Getting past those test jitters and having the confidence you will pass

Hey guys,

Any tips on conquering those nerves? I know I'll have them in 4 weeks, but I'd like to know any tips from people out there for those who have conquered them. I have studied about 300 hours over the last 3 months so far so I feel pretty prepared. I will continue studying but focus on getting rest and going over material that I've been covering. I guess my biggest fear is those pesky nerves. I'm afraid I'll open up the test in the morning or afternoon and go huh? I failed structures last time around. I know I didn't do well on the PM and felt comfortable in the morning with my chance but the scores indicate the counter. I've learned from that and I've moved forward since then. I feel fairly confident I can do well on the morning portion. I'm still cautious about the WRE for the PM but I feel like I'm getting there.

I know I struggle with my test taking skills. I want to solve problems 1-40 in that order. I know it's best to go through the test but I can't wrap my brain around skipping problems. I'll try working on that.

Any tips on this is greatly appreciated.

Thank you,

Chas

Skipping questions you can't figure a route in the first 45 seconds is a good strategy and should be used. I used it this past April with success. Didn't need it so much in the morning, but afternoon it definitely got me through. Continue to practice problems and take practice exams. More familiar you are with problems the less problems will surprise you on the exam.

Lots of previous discussion on this topic. Here's a few to get you started.

If you're watching a problem for more than a minute and don't know how to get to a solution, you're wasting time you could spend on others. You really should look through the exam and collect questions that you are comfortable solving. It also gets your brain going on thinking about those problems and gives you confidence from the ones that you solve.

Rather than spending time from 1 through 40 and abandoning questions as you go, you're better off going through the questions and reading each one of them with the answers once. Then you can even categorize them in terms of their difficulties to you then solve them that way. Four hours becomes very short when you keep insisting on solving something that will suck up your time then in the end still are not confident that you have the right answer.

Good luck!

This is all very good advice. Thank you very much!

jijir83 said:

If you're watching a problem for more than a minute and don't know how to get to a solution, you're wasting time you could spend on others. You really should look through the exam and collect questions that you are comfortable solving. It also gets your brain going on thinking about those problems and gives you confidence from the ones that you solve.

Rather than spending time from 1 through 40 and abandoning questions as you go, you're better off going through the questions and reading each one of them with the answers once. Then you can even categorize them in terms of their difficulties to you then solve them that way. Four hours becomes very short when you keep insisting on solving something that will suck up your time then in the end still are not confident that you have the right answer.

Good luck!

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The categorization idea is a good idea and is what I used when I took the Electrical-Power Systems.  I'm assuming yours is open book also?  To expand on what  jijir83 said in my case I did 4 passes on the test.  On the first I went through and assigned each question a 1-4 points.  On the first pass I also answered all the questions that were 1's.  Those were easy problems I could either answer off the top of my head or could find quickly in my notes.  I assigned 2's to my National Electrical Code problems and worked on second pass.  That way I could focus on Code problems on one pass and not have to go back and forth to my Code book.  On the third pass all the 3's were problems that I felt I knew but might take some more time to work.  Either because I had to dig deeper in my notes or took longer to solve in general.  The third pass also included 1's and/or 3's which I'd not been able to work.  The fourth pass consisted of problems that I had to guess on and just had no idea how to work. These also included any 1-2's which I'd been unable to solve.  In the end some problems took less than 6 minutes while some took more so they averaged out within the appropriate time per question.  Having a strategy like that kept me calm.  Good luck!

Also, if you haven't done so, make sure you take the time to prepare thorough note sheets.  along with having a quick reference this ingrains the material in your brain.  It actually took me two weeks to make mine.

A lot of folks swear by the categorization idea and that's fine.  Personally I worked through the exam (Mechanical TFS) in order, both morning and afternoon session.  If I got stuck, I put an asterisk next to that question, made an intelligent guess and bubbled my sheet and moved on. The key for me was doing my work in a legible, methodical manner so that when I returned to the asterisked questions at the end, I could review the work I had already done and make a determination if I was on the correct solution path.  

My standard advice to this topic is lots of practice problems and/or tequila.  

P-E said:

My standard advice to this topic is lots of practice problems and/or tequila.  

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Lol!

Preferably AND but not OR.

I became very intimate with one particular Brandy while studying for the PE. Maybe that's what made the difference. Haha!

Sent from my SURTAB-722-3G-HD-1S using Tapatalk

Craft beers are also good. :beerbang:

KatyLied P.E. said:

Craft beers are also good. :beerbang:

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Yes.

jijir83 said:

If you're watching a problem for more than a minute and don't know how to get to a solution, you're wasting time you could spend on others. You really should look through the exam and collect questions that you are comfortable solving. It also gets your brain going on thinking about those problems and gives you confidence from the ones that you solve.

Rather than spending time from 1 through 40 and abandoning questions as you go, you're better off going through the questions and reading each one of them with the answers once. Then you can even categorize them in terms of their difficulties to you then solve them that way. Four hours becomes very short when you keep insisting on solving something that will suck up your time then in the end still are not confident that you have the right answer.

Good luck!

Click to expand...

This may work for some, but I don't agree its the only or best way.  I worked through the problems chronologically that I knew, put and asterisk by the ones I didn't and came back to them.  I think either way (and probably others) are all valid depending on an individuals personality and thought process.  I think a test taker needs to find whats best for them, as different things will work for different people.

When preparing for the FE and the PE, I took several full 8 hour practice exams. This helped me get used to working for that long and it also helped with my exam timing.

IMHO, you don't want October 28th to be the first time you work through 8 hours of exam questions. 

Practice exams, Practice exams, Practice exams....

When I started my morning session I blanked on the first two problems. Heart rate started going up... doubt started to creep in. Fortunately, I was able to take a few deep breaths and started in on the third problem. Okay was able to do that, and the next few. Got on a roll and settled in.

My point is... accept that your nerves may influence you in the beginning, but don't let that derail you. Find a problem you can do and start chipping away.

Thank you everyone!

In the afternoon, there were five straight problems I could not answer.  I had a mini panic attack, calmed myself,  and skipped to the very last problem (I could answer that one).  I then worked backwards.  That helped calm my nerves and get me back in the "groove". 

IF YOU SKIP AROUND MAKE SURE YOU ARE PUTTING THE CORRECT ANSWER ON THE RIGHT LINE.  I filled out three answers in a row on the wrong line.  Luckily I caught myself and made the correction early enough.

Even if you don't move around, check to make sure you are putting the correct answer on the correct line.  I know that sounds simple but I have missed a question before and not caught myself until the last question. 

Read it question thoroughly, if you don't know how to do it or find it in your reference right away, skip it. Save the difficult to locate type problems for last.

Hit the easy ones first, it helps with the jitters and saves valuable time for the difficult ones at the end.