Rethinking Study Approach

Starting in mid November I started going chapter by chapter through MERMs, reading the chapter (quite thoroughly) and then working through the practice problems. I started in Chapter 14 and am now in Chapter 38. I know this might seem slow but some of the fluids chapters are enormous.

Obviously I am running out of time if I plan on spending the last 2 months working problems.

I am beginning to think that reading through the MERMs chapters thoroughly is a waste of time. Does anyone have any recommendations on how to cover the main concepts that are needed without getting into all the details (which in all likelyhood are not important)?

For instance in my PE review class they said that for natural and forced convection, they will give you the film coefficient (you will not need to calculate it). Well MERMs spends a ton of time showing how to calculate the film coefficient. It would seem that all of the time focusing on how to calculate the film coefficient is a complete waste of time.

Any thoughts? Should I just jump in and start solving problems without even reading (or reviewing concepts)?

I am beginning to think that MERMs is a two edged sword, it has a lot of good information but you can really get bogged down with details that they will never ask on the test.

I think working as many problems as possible is the key. As you work problems and dig through MERM for formulas etc, you will come to know where content is and where your weaknesses are. Tab your MERM as you encounter useful formulas etc. By the time you are done working problems, you will have a thoroughly tabbed MERM and you will know your strengths and weaknesses. In all likelihood you will have spent some time bringing your weaknesses up to a higher level.

Shaggy said:

I think working as many problems as possible is the key. As you work problems and dig through MERM for formulas etc, you will come to know where content is and where your weaknesses are. Tab your MERM as you encounter useful formulas etc. By the time you are done working problems, you will have a thoroughly tabbed MERM and you will know your strengths and weaknesses. In all likelihood you will have spent some time bringing your weaknesses up to a higher level.

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So you recommend jumping right in and doing problems (and not reading the chapter at all)? Would it not be good to at least skim over the chapter?

Also should I tab as I go, or tab everything all at once (similar to your example). I would imagine with tabbing you have to be careful to not tag too many things correct (as that would defeat the purpose).

I skimmed over the chapters by topics following the general outline in the beginning of the MERM. Once I finished that effort (about 2 weeks) I started working practice problems. Save at least one of the full-length tests to do a realistic run-through a couple weeks before the tests.

I didn't tab at all and things went ok. What I did instead was print the index from the MERM and put it in a binder. Then as I worked a problem in the practice books, I noted it in the printed out index so that I could go back to it later and work pump problems or heat exchanger problems, etc.

MadDawg said:

I skimmed over the chapters by topics following the general outline in the beginning of the MERM. Once I finished that effort (about 2 weeks) I started working practice problems. Save at least one of the full-length tests to do a realistic run-through a couple weeks before the tests.
I didn't tab at all and things went ok. What I did instead was print the index from the MERM and put it in a binder. Then as I worked a problem in the practice books, I noted it in the printed out index so that I could go back to it later and work pump problems or heat exchanger problems, etc.

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Nathan: sounds like you do T/F??? I mean because of the coefficients you ask about

My approach was similar to MadDawg. I made a cheat sheet with all important equations and the MERM, ASHRAE etc. chapter numbers to each topic after I skimmed through the books to see what they have and where the important topics are. I spend time to truly understand the parts that will be int eh test (in my case HVAC), like pumping, psychrometrics.

then I started doing the 500 problems (I didn't do all) and used MERM and ASHRAE books. Every time I found something useful, I tabbed it in the books or added to my cheat sheet. After I did all sample problems and the sample exams, I had a very good understanding (and tabbing, and cheat sheet) to find everything relevant quickly.

the test mostly requires you to apply things, not to derive. If you do HVAC, you likely get coefficients int he question. If you do T/F, it might require some calculation. in many cases you don't need to fully understand, you just need to be able to find the equations and apply them. There will be many booby-traps with units, just to warn you.

Many problems will be relatively simple once you know where to find your equations or data. Units really are a problem. they really expect you to know your references typical in your industry (ASHRAE in my case). Practicing accurately from a chart or interpolating from tables will be important.

You shouldn't overthink things. Practice really helps a lot. Speed.... Average time is 6 minutes and it is manageable. If it takes you 10 minutes to get a variable that you need to actually calculate the problem, you probably took a too complicated route.

Many things can be calculated properly by calculating Reynolds number etc. - or just by looking in a table. The result will be close enough either way. You really should know your industry's "rule of thumb" equations. Like pumping power etc. You also should know your industry's codes to be able to look up things.

Some of the sample problems are way too hard. Especially if they are not from your discipline. I struggled a lot with MD. But I focused more on HVAC and T/F, which I'm good at. In the test the am section has all three disciplines. but they are relatively basic.

Nathan Satter said:

I am beginning to think that MERMs is a two edged sword, it has a lot of good information but you can really get bogged down with details that they will never ask on the test.

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I found that anything past the first half of the chapter is generally more advanced than you really need to know. I'm not saying don't read it and understand it, but if you dont understand every word of it, dont kick yourself about it. The second half of the chapter seems like they really jump down some rabbit holes that dont really matter much.

So this is how I studied - I waited until I got my final notice that I was able to take the exam, then I started reading the MERM for about a week. This was about 60 days out from the exam. After that I did problems, problems, and more problems. I did the 2001 exam 2 weeks into my studying, then the 2008 two weeks before the exam. In between I did the 6 min solutions, lindeburg practice exam halfway through studying, and lindeburg practice problems. Whenever there was anything that stumped me, I highlighted it in my MERM and tabbed it. Every night while watching TV, I would pick a chapter or two to skim through. Dont spend too much more time reading the MERM. From here out, treat it as a reference. Every day when you're doing problems, alternate between TF, MD, and HVAC just so you dont get burned out. I broke up TF into the three heat xfer sections (convection, conduction, radiation), and then ch 17 separately and ch 18 separately. MD I split it into materials, springs, fatigue, bolts, shafts, and gears. Just keep alternating through those topics and you'll learn it and keep from burning out.

Now for the actual test - the morning session was insanely easy. Just about every problem only required one equation, and it was a simple "find the equation and plug and chug". HVAC except for one or two conceptual problems was as easy as "find the value on the psych chart". Dont sweat the morning. Spend your time putting more focus on your depth section. Dont spin your wheels knowing everything about MD or HVAC if you're doing TF. The questions they'll ask on breadth really are so easy a caveman can do them.

I started studying by jumping right into the Lindeberg practice problems. Initially, I found it frustrating because I didn't know where to find the equation in MERM or I would use the wrong equation because of some detail I missed. I started at the beginning which is heavy on TF. I work in MD, so I had to relearn (or learn) some concepts in TF and HVAC as I went.

After going through the Lindeberg problems, I ran through the NCEES Sample Questions a couple times. Like most people have said, the NCEES problems are much more realistic.

Since time management is so important, in both studying and taking the test, I'd recommend tabbing your MERM ASAP. I had color coded flags: blue for fluids, red for thermo/HVAC, yellow for MD and green for general. Then I tabbed my Shigley, Machinery's Handbook, Roark's and conversion book.

I passed the Mechanical (Mechanical Systems and Materials) in October. I finished the morning session with 30 minutes left and triple checking everything. I was able to double check all the afternoon questions and finish with 5 minutes to go.

1. Make sure you look at the outline mentioned in the beginning of MERM. There are chapters that you really don't need to go through.

2. Skim through all the chapters first just so you get an idea of the quantity of material that will be represented.

3. Go through the example problems in the chapters.

4. Make sure you get the 6-minute solutions and sample exam (NCEES and Lindeburg) problems. Honestly, I worked problems mainly from these, as opposed to the problems in the MERM chapters. Those just seemed to complex. You may want to skim through them briefly along with the solutions just for further reassurance, but I wouldn't base my study on them. Many people don't look at the NCEES sample exam until close to test time. I looked at it right away and felt that it gave me a better idea about the question format. The format is somewhat different to the way Lindeburg writes the questions.

5. I would add tabs right away as you go through. They don't have to be perfect now. Just get them down and then you can go back later and fine tune them. I tabbed the hell out of my MERM, but had a good system of being able to locate them. They won't hurt by being there, as long as you are practiced with using them.

I followed these guidelines and was able to pass on the first attempt (MD). I took the exam in April 2008. This was an exam where most people posted that both the morning and afternoon sections were extremely difficult. I agreed. Most of the time it seems as if one is relatively easier and then the other is killer. I came out of the exam thinking I had a 50/50 chance of passing. I was fortunate.

I think I'd tend to agree with what everyone else has said although I studied a bit different from what most here are saying.

I used the outline in the beginning of the MERM to develop my study plan. Then I would sit down and read a chapter and then work the problems associated with that chapter. Some chapters had more problems, some fewer. This way some of the less common stuff you spend less time on and the more common stuff you spend more time on. I exclusively used the MERM as my preparation material though (no classes, etc.) so I had little to no refresher before plowing through the MERM.

I think in your case, since you've already taken a preparation course, that I would skim the chapter and then do problems. As someone else already stated, I think some of the chapters tend to go into way too much detail. The thing to remember is that Lindeburg tries to over prepare you for the exam so that on exam day everything is easier. My rule of thumb was if I could get 50% of MERM Companion Sample Problems correct I was doing pretty good.

I would recommend NOT doing the NCEES and PPI sample exams first. Do them once you did regular sample problems and feel more comfortable.

THEN do the sample exams timed (take a full 8 hour day) to see where you stand and how quickly you can solve under test conditions. Besides my HVAC section, I also did the T/F sample exam. I did considerably well. I sucked doing the MD exam. In the NCEES tests I got much better % correct than in the PPI test.

When doing sample test, I only checked the ones I could calculate and didn't do any guessing, just to get a feel how many I can calculate correctly. To avoid that I guessed correctly and didn't review the solution. This made my % of correct abit worse, but gave me a better feel how good I"m (guessing is like cheating myself, and I didn't want to cheat myself in sample tests). Obviously int he real test you have to guess if you can't solve it.

Keep in mind, the NCEES exam kind of reflects the actual test difficulty level. The PPI exam is harder (every test is different, and my view might be different than yours, though). But don't waste the actual sample tests just yet.

Maybe you cna browse through the sample exams (without memorizing!) to get a feel for the difficulty level.

You probably can skip many of the "500" sample problems. Many are too complex, especially if they are not your discipline. I'd recommend doing the "1 hour" ones of your discipline regardless (the ones marked 1 hour took me 20 minutes, unless I couldn't solve them at all.)

I didn't think much of the MERM sample questions. If you did everything else, you could do those last.

Remember, the test doesn't require you to be the best engineer who can bring us to the moon, it requires you to be very quick calculating and finding information in references. Most problems allow 5 different ways to solve them. In many cases using tables and charts is accurate enough (read charts carefully, don't be sloppy reading values!) and fits in the 6-minute window. Some solutions are obvious if you work in the industry. I'm making this up, a question could just be: What is the typical efficiency of a condensing boiler. 40%, 60%, 88% or 96%. If you have to calculate and waste time on references to pick D, you probably haven't worked in the industry. they will provide data making you think you actually have to calcualte it

Keep in mind that Lindeburg changed MERM to not only prepare people for the exam, but to be a reference book, so it is more detailed than it needs to be. That said, you do need to ask yourself if you really understand the topics. Do you REALLY know HVAC/machine design/Thermal and fluids? Do you know how to do the problems by only “skimming” the text? If you look at the problems and think “Ehhh, I know how to do this”, you won’t need to study so much. For me, I HAD to study the book, because I had been out of school a LONG time.

Work problems, work problems, work problems. The problems will take you back to what you need in the chapter.

HerrKaLeun said:

I would recommend NOT doing the NCEES and PPI sample exams first.

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I think doing one a few weeks in is good to establish a rough baseline. Worst case scenario you do it early, then do it again at the end because you've likely forgotten the questions anyway a few months after.

navyasw02 said:

HerrKaLeun said:

I would recommend NOT doing the NCEES and PPI sample exams first.

Click to expand...

I think doing one a few weeks in is good to establish a rough baseline. Worst case scenario you do it early, then do it again at the end because you've likely forgotten the questions anyway a few months after.

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A few weeks in probably is good... but i doubt you forget everything. It's probably not a big deal. but if the goal is to see what 5 you get correct under test conditions, it will be a bit "fake". won't really matter, though. you are not studying for a certain % correct, you are aiming 100% correct and then take what you get and hope to pass

HerrKaLeun said:

navyasw02 said:

HerrKaLeun said:

I would recommend NOT doing the NCEES and PPI sample exams first.

Click to expand...

I think doing one a few weeks in is good to establish a rough baseline. Worst case scenario you do it early, then do it again at the end because you've likely forgotten the questions anyway a few months after.

Click to expand...

A few weeks in probably is good... but i doubt you forget everything. It's probably not a big deal. but if the goal is to see what 5 you get correct under test conditions, it will be a bit "fake". won't really matter, though. you are not studying for a certain % correct, you are aiming 100% correct and then take what you get and hope to pass

Click to expand...

When I started studying I reviewed MERM for a week or two, then before I did any problems I took the NCEES test. I got crushed, it was the first time I tried to do problems in forever. I didn't do it in 8 hours, I took much longer. Everyone says..."I took the NCEES test 2 weeks before the exam, thats the time to take it, and its a confidence builder'. You know what gives me confidence, knowing that I'm studying the right material. Taking that test early allowed me to get a feel for what types of questions to study. I mean, how are you supposed to know what to study if you don't do a practice test. I figure your choices are...spend months and do all the MERM practice problems, then take the practice test and see where you stand. Or take the practice test, get a feel for what you need to do, then base your studying off that.

I passed. And two months after my first attempt at the NCEES practice test, I took it again. This time I did much better (and I didn't really remember all the questions so it was still worth while).

Do whatever you think works for you. There is no right way. Obviously if you do every problem you can find you're going to be pretty well off. But if you don't want to waste time doing all the MERM problems I suggest taking a practice test, getting a feel for what types of problems you might see, and then start to focus your studying from there.

Best of luck.

HerrKaLeun said:

navyasw02 said:

HerrKaLeun said:

I would recommend NOT doing the NCEES and PPI sample exams first.

Click to expand...

I think doing one a few weeks in is good to establish a rough baseline. Worst case scenario you do it early, then do it again at the end because you've likely forgotten the questions anyway a few months after.

Click to expand...

A few weeks in probably is good... but i doubt you forget everything. It's probably not a big deal. but if the goal is to see what 5 you get correct under test conditions, it will be a bit "fake". won't really matter, though. you are not studying for a certain % correct, you are aiming 100% correct and then take what you get and hope to pass

Click to expand...

When I started studying I reviewed MERM for a week or two, then before I did any problems I took the NCEES test. I got crushed, it was the first time I tried to do problems in forever. I didn't do it in 8 hours, I took much longer. Everyone says..."I took the NCEES test 2 weeks before the exam, thats the time to take it, and its a confidence builder'. You know what gives me confidence, knowing that I'm studying the right material. Taking that test early allowed me to get a feel for what types of questions to study. I mean, how are you supposed to know what to study if you don't do a practice test. I figure your choices are...spend months and do all the MERM practice problems, then take the practice test and see where you stand. Or take the practice test, get a feel for what you need to do, then base your studying off that.

I passed. And two months after my first attempt at the NCEES practice test, I took it again. This time I did much better (and I didn't really remember all the questions so it was still worth while).

Do whatever you think works for you. There is no right way. Obviously if you do every problem you can find you're going to be pretty well off. But if you don't want to waste time doing all the MERM problems I suggest taking a practice test, getting a feel for what types of problems you might see, and then start to focus your studying from there.

Best of luck.

I took a review course... I think that helped. I don't recall really reading the chapters much... maybe skimming at best. As I worked problems and used scoured MERM for the relevant information. At that time, I read the relevant section.

Also, I never did the practice exams in a manner to replicate the exam. It was recommended by the instructor of my class not to do so. His rationale was that you only have so much gas in the tank... you don't want to burn out. I did all of the practice problems, just not in two 4 hour blocks.

Shaggy said:

Also, I never did the practice exams in a manner to replicate the exam. It was recommended by the instructor of my class not to do so. His rationale was that you only have so much gas in the tank... you don't want to burn out. I did all of the practice problems, just not in two 4 hour blocks.

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I agree there is no 100% right way of the approach and to each his or her won. But I doubt doing some 8-hour tests 2-3 weeks before the test will "burn you out" for the test. In my opinion doing a semi-real test will help you relax and show you where your weaknesses are. Especially in speed.

I know people who took the FE and PP on 2 days back to back and passed both. That not only was exhausting, but also required studying for 2 relatively different tests. human beings are capable of some stress

HerrKaLeun said:

Shaggy said:

Also, I never did the practice exams in a manner to replicate the exam. It was recommended by the instructor of my class not to do so. His rationale was that you only have so much gas in the tank... you don't want to burn out. I did all of the practice problems, just not in two 4 hour blocks.

Click to expand...

I agree there is no 100% right way of the approach and to each his or her won. But I doubt doing some 8-hour tests 2-3 weeks before the test will "burn you out" for the test. In my opinion doing a semi-real test will help you relax and show you where your weaknesses are. Especially in speed.

I know people who took the FE and PP on 2 days back to back and passed both. That not only was exhausting, but also required studying for 2 relatively different tests. human beings are capable of some stress

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Agree 100% with the assessment. You want to eliminate variables in order to pass the exam, not add them. Trying to replicate the exam a couple times is hugely beneficial. It helps you prepare for / deal with the fatigue of an 8 hour exam.

I dunno about replicating the 'exam experience' ... It was traumatic enough once... I felt like a zombie after the FE exam last year. After the finishing the questions from the morning session I diligently went over my calculations, checked my bubbling skills (which apparently were up to par) and then filed out with everyone else, went into a corner, ate my lunch, called my wife to complain how awful it all was, and then mustered up the courage to go back in... In the PM I watched the clock tick down, anticipated the 'you may not leave the room now' announcement and promptly fled the scene 30 mins before the end without checking anything and feeling like I was 50/50 on most of the problems. I just simply could not stay in that seat any longer. I passed thank goodness...

I am yet to begin my PE journey (anticipating Oct 2011), but am planning it out. Right now I am thinking I will skim the MERM, take the 2001 test in two 4-hour sessions (on separate days) to see how I fare in the AM and PM T&F and to gain insight into my strengths & weaknesses. After that I shall work through the MERM chapters and the companion problems, throw in the 2001 & 2008 PM problems once I'm done with the subject. I'll save the 2008 exam until a few weeks before, and I think I will split it into two days again. Then touch up my tabbing & polish any subject areas needing it.

But I am interested in the above debate, did anyone find that they gained some measure of endurance from emulating the actual event with the practice tests? I feel like I couldn't go through the ordeal more than once a year, let alone a few weeks apart.. And I can't imagine treating it like it was the actual thing, especially not over an entire day. Because it clearly isn't...