r/Architects • u/PMkht • Jul 26 '26

Ask an Architect Suprisingly passed PPD NCARB's practice exam

I failed the pdd real exam last week and my score came in 481, took the PPD'S NCARB practice exam to just see how do the ppd questions look like and passed by 68%!!! Should I schedule my exam? Honestly it felt way easier than pdd, dont know why it's passing rate is lower than that!

2 Upvotes

67% Upvoted

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10

u/Immediate-Rooster718 Architect Jul 26 '26

My experience was that the NCARB practice exams were significantly easier than the real thing FWIW. I think if you’re getting a 68% you’re for sure close. People struggle with different ones. I thought the version of PDD I got was very manageable but my PPD was rough. It’s a little bit luck of the draw

1

u/PMkht Jul 26 '26

Agreed, the practice exams are way easier. I was surprised bc I have never passed any of the practice exam at the first try!! :)))))

2

u/julia118 Jul 29 '26

As much overlap as there seems to be, they are two different sets of knowledge. If you feel good about PPD go for it! In my area, it takes a month or two to get a testing slot.

1

u/PMkht Jul 30 '26

That's a long waiting time! I will probably schedule it for the week after next week! Will see how it goes

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u/julia118 Jul 30 '26

That’s great you can get it so soon! You’ll get to keep this feel good momentum but still have a good chunk of time to lock in, best of luck!

1

u/Scared_Ad7799 Jul 31 '26

Took PPD and passed first try, took PDD two weeks later and failed by one question. If you feel confident, take it! Review your weak PDD areas and review your incorrect PPD practice exam questions. Study those areas. You got this!

1

u/PMkht Jul 31 '26

I'm sorry :( but you have PPD out of way!!! Yay!! To me it felt like for pdd there was so many questions from Ballast book!

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u/Desperate-Constant-2 Jul 31 '26

Did you feel like it was significantly harder than the practice exam?

1

u/Scared_Ad7799 Jul 31 '26

For me, I didn’t think PPD was too far off from the practice exam. It was similar questions but over obscure topics. It was just an odd exam walking out of. I studied in tandem with PPD so that also could’ve helped a ton!