Time to pop the champagne! I have much to celebrate…I recently passed all the NCARB ARE exams! These exams are a necessary step towards architectural licensure. (For the non-architects, no, grad school isn’t enough - you need to pass these 6 exams and work 3,740 approved hours before getting licensed). The exam content spans building systems, construction detailing, business fundamentals, project management, and more. The breadth of knowledge seems a bit ridiculous at times (as an architect, why do I need to be tested on financial literacy?), but in the end, I actually really enjoyed the entire studying process. It definitely made me a better architect, and it reinvigorated my passion for architecture and learning in general.
Pass rates of AREs. Screenshot of NCARB’s website, linked in the article.
The pass rates for the exams are surprisingly low, especially when you look at the scores needed to pass. It’s basically a letter grade of D or better. Pretty easy right? Shouldn’t architecture graduates already know this stuff? Not really. Many schools don’t teach these building and business fundamentals. For better or for worse, most architecture programs focus on theory and design studios. You end up learning A LOT on the job (and on your own) after you graduate. But that’s for a different blog post. The good thing about these exams is that it requires architects to eventually learn this content.
Most wannabe architects space out these exams over months, some even years. There is a lot of prep work for each exam. But there is also a lot of overlap in the content, so I took the advice of Amber Book, and I treated the exams as one big test. Much to my happiness, I passed all 6 ARE exams, on the first try, in a span of 2.5 weeks. For non-architects, it may not seem that crazy, but I am incredibly proud of what I did.
Score needed to pass AREs. Screenshot of NCARB’s website, linked in the article.
The exams were a goal to work towards. I set a deadline for myself (albeit it moved a bit throughout my studying), and then I planned around that. I don’t want to make it sound easy or relaxing, but it worked out. I wouldn’t have done it much differently, if I had to do it again.
However, the whole testing process was definitely stressful. Might’ve taken a couple years off me. Am I doing enough? Am I doing too much? Can my brain handle this much information? If I fail, will I have to redo this entire process?? But, it was also fun! It felt like I went back to school. I’ve always enjoyed learning. I approached each question as a puzzle to solve. There is a right answer, and it is up to me to decipher the code and figure it out. You don’t often get that clear cut of a puzzle in life, so it’s nice to take advantage of it. Anyway, cheers to solving more puzzles (and to taking the time to celebrate)!