about me

Hi there!

Before I get into the nitty-gritty about my path to licensure, I feel it is important to tell you a little bit about me so you can put my experience in perspective. I’ve read many blogs about others’ experiences, but very few about a foreign graduate trying to navigate this process.

So here it goes! A quick intro.

My name is Camile Silva. I am 37 years old, married for 7 years, and have two beautiful little girls (a 4 1/2 y.o. and a 2 1/2 y.o.).

I was born and raised in Brazil. I went to architecture school at the University of Brasilia, in Brasilia, which is a great university, with a strong architectural program — the second best in the country.  I started architecture school in the fall of 1995 and graduated in the spring of 2000. I moved to the US in 2002 to attend graduate school at LSU, which I finished in 2005. I interned 20 hours per week throughout college and worked full time once I graduated until I left Brazil to come to the U.S. After graduate school, I worked in New Orleans, Birmingham, and Baton Rouge. I have been in the US since the fall of 2002 and have proudly become an American citizen in 2012.

I currently live in Baton Rouge, LA with my husband, daughters and dog, Satchmo.

Leaving SD for last.

As I approached the end of this journey, I remembered the struggle of trying to decide where to begin, which exam to take first, in what order… I thought about all the things I would have done differently had I had to do it again. But the one thing I was sure of from the get-go was that I would leave SD for last. I never doubted this decision. And for that, I pat myself on the back. At least I got one thing right.

I knew that once I started studying, I would rather keep on going. Unlike others, who feel that SD becomes a little “mental break” in the middle of testing, I, on the other hand, feel like it would have been a distraction. With so much overlapping between divisions, I didn’t want to chance forgetting anything I had worked hard on. So I opted for continuing to test on the stuff that required studying and finish this ordeal with the vignettes.

Once I passed SPD, my last exam with a multiple choice portion, I scheduled SD. I wanted to schedule it within a couple of weeks. I figured I wouldn’t need more than a couple of weeks to prepare… Unfortunately, my test center was booked almost six weeks out, with only a couple of available spot within four weeks. I went ahead and scheduled my test for just a couple of days after returning from another week long trip. It was that option, or I would have to wait another two weeks. I did not want to schedule SD for the end of July. I was too anxious to get this process over with. I wanted to finish testing before the summer was over, which means, before my kids’ summer was over (they begin school on the second week of August). So my schedule looked like this: I had two weeks to practice, one week away where I could not practice, and two days to review. I knew that I had to practice on speed, on my ability to finish each vignette on a timely manner, and I was hoping that the week away wouldn’t slow me down in the end. I was concerned that only having two days to practice upon returning wouldn’t be enough to gain my speed back.

Afraid of getting bored with practicing the same NCARB samples over and over again, I started by working on the alternates, which are the ones I downloaded from sbyrktct’s ARE Help, including Prof. Dorf’s mock-up exams. I’ve always felt that those were more challenging anyway. I thought that if I could work a good system to tackle those alternates, I would be okay working on the NCARB ones. So I spent the first week working on the alternates and the second week on the NCARB samples, this time posting on arecoach.com for review. I also spent quite a while going over other people’s posts and solutions. I was on such a roll that I actually felt bummed about leaving for a week and risk loosing all the effort in developing good timing for this exam.

One week later, after returning and unpacking on a Saturday evening, I wasted no time. It was fourth of July. My husband took the girls that evening to see fireworks. I chose to stay home and start practicing and reviewing others’ solutions. I figured there would be many other holidays to come… On Sunday, I was only able to practice at night, so I worked on NCARB samples as a mock-up exam, timing myself. I forced myself to try something new, different than what I had been doing previously. I forced myself to involve a dead-end corridor, or to work on a layout that was not so linear. I posted those solutions on the forum. I spent time, not only reviewing others’ solutions, but actually critiquing them. By Monday, and last day before the exam, I gave it one more go on the sample test. I felt like I had exhausted all possibilities of working on these mock-ups. I understood what I could and could not do. I understood what would be considered minor or major errors. I had developed a system to tackle these vignettes effectively. I had beaten these vignettes to death. It would just be a matter of being able to do them fast enough.

I arrived at the center that morning one hour ahead of my appointment time. I couldn’t believe they were able to take me in and let me start that early. I didn’t hesitate. I was really eager to get this over with.

Not surprisingly, the interior layout was very much like the practice exam. Unlike my timing at home (I was taking no less than 50 minutes to complete it), I finished this vignette in a little over 40 minutes, with plenty of time to review. While reviewing, I caught a little clearance violation here and there, 2″ and 4″ violations to be precise. Nothing I needed to readjust the entire layout. Easy fixes. So after confirming every clearance, every program item, I called it good enough and exited that portion of the exam with a little less than 10 minutes on the clock.

During the break, I realized that my practicing strategy paid off. And by strategy, I mean that, while practicing at home, I never used a mouse, just the track pad on my laptop. I knew that by practicing this way, I was basically handicapping myself, thus taking longer than necessary. I figured that the extra time I was taking by using the track pad would be offset by nervous jitters on the day of the exam. This good outcome didn’t seem so obvious in past exams, but it certainly paid off on the interior layout vignette.

The building layout vignette was no different than the interior layout one. One could have thought it was a bit more challenging than the sample one, but with the time allotted, I felt like it was within what one should expect. No big surprises on the program. There was a minor twist, but no surprises. Right away I felt like I had plenty of time to calm my nerves down and get through it. I made sure to take very good notes, as to avoid toggling back-and-forth between the program screen and the drawing screen. I worked on a bubble diagram. I laid out the ground work on paper, by making sure I was addressing the right adjacencies. This process took me about 40 minutes. Then, it was just a matter of putting things together. I was finished laying everything out on both layers in two hours. I had two hours left to add doors, windows, and review. Plenty of time. I remember feeling relieved. I couldn’t believe I had done this so quickly. It was the first time I had finished a vignette with so much time left over to review. But as I reviewed it, I noticed a flaw on one required adjacency. Thank goodness it was an easy fix. I took care of that issue in less than 10 minutes, including the time realigning walls. Whew! I proceeded to add doors and windows before double-checking my notes. Everything check out. I double-checked all room sizes, corridor widths, and direction of travel. In spite of the “twist” I had gotten in the program, I felt like I had a pretty solid solution. After reviewing it several times, I called it quits with 50 minutes left on the clock.

I remember feeling pretty good about this exam. It was the only time I had left that center actually feeling good about the exam and the possible outcome. I felt confident that I didn’t have major faults. Perhaps minor ones, but definitely not a fatal-error-type of fault. But again, one never knows with NCARB… I only knew I couldn’t daydream about finishing this process. I wanted to keep it real and stay grounded, so I didn’t allow myself to daydream. I decided to keep busy by getting my kids ready for the upcoming school year. It was hard to get my mind off of it, I admit. But I tried. And I tried really hard.

Ten days later, in the early morning hours of the usual day results are posted online, I was rolling on my bed, from side-to-side. I couldn’t sleep. I woke up at 12:30am, then 3:30am, then 5:30am. At that last hour, I picked up my phone, logged onto my NCARB account and, with a palpitating heart, scrolled down my examination tab in search for the SD result. With a nervous glance, I saw the word PASS. Deep inside, I knew it. Thank heavens! I was able to shut my eyes for a total of 15 minutes. I was too happy to sleep. I had to tell my husband. He was just getting up, not by volition, or fate, but simply because he gets up that early every morning. Telling him made it more real. What a relief!

I once thought that my reaction would be to scream, to shout out: I AM DONE!!! But when that much anticipated time came, I didn’t feel that urge at all. I just wanted to quietly shut my eyes and enjoy that peaceful moment for a few minutes. I wanted to reflect on what it really meant, on the journey I has just endured. I needed those few minutes alone before sharing the news. What a sweet moment. And I’ll never forget it.

Retaking and passing… three times in a row.

After passing BS on the first try, I knew what I had to do to pass the others. I could not have any distractions. No new projects, or new rental properties, or vacation planning, or anything. My husband was in the process of planning the move of his practice and every once in a while would come ask my opinion on the site, or what one could do with the space, or a consultant he was planning to hire. I shut those questions right down. I kept saying: “I”l be glad to look into all of this once I finish my exams.” Even though we still traveled a good bit in this early part of the year, I refused to make big plans. I was going with the flow. Any planning I was doing was related to the schedule I was going to stick by for the next 3 exams. So here’s how it worked out:

On the day I received the pass from BS, I scheduled the SS retake for 6 weeks later. Having enjoyed watching the ARE Building Systems videos, I knew I had to sign up for Thaddeus online lectures. I didn’t look at my old notes and I disregarded Kaplan for this round, including the sample tests. It took me 2 1/2 weeks to go over the lectures on my typical two mornings and every night routine. I took new notes. On the following week, I read FEMA and Buildings at Risk: wind and seismic, and, again, took my own notes. I signed up for Equals and spent the third week practicing, practicing, practicing. I wished I had known about Equals last year… This was so valuable to me since it helped me tackle my weakness on the previous SS exam: time management. On the fourth week, I practiced the vignette, re-read my notes and Jenny’s notes. By this point, Jenny’s notes were no longer a source of information, but of review of information, especially on the subjects that bridge different divisions.

I woke up on the morning of the exam feeling ready. I managed my time much better on both portions of the exam this time around. For the multiple choice, I answered every question (including the ones with calculations) and marked all of the ones I wanted to have a second look at, not just the ones I had doubts on. Aside from that change in strategy, I wrote down on paper the ones that required calculations, in the event that it was taking me too long and I had to move on. I would make a selection (I learned my lesson about not EVER leaving a question unanswered) and move on. I finished with 20 minutes left on the clock, plenty of time (in my experience) to review at least the first ten questions and the ones with calculations. I couldn’t review all of the marked ones, but I was able to get to the ones that mattered most. The vignette, like in the first try, was not a  surprise. I id well and didn’t think I could have failed it. I left thinking that my success was riding on the multiple choice portion. And I succeeded. One week later, I passed SS! Yes! I was feeling good. Pretty good.

Without hesitation, I scheduled BDCS for 6 weeks later. I was going out of town for one week, so I had effectively a little less than 5 weeks to prepare. Once again, I ditched Kaplan. I felt that I had already learned what I possibly could have learned from that book the year before. I put all my time and effort on Fundamentals of Building Construction, which I studied alongside a series of lectures available online from prof. Grant Adams. I realized the lectures were not meant to prepare you for the ARE and they belong to a college discipline, but the one thing I learned from the previous two exams I had just taken, is that watching these lectures and taking my own notes were my recipe for success. I couldn’t do it differently here. So I downloaded all of the lectures and worked through them in roughly two weeks. My notes were looking good. I was actually feeling good about my new schedule and study strategy at the end of those two weeks. On the third week, I went over Ching’s Building Construction Illustrated again, but, this time, taking notes, and started practicing for the vignettes. I wanted to beat these vignettes to death! On the fourth week, I signed up for Equals again and took sample tests and kept on practicing vignettes. Although Equals for BDCS was not as thorough as Equals for SS, I still am glad I bought it. If anything, it helped me with time management. My fifth week of preparing was a short one. I had scheduled the exam for a Tuesday, so I really only had a couple of days to just review all of my notes and Jenny’s notes. Once again, I felt prepared going in.

The first ten questions keep hunting me… If there is an ounce of doubt left when I leave the test center, it is usually due to those questions. I came to think that they were not necessarily more difficult than other ones sprinkled around the rest of the exam; it is just that I would still be battling the emotional toll these exams take on me. So much preparation, dedication, and anticipation, that I tended to examine the first few first questions a bit harder, I guess. God only knows why they affected me they way they did, but there was no way I could get around that fact. My heart and palms expressed that effect. And it sucked.

However, I managed my time well on the multiple choice and vignettes. Again, I changed strategy for this exam. I did so on the vignettes. I took them on the following order: roof design, ramp design, and stair design. Roof and Ramp were the ones I got a level 2 last time, so I wanted to make sure I was “fresh” when taking them. Leaving them for later, after dealing with the more time consuming stair design, would have made too tired and more prone to making a silly mistake. I thought my solutions for all three vignettes were good and very adequate. I was happy with them. However, as I reviewed them, I noticed I miscalculated a couple of elevation marks on my roof plan. OMG. How did this happen? Although I had plenty of time to review and correct my mistake, I left the test center feeling very uncertain. Could I have overlooked something else somewhere else on this exam? Oh no! I started to question my overall performance. I felt pretty scared. But ten days later, I was glad to receive my pass! Woohoo!!! “I’m on a roll, I’m on a good roll now…”, I kept saying to myself. What I great feeling. I’m over the hump! I had two exams left!!

So 4 weeks later, I was going in to re-take SPD. By this point, 4 weeks seemed like a long time. The anxiety to get the ARE over with was consuming me. And it turned out that 4 wasn’t a long time at all. With one week out on another trip, I really only had three weeks to prepare. Would it be enough time? I wondered if I had gotten cocky again… But by the time I looked over the material, I felt like I had covered a good chunk of it preparing for BDCS and SS. So I felt okay. I felt like I could manage the short time I had.

Once again, I ditched Kaplan. I went straight to the source. I studied Fundamentals of Building Construction (FBC), Ching’s Building Construction Illustrated (BCI), Gang Chen’s mock-up book, and Jenny’s notes. I purchased a cheap, used copy of Lynch and Hack’s Site Planning, but didn’t get to thoroughly read it all. I just skimmed it, looking for thing I may have missed in the other sources. Had I not recently prepped for BDCS and SS, I probably would have given it more attention. But after so much studying, this book just seemed redundant to me. I took my own notes on FBC and BCI, a process that took me one week. On the second week, I practiced, practiced, practiced: sample tests and vignettes. In fact, I spent a lot of time on vignettes, after all, it was the only level 3 I had gotten in all of the tests I had taken. On the third and last week, I reviewed archiflash, jenny’s notes, and my notes. I took the exam on that same week, on a Thursday. I felt no different going into this exam as I had felt for any of the ones I had taken this year (BS, SS, and BDCS). I felt prepared and ready.

The SPD exam experience also was very similar to the ones that preceded it. I had the same freak out moments, and, yet, I managed my time very similarly on both multiple choice and vignette portions of the exam. Once again, I had a change of strategy going into the vignette. I started with site grading, which is the one I had bombed, instead of the more time consuming site design. I finished it in about 25 minutes. I reviewed it right then and there. I felt I had a solid solution and I didn’t want to go back to it later. Thank heavens I reviewed right away. I had no time to come back to it, had I needed it. I thought site design was as challenging as the first time around. This time, though, I didn’t struggle with parking. I struggled with the program in general. My program was different than what I had been practicing. I had read about those possibilities and I knew what to do. I just had not practiced them on the software before… That threw me for a loop! So I ended up using every second on my clock working on the plaza, trying to figure out the best solution to address sun and wind concerns. However, I felt that I had laid out my site well, to what I believed was the best possible layout. When I finished this exam, I wasn’t sure I had nailed site design, but I also knew that I couldn’t have flunked it either. But with NCARB, no one ever knows, so I left this test with a bit of an uneasy feeling…

One week later, my uneasiness came to an end. I had passed SPD! Oh. My. God. I had completed 6 out of 7 tests! No re-take of a re-take needed. What a RELIEF! I felt wonderful!! At this point, I could care less about SD. I was just so happy with reaching this point. The end was really near. Man, it felt good.

On taking the bull by the horns.

So 2015 rolls in, the year I decided to get this over with. I had had a few months of break. I had had a chance to air my head, keep busy with other ventures, and just reflect on this process. Despite my failures, I realized that I had learned a lot. I actually had secretly enjoyed the studying process. I didn’t mind that part at all. I didn’t even mind dealing with the ancient vignette software, which is a source of frustration to many. What I really minded was the test taking part this process. That had always been my fear and my weakness. Not sure if this was a new resolution or what, but I decided to conquer my fear. I was not going to procrastinate any longer. On the fifth of January, I scheduled my next exam: BS.

By that point, I could have taken any of the failed ones, but I decided to go with the unknown. I felt that I would likely fail that one too, so why not get it out of the way, so I could get to the ones I really needed to pass? I was determined not to fail one exam more than once. So BS it was. I scheduled it for the end of January, giving myself 4 weeks to prepare.

For BS, I studies the following: A.R.E. Building Systems Prep Seminar, a.k.a. The Amber Book (online seminar and book), Archiflash, Gang Chen’s mock-up exam/book, Jenny’s notes, alkikat’s notes, and Kaplan’s sample tests. I also had downloaded MEEB, 12th edition, for free. It is not the best way to use this book, but it is what I had. I was free. Although it is a great source, I really didn’t have time to go throught it. I skimmed the images and graphs.

The Amber book seminar was totally worth the money. I am a visual learner. Watching the seminar, not only was fun for me, it was way easier to retain the information covered. I thought it was so thorough that I didn’t feel the need to read Kaplan. I only used Kaplan for the sample questions. I realized then how many errors exist in that series of study guides. So I spent one week just watching the seminar and taking my own notes. Same schedule as before: a couple of mornings per week and every single night, for 3 to 4 hours after putting girls to bed. The second week was a week of review. Review of my notes, and others’ notes. I would go over Archiflash little by little a few minutes before bed. On the third week, I took and re-took sample tests and practiced the vignette a few times. On the fourth week, I went over everything, this time glancing at MEEB online. I felt prepared.

As usual, the exam was tough. Those first ten questions were no different. They always seem tougher than the other ones. But I managed to stay calm and work through every question with attention and focus. I still marked about 40% of the exam. They didn’t all seem like a gamble to me. I answered all of them to the best of my abilities. I just wanted to have one last look at them before finishing that portion, if I had time to do so. But I didn’t. I finished the multiple choice portion with 8 minutes to spare. I reviewed what I could, perhaps 1/3 of what I had marked. And it was in this process of reviewing that I realized I had a good shot at this exam, provided I didn’t mess up the vignette. As I reviewed, I pretty much stuck with the answers I had initially chosen on the first go around. If I changed my answer on any question, it would have been in one or two of the first ten questions. Those always made my heart beat faster and hands tremble more, so I couldn’t possibly keep my thoughts straight. So I always made sure to review those…

The vignette part of this exam was straight forward. I actually realized that the single vignettes seemed pretty on par with the NCARB samples. Although I say that, I did finish this vignette on the nick of time. I had no time to review. Thank heavens I was working thoroughly on every single room as I went along.

One week later: I passed this exam. On the first try! What a great feeling! This is one division lots of people have trouble with… I managed to pass it on the first go. I remember thinking to myself: this is the one division Jenny, whose has compiled such beautiful notes on every single division, had failed. And I passed on the first try. Holy cow. That goes to show how each and everyone’s experiences are different. I learned a lot form Jenny’s, not only notes, but essays. She poured her heart out and I am forever grateful for, not only her bravery of sharing her experience, but her willingness to share what she has worked so hard to compile. Again, Jenny, THANK YOU!

I scheduled my SS retake for 6 weeks later.

ProcraSStination: never a good idea.

In spite of my two fails, I decided to keep going. I was so frustrated that I figured I couldn’t possibly get more upset about another fail. The damage to my self esteem had been done. Now, it was a matter of “I’ll get through this process by persisting! Even if I fail all of them from now on…” In a way, I was cheating myself. I was thinking I could become test savvy without studying much harder. I knew by then that the past two results were not a fluke. They were the results I deserved. I relied too much on just the study guide. I was also getting upset about how I would get so worked up about it, how I wouldn’t trust my gut when handling the vignettes, or how I was trying to rush through.

One of the big reasons why I decided to share my experience is because very few blogs or posts on arecoach.com portray the experience of those who fail. I think people just feel inclined to share their success stories, not the failures. I’m not ashamed of my path. It certainly impacted my self-esteem, and sense of worth. But in no way am I ashamed of it.

Having read the brief (and almost impersonal) success stories of those who completed this journey in 8 months or less without a single fail is what screwed me. I wanted to be one of them. The problem is: I am not one of them. No one is. We all have different lives and levels of experience that impact the course of how we prepare for the ARE. I should have let those words of encouragement from the successful stories be simply what they were: words of encouragement. I didn’t need to try to model the same accomplishments.

Still, after a second fail, I wanted to regain the confidence I had with the first two exams. So I went ahead and scheduled my next exam, SS, for mid-July. I was giving myself 4 weeks to prep for each exam up until then. This time, I gave myself 6 weeks because I had just taken on the renovations of the rental property my husband and I had just purchased and wanted to turn that around before the end of the summer, hoping that we could rent it before the school year began.

Five weeks into it had proven that my scheduling abilities were simply too unrealistic. I ended up rescheduling and pushing the exam back another 6 weeks. I was looking at the end of July now. By that point, my studying had gotten too scattered. Even though I believe I covered all the material one could cover for this exam, I just did not have a solid schedule to go by. I think having one makes a difference. I was studying when I could, many times skipping those nights I had diligently kept on schedule until then. It was not a good set up.

Four years earlier, I had attended Prof. Thaddeus seminar while pregnant with my first daughter. I remember thinking it was so worth it. Since I had kept all of the materials and notes, I decided to just use them (along with others, obviously) and not dish out another $325 for the online seminar. So for this exam, I studied Kaplan, Thaddeus seminar material and notes, Archiflash, Marty’s notes, Jenny’s notes, Buildings at Risk: Seismic and Wind, and FEMA. Different than the other exams where I was studying the bare minimum by mainly using Kaplan (and relying on others’ notes), this time around, I wasn’t fooling myself. I covered all of my bases. I don’t think one needs to cover much more than what I covered for this exam. My failure didn’t come from what I studied, but how I studied.

I went into the exam, three months after taking BDCS, feeling really nervous. I felt good about the vignette (I made sure to practice that one enough times to not shoot myself in the foot like I did with BDCS and SPD). For the multiple choice, though, I wasn’t sure. Although I felt like I had covered all the material needed, I hadn’t practiced enough questions. I didn’t take as many sample tests while timing myself as I would have liked. So I went in that day with a whole new strategy for the multiple choice (something I decided on last minute): I would skip through all of the questions that required calculations. I would mark them and deal with them last. My mistake: not even having made a selection. Big mistake.

As in previous exams, I had very little time to review questions. So, one can imagine, it was not different this time around. By the time I finished going through the multiple choice portion (without the calculations), I had 20 minutes left on the clock and around 40 questions marked, 25 of which were incomplete. Awful strategy. I tried to rush through the incomplete ones, working on calculations and skipped reviewing the completed marked ones. I was not able to work on more than 10 questions. My exam timed out and I had about 15 unanswered questions. Good Lord. What was I thinking? I knew that was a major blow. More than 10% of the exam was unanswered. My chances now were pretty slim. I had to nail the vignette for the slightest chance of passing this division. And I thought I nailed it. The vignette was straight forward and very much in line with the NCARB sample one. I finished with 15 minutes left on the clock. If I only I could have used that extra time to finish working on the multiple choice…

I left the testing center knowing I failed SS. The 10% incomplete portion of my exam haunted me for the entire following week. When the result came in, it confirmed my suspicion. I had failed SS with a level 2 in two content areas. At least I was close. If only they didn’t represent 70% of the exam combined… I knew then that if I had timed myself better and finished the entire exam, I had a strong chance of passing this division. I knew what I had to do the next time around.

However, at that time, one still needed to sit for 6 months before retaking any failed division. NCARB was about to roll out the new rule where one could retake a failed portion just six weeks after the first attempt. But I was drained. I decided to take the rest of the semester off. The rental property renovation was behind anyway. My husband and I had decided to demolish an old carport and rebuild it. So I worked on plans and permitting of this small build out. I advertised for tenants, I handled contracts. I kept my mind and soul busy. I was not sure when I would attempt another take. Or if I would attempt it at all. I just needed time.

 

 

BDCS and my second fail.

I was out of the country when I received the email about my SPD fail report. I was devastated. I cried, even though the result didn’t surprise me. I knew that failing would make me feel pretty terrible. It was a reminder of why I was so scared of this process to begin with. The only comfort I found was on a silly assumption I made up in my head about the result. I went on NCARB’s website and watched a video or two about the score report and what the description of levels mean. They seemed so vague that I couldn’t help to think that my level 3 on site grading was the single cause of my fail. Even with a couple of level 2s, had I nailed that vignette, could it have lifted me out of that fail? I’m really not sure how that works. But it also didn’t really matter. What mattered was the fact that it allowed me to lift myself up, brush off the arrogance (I believe I called it cockiness earlier), and move on. Upon returning from Brazil, I scheduled BDCS for four weeks later. I was still a bit naive to realize that it was a bold and ambitious schedule.

For this exam, I used Kaplan, Archiflash, Jenny’s notes, alkikat’s notes, Gang Chen’s mock exam, and Ching’s Building Construction Illustrated (BCI). Until this point, I had not purchased one book, only Gang Chen’s mock up exams… Most notes I had were saved on my computer many years earlier, with the exception of Jenny’s notes, which I could download for free (Thanks Jenny!). As usual, and while Ching’s BCI was being shipped, I started with Kaplan. That took me one week. The following week, I went through BCI. This was super helpful. I actually thought I had discovered the gold mine of study material. I saw so many questions on SPD that could have come from this book… Can you see how naive I was being? This was the first time I was venturing away from a study guide and going straight into the source. If only it was the right source. Why I picked BCI, I’m not sure (I must have thought it would be helpful for structural systems as well). Regardless of my choice (I should have gone with Fundamentals of Building Design), I felt much better about my new study material. One has to remember, I did not go to architecture school in the U.S., so I was not familiar with other books or material one could’ve attained during college that would be useful when preparing for the ARE. I thought I was making the right investment by purchasing the Kaplan Study Guides. And I thought that would suffice. Gosh, was I wrong!

On the third week, I practiced sample tests by taking and re-taking them until I learned all I was getting wrong, as well as I started practicing for the vignettes. I made sure not to leave those for last minute again. The problem is: those three vignettes are tricky! And tiring! And time consuming. It is hard to prepare for all of those at one time. So I basically practiced one vignette per day. By day, I mean, night. By the end of that week, I had practiced each vignette a couple of times. On the fourth week, and the same week as the exam, I reviewed all the notes and gave each vignette one more try. I didn’t have time to go over the sample tests to gauge my knowledge. I got sidetracked with a little business venture my husband an I were getting into on that last week: the purchase of a rental property. That was a bit of a distracter, so much so, that I missed the day that allowed me to postpone that exam. Even though I wanted to feel more prepared, I certainly felt like I could give this exam a good try.

I made sure to schedule this exam on a morning. The idea of starting this long exam on an afternoon and running a risk of walking in feeling tired again was not appealing. I walked into the test center feeling nervous, as usual, but ready to take on this beast. To maintain tradition, NCARB threw me for a loop again with the first ten questions. But after letting my heart settle, I didn’t have mini panic attacks like I was having on the past three exams. I still marked a bunch of questions though. That was normal for me. My thought was always to make sure I made the best possible educated guest in the event that I didn’t have time to come back to those questions. In fact, I rarely had any time left to review more than 10-15 questions. I like to think that this is the norm for those of us who take this exam in a second language. They are extra hard, I think. There are always a couple of questions with vocabulary that were completely new to me. I remember thinking: “Where is this coming from? With all that I read and prepared for, how could I have not come across this term before?” It never failed. And the funny part is that I have never been able to look them up because I was never able to remember what they were. In fact, I could never remember anything specific about the exam. I could actually remember 2 or 3 questions, 3 or 4 days later. Sometimes I would remember a fourth or fifth questions out of the blue, in the middle of the night, 5 days later. But I was usually too exhausted to get up and look it up…

So I finished the multiple choice with little time to review, and although uncertain about the outcome, I had a sense that I didn’t flunk it either. I went into the vignettes feeling ready to take back my self-esteem and brush the last exam off as a total fluke.

I started by tackling the stair vignette, then the ramp, then the roof. I finished all of them with enough time to review and make adjustments. That was the problem. I went back to the ramp design and decided to make it more economical, by narrowing it. I initially had a 60″ wide ramp, keeping it consistent on the landing. I changed the width to 48″. I can’t remember how it impacted the landing, or if it did impact it at all, but I do remember I ended up with  a ramp for less that 4″ drop. I remember thinking that was not the best option. And I also remember thinking that I didn’t have time to adjust it (it would mean reworking the entire ramp). So I decided my solutions were good enough and exited the program.

As described above, two days later, I remember missing to add flashing on the clerestory wall in the roof vignette. Oh no! Another part of the solution I was not proud of. Suddenly, I had a bad feeling about the result of this exam. Sure enough, when the email came about the result being posted, I failed it. I didn’t think I bomb it. Just failed it. Good grief. This is no fun.

I had a level 2 on two content areas and two vignettes: the ramp and the roof. Darn. I kind of expected that from the vignettes, but not from the multiple choice. Although I felt a bit surprised with the result, I also remembered not feeling fully confident going in. I had a lot going on at the time with a new investment property we needed to renovate before putting it out on the market. This little distraction played a major role on my next fail: SS.

On failing… three times in a row.

So much for having tackled 2 out of 2 exams. My boost of confidence was shot right on my third exam. And it hurt. What I believe happened is exactly what had happened before when I took the LEED test. I underestimated the importance of this exam and the two that followed.

Right after taking PPP, I left on a family vacation, so I decided to wait until hearing the result, which would coincide with my return home, to schedule the next one. The problem was: three weeks after my return, I would be leaving again. This time, we were going to Brazil to visit family, which takes more preparation, which also means more distraction. Still,once I glanced at the Kaplan study guide and gathered the study material for SPD, I thought to myself: “I got this!”. In my head, I actually sounded a bit cocky. My first two success passes were not humbling at all. My ego got a bit inflated a little bit too soon. Looking back, that cockiness bit me in the rear. My consciousness laughed in my face. And I totally deserved it. I’m just not sure I deserved it three times in a row.

For SPD, I tackled Kaplan in less then a week (same routine: a couple of mornings per week and every night for three or four hours after putting girls to bed). For part of week one and for all of week two, I took and re-took Kaplan sample tests, and went over Jenny’s notes and another set of notes I’ve had on my files. I don’t think those were Caroline’s notes, but they were pretty good. In fact, those notes were great for hammering the information in my brain (on stuff I had already studied), not necessarily for learning the content. My mistake was not practicing the vignettes enough. I left the vignettes and Gang Chen’s mock up for the last week of studying, which also coincided with the exam week (I took it on a Thursday afternoon).

The night before the exam, I was awake for a good 4 hours caring for my oldest daughter who couldn’t sleep because of an ear ache. “Thank God I scheduled this exam for an afternoon”, I kept saying to myself… That way, I had time to bring her to the doctor in the morning and pass her on to my mother-in-law, who could keep her while I tested. The problem was, by the time I arrived at the test center, I was already pretty tired and mentally drained.

I’m not sure it was my nerves, or stress, that had gotten over me, but I thought the multiple choice of this division was so far off from what I had studied… I hadn’t looked at Structures, or Building Design, or any other division, but it seemed to me that this was an exam with a lot of overlap. That same sense of panic I had during CDS came flushing my head again. I finished the multiple choice part of the exam feeling very uncertain… But the worst was to come. The vignettes were tougher than the NCARB samples, so I thought. I’m not sure they were actually more difficult, it was really the fact that I hadn’t practice as much as I did for the two previous exams. I had felt so confident with my abilities to handle that crazy software, that I took it for granted for this time around. I managed my time poorly and was unable to finish the site grading vignette. I started with site design, used a lot of the time fretting over a parking lot layout that, when I switched over to site grading, I had 20 minutes left on the clock. Even though it seems doable when one is calm and collected, it was not enough time when I was coming from battling one vignette for 1:40 hours. Although I moved all of the contour lines appropriately, I did not have time to check distances between them and I know for a fact that I violated the minimum distance between several of them… My heart was pounding so hard and my hands shaking (and sweating) so badly that my finger print wouldn’t register after the exam. I couldn’t leave until it did. And it took several minutes…What a nightmare. I knew it would take a miracle to make me pass that exam.

One week later, surely enough, I bombed SPD. I got a level 3 on site grading and level 2 on a couple of other section. UGH!

Next up: BDCS

P-P-Please let me pass this one…

Right after walking out of the CDS exam, I knew I had to schedule my next exam. I didn’t want to wait until getting the result from CDS. In the event of a fail, I didn’t want to allow myself time to give up and procrastinate for a few more years. Although I was still crushed by the exam taking experience, I knew that, by looking deeper into other materials and ways to prepare, I could enhance the experience altogether and perhaps not leave the test center in such despair the next time around. So I decided that first and foremost, I needed to update my materials.

Following suggestions on the arecoach.com forum, I decided on PPP and right away scheduled the exam for four weeks down the road. The schedule seemed tight, but doable. I didn’t have a lot going on and girls seemed to be on a healthy streak. I finally learned about jenny’s notes, and Gang Chen mock-up exam book. They were very instrumental for this exam.

I didn’t have my own notes on this division. I studied Kaplan, Archiflash, Caroline’s notes, Emily’s notes on Architect’s Handbook of Professional Practice, Jenny’s notes, and Gang Chen’s PPP book.

The first thing I did was read Kaplan and take those sample tests. That took me an entire week to go over (two mornings per week and every single night after putting girls to bed). I, then, spent the next week taking sample tests and reviewing all of the wrong answers. The third week is when I would read Caroline’s notes, Jenny’s notes, my own notes from CDS, and start practicing the vignettes. I always took the third as a review-of-concepts kind of week. I would take a break from taking samples test because I didn’t want to become too familiar with the language of samples tests. They proved to be nothing like the language on the real exam (and I was basing this off on the previous exam only, but it proved true for the other ones too). Finally, the week preceding the test (sometimes the week of the test) is when I would resume taking and retaking sample tests, reviewing notes and really practicing the vignettes, this time, timing myself.

I walked in the test center on the morning of the PPP exam feeling like I had covered all grounds. Again, those first ten questions felt like I was being hit with a ton of bricks! Holy cow! Where do they get this stuff from? (I used to think…) I remember feeling a little bit of the same sense of despair as I felt during the CDS exam, but, for some reason, as I finished that portion of the exam, I also felt a tiny little bit better. The vignette portion was, again, straight forward and very much on par with the NCARB samples. I finished with very little time to spare on both portions, but I also felt confident on both vignettes, even with almost no time left to review. I didn’t know at the time (and I still don’t) how much weight the vignette portion of the exam carries. What I knew walking out that day is that my vignettes would most definitely not fail me. That must have counted for something!

About a week later, I was on vacation and could barely sleep on the night I believed the result would be published on the website. I woke up super early, almost instinctively, knowing I needed to log in and check my report. I was glad to see a pass! That was it! I was 2 for 2! Great feeling.

Up next: SPD

 

And the journey begins with CDS!

The conversation I had with my husband took place sometime in mid-January, 2014. About three and a half years before that, while expecting my first child, I decided to take Prof. Thaddeus seminar. What in the world was I thinking? I had not been studying, nor had I taken any exam yet, but the thought of having a few months of freedom before welcoming my baby, just seemed perfect to try an cram in any ARE division! It didn’t matter which one. The seminar was coming to Baton Rouge and it just felt like a good reason to get back on that horse. Although the intention was good, the execution was impossible! Within one month, I was put on bed rest for the remainder of my pregnancy. I had to kiss the idea of taking any test prior to the delivery date goodbye! My consolation prize was purchasing the KAPLAN study guides in hopes that I would put them to use as soon as my baby could go to daycare and I could have a little time for myself.

One and a half years later, when I felt like life was finally manageable again simply because I had a good routine going, I was invited to teach a class at LSU School of Architecture as an adjunct professor. That combined with a second pregnancy and the project for a new space for my husband’s practice proved to be impossible to squeeze in study time.

It wasn’t until the fall of 2013 that I had begun organizing all the study material I had purchased three years earlier or gathered during all the years of working at an office. I also had some notes from the times I was able to begin studying, but for one reason or another had to abruptly interrupt it. And out of those notes, the one set I managed to finish was for Construction Documents and Services. I cannot even remember when I started to compile those notes or how I even finish them, but I was sure of one thing: I took them straight from the AIA documents. In other words: I had read those documents myself! I did not rely on someone else’s notes on them. So in a very broken up manner, I had covered a good chunk of the CDS material.

When it was time to schedule, the choice of exam was a no-brainer. On a whim, I scheduled CDS for the first week of February 2015. That was only three and a half weeks away. Somehow I felt confident on the notes I had just gathered a few month before. I decided I would study Kaplan, Caroline’s notes, my notes, Archiflash cards, and the A201 and B101 Commentaries. I hadn’t discovered Jenny’s notes, or Schiff Hardin’s lectures, or any other mock exams. I was a bit naive and very much stuck in time. I had browsed arecoach.com, but became overwhelmed with all the information posted. Without any time to waste, I decided to go with the material I had and the notes I had taken. If there was one thing I learned from taking the LEED test was that I could not brush through this material. I really had to learn it, to spend time with it, to practice. Even though I didn’t use a lot of different materials for this specific exam, this was the one exam I had done a bit of studying prior to scheduling, so it just felt right to begin with this one.

I practiced all of Kaplan’s mock up exams over and over, until I became familiar with the language and concepts. I started off by testing in the 50% range… I would review the questions I got wrong over and over again, until I could second-guess anymore. I timed myself. I dedicated a good chuck of the last week of studying to getting proficient with the vignette. I felt prepared going into the exam. I felt really nervous and stressed going in, but over all, prepared. However, that confidence was blown out of the water within the first 10 questions. Oh. My. God. The first ten questions. They were like a slap on my face. Every time. And it happened with every single exam. I don’t know if it is just my nervous jitters, but it always took me more than 10 questions to get my heart beat to calm down and for me to think clear. Here’s another interesting observation: the questions are worded very differently than the sample tests and mock-up exam we find in study guides and such. One has to read these questions really carefully.

Either way, I left that multiple choice portion of the exam feeling very deflated. I had marked almost half of the questions, even though I felt like I made conscious, well educated guesses on most of them. Still, because they way it was written, or because of a vocabulary use I didn’t know, or because of a subject that seemed to pertain to another division… whatever the reason, I would mark any question I had the slightest hesitation on, even though I knew that, upon review, I would unlikely change my answer. But I marked them anyway in the hope that I would have time to review. However, I finished that portion of the exam with less than five minutes to spare, so I couldn’t review more than 10 questions marked. I was devastated.

I remember talking to another ARE candidate about the frustration I felt. It seemed to me like he could relate. He agreed with me that CDS seemed more conceptual and less matter-of-fact type of exam. It is the kind that you have to read and interpret the question. It was not about identifying a picture and knowing what it is. Little did I know that all of the exams are that way. In my experience, very few questions are matter-of-fact, the kinds that you either know it or you don’t. Most of them seemed to be the kind that leaves you hanging… and doubting, and debating in your head: “it could be this, but it kind of could be this too… NCARB, what exactly are you asking here?” I couldn’t tell how many per exam felt that way. All I know is that I went in feeling prepared and I left feeling awful.

The saving grace was the vignette portion. That part was straight forward. I felt like it was really on par with the NCARB practice version. No big suprises there, I felt like I did ok. However, that was not enough to shake off the bad feeling I had from earlier… I left the testing center certain that I had failed it. One week later, I received and email stating that my score had been posted. With lots of hesitation I clicked on the link. To my surprise, I found out I had passed. I remember screaming so loudly that my throat hurt for a few minutes after. My hands were shaking. I was in disbelief.

But a couple of days later, as I had time to reflect on the test, I think the positive result came my way for a simple reason: I was adequately prepared for the multiple choice AND the vignette portion of the exam. Even though I freaked out about the questions and how unfamiliar they sounded to me during the exam, I took the time to read each one of them carefully and realized I was answering them to the best of my ability. What first seemed like wild guesses, because of the number of marked questions I had at the end, turned out to be my weird way of handling stress.

Next up: PPP.

Side note: Lots of people will suggest to begin with the triad: CDS, PPP, SPD. I suggest starting with whatever subject you feel more comfortable or confident with. There are no easy exams, and one needs to prepare almost equally for every single one of these tests. Some exams are more draining than others, but the path to prepare for them is almost the same. Study, study, study… and practice, practice, practice those vignettes!

 

 

 

On facing my biggest fear…

During the six years that followed my becoming a LEED AP, I excused all attempts to endure the ARE exam process on many facts, such as: a move back to Baton Rouge, LA; the opening of my husband’s practice; a new job; the buying of our first home; many renovations; two daughters; etc. I really don’t believe my life is any more hectic than everyone else who is going through this process, but I certainly found comfort in those facts and hung on to them as a reason for avoiding to face my biggest fear: failure. And failing standardized exams just seemed like too much of a certainty.

I am usually not one to make excuses for my behavior. I am the first to admit when I’ve done something wrong, or crossed the line, or were too judgmental about something (even when I believe there was a reason for my bad behavior). However, in the facts mentioned above, I have to say that they were not merely excuses to avoid facing the fact that I wanted to become a licensed architect. A part of me felt a bit burned out, actually. My husband and I had just returned to Louisiana, his work was super demanding (it still is) and I was working long hours and weekends aside from handling most of the daily house stuff, the renovations, etc. There were no children in the picture at the time, so if it weren’t for the busy schedule (that most of you intern architects can certainly relate to), that would’ve been the perfect time to test. Had I known better, I would have made a priority in my life to tackle these tests then. But I didn’t. And things just snowballed…

We had two girls in the space of two years that followed. I decided I couldn’t handle the work schedule and care for them at the same time. I also couldn’t rely on my husband for taking them to daycare or pick them up, or keep them every now and then when they were sick. We couldn’t take turns. It had to be me, or I would have had to hired someone to do that. (By the way, how can a parent handle the amount of sick days a kid requires per year and keep a job, is beyond me).

Another point is that it was just very important to me that I be around the girls at least for their first couple of years. I wanted them to learn the language I speak without an accent (that is Portuguese, by the way). I wanted them to be around family and be raised by one of their parents, especially since I don’t have mine close by. And since my husband’s schedule couldn’t give, I decided to take a halt from my professional career and stay home with them. I have no doubt that it was the best decision I made to date. I do have doubts, though, about my goals and aspirations. I feel like I got so off track that I lost not only confidence in my testing abilities, but my choice of career altogether.

But five years later, not too long after my littlest one started daycare, I had a pivotal conversation with my husband. It was the moment I walked away from that made me schedule that first exam…

The conversation wasn’t long or difficult, or anything like that. My husband simply asked me why had I seemed to give up on taking those exams. In his words: “what are you so afraid of?” My shortsighted answer: “I’m afraid of failure. I know I will fail a few, if not all of them, so I have just put this off. Failing one to me is like failing them all.” The truth was: I knew I couldn’t prepare adequately for them to feel like I, at least, had a good shot at passing, so the business of life just got in the way and got the best of me. However, his following words is what changed that narrow-minded view and feeling of fear in me. He said: “You know you are already failing by not even trying, right? If you do not give yourself a chance to succeed, you are automatically a failure.” That was it. Those words: YOU ARE ALREADY FAILING BY NOT EVEN TRYING.

We talked a bit more about how the decision of taking these exams could impact my relationship with my very young girls. Although too young to understand, this would certainly be a topic of conversation when they themselves face their own fears. I felt that even if I were not to return to practice, the example of perseverance and determination would always be a good trait to teach them. After all, the best form of education a parent can give a child is to lead by example, right?

The very next morning, I scheduled my first exam: CDS.