Failed Section4 Third Time....

[Robin S]

Anyone have the same experience? I feel really frustrated and defeated right now and don't know what's the problem with me... score is 642......

[soko...@gmail.com]

I got an infamous 642 too as well. If only we knew what the heck that meant. Pass rates are awful for august, 60%?! here's to another $600 down the drain. 

[Robin S]

I wish CLARB call tell me in what part I lost the scores, I really don't know how to study for my fourth time!

[teb]

Hang in there! It took me 5 times and I finally passed this round.

[Robin S]

Congratulations Teb! Do you have any tip on study or preparation?

[Robin S]

What? They are reformatting the test? I don't know about that!

[Sunny Xu Zhang]

Don't lose heart Robin!

That was me in April!!! Except I was worse. I failed like 4 times................

But I finally passed this time in August!

There are almost two years gap between my second and third test. After my 4th failure, I started browsing this study group and reflected on what I have done wrong.

Long story short, my conclusion is that the previous times I just read through time saver standard book. Which is not a problem, but it is more passive studying than active. I do not read the books with the questions in my mind. I recommend create a list of topics to study based on the LARE reference guide, and study topic by topic.

Practice exams is also super important, to test how much knowledge you had retained and if you had sufficient understanding.

On the bright side, the advantage of failing multiple times is gaining a clear understanding of breadth and depth of questions.

Good luck to you next time!!

[Lauren W]

So sorry to hear about the 642 score, that sounds extremely disappointing. I took the Section 4 and passed this time, though it was a tough test and I got to the end with 5 minutes to review questions. The thing I focused on during the exam was doing the grading questions first and really checking them carefully, before going onto the multiple choice/non-grading questions. It probably took me almost half the exam to do the grading questions but I remember the ASLA webinar saying that you must pass the grading to pass the exam so I figured I'd focus on them first and then race through the multiple choice. This is just a wild guess but I wonder if 642 is code for doing well overall but missing a key grading question?

[Kaitlyn Weimer]

See, but the grading questions are worth just as much as the multiple choice questions. I've heard of people doing all the multiple choice questions first and skipping the grading ones so they can do them all at the end (reviewing the incomplete ones before the flagged ones). I think this is a really good strategy.

[blu bird]

I agree with you Kaitlyn. All the grading/more complex drag and drops I left as incomplete, flagged multiple choice questions I was unsure of my answer. After going through whole test I did the incomplete first then went to flagged. If I was spending too much time on checking an incomplete one I would flag it and come back to it at the end. I passed Section 4 first try but leaving the exam I didn't feel great and I knew the roadway grading one I probably got incorrect and was kicking myself for spending too much time on it when I could have checked others. I also thought towards the end of the exam I should have taken like a 30 second break and not looked at any questions because I was feeling so mentally exhausted. 

[Kaitlyn Weimer]

There was one grading question that came up towards the end that looked complex. I didn't have much time left, and I just skipped it. I recognized the probability of me getting it right was minimal and I would have wasted too much time when there were still 10 questions after it. I did end up passing too. 

[Kaitlyn Weimer]

I also almost cried 2x DURING the exam if that tells you anything about how I felt about section 4. 

[Lauren W]

I don't know how the exam is graded exactly, but I do recall the ASLA webinar presenter saying that mastering the grading was required to pass section 4. I'm not sure how that factors into the weighing of the questions, or if they are weighted at all, but given the lack of clarity from the scores, maybe all questions aren't all worth the same?

I did think I would go into the exam following the advice to do multiple choice/non-grading first but decided the morning of the test it was actually better if I did the reverse so as not to tackle the grading when burned out three hours into the exam. Just wanted to share that in case it helps others.

[soko...@gmail.com]

For all of us that took it, I'd imagine this testing period was more difficult than others, given that there was only a 60% passing rate and recalling many peoples post-exam thoughts. It hasn't been that low in years, given the previous passing rates listed on the CLARB site. To all of those who passed, congrats! I knew walking out of that exam in August that I didn't pass. I never felt that brain-dead or distraught after any of the other section exams but I was surprised to see that I was so close to passing but also upset that I had just missed passing!

Welp, have to start saving up the $ to sit for the December exam. See y'all again in November or so. 

[Robin S]

Is it true that people need to pass all grading questions?

[blu bird]

I doubt it. I know I didn't get the last one right. 

[Kaitlyn Weimer]

I definitely fully skipped 1 and know I got another one wrong and passed. So no, you don’t have to get them all right. I thought I read once as well that you can’t get them all wrong, but I’ve never found where I thought I read that once. But not getting them all wrong and getting 60% wrong are different things

[BC]

All test questions are valued the same, you do not have to pass all the grading questions to pass, you just have to reach the magic number of correct questions to pass (unknown # due to CLARB curving the test).

[Daniel Jordan]

I took the UGA class and they mentioned that the you needed to get a majority of the grading questions right in order to pass. So you can miss a few but not all. Now whether or not that is true only CLARB knows. But don't stress yourself out to much about how many you have to get right just get in there and take your test the best way you know how. Personally I just go through it I answer all the questions in order and flag ones for review or comment that I will revisit at the end. For me I can't skip all of a certain type of question and then go back to them. I do better if I go question by question. Now if I get hung up I will flag it so that I don't waste all my time but again that's me and everyone is different. Good luck next time and I highly recommend the UGA classes I took their classes for 3 and 4 and passed both of those in August. They were well worth the time and money. 

[Elleana]

Yes I passed on the fourth try. So hanging there....

[M13]

I read Landscape Grading by Valerie Aymer, the Section 4 notes PDF by anamellee (in the google groups forum... SUPER helpful), ASLA Technical Workshop: LARE Prep Section 4 Handout (2012) from the ASLA resource downloads, bought LAREprep.com's 2 tests (I felt they are helpful), and studied Ray Freeman's prep guidebook. I also read the recommended readings, but relied more on the Freeman guide and anamellee's notes in the last 3-4 months of studying.

I passed. Good luck!

[Hui Chen]

Can I join your Slack group?

[Davis]

Can I get the info on your slack group?  Taking 4 in December for the 2nd time, gonna beat it this time!

[Halle Yaeger]

Thank you for your recommendations! I've taken Section 4 three times and failed, so I'm super frustrated along with many people in this group!

Anyways, are you able to share the Section 4 Notes PDF by anamellee that you mentioned above? Also, Ray Freeman's prep guidebook would help immensely! Please and thank you for your information shared!

[Ray Freeman]

642 means you failed by ONE QUESTION. Sux!

My not-so-magic advice:

As soon as you exit an exam, write down as much as you can remember....especially the topics or types of questions where you felt the most uneasy. CLARB will not help you understand where your particular deficiencies lie.

[Tim Bowler]

Thanks for the info, would you mind if I joined the slack group?

[Steffi Baker]

Thanks for sharing, do you have any advice in terms of study material/prep? 

-Steffi