn between now and then. Put these items on a calendar or schedule or Excel or napkin or whatever so that you actually set aside time for each specific thing. Take a look at the study plan for PDD and PPD I made during my own preps. I thought it would take me about eight weeks to learn what I wanted to learn. I spent a week on concrete. A week on steel. A week on code, etc. etc. Sometimes I knew the exact page numbers I wanted to read, sometimes just the general chapter. But I knew every day generally what I was supposed to be studying that evening.
If you have already taken and failed an exam, take a quick detour to my post about What to Do After Failing an ARE 5.0 Exam. It has some tips that might help inform your study plan.
Make Your Plan Realistic
“You can always amend a big plan, but you can never expand a little one.” ― Harry S. Truman
Your plan should be realistic. You probably can’t study eight hours a day for eight weeks, so don’t schedule that much work for yourself. If you have two hours a night for five nights a week, then only schedule yourself that much work.
My typical plan was about 60% actively reading primary resources, 30% watching videos and 10% doing practice questions. You can do whatever works best for you.
TRY TO HAVE FUN
It’s studying, so there’s probably a limit on how fun it can actually be, but your mindset can have a positive effect on your studies. I tried to not think about studying as exam prep, but as a way to become more legitimate as an architect. I thought if I could learn about structures, and mechanical systems and the code and the contracts and all the things I didn’t learn in school then I’d feel a lot more confident in calling myself an architect. It helped.
FINAL THOUGHTS
“Plans are of little importance, but planning is essential.” ― Winston Churchill
Your plan isn't going to be perfect. You might not even stick to it 100%. I certainly didn't. But the important thing is that you made the plan in the first place.
ARE 5.0 Coaching
I have been helping people pass the ARE for more than four years now and I get frequent requests for coaching. I think that 90% of what I have to offer is on my site for free or within the inexpensive ARE 5.0 study materials I've made. My general advice is that I would rather you spend your money on books and your time spent reading them. If you are still interested in talking to me about your specific situation then maybe I can help you out with that last 10%. You can visit my calendar to book a coaching session.
