Just did the practice exam on day 9 of PPD and found out several questions were not covered in the videos from previous days. I wonder if I should be reading / studying material that is not part of the guided path
Welcome to the Black Spectacles Community @sorlanda! We are happy to have you here.
This is a common question we get and the short answer is no - you do not need to read or study other materials outside of the Guided Study Process. The lecture videos are intended to set the foundation for your studies, providing you with key concepts that you need to know for the exam - aligned directly to NCARB’s objectives. The quizzes and practice exams are designed by taking that content and simulating the types of questions that you might see on the ARE - these could be specifically related to the video content, or they could be adjacent topics that maybe weren’t fully covered in the videos or other materials. This is to mimic the randomness of the ARE - sometimes you get a question out of left field that may feel unfamiliar, and you’ll need to figure out how to tackle it.
I encourage you to use these random questions as an opportunity to expand your knowledge, especially if they are unfamiliar to you. If it wasn’t covered in the videos, it is unlikely to be a big focus on the exam - therefore, you don’t need to spend too much time studying it. However, you should become familiar with it by understanding the overarching takeaways and thoroughly understanding the correct/incorrect answer explanations (which should provide you with the level of information necessary for ARE purposes).
If you would like to dive deeper into specific topics for your own knowledge (or if you feel that it would be beneficial to your studying), then you can definitely consult the NCARB-recommended references. However, be mindful that it’s easy to go down a rabbit hole and get into the nitty gritty - which is not necessary for the ARE specifically. Remember, you don’t need to be an expert on every topic on the ARE - you just need to know the key concepts and understand how to apply them to the scenarios presented on the exam.
Hope this helps!
Kiara Galicinao, AIA, NCARB
Product Coordinator
Black Spectacles
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