CLARB Issues

[Shawn Smyth]

After talking to several engineers and EITs, I’ve come to the conclusion that the LARE exam is ridiculous.

It’s just one man’s opinion, but why is the LARE exam SOOOO expensive, doesn’t get you nearly as much of a raise as a PE designation would get you, and why is it not open book like the PE? I’m definitely just venting, but does anyone else feel like this is just one giant racket?

That being said, I’ll be taking parts 2&3 in April...

Good luck everyone!

[Jordan Smythe]

Yea man I'm with you on that.  It's all a money grab honestly. It's basically CLARB vs. the candidates. They do all they can to keep people from getting licensed.  Unfortunately it's the right of passage that we all must overcome so just gotta keep going until we pass.

[davis...@me.com]

I agree. What's really disappointing is there is no feedback after an examination other than a grade. Whether I pass or not, I'd be appreciated to see what was excelled in or what needs to be further reviewed. 

We're paying quite a bit of money to have to 'put faith' that everything was graded correctly. From what I understand, their stance is they're not there to teach. Which I understand, but they should at least provide proof and/or spit out topics that you 'failed'. How can someone improve if they aren't 100 percent sure of what they're doing wrong? But yes, entirely too expensive. Seems like CLARB doesn't put out feelers to see how candidates and/or practitioners feel about the exam. No exam should be 'easy', but the system shouldn't be 'ridiculous'.

[Shawn Smyth]

Yup! I’m glad a few people on my side. I really took a chance with this one lol. I completely agree about the grading aspect. While I haven’t received grades back yet, I realize it’s going to be no more than just a pass or a fail.

I think CLARB wised up and doesn’t send post exam surveys because people might complain about the price of everything.

They will probably start making us pay to post in this group pretty soon haha

[sallie....@gmail.com]

Nail on head. I have been in practice quite some time and have never had to do a traffic control plan. Why? Because municipalities require a PE to stamp those. Boring Plans=Geotechnical Engineer and Architect.
Have spent so much $$$ and time studying and preparing for the exam (3 months non-stop studying) and can't seem to get that 650. In the past they let you know the topics you didn't do great on, with percentage of missed/pass questions. The graphic sections you could review in person for a fee. I'm about $3k into this exam and would gladly pay to know where I am failing.
Questions seem very subjective and based on the writer's experience and not what is in the reference material.

[Amy Wolfe]

Hey Sallie, try not to despair. I've been at this for 9 years and have spent over 7k. Just have sec. 3 to pass. Hopefully I did it this time.

[c H w Wells]

The exam is ridiculous. Pure and simple.

Section 2 honestly seems to be the only section that generally asks things that an LA should know. I have been in practice at a national firm for 9 and a half years. I had considered many career changes over that time, which is why I hadn't pursued licensure until this past December, when I decided I may as well go ahead and get it done. Understand I work in a firm where on a daily basis I may handle any aspect of a massive range of projects from $50,000 to 125 MILLION dollar projects.. from Admin/Contracts/Bidding to Grading/Storm Water/Design. Having done this for the last decade, I figured that I should have a pretty good understanding of what it takes to be an LA. I studied for 3 weeks pretty hard before taking all 4 sections in December.

My first question of the first test asked me to "choose all that apply" about "bird habitats"... LOL. I don't give a crap about bird habitats, and my job would never require me to give a crap. In the event that it was relevant to a project, I would hire an ornithologist or some kind of specialist to consult... cause that is what the real world does. Why your average LA would need to know about birds is beyond me.

The amount of "Choose all that apply" that is on these tests is obscene. They use that strategy to make these tests ARTIFICIALLY DIFFICULT. If they asked the questions in coherent English, with a standardized answer available, the pass rate would be too high, and they would miss out on a lot of money grabbing.

I have not received my results yet so I have no idea how I did... And that is part of the problem. I felt extremely confident about sections 1 & 2 after leaving the test because I believe most of the content in those sections is relevant and standards are well adopted to formulate your answers, but sections 3 & 4? I have no clue.. because I answered what I thought was the right answer on every question, but with the amount of "Choose all that apply" and "Choose most correct" questions on these tests, I easily could have bombed or aced it.

The LARE tests your ability to take the LARE. Not your ability to practice landscape architecture.

Sorry in advance.... I have not had a single place to vent about my utter disgust at the formatting of this test.