Construction Documents and Service (CDS) ARE Mock Exam (Architect Registration Exam): ARE Overview, Exam Prep Tips, Multiple-Choice Questions and Graphic Vignettes, Solutions and Explanations

I have seen a little of back and forth going on in these reviews about Mr. Gang Chen's book in CDS.. to put it bluntly I really liked the book, and I liked it much more than the ballast or Kaplan(which I used during my first fail). What I liked about it is that it basically tells you to concentrate more in studying and reading the materials and less in the practice exam. When you do the practice exam the content is incredibly useful to prepare you for the exam, and the fact that it is not 300+ questions makes you concentrate in what's important and not burn out in trivial memorization. And that's the key, the focusing on the right materials is the reason why I bought this and it worked. I passed - seriously the ARE is a tough and horrible experience for most people so its always good to step out of the regular materials.

Great Study GuideThis study guide by Gang Chen's is very helpful for me to study for the CDS exam in a systematic manner within a short time schedule. If I had gain access to this book earlier, I would have saved a lot of time without wasting time looking for the not so important study materials, I could have just spend less than two weeks studying.I find it very straightforward and easy to read, it provides valuable study guidelines such as what materials to study and test taking strategies. It is a very good compliment to the rest of the AIA Documents, Kaplan and Ballest study guides. I would highly recommend it if you want to be efficient of your study time.Good luck on your exam.

I bought this after reading the glowing reviews here and a few on AREforum. I returned it the next day, and I feel I should write this review to save others the $$ in return shipping.And the highest level, this book has too little useful content and too many problems to justify the price. It might be a worthy buy for $15 or so, just for the additional sample multiple choice questions (which are decent, but not stellar).The advice / walkthrough for the vignette falls into two categories: advice commonly agreed upon and available for free by reading through the CDS section of the AREforum, and advice based on the author's speculation. The latter is spurious at best since there's no real way of knowing specifically how NCARB grades beyond a certain general level. At worst it's flat wrong.It's also overly verbose. You get the feeling like there was a conscious effort to make the thing longer, to mask how little useful content there is. The huge font size throughout the text also contributes to this.The sample multiple choice generally seems to cover the material decently (though I didn't read all that much of it), but suffers from poor wording. The questions don't 'feel' like NCARB questions. If you want good multiple choice review, just buy the ballast book used. It has considerably more content and the questions are better structured.The production (typography/layout) is pretty poor. Not that it's a big deal but the book just doesn't look like it was put together by a pro. For $60+ I'd kind of expect a little better.

A great resource for the CDS portion of the ARE. I found this book to be an excellent way to help narrow down the areas of study on such a broad topic. 100 realistic multiple choice questions and a great walk-through for the vignette. If there were only more resources of this quality. Definitely worth the nominal fee, considering the price of the exam.edit: I bought this book two weeks prior to taking the exam and now, I'm more happy than ever about the last minute purchase. Over a month later, I receive my testing result; PASS! I can't say my score would be the same without this book!

I did extensive research concerning what exam materials to purchase when preparing for the ARE CDS exam. Gang Chen's book was a great disappointment. I saw it was highly recommended however after prepping, cross referencing other guides, and taking the exam - I can conclude that it is good if you have extra money to spare and want another 100 set of questions to practice with. Otherwise invest in BALLAST ARE Practice CDS questions. Unlike Gang Chen's mock exam this book provides extensive explanations of questions/answers (in a more comprehensive manner) AND provides 2 sets of exams. I also notice Chen's book even repeats some questions from the free NCARB practice exam.Conclusion: Buy Ballast if you have to make a choice between the two resources because you get two sets of exams vs one, similar questions to that of Chens, and much better explanations to the exam questions that will help you target your weaker areas.

I have purchased the entire series of this book for the exams. I am using them in conjunction with the Kaplan study material. I found all of the extra information unnecessary and really only use the question and answer section for preparation. This series does a good job with the practice questions focusing on a more code based approach which I have found the Kaplan books lack. Together they seem to give a good balanced approach to studying and have successfully gotten me through the first three exams.

its just ok. some of the content is good but some of it is repeated directly from the already FREE are prep tests given by ncarb, so its quite silly and a slap in the face when you see these. this happens in easy of the books that I have of his. otherwise, they serve as a good supplemental source.

Of the many study aides for the ARE this is simply hand down the best. It is precise and concise to the point. If you follow this book you will have the greatest chance of passing the ARE the first time. The book strength it lays out a step process of obtaining the necessary skills to pass each section. It contains and excellent mock exam both for the Multiple Choice and Graphic Sections. For Graphic Section he layouts a step method to develop a passing solution in the shortest amount of time. He makes the complex subject simply.