March 30, 2011 – Vignette Seminar

The IAC committee will be offering a free study session for Intern Architects who are preparing for the ARE Exams. This seminars emphasis will placed on approaches for working through the vignette portions for PPP and SPD, focusing on problem-solving and time management strategies.

This seminar will run from 6:00PM to 7:30PM at the AIBC Architecture Centre. The seminar will provide strategies and other tips for each exam, and are not intended to cover specific exam content. It would be helpful to have some familiarity with the exam materials and some experience with the graphic practice program prior to attending the respective seminars.

Introductory material and resources can be located at Intern Architect Exam Process and Resources,

To reserve a spot for this seminar, or if you have any questions, you can contact Emily Tyler, Registration & Licensing Administration Assistant, at 604 683 8588 ext. 324 or etyler@aibc.ca.

Programming, Planning + Practice (PPP)

This exam has one graphic vignette– Site Zoning.

Site Planning + Design (SPD)

This exam has two graphic vignettes – Site Grading and Site Design

2011 ARE Preparation Seminars

Building upon the success of last year’s ARE Preparation seminars, the IAC committee continues to offer free study sessions in 2011 for Intern Architects who are preparing for the ARE Exams. This year, the emphasis will placed on approaches for working through the vignette portions of each exam, focusing on problem-solving and time management strategies.

Each seminar will generally run from 6:00PM to 7:30PM at the AIBC Architecture Centre. These seminars are designed to provide strategies and other tips for each exam, and are not intended to cover specific exam content. It would be helpful to have some familiarity with the exam materials and some experience with the graphic practice program prior to attending the respective seminars, except of course for the introductory seminar.

To reserve a spot for one of the seminars, or if you have any questions, you can contact Emily Tyler, Registration & Licensing Administration Assistant, at 604 683 8588 ext. 324 or etyler@aibc.ca.

March 9, 2011 – Introduction Seminar

This seminar will give you an overview of the Exam Process and study techniques for the NCARB ARE Exams. Information about AIBC study resources and external study resources will be laid out. Learn how to prepare for, book and take your ARE exams. Much of the information that will be covered can be found on the AIBC website here at Intern Architect Exam Process and Resources.

March 30, 2011 – Vignette Seminar

Programming, Planning + Practice (PPP)

This exam has one graphic vignette– Site Zoning.

Site Planning + Design (SPD)

This exam has two graphic vignettes – Site Grading and Site Design

April 14, 2011 – Vignette Seminar

Building Design + Construction Systems (BDCS)

This exam has three graphic vignettes – Accessibility/Ramp, Stair Design and Roof Plan

May 18, 2011 – Vignette Seminar

Schematic Design (SD)

This exam has two graphic vignettes – Interior Layout, Building Layout

June 1, 2011 – Vignette Seminar

Structural Systems (SS)

This exam has one graphic vignette – Structural Layout

Building Systems (BS)

This exam has one graphic vignette – Mechanical and Electrical Plan

Construction Documents + Services (CDS)

This exam has one graphic vignette – Building Section

ARE Resources NOW AVAILABLE

There are a vast amount of existing resources to prepare Intern Architects for the ARE, many at no cost. The AIBC has complied an extensive list and this is now available for review. The information covers everything from obtaining your Authorization to Test letter, booking an exam, the exam location rules and conduct, to available study resources.

IA Exam Process and Resources

ARE Structures Seminar

Professor David Thaddeus is back!

November 12th to the 14th, 2010
Friday: 9am - 7pm, Saturday: 8am - 8pm, Sunday: 8am - 7pm
At the AIBC office boardroom

Registration is now open! During this intense three day class, Prof. Thaddeus will be presenting his Structures Seminar at the AIBC offices. This lecture offers three full days of workshops, mock exams and questions & answers that focus on preparing Intern Architects for the Structural Systems division of the ARE 4.0. These workshops present the technique, strategy and skills invaluable to all interns preparing for their exams. If you have any questions, please contact the AIBC Registration & Licensing Administration Assistant Emily Tyler.

Registration is limited and closes November 5th!

Gustavo's Buildings

The first Mibelli Building Seminar in Vancouver was a big success, thanks to Gustavo!

The participants enjoyed the two day class. Gustavo focused time on the vignette, showing the class what to and not to do. The building seminar exam content was invaluable.

- "The participants had a good time, they felt that it really helped"

Next up: The Structural Seminar!
This is scheduled for early November. The registration date will be announced soon.

Architecture ARE Flashcards for your iPod

Studying for the AREs just got a lot cooler!

On September 7th gWhiz released the latest version 2.1 of the Kaplan flashcards for your iPod, iPhone, iPad...
Check it out!

2010 ARE Preparation Seminars

The Intern Architect Committee will be holding a series of free ARE preparation seminars over the coming weeks and months to help interns prepare for the exams. The seminars will be held approximately every two weeks, and will generally run from 6:00pm to 7:00pm at the AIBC Architecture Centre in Vancouver. Dates below are still subject to change. Please check back regularly to confirm that the seminar schedule is accurate.

These seminars are designed to provide strategies and other tips for each exam, and are not intended to cover specific exam content. It would be helpful to have some familiarity with the exam materials and some experience with the graphic practice program prior to attending the respective seminars, except of course for the introductory seminar.

Introduction to the AREs Wed Mar 10
Programming Planning and Practice Mon Mar 15
Site Planning and Design Mon Mar 22
Schematic Design Wed Apr 07 **
Building Design and Construction Systems Mon Apr 19**
Structural Systems Mon May 17
Building Systems Mon May 31
Construction Documents and Services Mon Jun 14

** Please note these two sessions have swapped dates.

Potential ARE Building Systems Seminar

There is a possibility of bringing in a presenter to give a two-day seminar for the Building Systems exam, in a similar style to the recent Structures Seminar given by David Thaddeus. This seminar will be presented by Gustavo Mibelli, and from all appearances seems to be helpful to some of the interns in the Building Systems forums. We are looking at scheduling this seminar in the spring, if there is enough initial interest. Please let us know if you have any interest in taking a course such as this. Thanks!

ARE Study Groups: Preparing for the AREs Outside Vancouver

ARE study resources at the AIBC library are available to all interns. However, out-of-town ARE candidates may find it difficult to attend ARE preparation seminars held in Vancouver. In some cases, these ARE seminars provide some much-needed encouragement to take an exam. For those of us who cannot attend, motivation can be the biggest challenge to studying and completing the seven divisions of the ARE.

So why not study as a group? A study group is an excellent resource for those who function well under “peer-pressure,” encouraging them to study for these exams. You will also find yourself responsible to others and not only to yourself. A regular ARE study group may start with as few as four people and grow to as many as fifteen. Members may join for just one exam or continue for all of them.

The ARE Forum, a web-based bulletin board, is a good resource when searching for interns in your area who are preparing for the same ARE division. Upon registration, you may post your call under Areforum > Miscellaneous Forums - Not a place for debate just listings > Study Groups

One example of the many ARE Forum postings is a 15-member ARE study group in Albuquerque, NM. They started with PPP, then CDS, SPD and are now preparing SS. So far, they have passed 2 and failed 1. This is how they work together:

As a group we decide on an exam to study for; then we determine how long we want to take to study 4-8 weeks depending on the exam; then we break the readings out according to the schedule; we are using the Kaplan material as our main study material with the PPI material as a second source ... Once we determine the reading, we take a week to read the material and do the quiz at the end of each lesson and then meet each week to discuss the answers to the questions, we talk about why we chose an answer and where we found it in the reading ... As we get closer to the end of the study time for that exam we begin to look at the graphic portion and work through the problems available as a group and discuss why we decided to do certain things and not to do certain things. We then take a week or two for each member of the group to take the exam before moving on to the next exam and then we start it again.

If you are working with a study group, how do you study? Please share your experiences with us. It will be helpful to other interns trying to start a study group.

Gastón Castaño IA (Victoria, BC)

Update: Transition from ARE 3.1 to ARE 4.0

The majority of 3.1 candidates have now been converted to 4.0. These candidates are able to schedule appointments in ARE 4.0. Currently, there are approximately 2,800 candidates pending for the final round of conversion which is reflective of the high numbers of candidates that tested in June. If you tested in late June some of your authorizations may not yet be there.

If you have a question about your open eligibilities, you may contact the ARE Helpdesk directly at 800-896-2272. Prometric anticipates that the second round of conversion to be complete by August 21. Please note that when registering for a 4.0 exam online you must select "ARE (Graphic Exams)" in Step 1: Select your testing program.

Site Planning & Design

This article deals with preparation for the Site Planning graphic vignette which is one part of the Site Planning exam (ARE 3.1) and Site Planning & Design exam (ARE 4.0).

The old Site Planning exam (ARE 3.1) consists of three vignettes: site planning, site grading, and site zoning. The new exam, called Site Planning and Design (ARE 4.1) consists of two vignettes, site planning and site grading, and a multiple choice section. This article won’t discuss the multiple choice component found in the new exam –resource for that can be found in the Kaplan and Ballast study guides, available for loan at the AIBC.

The graphic vignettes on the old and new exams are the same, the software used to perform the vignettes is the same, and therefore all of the study resources for the old exam with regard to the graphic vignettes are still relevant. The critical resource from the old exams for the graphic vignettes is the Norman Dorf Solution manual. This book gives one example of a passing and failing solution for each vignette with analysis, tips, and a must-read section called 'Fatal Errors'. Professor Dorf’s frank and clear writing style makes for quick and indispensable study material -a must read and in my opinion the best place to start when studying for any graphic vignette.

Make sure to also look at the Kaplan and Ballast study guides for their sample passing and failing solutions. Also go the NCARB website and download the study aid which also contains a sample vignette with a passing and failing solution. Find it on the NCARB website under ARE 4.1 study aides (on the left sidebar) click, then look for Site Planning & Design (on the right sidebar).

The grading and zoning vignettes are ‘give aways’ to quote Norman Dorf in his solutions guide. They require some practise but are generally straightforward. The more difficult vignette, site planning, requires a layout of a specified programme onto a site. The programme typically consists of two buildings (which are placed as pre-drawn symbols), a plaza, walkways, parking, and an access road. The complexity of this vignette has to do with following the programme and its requirements to the letter, while also using the custom software created for this exam. The software is a little bit awkward but it becomes easier with practise.

You will find the free practice software on the NCARB web site. After familiarizing myself with the software and trying out the vignette, I watched videos posted by the late Norman Dorf as well as those posted by Interns on the ARE Forum. These showed how to efficiently layout parking, how to gauge ‘closeness’ on a site plan, and how to efficiently manipulate grades and solve the site grading vignette. I watched all the videos, practiced the vignettes in the following days, and watched all the videos again for review. These videos were extremely useful. Go find these videos on the ARE Forum use this address: http://www.areforum.org/forums/forum22/83868.html

NCARB’s practice software comes with only one background per vignette. This should not stop you from practising the site planning vignette over and over, testing different layouts each time in order to satisfy the same programme on the same background. I found trying to use different layouts clarified a lot of questions I had about getting the layout correct. For example, what are the implications of running parking north south versus east west? How does entering a parking loop from the middle differ from entering from the side? Can I nudge all the parking and the access drive over 10’ if I had to, and how long would that take me (this is good practice for the exam, where you might find yourself nudging items at the last second after realizing something was laid out incorrectly)? At what distance does a driveway kill a tree?

For those who’d like even more practise, there are alternative backgrounds and programmes that can be patched into the NCARB software. You can find these in the ARE Forum under: uploads/site planning/SP alts/sp alts inst.txt. I found these layouts more difficult than the original practice software vignettes and the exam but still useful for the practise.

The critical task in the site planning vignette is to make sure all the programmatic requirements are fulfilled. To save time you may want to transfer the requirements from the screen onto a piece of paper, which makes a quick and useful reference during the drafting stage of the vignette and can be a good checklist once you think you have completed the vignette. I found the alternate vignettes (with their alternate programmes) a good way to practise this –and it does take practise.

What I did to study for the Site Planning graphic vignette (ARE 3.1) -there are multiple choice questions on the new exam, but I am not addressing that in this article or list…for that, simply look at the ARE 4.0 study guides):

1. skimmed the ALS and Ballast study guides for the graphic vignette sample problems
2. downloaded the practise software from the NCARB web site
3. practised using the software (two or three evenings after work)
4. watched the videos on the ARE Forum (one evening)
5. practised the vignettes (3 evenings)
6. read the Norman Dorf Solutions manual after completing each vignette
7. practised some more
8. practised summarizing the programme quickly (especially for the site planning vignette) on scratch paper, and used the alternative vignettes posted on the ARE Forum FTP site in order to practice writing down different programmes.
9. wrote the exam (note: this sequence describes preparation for only one part of the exam)

After watching the videos and practicing yourself, be sure to read the following approach to working through the vignette by clicking on the FTP button in the ARE Forum (areforum.org), then clicking Site Planning, then download ‘Dan’s helpful hints’.

If there is anything you think should be added to this article please leave us a comment. Good luck!

-Anthony Milkovich, IA

ARE 3.1 Scheduling

The June 30th deadline and exam re-booking waiting period are taken from the ARE e-news email sent by NCARB (communications@ncarb.org) to all candidates on February 13, 2009.

The last day to take an ARE 3.1 exam is Tuesday June 30, 2009. After that day the equivalent exam(s) will need to be re-taken in the new format.

A failed exam has a mandatory 6 month waiting period for retake. However, that exam cannot be re-scheduled before 4 months have passed from the original test date. The retest date can be no earlier than 6 months from the original test date.

As an example this means that if you took an ARE 3.1 exam, say Building Technology, on December 23, 2008 and failed you will need to wait until April 23, 2009 to re-schedule. At that time you will need find an exam slot within a seven day period between June 23rd and June 30 in order to retake the exam no earlier than 6 months from the fail date (in this particular example) and the last day for ARE 3.1 exams. After June 30, 2009 Building Technology will split into four exams in the new format.

From experience, getting a six hour graphic exam slot within two months is difficult. We expect getting an exam spot within an even shorter time period, especially as June 30th approaches, to be even more difficult.

If you are in this or a similar position with ARE 3.1 exams, please email the AIBC’s Registration Coordinator, Róisín O’Neill at roneill@aibc.ca. The AIBC is taking these exam registration issues seriously (especially where ARE 3.1 exams are split up into multiple exams in ARE 4.0) and will work with NCARB on your behalf to see what can be done to ensure dates are available for you.

-IAC committee