Stressed

I am a first time taker (Power) and I am totally stressed and it is affecting everything from work to home and my ability to focus. My wife has been a rock in supporting me, but I am getting to the point of tossing it all in and walking away from it. I do know if I did I could not look myslef in the face. I am down to the home stretch and do not know what to do to get my confidence back. I already know that if I don't make the cut I am going to give it another go in October, but I do not want to think that way and be positive. I need some insight from those who been there. :sharkattack:

OK, there is no reason to panic--none! You are a smart individual, passsed your undergraduate training, received your FE examination and passed and are now going for the PE. Let's put this in perspective-- you are a smart guy!!! You got through your undergraduate training, found a job, gained the requisite experience and are now ready to show the world that you know what to do. Now, I don't know if you went to Podunk U or Stanford--really makes no difference, you have an ABET accredited degree, the requisite amount of preparatory work and are now ready to prove to the world that you can become registered.

Recall that the PE test is designed to measure "minimal competency"-- are you minimally competent? I would argue that the answer is YES, you are minimally competent-- if you were not, your boss would not keep you. Recall that the test questions are designed to completed in 6 minutes or less--what this means is that rich and rigorous calculations are probably not going to be involved. Yes, there will be calculations, you have to remember the UNITS of the measure, however, you did this as a sophomore in college, you can do this again.

There is no reason to believe that you are NOT going to pass this the first time--you will fail if you think you will fail, conversely, you will pass if you think you will pass. Although there are only 5 days left before the examination, I would carefully review your material and work all of the problems that you can again. YOU CAN DO THIS.

If it were I, I would look at the NCEES test criterion, review what is supposed to be on the test and be damn sure that you can do all of those items. Now, some of them may not be on there, however, plan on all of them being on there and taking some time for review of the material. If you have studied well, this should not be difficult for you.

I was out of school 35 years when I took the PE--- now, I had extensive graduate work and upper level "C" suite management experience, however, no real down and dirty engineering experience in the last 30 years. You think you are spooked, I found this worse than my doctoral dissertation defense!!!! However, I planned on only taking the test one time and I did--and passed!!!!!!!!!! Sadly, I did not know that this board even existed until after I received word that I passed.

Plan this week very wisely---don't waste any time screwing around-- focus, focus,focus on this examination. On Thursday, close it up, get a good nites rest and then go to the test site--check into the hotel and be ready to go on test day.

If your wife has been your rock in this adventure--and this is what the PE test is, an adventure, then plan on taking her out to dinner NEXT weekend--someplace nice, not Golden Corral!!!!!!!!!!!!!11

If you unfortunately do not achieve a passing score--then we have October to worry about. However, I have all the faith in the world thatyou will do well on this test and not require any other test dates. There is no reason to waste money-- taking the test a second time is wasted money-- I have great faith that you will do well. Prove it to me!!!!!!

Good Luck, you will do well.

solomonb said:

OK, there is no reason to panic--none! You are a smart individual, passsed your undergraduate training, received your FE examination and passed and are now going for the PE. Let's put this in perspective-- you are a smart guy!!! You got through your undergraduate training, found a job, gained the requisite experience and are now ready to show the world that you know what to do.

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Thanks for posting this, SolomonB. It talked me down off the ledge last night!

:hung-037:

That post was bad ass! Thank you Solomon.

That WAS an awesome post, solomonb. wjrez, listen to us. We're CHEERING for you. Been there. Know how the stress feels. You can overcome it. Post here and get support. That's what we're here for.

We're here for you.

We're cheering for you.

+1 for an awesome post and for what Merrimac said. I think everyone gets to this point where you realize time is tight and did you do enough...and you did! You've got PE exam cold feet...don't call it off. You'll do great!

Even though I didn't start this thread, I have been feeling the same exact way as wjrez. Solomonb's and Merrimac's responses were exactly what I needed to hear and I really appreciate them. It energized me for this last week and now I'm looking forward to going in on Friday and crushing this thing.

THANKS GUYS!

Really, giving encouragement to others is one of the main reasons I'm active on this board. I passed the PE the 4th time I took it. I understand how stressful it is. I wish I had known about this place when I was studying. I didn't find it until I was waiting for results and it was great for reducing stress then, too.

Stress is NO GOOD. It will take you off your game and hinder your ability to absorb the material you need. CHILL OUT. Save the stress waiting for your results and license number.

Review Review Review, read read read, practice practice practice. You should not have time to stress out.

Take each subject slowly, learn as much as you can.

And a little luck never hurt.

Stress will kill your preperation.

MechMark said:

Even though I didn't start this thread, I have been feeling the same exact way as wjrez. Solomonb's and Merrimac's responses were exactly what I needed to hear and I really appreciate them. It energized me for this last week and now I'm looking forward to going in on Friday and crushing this thing.
THANKS GUYS!

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thanks solomonb for those reassuring words.... I've been going about studying telling myself the worst that'll happen is I have to take the test again in october, and there's nothing to stress out about... yet the past few weeks I've done nothing BUT stress. ok... time to breath... and get back to studying...

I just can't wait for this to be over. I am very nervous and do not want to go through this again.

Thanks to all of you. This board is great!! I feel the support and really appreciate the encouragment. At the end, you have got to say "I am doing the best I can do" regardless of any extenuating circumstances that may have thrown you off from whatever "plan" you set out when you started this journey. I am going to give it my best shot regardless and if I make it, believe me, I will scream it from the rooftops. Should the worst case scenario develop, it is not the end of the world. There is always something positive to take from it no matter what and October is always an option and you can go in being a little wiser. Thanks again to all. I would write more, but I need to go back to studying!!!!

Thank you for these encouraging posts, I needed to read these! Good luck to all of us!

Consider the money/time we've put into this. I could have spent many days at Disneyland for the cost of fees & books. So do something to make the exam fun! Reverse Psych yourself out!

I am bringing in my favorite candy/chocolate, which I have denied myself for a long time now. I'm really looking forward to eating them - it truly makes that part of the exam something to look forward to. I'm also packing an awesome lunch - 8 hours of good eating.

When I've taken the NCEES practice exams I've treated it like a game - sort of like a masochistic game of trivia pursuit. A little long for a board game sure, but I've played games of Axis and Allies that last over 8 hours.

Enjoy and savor the exam. Be Happy.