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EIT4Ever???

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I failed HVAC for the first time. Anyone passed/Failed? if you passed, how did you study and what materials did you use?

 
I failed April 2017 36/80 (46% scaled score). Studied MERM and Lindberg mechanical sample problems and 6 minute solutions (waste of time).

I failed October 2017 48/80 (62% scaled score). Focused on MERM sections that I did bad on in October 2017 and took Testmasters course.

Passed April 2018 (85% scaled score). Retook Testmasters course, studied NCEES practice exam (took it 3 times until I mastered it), studied EngProGuides Mechanical HVAC/R Study Guide, EngProGuides Mechanical HVAC/R practice exam (took it 3 times until I mastered it), and EngProGuides Mechanical HVAC/R references practice exam. 

The EngProGuides material is what made the biggest difference for me. It was my best reference during the exam and I did not use the MERM at all.

Tips:

  • Limit water consumption during the exam to avoid wasting time in bathroom breaks
  • The 4 ASHRAE books are a must
  • Bring a wrist watch to keep track of time
  • At the beginning of the exam, rank problems by difficulty 1-3, with 1 being easy and 3 being hard. Do 1's immediately, then 2's, then 3's.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I just passed on my first try. I also used the eng pro guides study guide and practice exam. Almost bought the references practice exam as well and I'm sure it's a good one. Being familiar with the ASHRAE books is crucial! Make sure you tab the important sections and think about key words when looking up topics in the index. NCEES test was good practice too. 

I didn't rank the questions but just went with my gut. If I felt stuck I skipped it. There were numerous questions that I said "ahah!" the second time around. 

I made a spiral notebook with personal notes, equations from the eng pro guides study guide, psych charts, relevant codes, etc. 

I'm a historically bad test taker and made it through, you can do it! Study a few hrs a day and get your confidence built up. Get a hotel close to the test site so you can get a lot of sleep and not have to stress about traffic.

 
I failed October 2017 36/80 (46% scaled score). Studied MERM and Lindberg mechanical sample problems and 6 minute solutions (waste of time).

I failed April 2017 48/80 (62% scaled score). Focused on MERM sections that I did bad on in October 2017 and took Testmasters course.

Passed October 2018 (85% scaled score). Retook Testmasters course, studied NCEES practice exam (took it 3 times until I mastered it), studied EngProGuides Mechanical HVAC/R Study Guide, EngProGuides Mechanical HVAC/R practice exam (took it 3 times until I mastered it), and EngProGuides Mechanical HVAC/R references practice exam. 

The EngProGuides material is what made the biggest difference for me. It was my best reference during the exam and I did not use the MERM at all.

Tips:

  • Limit water consumption during the exam to avoid wasting time in bathroom breaks
  • The 4 ASHRAE books are a must
  • Bring a wrist watch to keep track of time
  • At the beginning of the exam, rank problems by difficulty 1-3, with 1 being easy and 3 being hard. Do 1's immediately, then 2's, then 3's.
can you fix the dates? 

i’m confused

 
I took it successfully for the first time in April. I signed up for the PPI class and sat through about 5 live lectures and then I realized that I wasn't getting much from them. It didn't seem as much like a lecture like I was expecting as someone just solving problems and then giving a sample problem to do without any talking for like 10-15 minuets.  After I stopped doing the class I just started working problems. Work was a bit slow this spring so I had about a month before the test free and this is when I really started going hard at it.  I used about 5 legal pads solving problems at about 1 problem per page,I did all of the homework that PPI recommends with the class and I did all of the problems in the 6 minuet problem book in the relevant chapters, and about 3 practice tests. I would estimate my total preparation time at around 200-250 hours. 

Reference Materials 

I would recommend  the MERM(used for at least 90% of the test) , the unit conversion book, and the ASHRAE Books (for only a few problems) also the  62.1 and the IMC could be handy as well. I would make sure that you are familiar with the references you don't want to fall into the trap of spending a ton of time trying to find what you need. Some of the civil guys had so many pages of reference material it was unbelievable. The guy in front of me probably had every bit of 15k pages of printed materials  in binders( Three plastic tubs worth) and i don't think he used hardly any of it  let alone knew what he had. 

I would recommend making a binder as this guy describes I wold rate this as important (I didn't do this but I wish I had, this guy has solid advise AKA he gets it) http://eightytwentyengineer.com/peguidepart1/

For video references I would watch Dan Molloy's video on youtube instead of the class(I didn't find this until very close to the test but I think he explains topics very well)

 
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