Black SpectaclesReviews of blackspectacles.com

Understand that this resource is a SUPPLEMENT for your real-life work experience and independent studying, NOT a REPLACEMENT. If you understand that, and use BlackSpectacles to fill in the gaps in your knowledge, it is a fantastic resource!! I found the videos to be especially helpful, as they go beyond delivery of information and give applicable examples that help you think critically during the exams. I would recommend this to others, and found that it was worth the cost!

Not only are the lectures full of great content that is easy to follow along to, but the exams were great and I found the structure and layout to be very similar to the ARE itself. A couple different times I had to reach out to ppl at B.S. and they always got back to me in a timely manner and were very nice. Very pleased!

I was having trouble passing PA until I started taking the Black Spectacles Workshops. I passed PA after participating. Couldn't have done it without them!

Mike's presentation is flawless. He hold your attention and can break down complex concepts into easily retainable thoughts.

I just started my journey with Black Spec. And I have mixed feelings. I think is user friendly and I love the idea of having a very structured study calendar. However, I find the videos to be too vague and quite boring. As someone who doesn’t have a lot of experience in the field I feel like I need more content. I think the practice exams are outdated and the questions are very short compared to those in the real exam. In addition, I don’t know if BS uses real questions or they produce their own because pool: some of them have spelling errors and (IMPORTANT): some questions are extremely misleading.. let me explain. I understand that questions include lots of “distractors”,however; what I encountered in my last practice test was extremely disappointing and stupid. The question contained 4 scenarios and it read “place the seal next to the THREE scenarios that reflect blah blah …” clearly two were correct but the instructions said to place the seal next to the 3 scenarios. Well, only two were correct. This is so stupid and unnecessary. This is not a distraction, this is a misleading question that I hope would never be included in an actual exam. I find the practice exams to be unreliable and extremely arbitrary.

I transitioned to 5.0 in 2017 with 5 exams passed. Fast forward to 2022, I passed PDD and had had only PPD left with 7 days on my rolling clock (potentially 4 tests lost). I had such a good experience using Black Spectacles for PDD, that I went into a last chance very pressurized PPD exam very confident and passed. The major difference between 4.0 and 5.0 is the quantity of disciplines for which we are responsible on each exam. Culling thru all the study materials and knowing how long to study for each exam can be overwhelming. Black Spectacles/Mike Newman has the formula down. If you take the practice exams, watch the videos, stick to the calendar and don’t panic, you will pass. Cannot thank Mike and the Black Spectacles team enough! Fantastic resource!!! Jim S

I would highly recommend Black Spectacles to any ARE candidate, either as a companion to the more "traditional" study material (Ballast, Amber, etc.), or as a standalone. I myself relied exclusively on Black Spectacles for my preparation and passed all exams on the first attempt. The video format is extremely helpful in staying engaged with the material, and in planning your study sessions - it's helpful to know exactly how long to set aside based on the timestamps of the videos. I also got a lot of useful information by taking the practice tests and reviewing all incorrect answers. These two things combined were the vast majority of my study plan, but the flashcards are useful too and I presume the virtual workshops are great as well - but never attended one. My only criticism is that I would like for the content to be more accessible offline. I would frequently have large blocks of time while flying to job sites across the country where I could have had a very productive study session, but didn't have a good enough connection to stream the videos. I know you can download them via the app, but at least at the time it didn't sync with the dashboard and so I would often end up re-watching videos I had already completed but didn't show up marked as "watched". This issue is very minor, though, and probably only applies to a very small percentage of Black Spectacles users.

I really struggled with studying for the ARE exams because I am a visual learner. Sometimes when I read it goes in one ear and out the other. So, when I heard about Black Spectacles, I was eager to try it out because of the videos. Watching the videos gave me the foundation that I needed to then go back to my reading material and really understand what I was seeing. Along with the video’s, the practice exams feel very accurate to what you can expect to see on the exams. They really helped me come up with a plan of attack when it came to test day. It was also good to see feedback on a question I got wrong so I can go back to the material and get a better idea of what I needed to focus on. Overall, I was very happy with my experience with Black Spectacles and would highly recommend them.