Architecture Registration Exams Story: Cassidy Roberts

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:

Cassidy Roberts, EDAC

Cassidy Roberts is a project designer at IKM. She graduated with her Master’s in Architecture + Health from Clemson University in 2021. Her professional experience has largely been in designing both small- and large-scale healthcare spaces.

As an active member of the local Young Architects Forum group and AIA Academy for Architecture and Health, she enjoys getting to know other young professionals and healthcare architects in the area. She has participated in many PALM mentorship groups locally and at the state level and serves as the current Pittsburgh YAF PALM Director for 2023.

“There were times when I started to feel burnt out, but it feels great to now have each test completed and look back on what I was able to accomplish in a year.”

I was fortunate to pass all my exams on the first try. I credit this to my attitude towards mastering the basic concepts and using my work experience to complement the textbook knowledge I gained through studying. I felt that having a strong knowledge base allowed me to use logic and reasoning to work my way through questions, no matter how tough they were.

I began studying for my first exam in January 2022 which was about 6 months after I began working post-graduation. I found studying for PcM and PjM together to be effective because there was so much content overlap. I ended up pushing PjM back a bit from the February date I originally scheduled it for due to end of February work-related travel and deadlines.

I took a few months off to enjoy the spring and summer weather here in Pittsburgh after passing the first two exams. During the summer, I realized that CE was somewhat contract focused so I opted to begin studying for it while the knowledge I gained from PcM & PjM was relatively fresh. At this time, I had also gained more construction administration experience and felt more sufficiently prepared than I would’ve in early spring.

After passing CE, I took a brief studying break and began prepping for PA in mid fall. This test best aligned with experiences I had and knowledge I gained in my graduate program. I had deadlines before and after this exam so carving out time to study was critical to my success.

Knowing that the holidays are a busy time with inevitable end of year deadlines, I took off the remainder of 2022 and resumed studying in January of 2023 for my last two exams, PPD & PDD. I studied for these two together after hearing that they were closely interrelated. I ended up pushing my final test up rather than back to avoid it overlapping with a deadline week.

I opted to take each of my exams online. During the pandemic, I got used to the virtual proctor environment while in school. I found that I was better able to control the environment around me (internet speeds, no disruptions by others, etc.) when testing from home and removed a lot of test day anxieties by eliminating the commute to a test center. Additionally, there was much better availability to schedule virtual exams as compared to in-person exams.

February 10, 2022	Virtual	PcM	Pass
March 14, 2022	Virtual	PjM	Pass
April 15, 2022	Virtual	CE	Pass
November 7, 2022	Virtual	P&A	Pass
February 13, 2023	Virtual	PPD	Pass
February 20, 2023	Virtual	PDD	Pass

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

I want to become a licensed architect to show that I have the knowledge to design buildings that protect the health, safety and welfare of their occupants while meeting acceptable standards and building codes. I learned a lot about design thinking while I was in school, but I also wanted to gain the practical knowledge of how buildings go together. I discovered a lot of that knowledge I was seeking while studying for my exams. I have found that studying for the exams has provided me with an abundance of knowledge of how building construction practices and code interpretations work that have allowed me to become a better, more well-rounded designer.

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

For the first 3 exams I took, I relied mostly on primary resources listed in the NCARB handbook for each exam. I opted to use mostly free resources I could find online, even using some from the 4.0 AREs. Note: if you opt to go this route, it is important to keep track of contract and other procedural changes that have occurred since the 4.0 to 5.0 switch. While I saved money, I spent extra time using this strategy.

Building Construction Illustrated was a key resource I used for CE, PA, PDD and PPD, and older versions can be accessed for free online. Likewise, there are free podcasts (The ARE Study Guide Podcast) and Youtube playlists (RMSM Studio Playlists) available that were great, easily accessible audio/visual resources for many of the exams.

When it came to PA, PPD, and PDD, I decided to invest in different resources. I paid for 2 months total of Amber Book, which is a subscription-based study resource that allows users to access video content, practice questions, quizzes, tests and flash cards. Within the ARE test-taking architecture world, it has become known as one of the gold-standard studying resources, and Amber Book has published data that speaks to its value showing that utilizing it increases pass rates.

There are a multitude of ways to save money on a subscription, either by using the Young Architect discount code, a seasonal discount code, or joining a study group of 6, and it can be started or stopped at any time; when you are not actively studying, you do not need to pay for it. For me, this was worth the value because it cost less than I would’ve spent on the primary resources I would’ve needed to otherwise acquire, and at the time I locked in my subscription rate, it cost less than what I would’ve paid if I failed an exam ($220/month < $235/test). However, because it was so expensive, I minimized the amount of time I had an active subscription by relying on good note taking and by overlapping exams.

NCARB’s practice tests were also a huge help as they are formatted like the real test and ask questions in similar ways.

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

I found that coming up with a 1- or 2-month study plan for each exam or set of exams worked out really well for me. This allowed me to take long breaks in studying throughout the year and be extremely focused when I was studying.

Because this was a more aggressive approach, I did find myself studying nearly every day – during my commute to and from the office, on my lunch break, after work, and often for long stretches on the weekends. However, I did give myself grace to still make weekend plans and make time to get exercise and do relaxing activities as needed. A lot of my tests fell around work deadlines, so making studying deadlines for myself with various topics was critical.

It was also imperative that I planned ahead to make time to take the NCARB practice exams the weekend before each test. There were times when I started to feel burnt out, but it feels great to now have each test completed and look back on what I was able to accomplish in a year.

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 Cassidy Roberts for sharing your story!

Edited by

Katelyn Rossier, AIA, LSSBB