LARE TESTING HOAX!?

[Heather Smith]

Phil,

I am fine with designing gardens…at this point whatever pays the bills. And if it is your passion go for it! But I am wondering if you know what landscape architects do? I am truly not being snarky, maybe I missed another post somewhere…but I just wanted to verify that you know what landscape architecture programs cover. Most of it is very large scale planning…on paper. 😉

The recession has made it very hard for us to see a huge difference in actual monetary value…but it has definitely opened us up to the possibility of much larger projects.There is no way an engineering firm would have been willing to team up with our business if my husband wasn’t officially a landscape architect.

[Jordan Lockman]

I got the book but not the flash cards. You can make your own flash cards and the book was helpful, but kind of expensive for what you get. I would recommend getting practice tests and researching the answers over buying the pre fab flash cards and book. Just a thought. If you feel like you still want more information after you have the practice tests then get the mo media stuff.

[Steve_White]

what aboot Canadia?

[Ed Dermody]

Cheers and well said.  Every time I read these conversations, I wonder if the universities are failing the students and not giving them the tools they need to succeed.  Why and how are they failing? 

Instead of complaining and or defending the LARE we should be asking questions.  Such as, what are the common characteristics of failing applicants?  Academics, type of employment (design build, LA, A&E firms?), did they have an internship, age, continuous years of experience? 

 

Other posts are correct that a 30% pass rate there is an issue.  NEVERTHELESS, this is NOT CLARB issue, instead, it may something else. 

[Andrew Garulay, RLA]

The people, and there have been at least three in this thread, who stated what they did that made them fail are almost asserting that they did not follow the directions, but clearly know what they are doing.

 

Perhaps, the failing in the academic area is that students are given too many passes when they make mistakes, re-invent the assignment to suit their needs (I saw a lot of that when I was in school), or ignore directions.

They become accustomed to getting by and don’t understand it when LARE actually follows through in implementing rigidity.

[Matthew Stubbs]

My biggest arguement against the lare is not the test itself but the way clarb administers it. First off the time given to take the graphic sections is too little, it gives u only enough time to figure out one solution and if u get to far down the road with that idea and it doesn’t work u are hosed. That is because u don’t have time to rework it and if u do u won’t have time to finish the other problems. A new rule they put in on the one administered in December is that u can no longer wear a watch while taking the exam. How ridiculous is that? Apparently they think we are James bond and we have spy cameras in our watches. Now that is a great example of clarb worrying more about the security of their exam and not the ones taking the exam. Clarb needs to take a long look at their exam procedures and come up with something better.

[Anonymous]

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[Dotty Daly]

Are you sure that wasnt just your proctor, we wore watches and heard nothing about not being able to use them. How else will you time the vignettes?

[Matthew Stubbs]

That may have been the case but the proctor said it was in her instructions that were given to her by CLARB.  She said she had given this exam before and that this was new to her as well.  I fortunately use a digital kitchen timer when I take the test and was allowed to use that.  Others just had go off of the 2 extremely small clocks that they put in the front and the back of the room.  I have taken both graphic sections numerous times and this was the first instance of this.  Had I not passed Section E this last time in December I would have raised a big fuss about it.  However I did pass it so I am all done with that stupid exam, hopefully others that were more affected by it than I was will do something to bring it to the attention of CLARB.  The proctor did say that she noted that there were several complaints about it and that she would make that known to CLARB for whatever that is worth.  Does CLARB admister the Exam in your State or is it done by your licensing board?  That also could be the reason for the difference.

[Matt Fridell]

When I took the tests I had two main issues with them:

1. The limited testing times.
2. The incredibly irritating questions in A, B , and D.  

It’s been a few years but I remember walking out of those tests infuriated that these were the questions that were going to make me a landscape architect.  They didn’t seem to have anything to do with what I had been doing in LA for the last few years. . . . they seemed simplistic in a way.  Not that they weren’t difficult or required a bunch of memorization.   They just didn’t seem to need the main skills that I thought a good LA needed – critical thinking and telling funny stories and so on.  

The graphic exams were great fun, but with the low passing rates it seemed that that the scoring must be totally arbitrary after I had made what seemed like a real mistake but passed anyway.  Not that I question the passing, just made me wonder what you’d have to do to fail.

Now my gripe is with all the fees that we need to pay as professionals.  If you maintain a couple of licenses you or your firm is required to pay out the bumwad to keep them, your CLARB registration, your ASLA membership and everything else active. .. . We LAs aren’t making money hand over fist – not even our fancy round glasses wearing members aren’t taking their personal jets to their latest projects. . . .

Been a couple of years though, so take my comments with a grain of salt.   It doesn’t take long for my memory to go hazy.

[T. L. Bigelow]

How can we possibly consider “all possible solutions” in the time allotted?  A big part of my difficulty w/  Section E is that I am not a “speed grader.”  Nor should any of us be.

[Ed Dermody]

 

I suggest you request a redline review.  This will help better understand the grading & exam process CLARB is evaluating.  Many candidates fail due to simple mistakes and oversights.  These oversights will cost you and your employer more than money should they occur. 

If you are working with projects that have grading issues, ask your boss if you can help work out solutions.  It will help with the exam and make you a better LA. 

[Daniel Miller]

Well, this has been a re-assuring, confidence building read as I prepare to take Sections C and E next week…

[Wyatt Thompson, PLA]

I don’t doubt that the LARE has been a painful and frustrating process for some, though you shouldn’t let this horror story thread discourage you. Lots of people have passed C and E, including many on the first try. If you’ve studied well and prepared yourself for the rigors of licensure and the intricacies of LARE-land you should not need to fret. Best wishes to you next week.

[Dotty Daly]

I agree, with practice your speed increases. Take the time to prepare, a few months, not a few weeks or days. Be ok with failing the first time. Its an experience, and an intimidating one. Take classed offered by Jerry Hastings and/or Ray Freeman. Start a study group. Check out LARE Google for support. You arent preparing in a vacuum…I head into E for the 3rd time on Tuesday and its been a process but I have embraced it as a learning experience and part of the my professional improvements. Good luck!

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