Architecture Registration Exams Story: Nickie Cheung

Welcome to the Architectural Registration Exam (ARE) experience stories series! This series is to share experiences, timelines and advice of professionals that have completed their AREs. We know it can be a daunting task to get started and overwhelming on the number of resources out there. We hope you find this information helpful in organizing how you proceed through your exams. Good Luck!

This is the experience, timeline, and advice from:

Nickie Cheung, AIA, NOMA

Nickie is an Architect at Rothchild Doyno Collaborative in Pittsburgh. He graduated from Carnegie Mellon University with a Bachelor of Architecture and minors in Intelligent Environments and Architectural History. He has a passion for design and communication that energies his belief that architecture is for all. This motivates him to help expand the architecture profession through community outreach.

After spending years involved in a youth leadership program, Nickie seeks new ways to engage the next generation in the production of space. He is a very active member of NOMA, and co-leads the NOMA Project Pipeline Workshops where volunteer architects teach design principles to local minority youth.

“Finish the exams as fast as you can, because life only gets more complicated, and your career only grows closer to what you hope to achieve.”

April 12, 2019	In person	P&A	Pass
September 13, 2019	In person	PPD	Fail
December 13, 2019	In person	PDD	Fail
March 2, 2020	In Person	PDD	Fail

Testing Centers Closed due to Covid 19.

July 12, 2021	In person	PPD	Pass
October 18, 2021	In person	PDD	Pass
November 6, 2021	In person	PcM	Pass
November 13, 2021	In Person	PjM	Pass
November 22, 2021	In Person	CE	Pass

I often get asked “why do I need to get licensed?” Why did you decide that you wanted to be a licensed Architect?

The primary factor that inspired me to pursue licensure was how it would allow me to independently leverage my skills to support building design in communities. While my skillset was similar before and after licensure, my license reminds me of the effort I put in to become an architect and continues to push me to keep learning every day.

More importantly, I imagine a more diverse profession in the future, and it’s much easier to encourage and support others after completing the path to licensure myself. Everybody’s journey to licensure hits road bumps, but due to my great mentors and friends, the road bumps never stopped me. For that, I seek to return the favor to other budding architects and help them navigate their own relationship with licensure.

Often people don’t know where to start, do you have any advice for those looking to start their exams -or- how did you start?

Starting is always the most painful part of any process, whether for the exams or for anything else in life. I began my exams by taking Programming & Analysis because it felt like the most similar content to my undergraduate experience, and I thought it might help hone my design skills. The best thing I did when I started though, was to celebrate the beginning of the journey. Ahead of my first exam, I scheduled my first tattoo to commemorate the moment and remind myself that this was just the beginning.

What type of study materials did you use? Any particular ones that you’d recommend?

Practice questions, practice questions, and more practice questions. During the months that I had a series of failures, I realized that I needed to just get more familiar with how the exams ask questions. I initially began by reading the Ballast prep book and signing up for a Black Spectacles account, but pivoted to using Amber Book and ARE Questions (the website) and just relying on the Black Spectacles content for the questions and to listen to while I showered. I would highly recommend Amber Book and ARE Questions.

How did you fit study time into your schedule? Was there anything in particular that worked well for you?

Initially, I tried my best to not let the exams consume me. In the end, I found that I needed to fully immerse myself in the content to internalize the lessons. I would review flash cards as soon as I woke up, whether they were cards I made or digital flashcards from Quizlet.

I listened to Schiff-Hardin contract lectures while I was at the gym, and I would listen to the same Amber Book videos while I worked for weeks on end.

On the weekends, I would push to practice 40 to 50 questions and on weeknights, I answered between 5 to 20 questions depending on how my day went.

Most importantly though, I always made time to enjoy life by spending time with my partner or my friends, they were a big reason I never gave up on the journey.

Do you have any other advice for someone studying for their exams?

Don’t be afraid to start, and after you start, just keep going as quickly as possible. As a child, I always tried to peel off my band-aids slowly because I wanted to avoid the maximum amount of pain. But time is not the same as peeling off band-aids, time is much more valuable and while the exams are important, you will always continue learning over your career, in some cases better content than what is on the exams.

So, finish them as fast as you can, because life only gets more complicated, and your career (hopefully) only grows toward closer to what you want to do. The ARE exams are an incredible effort to complete and looking back, taught me so much about my work habits. Be kind to yourself, take breaks when you need, acknowledge the other things happening in your life, and know that life continues pushing you after the ARE exams!

We hope that this information helps you through our ARE journey, setting goals, and giving you some insight on how to get started.

Thank you again to Nickie Cheung for sharing your story!

Edited by

Katelyn Rossier, AIA, LSSBB