# October 2014 Exam - Anyone started studying yet?



## slickjohannes (Jun 10, 2014)

For those of us that are planning on taking the October 2014 exam, we're almost at the 4-months-to-go mark... anyone started hitting the books yet? How many hours a night/week?

I've been attending a review course since May, but really haven't shifted into study mode yet. Was planning on starting July 1. Haven't heard whether or not I'm approved to sit for the exam yet, so it's hard to get completely serious at this point...


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## Porter_ (Jun 10, 2014)

i sat for the April exam this year. i waited until i was approved by my state's board which gave me about 2 months to study. my fault, i procrastinated applying. if i were to do it over again i would have started studying immediately instead of waiting for approval. 2 months is a relatively short time to study for the PE exam in my opinion. i say get crackin right away. as a point of reference i was able to put in 15-20 hours per week.

which depth are you planning on taking slickjohannes?


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## RLies (Jun 10, 2014)

I began reading the MERM cover to cover a few months ago just to get familiar with the layout and the topics. I took a couple weeks off to do some woodworking, but I'm back at it this week.

After I finish reading through it, I will begin doing the MERM practice problems and start tabbing my book as I work them. And I don't plan to stop doing practice problems until the test.

I read an hour over lunch and then an hour at night M-Th. On Fridays, I try to read from noon-4 (my company has all friday afternoons off, i know right?) so that gives me about 12 hours a week. I will ramp that up as the test gets closer to include some weekend work, but I have an 8 month old son so time is pretty hard to come by, but motivation is easy to find.


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## Porter_ (Jun 10, 2014)

RLies, just a heads-up there's a lot of the MERM that is unnecessary for the exam. i would suggest skipping the pure math chapters (algebra, diff eq, etc. etc.) and the entire Plant Engineering chapter. tons of good info there, but completely unnecessary for the exam in my experience.


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## SNAPE/SMOTT PE (Jun 10, 2014)

Yep, signed up for Dr. Tom's review course the week after finding out I failed April exam. It's a 20 week course, and been studying between 15-20 hrs a week.

I'm changing from MD to TFS, this is my last go at passing before waiting out a year...MUST PASS!


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## slickjohannes (Jun 11, 2014)

I will probably be taking the TFS depth, but I have bought a little prep material for the MD as well. Everyone I talk to says that if you are even the slightest bit comfortable with thermodynamics, then start preparing for TFS. I guess the MD can be difficult due to the large amount of material.


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## SNAPE/SMOTT PE (Jun 11, 2014)

slickjohannes said:


> I will probably be taking the TFS depth, but I have bought a little prep material for the MD as well. Everyone I talk to says that if you are even the slightest bit comfortable with thermodynamics, then start preparing for TFS. I guess the MD can be difficult due to the large amount of material.


I've taken it twice, taking the MD depth, and based on raw vs scaled scores, I was a few questions off from passing both times. In just skimming the SMS and NCEES practice exams for TFS, I really believe it is a much easier exam.

If you have the time to put in studying, by all means take the MD. I honestly regret not taking TFS the first time I took the exam. I was afraid to because fluids was my worst class in college. But the percentage of fluids problems is not as high as I had thought, and then they shouldn't put super hard/involved problems on the exam.


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## slickjohannes (Jun 11, 2014)

Fluids was also my worst course. Well- that is excluding Diff Eq.

We'll see what depth I feel like I have the best chance at as the deadline to decide approaches. Looks like if I start to study July 1st I may be in good shape..

...maybe...


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## SNAPE/SMOTT PE (Jun 11, 2014)

slickjohannes said:


> Fluids was also my worst course. Well- that is excluding Diff Eq.
> 
> We'll see what depth I feel like I have the best chance at as the deadline to decide approaches. Looks like if I start to study July 1st I may be in good shape..
> 
> ...maybe...


If your taking MD, get Shigley's book. You'll need it. What review class are you taking?


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## slickjohannes (Jun 11, 2014)

It's a review course put on by a the local university, 3 hours once a week for 24 weeks or so. Some of my co-workers have used the same course and praised it highly, but I'm a little unimpressed at the moment.

I took a 3 hour/week, 10x week review course for the FE last year. It was a total waste of time. If my PE course turns into something similar, then I may stop going as this is time better spent cracking the books. We'll see. Fortunately, my company is picking up the bill.

As for Shigley's, I've also heard that this is a must. I've already spent a small fortune gathering my (second hand) study material and a new copy of the MERM, so I may say TFS for that reason alone. Then again, I almost feel that Shigley's might be worth adding to my library, even with the little mechanical related work I do. I have mechanical design books from Jack Collins and Spotts, coupled with some good handbooks, but they seem to be a little light in some areas, and completely absent in others. Only time will tell...


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## Porter_ (Jun 11, 2014)

Shigley and Mischke is a great book to have as a practicing engineer, but i didn't need it for the PE exam (Mechanical Systems and Materials depth). i took it with me but i didn't use it. the MERM has everything i needed.


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## SNAPE/SMOTT PE (Jun 11, 2014)

My experience was different with Shigley's book. Could be because I really hate MERM, and found Shigley's book to present things better.


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## speedbump (Jun 12, 2014)

I think Shigley as well as Shaum's outline are a must for the PE exam. Both the Problem sets are about the same difficulty for the PM depth. I opened the MERM only a handful of times (mostly tables) in the M&amp;M PM. The MERM is not thorough enough in all of the PM M&amp;M topics (in machine design). Economics/Project Mgmt/Quality/Statistics is something that shouldn't be neglected (I solely relied on my S of PE notes). They will appear in both sessions and are easy points.

For the most part, I referred to my binder of formula's for the majority of the exam (both AM and PM). Everything I had was color coded by topics, key values, key steps, accumulated over a 5 month studying span. I can't say it will work for you, but it helped me solve problems quickly.

I averaged around 12 hr/week, 400 hours (150 hours the month before the exam) of study and passed.


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## solomonb (Jun 12, 2014)

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!


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## RLies (Jun 13, 2014)

Porter_ said:


> RLies, just a heads-up there's a lot of the MERM that is unnecessary for the exam. i would suggest skipping the pure math chapters (algebra, diff eq, etc. etc.) and the entire Plant Engineering chapter. tons of good info there, but completely unnecessary for the exam in my experience.




Thanks, I did skip the math chapters, but i wasn't sure about the plant engineering. That should cut down my reading time so I can get to working problems. Also, I'll be taking the HVAC exam in the afternoon.


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## Mike M PE (Jun 13, 2014)

RLies said:


> Porter_ said:
> 
> 
> > RLies, just a heads-up there's a lot of the MERM that is unnecessary for the exam. i would suggest skipping the pure math chapters (algebra, diff eq, etc. etc.) and the entire Plant Engineering chapter. tons of good info there, but completely unnecessary for the exam in my experience.
> ...




Make sure you get the HVAC 6MS and do the problems 3-4 times until they become second nature...


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## JapeEscape (Jun 19, 2014)

I just got all my study materials (MERM, Practice problems, NCEES practice problems, and 6min solutions). I plan on starting studying this weekend with 2-3 hours per day and more on the weekends, but have no idea where to start. Do most just start with the MERM and work associated problems? Any ideas are appreciated.


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## Porter_ (Jun 19, 2014)

use the NCEES syllabus (http://ncees.org/exams/pe-exam/) as a guideline for what to study and approximately how much of your time to devote to each subject. when i was studying from the MERM for the April exam i made the mistake of going through the 'Background' chapters. waste of time. Just start with Fluids Chapter 14. also this is a bit on the neurotic side, but helpful i think. here's how i set up my current study schedule http://engineerboards.com/index.php?showtopic=23613&amp;p=7201886


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## RLies (Jun 19, 2014)

Porter_ said:


> use the NCEES syllabus (http://ncees.org/exams/pe-exam/) as a guideline for what to study and approximately how much of your time to devote to each subject. when i was studying from the MERM for the April exam i made the mistake of going through the 'Background' chapters. waste of time. Just start with Fluids Chapter 14. also this is a bit on the neurotic side, but helpful i think. here's how i set up my current study schedule http://engineerboards.com/index.php?showtopic=23613&amp;p=7201886


How does one go about studying for the first item on NCEES' list?

I. Basic Engineering Practice 30%

A. Basic Engineering Practice

1. Engineering terms and symbols

2. Economic analysis

3. Project management

4. Interpretation of technical drawings

5. Electrical concepts

6. Units and conversions


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## Porter_ (Jun 19, 2014)

RLies said:


> Porter_ said:
> 
> 
> > use the NCEES syllabus (http://ncees.org/exams/pe-exam/) as a guideline for what to study and approximately how much of your time to devote to each subject. when i was studying from the MERM for the April exam i made the mistake of going through the 'Background' chapters. waste of time. Just start with Fluids Chapter 14. also this is a bit on the neurotic side, but helpful i think. here's how i set up my current study schedule http://engineerboards.com/index.php?showtopic=23613&amp;p=7201886
> ...


all of that is in the MERM.

1. i didn't study this, just being a practicing engineer is enough

2. [13th MERM Ch. 74] didn't study because i was short on time. it was however very relevant to the test.

3. [13th MERM Ch. 63] didn't study, didn't need

4. [13th MERM Ch. 2] didn't study, i do that every day at my job

5. [13th MERM Ch. 61 &amp; 62] didn't study because i was short on time, i don't recall needing this

6. you get a ton of that just doing practice problems


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## JapeEscape (Jun 19, 2014)

I'm taking the HVAC depth section in October. Looks like I need to concentrate most of my time from the start of fluids in MERM through the end of HVAC.

I also plan on skipping plant engineering completely.


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## Mike M PE (Jun 20, 2014)

JapeEscape said:


> I'm taking the HVAC depth section in October. Looks like I need to concentrate most of my time from the start of fluids in MERM through the end of HVAC.
> 
> I also plan on skipping plant engineering completely.


Remember 35% of the exam is other stuff. So I would be prepared for all of it. Also don't rely JUST on the MERM for HVAC get some supplemental study material as well (6MS is good).


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## Jonhnny123 (Jun 25, 2014)

RLies said:


> Porter_ said:
> 
> 
> > use the NCEES syllabus (http://ncees.org/exams/pe-exam/) as a guideline for what to study and approximately how much of your time to devote to each subject. when i was studying from the MERM for the April exam i made the mistake of going through the 'Background' chapters. waste of time. Just start with Fluids Chapter 14. also this is a bit on the neurotic side, but helpful i think. here's how i set up my current study schedule http://engineerboards.com/index.php?showtopic=23613&amp;p=7201886
> ...


A lot of that is simply what you've learned as an engineer over the past 4 years.

Based on the TF exam I took (which could very well be different than another year's TF exam), I would suggest studying the interest tables and economic formulas in the MERM. Once you understand how they're set up, they aren't too difficult and it could result in 4 or 5 easy answers.

You should have a units conversion book (Engineering Unit Conversion - Lindeburg) with you and open on the table the whole time. You'll need it. I don't remember having to do too much with lbm / lbf / slugs / gc, but it wouldn't hurt to be familiar with the concepts.

And you probably won't do anything more than V = I R for electrical.

Again, that's based on the exam I took a couple of years ago. Yours could be drastically different.


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## Jader PE PMP (Jul 16, 2014)

slickjohannes said:


> For those of us that are planning on taking the October 2014 exam, we're almost at the 4-months-to-go mark... anyone started hitting the books yet? How many hours a night/week?
> 
> I've been attending a review course since May, but really haven't shifted into study mode yet. Was planning on starting July 1. Haven't heard whether or not I'm approved to sit for the exam yet, so it's hard to get completely serious at this point...




Is there anyone interested in forming an study group for the Oct 2014-Mechanical MD exam? for those of us that live on the East Coast, perhaps something like Skype meetings or Google Group chat / Hangout. I was thinking perhaps meeting once or twice a week in the evenings to discuss strategy, study materials, etc....


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