Colleagues-- Look carefully at the NCEES test specifications. If the material is NOT on the test specifications, then the material is NOT on the test. No reason to waste brain cells reviewing material that is not on the examination.
Remember, this is a test to determine MINIMAL COMPETENCY-- we are testing to find the C- engineer, not the A+ engineer---- the test is designed to determine if you are minimally competent to perform engineering tasks. That being said, you need to review the material that is covered on the test. If you graduated from an ABET accredited program, then you should have no problem passing the PE exam the first time. Don't be fooled-- it is tough and designed to be so, however, it is not impossible. You can do this--- don't be of the mindset of trying to find the minimal passing score, the cut score, etc. Prepare hard, do it once and be done with it. Besides, it costs lots of money to screw around more than 1 time-- prepare and do it and be done with it the first time.
As a guy that writes test questions and has been involved in determining what is on the test, I can say that the material covered on the examination is material that a 4 year practicing engineer should be familiar with. Why? His superiors, other senior engineers defined what is expected of the 4 year engineer. Now, this changes by discipline, however, many other engineers from many different branches of the discipline come together about every 5 years to ascertain and determine what a 4 year engineer should know.
This is not complicated or spooky. Yes, there are some hoops to jump through, however, you can do this. Just do it!
