5 EXAM TIPS
TIP 1
Take one section per exam period. Unless you need to obtain licensure ASAP, we don't recommend doubling up on exams given the expense of the exams and the relative complexity of the exam material. Most young practitioners will find that the “Inventory, Analysis & Project Management” exam is the easiest exam to begin with and starting with it can be a great way to get comfortable with the process of taking the LARE. If you have to double up on exams, we recommend taking “Inventory, Analysis & Project Management” and “Planning & Design” together, as these exams have a fair amount of overlap and can help streamline your studying process. And if you're going to take two exams at once, make sure you schedule one exam at the beginning of the test taking period and one at the end to maximize your study time.
TIP 2
Separate your graphic/advanced question types from your written questions. Most test takers find that answering all of the written exam questions first and then circling back to answer all of the graphic/advanced question types is an effective strategy. Our brains process visual and written information differently and isolating question types will help you focus more clearly on the given question type. Remember that, regardless of complexity, all LARE questions are worth one point and graphic questions can take a great deal longer to solve.
TIP 3
Flag difficult questions and come back to them at the end of the exam. Occasionally, you will find that an unknown term or concept in one question is defined in another question later in the exam, thereby providing you with the correct answer or at least a helpful hint that can narrow the potential answers to a difficult question.
Use process of elimination to solve multiple choice questions. This may sound obvious, but actually writing down all of the potential answers to a multiple choice question and crossing them off one by one is a very effective strategy. Landscape architects tend to be visual thinkers and you will find that seeing the obviously wrong answers crossed out will free your thinking up and allow you to focus on the most correct answer. CLARB will often throw in several answers that could be correct, and in these situations, it's up to you to determine which of these answers is the best available option to the question as posed in CLARB's intentionally obfuscating language.
TIP 4
Not all study materials are relevant to the current LARE exam formats. If you choose to study from resources outside the CLARB recommended reading list, make sure they have been updated to conform to the 2023 changes to the LARE. If they haven't, that doesn't mean they are useless, it just means you should be cross referencing that information with the most recent LARE Orientation Guide published by CLARB to ensure that you are studying material that will actually be on your exam.