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:
Parva Markiw, AIA, LEED GA
Hi I am Parva Markiw! I’m a project architect at DesignGroup. I’ve always wanted to be an Architect and as an immigrant from Iran with English not being my native language, I found the Architecture Registration Exams to be very difficult. While going through architecture school we weren’t prepared to take a lot of standardized tests. So, I felt like architecture school didn’t prepare me for these exams. I noticed while studying that as an immigrant on top of the language barrier I have to diligently study the United States’ geography as well. These are just a few barriers for non-native English-speaking people like me.
“The most important step is to start.”
Exam Order
| February 20, 2016 | In person | SITE (4.0) | Fail |
| April 2, 2016 | In person | CDS (4.0) | Fail |
| April 23, 2016 | In person | SD (4.0) | Pass |
| April 30, 2016 | In person | SITE (4.0) | Fail |
| June 16, 2016 | In person | CDS (4.0) | Fail |
| March 4, 2017 | In person | CDS (4.0) | Fail |
| May 30, 2017 | In person | SITE (4.0) | Fail |
| June 10, 2017 | In person | CDS (4.0) | Pass |
| July 29, 2017 | In person | SITE (4.0) | Fail |
| August 17, 2017 | In person | PPP (4.0) | Fail |
After multiple failed exams, I was at a loss and felt I’m not understanding the materials, so I sought out ARE bootcamp. I figured I’ll give it a shot if it helps me better understand the material or at least pass one exam it’ll be worth it.
| September 20, 2017 | In person | SITE (4.0) | Pass |
After this exam I got engaged. We set our wedding date for August 2018.
| December 20, 2017 | In person | PPP (4.0) | Pass |
Transition to ARE 5.0
| April 28, 2018 | In person | PDD (5.0) | Fail |
| June 21, 2018 | In person | PPD (5.0) | Fail |
| June 30, 2018 | In person | PDD (5.0) | Fail |
After this failed exam I stopped studying to focus on wedding planning.
| December 22, 2018 | In person | PPD (5.0) | Fail |
| April 12, 2019 | In person | PDD (5.0) | Fail |
| August 17, 2019 | In person | PPD (5.0) | Fail |
| September 7, 2019 | In person | PDD (5.0) | Pass |
| March 3, 2020 | In person | PPD (5.0) | Pass |
ARE 4.0 Exams:
Programming, Planning & Practice (PPP)
Construction Documents & Services (CDS)
Site Planning & Design (Site)
Schematic Design (SD)
Advice for you!
I often get asked “why do I need to get licensed?”. Why did you decide that you wanted to be a licensed Architect?
I always wanted to be an Architect, and once I learned I can’t call myself an Architect until I‘ve passed all the ARE exams and finished AXP hours that became my motivation.
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?
I started from what I thought was an “easier” exam. The most important step is to start, there will be failures along the way and if you accept that as part of the journey, you’re able to dust yourself off quicker and focus on studying again. Keep going, you will succeed!
What type of study materials did you use? Any particular ones that you’d recommend?
Gang Chen, Amber Book, Michael Riscica’s ARE Bootcamp.
How did you fit study time into your schedule? Was there anything in particular that worked well for you?
I made the exams my number one priority, I would come home from work, have dinner then schedule time to study. It was manageable for me as a recent graduate whose responsibilities weren’t super overwhelming.
Do you have any other advice for someone studying for their exams?
Keep going and don’t give up. In my case it took a lot more failures to eventually pass.
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 Parva Markiw for sharing your story!
Edited by
Katelyn Rossier, AIA, NCARB, LSSBB
Want to share your ARE Story?
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