Help Center.

Yes! This suggestion isn’t based on a deep-held conviction, but rather sprouted organically from the emails I’ve received from folks who took the test right away–and from sad emails from those who waited. In other words, we’ve had lots of people email saying they wish they’d taken their exams closer together, lots saying they were glad they took them together, and very few saying they wish they’d taken them further apart.

We suggest you study for all your remaining exam divisions at once and then take them all at once as if it was a single test given in six parts. That said, some Amber Book enrollees choose to study for one exam division at a time, and we support that too.

Yes. The Amber Book course covers all of ARE 5.0.

No.

NCARB redistributed exam content in the 5.0 exams to better align with how a project flows through an office, rather than how content was taught in school broken up by topics relevant to all six exam divisions.

There is a ton of overlap in the 5.0 divisions and they cover a wide breadth of information, PPD and PDD especially. These are the main reasons why the course is broken up by broader topics that are relevant to all 6 exams. See our study matrix below for the breakdown.

One month is the fastest you could go through the course, though that would be an intense month and could not happen concurrent to a full time job. Average enrollment lasts about 3 - 4 months. Once you sign up, you can use the 16-week suggested study schedule or the 8-week suggested study schedule to help you establish your study cadence.

If you’re already enrolled in the course, you can reach out for a 20 Minutes of Quick Start session with Julie, a licensed architect who’s also one of our content creators to develop a study plan just for you! You can schedule a session with Julie or email her at Julie@amberbook.com.

We prioritize content based on “yield.” To calculate the yield, we not only consider the content of the exam, but also how much time it would take you to study that content, how familiar you are likely to be with that content already, and how many questions related to that content are likely to show up on your exam.

We are actively committed to keeping the course relevant. We’re always adding content and we monitor the course daily for opportunities to improve your learning experience.

Yes, we have a practice exam for each division.

Yes, lots of case studies. Thirteen of them.

Yes, when you gain access to the course you’ll find the form to request a hardcopy of the 375-page illustrated workbook. At that time you can also download a pdf version of the workbook.

Our ARE 5.0 workbook includes a small portion of the overall content in the course. The workbook is intended to act as a companion to the animated videos, and I recommend watching the videos with the workbook (which is almost 400 pages and is heavily illustrated, comes free with the videos). If you are interested in purchasing the workbook alone, without the videos, email us at info@amberbook.com. The cost is $90 (free shipping).

Again, we don’t recommend the workbook alone. Think of your favorite college class. Amber Book course is like that, and the workbook is like the textbook for your favorite college class.

Yes.

Each of the exam divisions, with the exception of Practice Management, requires access to all, or almost all, of the videos. Having fewer exams doesn’t mean that you’ll need access to less content. That is the nature of the extreme content overlap between divisions in ARE 5.0. See our Study Matrix.

Of course if you have fewer exam divisions remaining, you may require access to the course for fewer months, so you may pay less with fewer exam divisions to study for. That said, PPD and PDD are the two most comprehensive exams in 5.0 so for these two especially you’ll want to review everything. In other words, all of the content covered in the course could show up on either exam.

The course videos can only be streamed. As well, the flashcards and practice exams can only be accessed with an internet connection.

Some supplemental materials are downloadable such as the panic notes and a PDF of the workbook.

You are able to cancel your active subscription and then re-enroll whenever you’re ready to resume. Amber Book is a monthly subscription and not offered for partial months.

To make changes to your account, go to your Amber Book profile. You can access this at the top right corner of our website. Then go to the “Billing” tab to cancel your subscription.

When you cancel your active subscription, you will always still have access to the course until the date your subscription would have renewed. Since you retain access to the course until the date of your next renewal, you could cancel any time and have access to the course until the date of your next renewal. We want you to maximize your study time, not worry about waiting until the last moment to cancel.

If you initially signed up with a coupon code, please email us at info@amberbook.com. Otherwise you can reenroll anytime at checkout.

No, this is a monthly subscription.

Your access to the course will expire at 00:00 UTC on the date that your subscription would normally renew or on the date it will expire.

For example, if you see that your subscription will renew/expire on November 1st, this means you would have access to the course up until 00:00 UTC November 1st.*

*Given how UTC works- Universal Time Coordinated - in this example, renewal would occur or access would end on October 31st at 8pm ET.

Your subscription will renew and/or you will be charged exactly the same date and time you started. If you enrolled at 5:38 PM on the 18th, that's exactly when your renewal will post each month.

We offer a Group Discount. If you get a group of six together (search on social media for others to join you to create a group), each of you will save $150 per month. You’ll each pay separately and have individual accounts.

If you do not know anyone personally who is interested in signing up with you, we recommend checking the ARE forums. People often have luck finding people to group up with via that route. You can try the NCARB community forum  or the ARE Facebook Group .

Send us the list of names and email address to info@amberbook.com and we will take care of the rest!

Group enrollees will receive a coupon code to register at the discounted price. Once you've put together your group of 6+, you will all be locked into the $260/month rate, even if someone stops or wants to pause access after a month and then sign up again later.

While it is true that each member of your group goes through the enrollment process separately, we do ask that everyone in your group enroll within two weeks of receiving your code.

Your subscription will begin immediately once you have paid.

Once you have enrolled, you and your group members can work through the course at your own individual paces without affecting other group members. Each individual member of the group can cancel at any time. If you decide to reenroll, we will always honor your discounted rate. Email us at info@amberbook.com to request a re-enrollment code.

We offer special pricing for AIA chapters and other professional groups. Please have your AIA chapter or group leader email us at firms@amberbook.com for more information.

Enrollees who completed more than 75% of the course reported using Amber Book to pass their exams with an 80% pass rate compared to a 55% national average.

The more of the course you complete, the higher likelihood of passing your exams!

40 Minutes of Competence Zoom takes place at 6pm ET on Thursdays. Sign up for weekly invitations or join this week's session.

You can join the study session live, for free, without a subscription.

We posted the first forty Amber Book: 40 Minutes of Competence videos on our unlisted YouTube channel .

Many of the subsequent sessions are placed in the Amber Book course at the relevant point in the content, so that the material comes to you at the appropriate place within the study sequence. They are often embedded as part of a practice exam item or flashcard and can be viewed with an Amber Book course enrollment.

Yes, please click here.

Or email us at firms@amberbook.com, or call us at (540) 203-4499.

You can reach out to us anytime for questions about firm licenses, enrollment of employees, trouble with course access, or general support. We’re here to help you get licensed!

Enrollees who completed more than 75% of the course reported using Amber Book to pass their exams with an 80% pass rate compared to a 55% national average.

We operate by a yield model…the course prioritizes what you will find on the exam, what you don’t remember from school, what you haven’t seen at work, and what’s most efficient to learn.

None (other than storage of the Amber Book hardcopy workbooks at your office(s))

Each emerging professional with the firm’s domain in their email address will enroll and be given one month’s access on any start date desired. After that first month, the enrollee may continue access to the course once they’ve scheduled at least one exam division. (We recommend scheduling all of your remaining divisions to fall four months after you start the course.) We are all deadline-oriented people in this profession, and we’ve found that time to licensure shrinks with this constraint in place.

You can schedule your exams as far in advance as you'd like. If you choose not to schedule an exam yet, your service will simply be paused.

Having a baby soon and can’t schedule an exam? Moving soon and too harried? Particularly busy at work this month and can’t schedule an exam? Reach out to us at firms@amberbook.com. . . we’ve never met an exception that we didn’t grant. We’ll give you more time to access the course before scheduling the exam if you need it. There is no limit to the number of people in the firm who can enroll and there is no limit to the number of employees who can be using the course material at the same time.

We want you moving toward licensure and we’ve found this benevolently paternal policy to get you licensed more quickly.

1. We will work with you, beginning right now, to get as many candidates licensed in the shortest amount of time.

2. We will provide the Amber Book online course for one month to ALL the firm’s emerging professionals. They will maintain their course access as long as they have submitted proof of a scheduled exam.

3. We will provide hardcopies of the workbook to each location of the firm, as required. If you forget to tell us you are out of workbooks, that’s not a problem. We will mail a hard copy directly to the course enrollee and a new batch of hard copies for the office to store.

Yes.

*The animated course

*A hardcopy (and pdf) of our 375-page, well-illustrated workbook, The Amber Book: ARE 5.0 Edition

*Case study examples

*Digital flashcards

*Amber Book practice exams for each division

*All Walking the ARE practice exams (free for Amber Book enrollees)

*Our “panic” notes to look over the night before the exams (and reassure yourself that you've got this)

*Unlimited 20-minute one-on-one meetings with content creators including our course creator, Michael Ermann

Firms are required to make an upfront annual payment. If you are unsatisfied, please contact us at firms@amberbook.com to inquire about our refund policy.

I was the first person in the nation to pass all six ARE 5.0 divisions, and I’ve worked with thousands who are taking these tests, including intensive three-day courses at AIA New York, AIA Miami, AIA Dallas, AIA Houston, AIA Raleigh, AIA Northern Virginia, AIA New Orleans, AIA New Mexico, AIA Alaska, and AIA Washington DC (more than one thousand total have completed my in-person courses). I’ve partnered with AIA National to provide AIA members access to my online course; I’ve been a full-time Virginia Tech professor since 2001; and I know more about this test and how people study for it than probably anyone in the world. So even if you are not interested in purchasing a firm license, use me as a resource in crafting your firm’s approach to licensure and learning because I live this stuff. I can be reached at michael@amberbook.com and I’m happy to host a lunch-and-learn for the firm’s emerging professionals, even if you decide not to purchase a firm license.

The fact that only a portion of the firm is studying for their exams is built into the pricing table. This way, your price won’t increase if an employee who isn’t currently studying is prompted to pursue licensure because of their new-found access to the Amber Book. If next month you hire a new emerging professional who wants to use the course, your price will not change. It’s like when you visit a buffet: you aren’t paying for all of the food you could eat. . . you’re paying for all of the food you’re likely to eat.

For example, let’s say you have a 1-15 employee license and 4 enrollees:

Four enrollees at our regular rate of $410 per month would be $19,680 per year. With a firm license it's $2,160 which comes out to $45.00 per person, per month. We also offer a 100% money-back guarantee on all our firm licenses.

Licensure could happen in as little as four months!

Become the group analyst! The group analyst can view a firm’s users and their course progress. Request to become a group analyst for your firm by emailing firms@amberbook.com.

Switch to Amber Book now and extend your subscription for free!

Subscribe to a one-year Amber Book Firm License, and we'll match the remaining time on your current ARE prep subscription at no extra cost.

For example, if you have 5 months left with your existing provider, you'll get 5 additional months free with Amber Book. So, you pay for 12 months but enjoy 17 months of Amber Book access.

We offer special pricing for AIA chapters and other professional groups. Please have your AIA chapter or group leader email us at firms@amberbook.com for more information.

You can reach the Firm’s Team anytime by email or phone.

Tyler Willis

firms@amberbook.com

(540) 203-4499

If your firm already has a license with us or you’re not sure, you can reach out and we’ll get back to you with your best option to enroll! If your firm has a license, your enrollment is free as long as your employment is based in a participating office.

firms@amberbook.com

(540) 203-4499

If your firm already has a license with us, you can use this link  to order workbooks. Workbooks must be ordered by the Firm’s admin, bookkeeper, or analyst.

If you need to provide exam proof to extend your access to an Ab Firm License and aren't sure how, please send us an email with your exam proof attached to firms@amberbook.com.

If you've previously used a form to upload your exam proof and are looking for that link, you can use click here . If it doesn't work within 5 minutes, send us an email to firms@amberbook.com.

We’ll continue your access for one month and you’ll have the option to start an individual Amber Book subscription - without losing your progress!