My Long Journey to Becoming an Architect

It’s been a while since I’ve provided an update here. Since the pandemic, I haven’t done much photography. All events had been cancelled and I didn’t really have the energy to pursue new leads in a nonexistent market. And since I work in an architecture office as my full time job, I am also fortunate to not have to rely on photography as my main source of income. With that being said, this one year break from professional photography has allowed me to focus and achieve one of my main goals since graduating from school—I have finally passed all of my Architecture Registration Exams (AREs). And I am now officially a registered architect in the state of Oregon. For those who don’t know, here’s a brief definition of the exams from the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards (NCARB)’s website:

My full exam timeline of all exams taken, pass and fail.

The Architect Registration Examination® (ARE®) is a multi-division exam used to assess your knowledge and skills regarding the practice of architecture. The current version of the exam, ARE 5.0, is developed by NCARB and features six divisions. Completing ARE 5.0 by passing all six divisions is required by all U.S. jurisdictions as a key step on the path to earning a license.

The ARE is designed to assess aspects of architectural practice related to health, safety, and welfare. Specifically, the ARE focuses on areas that affect the integrity, soundness, and health impact of a building, as well as an architect’s responsibilities within firms, such as managing projects and coordinating the work of other professionals.

Passing all of the divisions of the exam was a grueling process. The content area is vast and the traditional study materials are intentionally vague as to what the exams are really like. I would like to preface that I am an excellent test taker. I never had to put too much time into studying while in school because I found that listening in class was the easiest way for me to retain information. However, I hated studying mainly because I struggle with studying when reading textbooks. Any lesson from a missed class during school would usually be the portion of the test I do poorly in. Reading a lot of text and trying to understand and retain the knowledge gives me headaches and I struggle to stay focused.

The first couple exams I took were still the previous version of the exam, the ARE 4.0. These exams required test takers to pass all subdivisions within each exam division. There was also a history component. They were in the process of transitioning to the ARE 5.0 and provided an opportunity to only have to pass 5 exams with a combo between the two versions instead of 7 exams with only ARE 4.0 or 6 exams with only ARE 5.0. Initially, I wanted to spend as little money as possible on extra study resources. I relied only on the Ballast and Kaplan study materials my office provided. After going through all the flashcards, study guides, and running through the practice problems, I went in to take my first exam (CDS). I was shocked with how completely different the actual exam was from the study material; the practice problems from Kaplan and Ballast were nowhere near the kinds of problems that actually appeared on the exam. It was as if I studied for the wrong exam or was given the wrong exam. This was the first time I have ever failed an exam. I shrugged off the exam as a fluke and had my second exam scheduled (SPD). Again, I stuck with the same study materials the office provided. And again, I was thrown off by how completely different the actual exam was from the study materials. It was particularly devastating since I had put in a lot of effort studying the Kaplan and Ballast materials.

This sent me into a bit of a rut where I had to reflect a bit as to how to approach the exams again or if I even wanted to keep trying to pursue licensure or even the architecture profession. It took about 2.5 years for me to get back into the study mindset again. I knew that Kaplan and Ballast were insufficient on their own. I reevaluated my resources for studying and finally accepted that I’m going to need to cater to my studying strengths instead of going the cheapest route—it didn’t matter how much money I saved in study materials if I was going to keep failing my exams. I was also making more money both at my architecture firm and from photography work so I had the means to pay for study resources that suited my studying style. This was when I signed up for Pluralsight and the Designer Hacks practice problem bundle. After a month or so, I felt comfortable enough to attempt my first ARE 5.0 (PA). Passing that first exam was such a huge moment of relief. The next two exams I wanted to take were best to study together since there was a lot of content overlap. It took me over a year to study for these next two exams because it was a busy year at work and I didn’t really have that much free time to study. When the pandemic forced us to work from home, I was able to begin carving out more time to study for the exams again. I went in to take my next exam (PPD) and again passed. My next exam was already scheduled for a month out (PDD). Unfortunately, I failed this exam, but just barely. I knew I was only about 2 questions away from passing based on the score report. However, this still sent me back into a minor rut and I was again trying to find excuses to push off studying for the next exam.

Then a blessing in disguise happened—I was furloughed from work for 5 weeks. On one hand it was kind of disappointing because this happened right before Christmas, but on the other hand I knew this was the perfect opportunity for me to really knock out the rest of the exams. I also still received a year-end bonus which helped cover expenses along with unemployment pay. The next three exams I was planning on taking were parts of the profession that I had the least amount of professional experience in—practice and project management, and construction & evaluation. These three exams relied heavily on contracts and professional best practices. And while this forced me back to needing to study through reading, the freed up time I had from being furloughed allowed me to study at a pace comfortable for me. I took PcM and PjM less than 3 weeks apart and passed both. When I was brought back to work, I was working 32hrs/wk on the Oregon Workshare program (which effectively provides pro-rated unemployment benefits). This allowed me a free day to focus on studying (and schedule exams during the week day instead of fighting for a weekend spot). I tried to schedule an exam in February, but a snow and ice storm knocked out power in the area and threw off the test centers scheduling availability off for a while. I was finally able to schedule the last two exams mid March (CE) and early April (PDD retake). Seeing the final pass result was such a huge relief and I felt like a huge burden has finally been lifted off of my shoulders. And thanks to the year end bonus, the Oregon Workshare program, and the Covid Stimulus Plan for unemployment, I was fortunate enough to not take a financial hit during these last few months when on furlough and working less than 40 hrs/week.

Another resource that was vital to getting through these exams was the Young Architect community and the ARE Facebook Group. In addition to people providing knowledge of available resources and explaining tricky language in contracts or practice problems, the group provides an environment where people share their successes and failures and provides encouragement to press forward. While I personally didn’t feel like I could commit to the YA Academy or Bootcamp time wise, I know of many people who have been able to and successfully passed their exams. So I highly recommend starting with youngarchitect.com and getting plugged into that community and they will help direct you towards all of the resources available. It is also important to understand and know what methods of studying works for you personally.

I don’t know if it’s because of the pandemic or if it’s because many people have complained, but the process to become an official registered architect was a lot more efficient than I had anticipated and from what other people I know had experienced. I passed my final exam on Saturday, April 3rd. I received my official score report on Monday, April 5th. NCARB sent my record to Oregon State Board of Architect Examiners (OSBAE) on Tuesday, April 6th. This process normally takes up to 45 business days according to NCARB. I submitted my notarized application and paid the fees on Thursday, April 8th. OSBAE processed my application and sent me the link to take my Jurisprudence Exam on Monday, April 12th. This process has normally taken up to a month for others. I took and passed the jurisprudence exam later that evening. The morning of Tuesday, April 13th OSBAE forwarded my file to the executive directors desk for review and approval. By that afternoon it was listed as “approved”. And by Wednesday, April 14th, I was officially entered into the system as the state of Oregon’s newest registered architect. So kudos to OSBAE and NCARB for being able to process my registration quickly and efficiently. Hopefully this is the new normal going forward for others as well!

It wasn’t a cheap journey between graduating from my Master of Architecture program and being licensed. There were a lot of costs associated that has often been criticized as a huge roadblock for many obtaining licensure. NCARB has slowly tried to soften the financial requirements by restructuring their registration and renewal fees, though in my case it ended up making it more expensive. When I signed up, initial registration cost $350 but covered the first 3 years of our NCARB record with it being $75 for renewal each year after. However, in 2016 (right at the end of my first three years) NCARB decided to restructure their fees and lowered the registration fee to $100 for the first year with an $85 renewal each year after. This makes it cheaper for the majority of licensure candidates compared to the older system by reducing the initial registration cost and increasing the annual renewal costs by a little bit. However, this meant that I had to pay the higher cost of $350 for my first three years AND the higher annual renewal rate of $85. Luck of the draw I guess.

And here’s the breakdown of how much it cost for me to become licensed (not including the cost of education).

NCARB Initial Registration Fee (2014, 2015, 2016): $350
NCARB Renewal Fees (2017, 2018, 2019, 2020): $85/year x 4 years = $340
Passed ARE 5.0 Exam Fees: $235/exam x 6 exams = $1410*
Failed ARE 5.0 Exam Fees: $235/exam x 1 exam = $235
Failed ARE 4.0 Exam Fees: $210/exam x 2 exams = $420
Oregon State Architecture Board Fee to Begin Examination: $75
Oregon State Architecture Board Registration Fee: $75*
Oregon State Architecture Board Certification Fee: $100*
SUBTOTAL: $3005

Moving on to the cost of the study materials I used and paid for:

Pluralsight Subscription: $29/mo x 15 mo + $28/mo x 2 mo + $35/mo x 7 mo = $736 (recommended for auditory and visual learners)
Designer Hacks Quiz bundle: $195 (recommended for practice problems of varying length)
Walking the ARE PcM Practice Exam: $39 (recommended for calculation type problems)
PPI Ballast ARE 5 Practice Exam Book (Used): $25 (meh. fine for extra practice problems)
SUBTOTAL: $995

TOTAL: $4000
*Reimbursed: $1467.50 (my office reimburses passed exam fees and initial registration and certification fees at 50% for under 5 years of employment and 100% for 5 years or more of employment of which I had one passed exam while under 5 years of employment with everything else over 5 years).

GRAND TOTAL: $2532.50

I was also fortunate enough to already have resources I didn’t need to pay for such as old textbooks and books borrowed from friends. I think it would be useful to also list these resources here since not everyone would have access to these books without additional costs like I did:

Mechanical & Electrical Equipment for Buildings (MEEB): $165 (recommended for targeted studying)
Building Construction Illustrated: $40 (recommended)
Architectural Graphic Standards (Student Edition): $125
Fundamentals of Building Construction, Materials and Methods: $135 (recommended for brief refresher or any other construction resource from school)
Statics and Strength of Materials for Architecture and Building Construction: $200 (recommended for brief refresher or any other structural resource from school)
Energy, It’s Use and the Environment: $180 (recommended for brief refresher or any other environmental control system resource from school)
Architect’s Handbook of Professional Practice: $260 (highly recommended for PcM, PjM, and CE)
AIA Contracts: Free (highly recommended for PcM, PjM, and CE)
SUBTOTAL: $1105

So in conclusion, becoming a licensed architect takes a lot of work and effort. It’s not easy, and it’s not cheap. There are resources out there that suit all different kinds of studying styles. It’s equal parts content knowledge, experience, and mentally getting over the hump when failure arises. Get plugged into a community of other testing candidates to support each other. Also, find a company that values its employees enough to help invest in their professional development.