ME Machine Design & Materials Cut Score

JLF said:

Hey jvanoye, I completely understand what you are going through. I graduated in 2004 and have not used hardly anything I learned in college because I worked for a manufacturing facility and I supported the product more than designed it.  I started with a new company a year ago and they pushed very hard for me to get my license.  This being the case I took a very well constructed online course, which took about 4 months to complete and really helped me with getting re-familiarized with everything I had forgotten over the years.  Unfortunately it wasn't enough, I failed the October 2016 exam.  For the April 2017 exam all I did was practice solving problems and doing the practice tests that I purchased from NCEES and other online sources for about a month.  I created 2 binders tabulated out for the individual sections using everything I collected from the online course I took and I inserted every single problem I solved.  It was critical for me to be very familiar with the information I put into these binders so that when I came a cross a problem I could quickly flip to that section and not waste to much time.  For the October exam I took a suitcase of books in and I used maybe 3 of them simply because of the lack of time.  For the April exam I took my binders, the MERM, the machinist handbook and Shigleys.  My suggestion would be to take the books you have been using to solve problems with and that you are familiar with so that you can quickly flip to that section.  Another technique I tried was when I opened my test booklet I read every single problem and numbered them from 1 to 3 for level of difficulty.   I then started the exam only doing the number 1's and then 2's and leaving the 3's last.  Originally I was afraid this would take too much time, but it only took about 10 minutes and it worked very well.  I solved all the 1's and this built up my confidence and when I got to the 2's and 3's I wasn't so nervous.  Get lots of sleep the night before, bring food for energy, go for a walk during the break and be as confident as you can going into the test.  You can do this, don't give up.

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jvanoye said:

JLF.. thank you very much for sharing your experiences with me. Sounds like you and I had a very similar preparation plan for the 2nd try, but unfortunately this wasn't my time. I agree that bringing only those books you've been studying with to the exam is all you need, including homework which I also tabbed by category so I'd know exactly what page to flip to during the test. I am not familiar with Shigley's (I know of the book but never really used it) but all other books you mentioned I brought with me, including other reference materials that I purchased on Amazon. I also used the problem-rating system you mentioned to make the best use of time, but again, looks like I'm going to have to give this a third try. The hard thing to cope with is how unintelligent this whole experience makes you feel. I need to allow some time to rest, recuperate, and then decide when to take the exam again.

Thank you for your time and kind words.

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