For those who passed, please tell us how you studied to pass the exam. 1. How many hours per day?
2. What sections did you read from the EERM?
3. What books did you bring to the test?
4. When did you begin preparing for the exam?
5. What all books/review materials did you use?
6. What advice do you have for us?
I believe the test will make a large difference based on what each individual does for work and their background. There are some power industries that I can see would not be much help based on experience, and there are others that would have a great deal of help. I am an engineer in the consulting field. Currently, I am working for an Engineering Firm where we design the renovations to multiple industrial sites.
I checked Engineering Boards for about a year and a half before the test just to see what others had to say about preparation, what to expect, etc. There is a lot of good information here that can be quite useful. I have always been a pretty good test taker and rarely get worked up for tests. This one, was a little different. I think one of the main issues people have it putting too much stress on themselves going into the test. I was eligible to take the test in October of '09 but passed it up because we were too busy with work. I wish I would have taken the test.
1. I started actually studying about 5 months before the test. I never had a set schedule as to how much I was going to study. I didn't study more than 3 hours on any given day. I would say on an average, I studies 3 nights a week for about an hour to an hour and a half. I think there were 3 weeks in March that I didn't study at all. The biggest thing to remember is how to use your resources. If you know how to get around your books, that will be the single most useful thing while taking the test.
2. I didn't read anything from the EERM. I skimmed it and put tabs in the book. I also looked through the index because that is just as easy to use.
3. 2008 NEC, Ugly's Pocket Reference, EERM, Mech and Elec Systems in Buildings, MGI management Institute P.E. readiness books, and Power systems analysis.
4. I started buying references about 2 years ago. I have so many books at home. See above for actual preparing for the exam.
5. I used all the books I took to the exam.
6. Always keep an eye on the boards here. There is so much valuable info that goes through here. You run across others that struggle with questions and just reading through the explanations is helpful. I will also say that you should not try to get too worked up about the test.