# So how was it?



## hountzmj (Apr 11, 2011)

Ok folks. Don't do anything stupid and post a question from the test or something here. I'm just looking for general thoughts.

So how did you feel about it? Pass? Fail?

Personally I think it can go either way for me.

I felt pretty good after then morning session. I finished in about 3:15 or so which gave me a decent amount of time to review my score sheet to be sure I had bubbled correctly, spot check some problems I wasn't sure on and spend some extra time on a couple that I had really struggled with the first time(s) through the test. I put my pencil down right at the 5 minute warning and was very content with that. Headed out for lunch with a reasonable level of confidence.

The afternoon was a bloodbath. I was prepared for some of the questions but overall I was probably under-prepared in this area. I "finished" around 3:30 or so. Checked my answer sheet and a couple problems like I did in the morning and then bubbled in my guesses at the 5 minute warning. I had 6 or so that were total outright guesses. Not good. Many that I just wasn't sure of or may have taken a wrong approach. Who knows. Lost of stuff really threw me for a loop.

I left feeling pretty low. But just having the test over with for a while was a huge relief. It was like an enormous weight was lifted from me as I drove out of Indianapolis headed for a family birthday dinner.

At the end of the day I'm content with my level of preparation. If I have to give it another go I'll be spending 90% of my time working through problems. I worked a lot of problems this time around but more would have helped me I think.

I guess we'll see.

Other thoughts.

I had a good number of books. I used every book I brought. I didn't have as many as some people did. But I also had more than a few others it looked like. Mine all fit in a rolling, carry-on suitcase.

You don't think about eating or drinking. I had 3 bottles of water and some snack with me. I didn't touch a bottle of water until late in the morning session when I drank the entire thing. Did the same in the afternoon.


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## VAPSU (Apr 11, 2011)

I took the civil-structural...and I found the morning to be super easy. I actually finished in just under 2 hours, then went back and checked all my answers twice. Of course now that I've had the weekend to think about it I'm starting to second guess everything and feel like I must have missed something to have finished so quickly!

The afternoon I thought was pretty rough. It wasn't so much the difficulty of the questions, but that there were a bunch that took more than 6 mintues to solve. I was writing until the very last second. Although I did manage to answer them all, I just worry since I was so rushed I made some stupid mistakes. Guess we'll see come June!


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## willsee (Apr 11, 2011)

I took the electrical

It wasn't bad but I wasn't completely prepared for it either. I left feeling that if I failed, I knew what I didn't study enough to pass the next time.


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## Happy (Apr 11, 2011)

Civil Transportation

Morning - Difficult, some questions really threw me for a loop especially in the geological section. I worked out or found a logical answer for almost all of them, so feel safe thinking I got 30/40 or better (conservative estimate). I finished with about 20 minutes to spare.

Afternoon - Easier than the morning, I was able to come up with an answer for every question except for 1 question that required a reference I didn't have. Luckily, I afterwards look it up and discovered I guessed correctly. Some questions were pretty left field but for the most part I was prepared. Finished with about 30 minutes to spare, double checked everything. I feel safe thinking I got at least 30/40 right. I probably got 35-38 right, but am conservatively downplaying my correct number answered as I'm sure some of the questions might have tripped me up.

So, I think I passed, will actually be rather shocked if I don't. The test was very hard, but I studied hard too.

I brought a lot of books, 80 lb worth fit into my suitcase. Still, if I was to write the test again I'd bring even more books. I actually used almost all of my books. Usually to look up some terminology I hadn't heard before or wasn't very familiar with. One question in particular I wound up using this musty old textbook for the 60's I had thrown into the pile last minute to answer.

I enjoyed the test overall. Big expansive room, nice blue pencil. Great snacks/lunch. A trifle long to be sure, but overall a solid experience.


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## roadwreck (Apr 11, 2011)

Happy said:


> Civil Transportation
> Morning - Difficult, some questions really threw me for a loop especially in the *geological* section.


Man, they must have really changed up the format. I don't remember a geology section when I took the exam.


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## DannyV (Apr 11, 2011)

Mine was in Power, I was upset and caught off guard by some of the questions. I think about 30% test was not on any of my references but I only had 4 books with me... LOL :brickwall:

However I think I did enough to pass the test. :th_rockon:


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## bingcrosbyb (Apr 11, 2011)

EE - Power. "You sunk my battleship."

*Preparation Time/Materials:* 250 total hours. 5 textbooks, prep coursework notebook, 2 notebooks of graduate class material, calculators, snacks, rolling suitcase.

*Money:* ~$1,550.

*General Observations:* Arrived at my site 30 minutes prior to report time. Noticed that many others had literally libraries and libraries of books. Someone had a giant wagon with bungie cords holding all of the books together. Others just had a single piece of paper. Wild. I randomly started thinking of a national geographic special with narration by Morgan Freeman on PE test taking habits. I needed that laugh to clear my head.

*AM Session:* Felt the AM session was great. Only ended up with 6-7 that I didn't have a single solid answer or couldn't find it in my reference. I finished slightly early and checked only some of my work.

*PM Session:* Total unadulterated bloodbath. Couldn't seem to concentrate enough to find the equations I needed. Calculator was spitting out answers that were out of this world. Saw stuff that I barely covered in droves. About 2-3 hours into the afternoon, my brain felt like it had been through a dishwasher and I started hopping around from question to question. Not good. I will be lucky if I got a quarter to half right. I might as well have taken another discipline in the afternoon or gone to work. A monkey may have been able to do better.

*Final Thoughts:* As I left the exam area, I felt numb, dumb, and a little crushed. I felt like I blew the morning session out of the water. Then the PE got off a torpedo as I was heading to collect my stamp, promotion, and better life. I'm not very good at guessing and doing the math in my head all weekend I kept envisioning a percentage score in the upper 60s with an afternoon diagnostic that simply says "monkey". 6 months of neglecting my wife and family might be for nothing in the end except doing it all over again. I know the pass rate for repeaters is low, but what is the divorce rate?

Oh well. If I recall from a coworker, last years results were released in around 45-50 days following the exam. I think he got his in late May. We shall see. I guess the ultimate decision is now do I crack open another book....or another beer?


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## Clydeman (Apr 11, 2011)

I did mechanical (thermo fluids).

Morning was easy. Afternoon was brutal. In the afternoon I found that if it was not a problem that I had seen before I couldn't do it. My brain simply was not functioning that well. At the very beginning of the test there were a bunch of problems in a row from a certain dicipline which I had not seen before. My heart rate went up and I was in somewhat of a panic state for a short while. Luckily I moved on to problems I knew and calmed down.

Not sure if I passed or not. I think I did, but am not sure.

Unfortunately in the wonderful state of Oregon the deadline for October is June 1 (next door in WA it is Juky 31). I called them this morning and asked if it was intentional that they are forcing people to wait a year, they said yes. They said I can go take it in another state. Great!


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## MechMark (Apr 11, 2011)

Definitely another beer...don't crack another book until you get your results.

Like I've commonly seen on this site, I felt pretty darn good after the morning session, and then in the afternoon I took a beating. In the morning I first worked through everything I had a clear idea on how to solve (or knew the correct answer to outright) and had 28 bubbles filled in. The other 12 I searched through my books to find equations and methods of solving, and only had to end up completely guessing on a couple.

Needless to say, I sat down feeling decently for the PM portion, but as soon as I started reading the problems I realized how much harder that session would be. I only had 12 bubbles filled before I had to start digging, and I guessed on a solid 7-10. I'm hoping I did enough to pass, but my confidence isn't super high right now. That being said, I was positive I had failed the EIT, the LEED Credentialing exam and most of my exams in college, so hopefully I'm wrong now like I was then.

I took probably 12 books and used 4 heavily, 3 occasionally and the others not at all. I was surprised how much I used my unit conversions book and was very thankful I had bought it. The most exciting part was the ejection that took place at the table next to mine. Everybody in the vicinity was curious about what had happened. The test-taker definitely acted shocked and then royally pissed off when he was tapped on the shoulder.


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## va_gator (Apr 11, 2011)

I took the Electrical - Power, and I thought that both the morning and afternoon sessions were on the same level of difficulty (for me, and with the material that I studied).

Morning:

I definitely screwed up on a couple of morning questions that I should not have done (this may be due to myself trying to rush through the test initially). Its been bugging me all weekend, and will continue to do so until I find out about the results. If these questions made the difference between a pass/fail, I will tar and feather myself.

Afternoon:

I feel a lot better about this than the morning session, more curveballs than what I expected but mentally I was in "test mode" after the morning session.

We'll wait and see. I scheduled a vacation in late-May and I'm afraid I won't be able to enjoy that due to anxiety about the results from this test. I feel bad for the S/O as well if I fail, considering the time preparation for this test consumed, and I told her we won't be expanding our family until this test was out of the way.


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## Happy (Apr 11, 2011)

MechMark said:


> The most exciting part was the ejection that took place at the table next to mine. Everybody in the vicinity was curious about what had happened. The test-taker definitely acted shocked and then royally pissed off when he was tapped on the shoulder.


That sounds pretty interesting, you were getting some entertainment value for your exam fees there.

I was thinking during the exam though, it would be so easy to absent-mindedly use the pencil to help find a point on a chart or graph - or maybe to asterix a paragraph on a page of text while you looked up a cross reference. I mean, I personally was really getting caught up in the exam and not always thinking about proper pencil placement. A few times I had to catch myself and put the pencil down on the table. I would feel bad for anyone who was thrown out for making an mindless but harmless error like like.


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## va_gator (Apr 11, 2011)

^

Yeah, I know what you mean. About halfway through the morning session, I got in the habit of keeping the pencil on my ear while looking through my references, just to be safe.


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## Happy (Apr 11, 2011)

roadwreck said:


> Happy said:
> 
> 
> > Civil Transportation
> ...



Oh Crumb, no wonder I had trouble! Both that and the proctology section were not easy for me. Note to self: lay off the caffeine pills if I have to write again.


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## DJsigma (Apr 11, 2011)

I had a slight scare myself. At 10:00 my watch beeped, catching the ears of three vigilant proctors. I held my breath as they marched toward me. Luckily, though, they just confiscated my watch and allowed me to continue.


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## bingcrosbyb (Apr 11, 2011)

va_gator said:


> I took the Electrical - Power, and I thought that both the morning and afternoon sessions were on the same level of difficulty (for me, and with the material that I studied).
> Morning:
> 
> I definitely screwed up on a couple of morning questions that I should not have done (this may be due to myself trying to rush through the test initially). Its been bugging me all weekend, and will continue to do so until I find out about the results. If these questions made the difference between a pass/fail, I will tar and feather myself.
> ...


I feel the same way. The wait and the second guessing is going to be more painful than the exam. But I think what hurts me the most is the _finality of it all_. It doesn't matter what I do anymore. It's done. Finished. No amount of bargaining will gain me anymore points on the ones that I guessed on and got correct versus the ones I made a simple calculation error. I'm no longer in control of whether I pass or fail. The cutoff will be dramatic and swift leaving thousands out in the cold by simply _1 point_. Does that 1 point mean someone else is more minimally competent than me to stamp drawings? Hell no. Just means he/she was luckier on April 8th, 2011.


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## hamada128 (Apr 11, 2011)

Civil / Structural:

I think the morning was easy for me, the afternoon was tough. Hope I can pass the first time.

What you guys mean when you say "the passing rate for repeater is low" is that from NCEES or just a guess.


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## snickerd3 (Apr 11, 2011)

ncees, they break out the stats


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## bingcrosbyb (Apr 11, 2011)

hamada128 said:


> Civil / Structural:
> I think the morning was easy for me, the afternoon was tough. Hope I can pass the first time.
> 
> What you guys mean when you say "the passing rate for repeater is low" is that from NCEES or just a guess.


Historical pass rates (some would say "flow control" rates but that is a debate for another time) of minimally compentent first time takers has ranged from 60-80% depending upon difficulty of test, breadth/depth, etc. Repeat takers range from 25-35%. Theories abound as to the reason for a lower pass rate for repeaters. Some say that the repeaters are simply the slackers taking it over and over again. Others say that with thousands of dollars in tutoring and references out the wazoo they still wouldn't pass because they just are too slow or not "built" for the PE type of test. Smartest engineer in our office took it three times. He's brilliant with the "details". Just has a slow method.

It's a mystery my friend.


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## Jamo (Apr 11, 2011)

Mechanical / HVAC Depth

Review: Started last September. Read through MERM and worked practice problems. Also did part of Lindberg's exam (was too much of a downer in recent weeks), did the NCEES 2008 sample exam, and SMS HVAC. I worked the SMS and NCEES a couple of times each during the last month. During the test I primarily used MERM, but also used the Lindberg equation book, SMS, NCEES test, and 3 of the 4 ASHRAE books.

Morning: Felt great. Finished with enough time to slowly and deliberately review each of the problems. Took the whole time in the morning although about an an hour and fifteen minutes of that was checking my work. Had lots of check marks in my test book and only a few ? marks. Thinking I got about mid-30s.

Afternoon: Definitely harder, but not as much as I expected. For the last month I focused on my depth so that may have helped. Knocked out a bunch of questions in the first pass through and was able to grind out answers for most problems. I made some good time through the first pass, but still slowly read the question, identified what they were asking for, and took a close look at units/keywords that I knew tripped me up sometimes during practice. Had time to check back through everything and would wager that I got about 30 right.

Rest of the weekend: Celebrated under the assumption that I passed. I felt great walking out of the room. Was very confident in my answers, and could literally feel the weight come off my shoulders as I handed in my booklet. I'm just a bit nervous that I got tripped up on some answers that I "know" I got right, but I had been tripped up during my preparation and knew what pitfalls to watch out for.


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## wjrez (Apr 11, 2011)

Electrical Power -

This was my first time and did not know what to expect. I prepped as well as I could of considering work, family, life and all the other inconsequential things that get in the way, but the morning went better than expected (initially could not even think and balnked out on the first 4 questions), but the afternoon was a dog. I struggled through most of them and guessed on a lot more than I would of liked to, but as they (or maybe it is just me) say "the cards were dealt, so I am playing the hand given to me". I felt I did my best in spite of all the second guessing I may have done afterwards (and the 3A.M. wake up on the answer to a question I just guessed at during the exam) and the best you can do is all you can do. So be it.


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## geno34 (Apr 11, 2011)

I took the Civil - Construction.

The morning was not bad. This was my first try at the PE and I found myself very nervous and had a hard time concentrating during the beginning of the test. However, I gained my composure and I finished the morning in 3 hours and spent the last hour checking my answers. I’m glad I had the extra time because I found a couple of mistakes. I would guess I got anywhere from 30-34 right in the morning.

The afternoon was tough and I only had a handful of problems completed in the first half hour. I also, had to guess on more than I wanted too in the afternoon. I did not have any time to check my answers, which hurts. I am hoping I got 25 right, but that would be on the high side. It is going to be close. I just hope I pass so I don’t have to go through this again. I began studying in October for this test. Hopefully I took some good educated guesses to pull me through.


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## FF8256 (Apr 11, 2011)

Civil trans. Famous last words but I felt it went pretty well and I was only surprised by a few questions. So I think I either did really well or the test totally blidsided me and I didn't even know it. I studied like an obsessed professor for a few months, and really don't wanna do that again. Worst part about the whole experience? Feeling guily for having books open on my lap since the table was only 24 inches deep and could barely hold the cerm and test book at the same time. Oh and holding a pencil while looking through books. I could feel the stares of the proctors burning me!


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## Glen_PE (Apr 11, 2011)

Ca Seismic Only. Studied like a mad man for the last two months every night for two hours. I took Heiner's review course, did hundreds of questions, read the IBC 2009 and the ASCE 7-05, and did two practice exams. There were only two questions that I know I flubbed. Otherwise, I nailed it.

This is the last part of the Ca PE I need.


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## monsterbbb (Apr 11, 2011)

Took Power,

I only have about 22 sure answers for morning section, and had 4-5 very good guesses. So I guess that was bad.

the afternoon section at first caught me off guard. I was in panic mode the first hour; somehow I manage to calm down during 2nd hour and decide to do all the questions that I can actually understand what it asked for. Then go back to those questions once seem impossible to solve, and found out there were alot of questions are very easy actually. So I manage to have about 29 sure answers + 2-4 very good guesses.

my guess method is use my sure answer as reference, picked the least chosen one as my guess to avg back the answer distribution.


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## PJ3346 (Apr 11, 2011)

Civil - Geotech

The morning section wasn't too bad got at least 30-35 right. PM was another story, was on a roll for the first 10 or so and then bam hit a bit of a road block and the hard problems kept on coming. There were problems that I never even reviewed or saw before and luckily was able to figure out an answer, I think it could go either way, but am hoping I got enough right to pass!


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## 1-3-2-4 (Apr 12, 2011)

I guess I'll be the first downer of the group, but I felt the AM section was extremely difficult. I took the Mechanical Machine Design test, and based on feedback from co-workers and friends, I was not expecting as much thermo/fluids/hvac as I encountered. The percentage of those problems and the general lack of other problems I was SURE was going to be on there was depressing. Having done a lot of prep with the MERM, Lindeburg's practice problems, and the 2001 sample exam, I went in feeling very confident; I did pretty well on the sample exam. The AM sapped my confidence, which weighed on my mind during the PM. The PM was challenging, but I feel I could have done better had I been more focused. Oh well.

I'm pretty sure I'll be taking it again...and hoping for less thermo. I'd like to think other ME's may have had a hard time as well, but I know in reality that most of the ME test-takers are HVAC/AE/fluids guys...MD types like me typically don't get their PE's because it simply isn't required.


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## ezmorningrebel (Apr 12, 2011)

I took Civil/Structural

I thought the morning portion wasn't bad. Finished in about 2.5 hours and had a chance to go back through. Actually found a couple of math mistakes I had made early in the morning before my brain was warmed up.

Afternoon was pretty rough. One of the topics I am most familiar with wasn't even represented and is supposed to comprise a certain percentage I thought. There were a couple really time consuming problems too that I saved until the end but couldn't get through. All in all I think I did OK but I can't say for certain if I passed or failed. I guess we'll just have to wait and see.


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## JMcG (Apr 12, 2011)

PJ3346 said:


> Civil - Geotech
> The morning section wasn't too bad got at least 30-35 right. PM was another story, was on a roll for the first 10 or so and then bam hit a bit of a road block and the hard problems kept on coming. There were problems that I never even reviewed or saw before and luckily was able to figure out an answer, I think it could go either way, but am hoping I got enough right to pass!



Took the Geotech as well. Second time taking the test. The first time I took it, I could have sworn that the morning was easy, the afternoon crushed me. When I got my diagnostics, apparently it was the other way around. So I'm hesitant to go on my gut feelings for how I did. Again this time the morning part I felt really good about; and this time I was able to determine how they were able to arrive at almost every answer for each question (A-D) so I felt I knew the material better. Afternoon I feel I bombed again. Like is stated above, there were problems I never saw before. I felt the same way on the October afternoon exam.


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## Boomer01 PE (Apr 12, 2011)

Civil/Transportation

This was my second time to take the test and I felt much better than I did the first time. (I got a 46 on it last time.) The morning went smoother and the afternoon was about the same level of difficulty. It will be close.


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## Hatchet (Apr 12, 2011)

Took Mechanical Systems &amp; Materials

Morning went well, only blew a half hour on a problem when i was an hour ahead. Got reasonable answers for the most part. was mad i had to guess on some i knew were gimmies but couldn't trip over an exact answer.

Afternoon, needed all the time for the harder problems that i'd made up from the simple 30 second problems.

had to restrain myself from laughing out loud when i got to one particular problem. i'd caught myself rifling through bins of college material two nights before the test, most likly due to anxiety.

i came accross an old ~50pg report complete w/ cad drawings, generic equations, ect regarding the design of the ............ in question.

and sure enough one of the two pages i'd tabbed on that repor and got an answer in under 2min.

ah, the sweet vindication of a semester project we all thought was an over written load of hot air; most likly graded on number of pages and number of colors used.

i did mark the psychrometric chart w/ a few dots as i was doing other problems and was hopeing it wouldn't be grounds for dismissal?

so, i'm at a coin flip either way.

i'm with ya bingcrosbyb, what's the divorce rate for re-takers? that should be an NCEES published statictic.


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## ME-TFHt2011 (Apr 12, 2011)

Mechanical Thermo Fluids- left the morning feeling really good, left the afternoon asking "wow, what was that?"

I started studying 3 nights a week back in September, and increased to every night, every weekend for the last two months. Leading up to the exam I had a (false) sence of over prepardness (apparently). I took a review class, intimately knew my way through the MERM, reviewed all of my old coursework and tabed my old text books and other reference material, figured it would be a slam dunk. needless to say i was the one who felt slammed during the pm section.

After some brief early morning jitteers, I thought the morning section was really fair. I only flat out guessed on 2 and had an hour to check my work. This was really efficient because I wrote my references next to the question in the test booklet as I worked.

However I was thoroughly amazed at some of the depth questions. Upon reading several of the problems I would write down the basic equations I figured I'd be using and then skip ahead. I felt way many of them would take too much time to answer while sitting in that room. I was so pressed for time I ended up flat out guessing on about 15 in all in the afternoon.

I am so nervious... I think I knew how to do enough of the questions... but the thought of going through that much studying again is enough to haunt me every hour for the next 10 weeks.


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## Clydeman (Apr 12, 2011)

ME-TFHt2011 said:


> Mechanical Thermo Fluids- left the morning feeling really good, left the afternoon asking "wow, what was that?"
> I started studying 3 nights a week back in September, and increased to every night, every weekend for the last two months. Leading up to the exam I had a (false) sence of over prepardness (apparently). I took a review class, intimately knew my way through the MERM, reviewed all of my old coursework and tabed my old text books and other reference material, figured it would be a slam dunk. needless to say i was the one who felt slammed during the pm section.
> 
> After some brief early morning jitteers, I thought the morning section was really fair. I only flat out guessed on 2 and had an hour to check my work. This was really efficient because I wrote my references next to the question in the test booklet as I worked.
> ...


I was waiting to hear from a fellow Mechanical TF. I think we had nearly the same amount of prep time. I keep a detailed calender of how much time I studied. I started studying in mid November and studied about 425 hours total (getting up at 4:30 in the morning to study nearly every day).

I too knew MERMs like the back of my hand. I ended up tabbing the thing a few weeks before, more because I felt I had to rather than I needed to. I had most chapter subjects memorized.

I had the exact same experience. The morning went quite well. I don't think I missed that many. But the afternoon did not go well. I started off in the beginning of the pm session with a bunch of problems in a row that I had never seen. I though I knew that area quite well, but apparently I did not. This resulted in me getting a little panicked for about 30 minutes or so). There was one problem where I must have typed the same equation into my calculator 10 times. It was not going well. But I moved on and after that things went pretty well. I ended up guessing on 5 or so. I studied everything I could get my hands on 2001 and 2008 NCEES sample (working all disciplines), Lindeburg, Kaplan, all 6MS books and a PE review course. A few of the depth problems left me completely baffled.

In the mechanical forums they said that diciplines go in waves. Hopefully we caught the worst and ended up doing better than we thought!

Anyway I feel kind of down about the whole ordeal. I thought I was so ready. I hope I don't end up being another one of those stories about people that studied over 400 hours and failed, but I might be. Just take solace in the fact that it is somewhat of a game. It is not a reflection of you as an engineer if you fail.


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## ME-TFHt2011 (Apr 12, 2011)

Clydeman said:


> I was waiting to hear from a fellow Mechanical TF. I think we had nearly the same amount of prep time. I keep a detailed calender of how much time I studied. I started studying in mid November and studied about 425 hours total (getting up at 4:30 in the morning to study nearly every day).
> I too knew MERMs like the back of my hand. I ended up tabbing the thing a few weeks before, more because I felt I had to rather than I needed to. I had most chapter subjects memorized.
> 
> I had the exact same experience. The morning went quite well. I don't think I missed that many. But the afternoon did not go well. I started off in the beginning of the pm session with a bunch of problems in a row that I had never seen. I though I knew that area quite well, but apparently I did not. This resulted in me getting a little panicked for about 30 minutes or so). There was one problem where I must have typed the same equation into my calculator 10 times. It was not going well. But I moved on and after that things went pretty well. I ended up guessing on 5 or so. I studied everything I could get my hands on 2001 and 2008 NCEES sample (working all disciplines), Lindeburg, Kaplan, all 6MS books and a PE review course. A few of the depth problems left me completely baffled.
> ...


Yea, Im sure we did fine. I think I did a good job of making educated guesses on those I didnt have time to tackle in the afternoon. I felt alot of different things during the test, some that did actually seem like the exam was a game, you know me against the test writer. It was very strange. Might have just been the adrenoline, snickers bars, mountain dew, and coffee though?

It is so strange having free time again. I really appreciate being outside mountain biking now! Was out riding all weekend.

How have you adjusted to not studying anymore?


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## Hatchet (Apr 13, 2011)

no kidding on that free time again feeling. was playing on the slide and swinging on the swing-set w/ my 3yr old, feeding my 1 yr old before bed tonight thinking how wonderful life is again. and that i was thankful for that last snowstorm that made outside less appealing that an early spring would have. though having the damn snowmobile keep calling my name from the garage all-winter-long was getting really old.


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## DannyV (Apr 13, 2011)

DJsigma said:


> I had a slight scare myself. At 10:00 my watch beeped, catching the ears of three vigilant proctors. I held my breath as they marched toward me. Luckily, though, they just confiscated my watch and allowed me to continue.



I had the same thing happen to me. My watch beeped at 9am and at 10am after the second time a proctor asked me to turn it off. Since I don't usually use a watch I had no idea how to turn it off, I actually say to him "Here, its all yours" He laughed and took it. After I was done with my exam he came over with the watch. The proctors were a bit picky with little stuff but they were very professional and organized. They actually helped me get in the "test-taking spirit" LOL


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## Relvinim (Apr 13, 2011)

Wow...reading all these posts about your experiences reminds me of how stressful it was but no doubt well worth it...especially if you pass. It was an experience I will never forget and the excitement that comes from reading that passing letter from NCEES...is priceless.


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## knight1fox3 (Apr 13, 2011)

Relvinim said:


> Wow...reading all these posts about your experiences reminds me of how stressful it was but no doubt well worth it...especially if you pass. It was an experience I will never forget and the excitement that comes from reading that passing letter from NCEES...is priceless.


AMEN TO THAT! lusone:


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## RobertR (Apr 13, 2011)

Relvinim said:


> Wow...reading all these posts about your experiences reminds me of how stressful it was but no doubt well worth it...especially if you pass. It was an experience I will never forget and the excitement that comes from reading that passing letter from NCEES...is priceless.


Exactly my feelings. I remember how I essentially had no life on the weekends outside of studying for several months. What a great feeling to have loads of free time. The first time I took the test, I knew I hadn't passed as soon as I walked out. But for this time (October 2010), I walked out feeling extremely confident. With only 2 or 3 exceptions, I knew how to answer every question. There is no better feeling than having those two letters after your name.


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## Jacob_PE (Sep 7, 2011)

Something I've been wanting to ask about the April 2011 exam... were the 2011 NCEES sample questions for each depth topic available prior to the exam? If so, I'd like to see opnions on the difficulty level of the exam compared to those sample questions. People have posted that they studied everything: the CERM, the NCEES sample questions and then the afternoon was a bloodbath of questions that they had never seen before. How can that be the case if the NCEES sample questions are representative of what we will see on the exam. The depth questions for the WR/ENV sample questions are covered in the CERM so I'm a little confused about what you guys mean.


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## ptatohed (Sep 7, 2011)

Jacob said:


> Something I've been wanting to ask about the April 2011 exam... were the 2011 NCEES sample questions for each depth topic available prior to the exam? If so, I'd like to see opnions on the difficulty level of the exam compared to those sample questions. People have posted that they studied everything: the CERM, the NCEES sample questions and then the afternoon was a bloodbath of questions that they had never seen before. How can that be the case if the NCEES sample questions are representative of what we will see on the exam. The depth questions for the WR/ENV sample questions are covered in the CERM so I'm a little confused about what you guys mean.



Jacob, I was going to call you a grave-digger but I guess this thread isn't that old. 

I'll try to address your questions:

Yes, I had the NCEES sample exam prior to the April '11 exam.

Of all the practice problems I saw/did, the NCEES was the most accurate as far as difficulty level and completion time required, as compared to the actual exam. All the other stuff I did (Goswami's practice exams, Lindberg's, 6 Minute Solutions, etc.) were sometimes taking me 20 minutes and more, each. You should still do them because they help over-prepare you (a good thing) but don't get discouraged if you can't do them in 6 minutes. So, yes, the NCEES sample exam was realistic.

I disagree. I felt the AM and PM were equal difficulty for both the Oct '10 and Apr '11. In fact, my diagnostic for Oct '10 showed me with equal scores for AM and PM (25/40 and 26/40 I think) (Transpo PM). I passed the Apr '11 so no diagnostic but, using my best own personal "check" system, I feel I got in the high-20s/40 for both AM and PM.

I think you might be missing the intention of the NCEES practice exam when you say: "How can that be the case if the NCEES sample questions are representative of what we will see on the exam." They are not representative as far as the exact type of questions, they are representative of the possible topics you can be tested on and they are representative of the level of difficulty. Does that make sense?

The main thing I can suggest to you is to take your NCEES syllabus and study and practice those topics repeatedly.

Good luck.

PS You inspired me to add a pic of me and my son to my profile.


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## Jacob_PE (Sep 7, 2011)

Thanks for that response. I've been trying to get a grip on what to expect on test day and I think that'll be my last question on that issue.  And, That's a cool pic of you and your boy. 

To summarize what I've learned so far:   

Each person's PE exam experience is unique.

Success or failure is directly linked to preparation. 

You must be thoroughly familiar with your resources. 

Luck is a factor, you're unlucky if you see a lot of topics you didn't master during preparation. 

Question management is important, have to be able to recognize a question that will take too long and move forward. 

The ability to overcome anxiety and settle down quickly is crucial to success.  

Must be capable of focusing in on what is being asked and then select from pool of given info to arrive at the correct solution, all without making common mistakes. 

I need to focus more on problems and less on analyzing this stuff.


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## EnvEngineer (Sep 9, 2011)

Just one last thought that I think is helpfull, remember that the morning and afternoon are scored together. Dont make the mistake of thinking the morning was too easy to go back and check your work, you will probably have much more time in the morning, get all the points you can to help carry the tougher afternoon.

Good luck


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## ptatohed (Sep 12, 2011)

Jacob said:


> Thanks for that response. I've been trying to get a grip on what to expect on test day and I think that'll be my last question on that issue.  And, That's a cool pic of you and your boy. To summarize what I've learned so far:
> 
> Each person's PE exam experience is unique.
> 
> ...


Well said my friend.


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## markS (Oct 18, 2011)

I agree. I think you can break down preparation into learning and practising for exam, though. You can learn the material, but to pass the exam it's really important to practise for the exam. Know what can be and what wouldn't be asked in the exam.


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## efg (Apr 28, 2017)

bingcrosbyb said:


> EE - Power. "You sunk my battleship."
> 
> *Preparation Time/Materials:* 250 total hours. 5 textbooks, prep coursework notebook, 2 notebooks of graduate class material, calculators, snacks, rolling suitcase.
> 
> ...


I took the EE PE Power exam as well and couldn't agree with you more regarding the afternoon session. I was left bleary eyed. In fact, I went back to verify that I had bubbled every question correctly and, much to my chagrin, I hadn't!!! I had misbubbled 3 questions. Fortunately, I had enough time to check them. So yes, it was a very hard afternoon.


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## efg (Apr 28, 2017)

School of PE material for the EE Power Exam wasn't worth the paper its printed on. 

I would like to hear about what other thoughts of their training / prep material specially as it relates to the EE Power Exam. I spoke to a guy who sat two tables from me and he had the same feelings about the School of PE's EE Power material. Given how hard the afternoon part of the exam was, I'm wondering about the "Complex and Imaginary" material which I didn't get a chance to buy. Was it worth it? Also, if you took a course that you really liked, please let me know. Thanks!


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## Opisthenar PE (Apr 28, 2017)

efg said:


> School of PE material for the EE Power Exam wasn't worth the paper its printed on.
> 
> I would like to hear about what other thoughts of their training / prep material specially as it relates to the EE Power Exam. I spoke to a guy who sat two tables from me and he had the same feelings about the School of PE's EE Power material. Given how hard the afternoon part of the exam was, I'm wondering about the "Complex and Imaginary" material which I didn't get a chance to buy. Was it worth it? Also, if you took a course that you really liked, please let me know. Thanks!


I would say CI was worth it. The CI practice exams do have some obscure topics that you might not see on other exams. I remember a question that was very similar to CI that people may not have focused on much, but it was worded differently. Plus there are tons of problems on CI that focuses on the basics, which will really test your understanding.

I did the CI (all four volumes) two times. At times, it does get repetitive, but I believe this repetition really gave me 'gimme points' on this years Power PE Exams, meaning I knew exactly how to solve the problem without going to any reference. This saved me a lot of time to answer questions that were very different than what i studied for doing practice exams. I also had the CI NEC problems book that they sell, and it really gave me practice on how to look up random topics in the NEC in a quick manner. There's about 200 NEC problems in the drill book. I did about 100.

I'm still not 100% confident I passed, but I believe I do have a good chance.


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## ptatohed (Apr 28, 2017)

efg said:


> I took the EE PE Power exam as well and couldn't agree with you more regarding the afternoon session. I was left bleary eyed. In fact, I went back to verify that I had bubbled every question correctly and, much to my chagrin, I hadn't!!! I had misbubbled 3 questions. Fortunately, I had enough time to check them. So yes, it was a very hard afternoon.


You bumped a 6 year old thread to tell us this?


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## JHW 3d (May 8, 2017)

Actually, the "you sunk my battleship" post is a classic. I always wondered where it came from! Even better knowing that guy passed.


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