David and Eric discuss five tips for passing the programming and analysis (PA) division of the Architect Registration Examination (ARE). They emphasize that PA is about evaluation, not design, and highlight the importance of using highlighting tools for long, wordy questions. They stress that programming focuses on constraints before opportunities, using codes and zoning as filters, and that economics matter at a high level. Programming is about relationships and feasibility, not just square footage. They also note that PA questions are longer, providing more clues for candidates to use.

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Show Notes

A. Setup & Mindset Shift

• Why PA feels so different from PCM / PJM / CE and PPD / PDD
• PA = gray area, long wordy questions, more about judgment than memorization
• Bonus: practice using the exam highlighter—critical for PA’s long questions

B. What PA Is Really About

• Programming phase = problem seeking, not problem solving
• No design yet: you’re evaluating constraints, feasibility, and relationships
• You’re analyzing inputs: site, climate, soils, codes, zoning, owner’s program

C. Five Core Tips

1. Stop Designing – Evaluate, Don’t Solve
   • You haven’t designed anything yet
   • Compare options, surface risks, and recommend feasibility
   • Bubble diagrams and big‑picture fit, not plans and details
2. Start With Constraints Before Opportunities
   • Environment + context: sun, wind, soils, climate, topography, neighbors
   • Look for what cannot be done first, then what could be done
   • Treat this as due diligence at the very start of a project
3. Codes & Zoning Are Filters, Not Afterthoughts
   • Use setbacks, easements, FAR, occupancy, construction type as early filters
   • Goal: define the buildable area / envelope and check viability
   • You’re not doing deep PPD/PDD code work—just feasibility‑level analysis
4. Programming = Relationships More Than Square Footage
   • Quantitative: room sizes, totals
   • Qualitative: adjacencies, privacy, sound, light, experience
   • Residential example: public vs. private zones, don’t dump a powder room on the kitchen
   • Good programs describe how spaces relate and feel, not just how big they are
5. Economics Matter, But Only at a High Level
   • Rough cost per SF or per unit to test viability, not detailed estimates
   • Don’t blindly pick the cheapest option; PA is not a bid
   • Think: “Is this project basically viable on this site with this program?”

D. How PA Connects to PPD & PDD

• PA, PPD, PDD as three views of the same project at different scales
• Studying PPD can make a PA retake easier (you see the “other side” of programming)

E. Big Takeaway

• You pass PA by thinking like an architect at the very beginning of a project:
  curious, constraint‑driven, feasibility‑focused, and comfortable in the gray area.

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This episode of the ARE podcast gives five key tips for passing the ARE Construction & Evaluation (CE) exam. The focus is on thinking like an architect under the AIA contracts, emphasizing standard of care, observation vs. construction, administrative procedures, question-reading strategy, and performance-focused closeout/post-occupancy work. Throughout, they stress judgment, restraint, documentation, and staying within professional/contractual boundaries.

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Show Notes

Main Tips (1–5)

1. Answer from the Architect’s Contractual Role (Standard of Care)

• Always answer exam questions from the standpoint of the architect’s contractual role, not your personal or local practice.
• Think in terms of standard of care:
  

  What would any reasonably prudent architect do in this situation, based on the information given?

• Deep or specialized experience can hurt you on the exam if you override the “standard” approach with niche real-world habits.
• CE is a national, standardized test, not region-specific.
• Focus on:
  • Roles, responsibilities, and authority during construction.
  • Who has/produces/reviews which documents.
  • Who can stop the work, what “observe” means vs. “inspect,” etc.

2. Construction Observation (Architect as Observer, Not Builder)

• In CE/Contract Administration, the contractor’s job:
  Build in conformance with the contract documents.
• The architect’s job:
  Observe whether work conforms to the contract documents and report findings to the owner.
• Key boundaries:
  • Do not dictate means and methods—that’s the contractor’s domain.
  • Shop drawings:
    • Produced by the contractor, not by the architect.
    • Architect reviews them only for design/esthetic intent, not for how to build.
    • They are not part of the contract documents.
• Nonconforming work:
  • The owner has the right to accept nonconforming work (A201).
  • Architect must inform the owner of implications so they can make an informed decision.
• Field reports and site visits:
  • Document date, time, weather, observed conditions.
  • Not a guarantee or full inspection of all work.
  • Architect only visits as frequently as the contract requires, often at agreed milestones (e.g., foundation completion, framing completion).

3. Administrative Procedures (The “AIA Way”)

• CE is less about technical minutiae (e.g., OSB vs. plywood) and more about admin processes and AIA contracts.
• Critical procedures and documents:
  • Submittals & shop drawings
  • RFIs
  • Applications for payment
  • Lien release forms
  • Change Orders (COs)
  • Construction Change Directives (CCDs)
  • Project Manual
  • Substantial Completion & Project Closeout
• Core contracts:
  • A201 – General Conditions (owner/architect/contractor relationships and responsibilities).
  • B101 – Owner–Architect Agreement
  • A101 – Owner–Contractor Agreement
• Why the architect reviews applications for payment:
  • Owner is not expected to understand construction.
  • Since architect observes the work, they can verify claims like “50% framing complete.”
  • Also logical for architect to review lien waivers in relation to paid work.
• “There’s the right way, the wrong way, and the AIA way”:
  • For the exam, the AIA way is what matters, and it usually aligns with industry practice.
  • Deviating from it in practice can increase liability.

4. Reading Questions for Timing & Keywords (First / Best / Most Appropriate)

• Many wrong answers come from misreading or reacting too quickly, not from ignorance.
• Pay close attention to timing/context words:
  • “First” thing you should do
  • “Best” action
  • “Most appropriate” response
• Always ask:
  • What phase are we in? (Construction admin? Multi-phase project? Pre-bid?)
  • What logically happens next in the process?
• Exam traps:
  • Fake urgency: e.g., owner is on vacation and unreachable, contractor “needs” a decision.
    • Your roles and responsibilities do not change. If the owner hasn’t appointed a representative, you wait.
  • Multiple answers may be true statements, but:
    • You must pick the one that actually addresses the question asked and fits the given context and timing.
• In their coaching sessions, candidates rarely reach consensus on answers at first, showing how easily people:
  • Justify multiple answers as “true,” but
  • Miss what the question really asked.

5. Post-Occupancy Evaluation & Closeout – Focus on Performance, Not Blame

• Post-Occupancy Evaluation (POE), substantial completion walk-throughs, punch lists, and final closeout are about performance:
  • Does the building perform as intended?
  • Are systems functioning properly?
  • Are design goals (e.g., better test scores via daylight and ventilation) being met?
• It is not about blame or combative architect vs. contractor dynamics.
• POE is not part of the basic services in B101:
  • Basic services end when the architect signs the final application and certificate for payment (changed from “60 days after substantial completion” in 2007).
• Contracts (B101 and A101) are the framework:
  • They define what each party has promised to do.
  • Failure to perform can become a contractual/legal issue.

Key Mindset & Professional Boundaries

• Think like a licensed architect:
  • Ground your decisions in contracts, standard of care, and professional boundaries.
• Respond, don’t react:
  • Stay calm about changes, delays, or change orders—these are normal, not crises.
• Scope and additional services:
  • Contract defines your scope.
  • When clients request items outside scope, treat them as additional services:
    • Explain calmly.
    • Provide cost implications and seek approval.
• Observe how experienced project managers and principals handle construction meetings:
  • They don’t blow up or panic; they manage, delegate, and document.
• Practical advice:
  • If you’re studying for CE, ask to join job-site meetings at your office to see real construction administration in action.

Ultra-Concise Exam Takeaways

• Answer as an architect under AIA contracts, not as a contractor or local expert.
• You observe and report; you do not build or dictate means and methods.
• Know A201, B101, A101 and how submittals, pay apps, RFIs, COs, CCDs, and closeout flow between parties.
• Read the whole question carefully, paying attention to phase, timing, and words like first/best/most appropriate.
• View CE as testing your judgment, restraint, documentation, and professional boundaries, with a focus on performance rather than blame.

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David discusses how to course correct after failing an ARE exam. He explains why one failed division shouldn’t create a negative narrative and reminds candidates that failure simply means retaking the exam. He also covers how to review the score report, keep momentum by scheduling the next exam about eight weeks out, and use practice exams to better understand the format. The focus is simple: adjust your strategy and keep moving forward.

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Show Notes

Introduction & Purpose

• Addressing listeners who recently failed an ARE exam
• Brief on ARE Mentor vs. ARE Technical episodes
• Main goal: protect momentum and prevent derailing after a failure

Mindset: Don’t Turn One Failure Into a Story

• How we create negative narratives after failing (imposter syndrome, “I’m bad at tests,” etc.)
• Core reframe: a failed exam only means you have to take it again
• Warning against letting a single result become your identity or long-term story

Using the Score Report (But Not Overusing It)

• Look at the score report briefly to see:
  • Where you were weakest
  • Where you were strongest
• Reference to Episode 85 – ARE Technical: Analyzing the Score Report
• Emphasis that the score report:
  • Doesn’t mean as much as people think
  • Should be reviewed for a few minutes, then filed away
• Encouragement to rely on honest self-assessment of weak areas

Staying in the Exam Cycle & Avoiding the “Same Division Loop”

• Personal story: failing Programming & Analysis (3.0) and waiting two years for the next exam
• Advice:
  • Don’t take months off
  • Don’t pause studying
  • Don’t delay scheduling the next exam
• The “same division loop”:
  • Example: fail PCM, wait 60 days, insist on retaking PCM before moving on
  • Result: loss of momentum
• Strategy:
  • Schedule the next division immediately after a fail
  • Aim for about 7–8 weeks out

Momentum Analogy: Flat Tire on a Road Trip

• Failure = flat tire, not the end of the journey
• You don’t turn around and go home; you:
  • Change the tire
  • Continue the cross-country trip
• Same idea with the exam process: fix, adjust, move forward

Strategic Use of the 60-Day Retake Window

• General pattern:
  • Schedule a new division ~8 weeks out
  • Take that new-division exam
  • Fit the retake shortly after:
    • PCM, PJM, CE, PA: about 1 week
    • PPD, PDD: about 2 weeks
  • After the retake, jump into the next division
• Rationale: protect and extend momentum, avoid long study gaps

Self-Analysis: Identifying What Actually Happened

• Go beyond the score report into self-awareness:
  • Where did the exam start feeling hard?
    • Case studies?
    • Technical questions?
    • Time pressure?
    • Unfamiliar topics?
• Use these questions to pinpoint weak areas

Common Patterns & What They Mean

• Questions felt unfamiliar (even though you studied)
  • Often means you studied too narrowly
  • Usually clustered in specific modules, not the whole exam
• Running out of time / feeling rushed
  • Time management is a major hurdle, especially after long gaps
  • You don’t fix time management in theory; it requires real exam reps
• Backpacking analogy:
  • You become a better backpacker by going backpacking
  • Day hikes and training help, but can’t replace multi-night trips
  • Same for exams: practice actual NCARB exams to build timing skills

Making the Most of NCARB Practice Exams

• NCARB practice exams as:
  • A window into how NCARB thinks about questions
  • Especially crucial in the final week before the exam
• How to use them:
  • Don’t treat them just as a percentage score
  • Reverse engineer:
    • Handwrite notes and diagrams
    • Mark why wrong answers are wrong
    • Circle keywords and patterns
  • Treat them as a guide to NCARB’s logic, not a mere score predictor

Emotional Recovery & Course Correction

• Normal emotional reaction to failing:
  • Imposter feelings
  • “I’m never going to finish”
  • “I’m not ready”
• Advice:
  • Allow yourself to feel those emotions
  • Then course correct rather than stay stuck
• Reframing the episode:
  • It’s about course correcting after a failure
  • Focus on protecting your momentum

Core Process & Closing Message

• Core rhythm promoted in the coaching program:
  • Study → Test → Analyze → Repeat
• Protecting momentum:
  • Stay in a rhythm rather than stop-start cycles
• Closing encouragement:
  • Think consciously about how to protect your momentum this week
  • Keep moving through the cycle until you get your license

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In this episode, David and Eric discuss how to realistically interpret NCARB ARE score reports without overthinking them. They explain why content area percentages and “low” scores often look worse than they are, and how weighting and test design affect what the report really means. They also share healthier retake strategies, focusing on fuzzy topics, mindset, and holistic studying rather than obsessing over every data point.

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Show Notes

• The NCARB ARE score report is vague and often over‑interpreted by candidates.
• Its only real purpose: lightly point you toward weak content areas after a fail—not to precisely diagnose everything that went wrong.

How Score Reports Work

• Tests are divided into content areas/modules, but:
  • There is one overall cut score for the exam, not for each module.
  • You do not need to “pass” every content area to pass the exam.
• Content areas are weighted very differently:
  • Example (PDD):
    • Content Area 1 ~ 37% of the test (~37 questions on a 100‑question exam)
    • Content Area 5 ~ 2–8% (as few as 2 questions)
  • So getting 100% in a tiny area doesn’t mean much; missing a lot in a big area matters more.

Common Misinterpretations

• Candidates often:
  • Lay out multiple reports like a detective wall, trying to decode patterns that aren’t really there.
  • Think: “I got 40%, I need 80%, I’m only halfway there.”
    • In reality, that might mean they were only ~10 questions away from passing.
  • Believe online calculators that say, “You missed by 1 question,” which Eric says is mathematically almost never true—most are off by 5–15 questions, still very close, but not “one.”

Two Main Score Report Scenarios

1. Low in one content area
   • This is actually good news:
     • You were close to passing.
     • You likely just need to tighten knowledge in that specific area.
   • Use the report as a pointer: “Study more in this content area,” not as a judgment of your overall ability.
2. Low across the board
   • Usually not about content gaps in one topic.
   • More about test behavior:
     • Overthinking, second‑guessing, misreading questions
     • Rushing or running out of time
     • Not picking up clues in the scenarios
   • Many candidates feel like they “bombed it,” but Eric often finds they’re still only around 10–15 questions away.

Flip‑Flopping Scores (Multiple Attempts)

• After 3+ attempts, candidates often see:
  • Content areas that were strong become weak, and vice versa.
  • Over many attempts, they’ve “passed” every section at some point—just never all in the same sitting.
• This indicates:
  • They’re capable of passing.
  • But they’re now fighting their past attempts, changing answers based on what they did last time rather than calmly applying standard of care and good reasoning.
• Eric’s coaching focuses on:
  • Mindset, test‑taking biases, and a “standard of care” mental model to get out of their own way.

How (and How Not) to Use the Score Report

Good uses:

• Spend a few minutes with it:
  • Note if one or two areas are clearly weaker.
  • Let that inform where to get a bit more clarity.
• Pair it with your own reflection:
  • Ask: Was I rushing? Misreading? Did I run out of time? Was I confused by the question wording?

Bad / unhelpful uses:

• Over‑analyzing multiple reports, building big collages and trying to decode hidden meanings.
• Letting the “% correct” vs “passing candidate %” convince you you’re farther from passing than you really are.
• Using it as an emotional verdict: “I bombed, I don’t know anything.”

Better Strategy After a Fail

• Write down your “fuzzy topics” immediately after the exam:
  • Any concept where you thought, “I’m not totally sure.”
  • That list becomes your real study roadmap.
• Study holistically, not just one tiny module:
  • Yes, give extra attention to weaker content areas.
  • But keep reviewing all modules, because questions are integrated and pulled randomly from large banks.
• If you ran out of time and left many blanks:
  • The score report is basically useless in that situation—it’s mostly reflecting unanswered questions, not your knowledge.

Coaching / Tools Mentioned

• Eric has a score report tool in the Platinum coaching program:
  • Takes the NCARB percentages from a score report.
  • Estimates how many questions away from passing a candidate likely was.
• He also does five free coaching calls per day to:
  • Interpret reports.
  • Re‑frame how close people actually are.
  • Build a realistic study and mindset plan.
• Their coaching provides a daily study plan, organized by content areas, to remove overthinking about “what to do next.”

Big Takeaways

• The score report is not an oracle (and not the Grim Reaper either).
• It’s a blunt, limited tool:
  • Use it quickly, unemotionally.
  • Let it lightly guide you, then move on to studying and retaking.
• Practically, a failing score report mostly just means:
  You need to take the exam again, with slightly better content clarity and a much better test‑taking mindset.

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In this episode, David introduces the new ARE Mentor format — short, direct Tuesday episodes focused on mindset, structure, and execution — alongside the ongoing ARE Technical episodes released on Fridays.

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Show Notes

The core message: most candidates don’t struggle because they lack knowledge. They struggle because they lack structure. Studying only when motivated, cramming on weekends, or starting and stopping repeatedly leads to inconsistency — and inconsistency kills momentum. The ARE does not reward intensity. It rewards consistency.

David shares lessons from his own seven-year journey through the exams and emphasizes the need for a frictionless, repeatable weekly system. The recommendation: study six days per week, 60–90 minutes per day, at the same time each day, with one scheduled day off. Focus on one division at a time, build rhythm, and aim to test every six weeks.

He also highlights the importance of:

• Avoiding marathon study sessions

• Committing to one primary study resource

• Incorporating a weekly review day

• Reducing decision fatigue

• Treating the process like a professional commitment

The takeaway is simple: build a system you can repeat week after week. Show up consistently. Stop restarting. Create momentum — and keep moving forward toward your next exam.

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In this podcast, we discuss the idea of Where’s Waldo and how we can better look for answers during the process of the ARE.

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In this podcast, we discuss another frequently confusing and fuzzy topic, the RFP (Request For Proposal) process for both public and private projects.

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In this podcast, we discuss a frequently confusing and fuzzy topic, fire separation and the 4 types.

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In this podcast, we discuss a frequent fuzzy topic, the difference between a control joint and an expansion joint.

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In this podcast, we discuss whether nuclear energy is making a comeback and the pros and cons of this carbon free energy source. 

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