# Any terrible exam day experiences?



## TheBigPig (Apr 20, 2015)

I took the exam in Timonium, MD and stayed in the Holiday Inn, which is really close to the exam site. The night before, I took a ride to the fairgrounds to where the exam was being given, scoped out a couple close spots for lunch, grabbed a bite to eat at Panera and then went back to the hotel. After a short walk, and watching some NHL playoffs, I decided to hit the sack early. Well, that didn't work out too well.  Is it possible to find a hotel that doesn't use pillows that wrap up your head like taco? Seriously, super uncomfortable. The A/C kept turning on and off and on and off, annoying as all hell. Decided to shut it down completely. Next thing I know I'm sweating my b*lls off with a human head filled taco with a pillow shell... not good. Now I know I need to go to sleep, which makes it that much harder. Next thing I know, it's after 2 AM and I'm still not sleeping. Finally, somewhere between 2 and 2:30, I'm out. Alarm goes off at 5:30, I am a zombie. I get up, eat, coffee, whatever. Start on my way to the site and decide to try some 5-hr energy for the first time in my life. Stop and grab 2 bottles of the stuff.

Morning: Down a 5-hour energy and get in line. By the time I open up the book, I have already told myself I'm going to fail. A few panic minutes in, I stop being a wuss and start busting out problems, starting from the back to the front. I knew how to do most of the problems. There were a few that stumped me and a few that I wish I could have back to do again, but I left there at lunch thinking I still had a chance.

Afternoon: Down a 5-hour energy. Get back into the exam room, it feels like it's 120 degrees with 90% humidity in there and I am sweating like a pig. The 5-hour energy has my heart beating out of my chest, super fast and hard, I literally feel like I'm having a health issue. I'm 20 minutes in and I haven't answered one question. I'm about to give up at this point. I stop, down some water, take a couple deep breaths and again, decide not to be a baby. I bust out 12-15 in a row and build up some confidence. Next thing I know, 2 hours in and I'm half done, so back on decent pace. I'm pouring sweat onto my booklet and answer sheet, and I am not a sweater, it was that hot in there. I finish on time, with some complete guesses and some educated guesses.

All in all, I feel like I left a few out there that I wish I could have back. My mind wasn't in the right place at the start of each session, but I was able to overcome it. Once I got on a roll, I felt a lot better. I feel that I gave myself a decent chance at passing, but probably should have done better.


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## matt267 PE (Apr 20, 2015)

Wow. I hope you passed. That's one hell of a war story. Would hate for you (or anyone) to repeat it.


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## Ramnares P.E. (Apr 20, 2015)

Holy crap that sounds terrible. I guess the long distance running advice works just as well here - don't eat drink anything you aren't used to the night before/morning of.

Sounds like you were able to make up some good time though so good for you. Hope you passed, would hate for you to have to repeat that experience.


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## Engineer222 (Apr 20, 2015)

I guess the worst that happened to me that day was when I was trying to use dolly for the first time. I thought we weren't allowed suitcases, everything had to be in a clear container. I was walking to my car, my container toppled , the lid fell off and all my books were in the middle of the road. I had to quickly out half back in container carry them to the car , come back for the other half ...


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## Engineer222 (Apr 20, 2015)

Get*.... I don't know why I don't have editing post privilege.


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## Ramnares P.E. (Apr 20, 2015)

I think you need 40 posts before you get editing privileges.

You can get some more posts, and have some fun, over here:

http://engineerboards.com/index.php?showtopic=25068&amp;page=3#entry7266786


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## matt267 PE (Apr 20, 2015)

Cheme2013 said:


> Get*.... I don't know why I don't have editing post privilege.


I think you need a certain number of posts before you can edit. Head over to the spam thread and pad your post count: http://engineerboards.com/index.php?showtopic=25068&amp;hl=


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## matt267 PE (Apr 20, 2015)

Beat me to it Ram.


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## John QPE (Apr 20, 2015)

That Timonium, MD site was the absolute worst.

The chairs were terrible, the place smelled like a barn (because it is, I guess), and yes .... super hot. The no boxes thing really threw me for a loop as well. Having 4 bankers boxes full of books spread out all over the floor was less than ideal. I stopped at the 7-11 before the exam, and was going to grab a NOS, because I didn't want to have the coffee poops in the middle of the exam, but decided against it because of the jitters and heart rate thing. I have a lot of experience with long-distance running, and I used that experience as was stated above. Right down to eating the cold Chef Boyardee raviolis and beefaroni like I typically do for breakfast and lunch at work.


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## Ramnares P.E. (Apr 20, 2015)

matt267 said:


> Beat me to it Ram.




Just doing my part. The spam fest isn't nearly as much fun if just the regulars show up.


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## matt267 PE (Apr 20, 2015)

Ramnares P.E. said:


> matt267 said:
> 
> 
> > Beat me to it Ram.
> ...


Sorry I'm such a boar...


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## Ramnares P.E. (Apr 20, 2015)

Now now:


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## matt267 PE (Apr 20, 2015)

I feel violated and dirty.

Oh, and I hope you don't get banned for high jacking this thread.


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## Ramnares P.E. (Apr 20, 2015)

This thread was most definitely not high-jacked. What's a more terrible experience than seeing some wild boar sex first thing Monday morning?


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## matt267 PE (Apr 20, 2015)

point taken.


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## Kovz (Apr 20, 2015)

Nothing too crazy on my exam experience. Just a couple things out of the ordinary. I took the exam at the Cleveland Convention Center in Ohio.

1. About an hour or so into the morning session, an alarm went off in the building and the loudspeaker kept repeating "There is an emergency in the building". The proctor made us put down our pencils and close the exam book. They had to go check and see if we needed to evacuate. Thankfully we did not. About 5 minutes passed and we were allowed to resume our exam. They added the time onto the back-end of the morning session. Minor disturbance, but still disruptive when you are trying to concentrate.

2. In the afternoon when the sun started going down, it was shining brightly through the window wall that I was sitting next to. The entire wall was a window. I was wearing black gym pants and a black t-shirt. I started sweating because the sun was beating so hard on me. Not only that, it was so bright it was blinding me from the reflection on my white papers. I raised my hand to ask the proctor if they can look into closing the blinds. The wall had roll up blinds that came from up near the ceiling, but they were motor operated. It wasn't until about 30-45 minutes later until they finally found someone in the building that knew how to close them. I tried not to let it distract me much, but it was very annoying.


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## Adair1492 (Apr 20, 2015)

The only bad part about my test was that the building we were in was right next door to a small airport that just started doing commercial flights recently. As a result, at least once an hour, a plane would land or take off and fly directly over us. Every time that happened, it completely threw off my concentration.

That and the guy sitting next to me who ate 3 rice krispy treats and 3 honey buns during each session (yes, I counted). The wrappers were so loud and he kept them in a plastic grocery bag that he would dig around in for a minute to find each one. I was about to strangle him.


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## Blue 8 (Apr 20, 2015)

As mentioned the MD site with the heat and chairs. I also felt bad for folks who didn't have ear plugs bc who would think that there would be a dog show in the same location on the day of an important exam?!


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## btcs31 (Apr 20, 2015)

Not me but a coworker of mine: arrived at the test center with plenty of time to check-in, etc. Got out of her car and went to open the rear door to get exam materials. It was then that she realized she had locked herself out of her car. Frantically trying to figure out what to do a passerby recommended calling the police on the non-emergency number. Fortunately police responded and were able to unlock the car for her. She was the last to arrive in her testing room minutes before they were about to begin.


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## TheBigPig (Apr 20, 2015)

@btcs31,

I also thought I locked myself out of my car when I went in for the 5-hour energies. When I realized I didn't I was extremely relieved. I would have had to break a window, and I would have done it. Luckily it didn't come to that.

@Blue 8, fortunately I had earplugs in and the dog show didn't bother me. But yeah, that would have been terrible.


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## matt267 PE (Apr 20, 2015)

btcs31 said:


> Not me but a coworker of mine: arrived at the test center with plenty of time to check-in, etc. Got out of her car and went to open the rear door to get exam materials. It was then that she realized she had locked herself out of her car. Frantically trying to figure out what to do a passerby recommended calling the police on the non-emergency number. Fortunately police responded and were able to unlock the car for her. She was the last to arrive in her testing room minutes before they were about to begin.


I would be in the market for a new window.


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## Ramnares P.E. (Apr 20, 2015)

matt267 said:


> btcs31 said:
> 
> 
> > Not me but a coworker of mine: arrived at the test center with plenty of time to check-in, etc. Got out of her car and went to open the rear door to get exam materials. It was then that she realized she had locked herself out of her car. Frantically trying to figure out what to do a passerby recommended calling the police on the non-emergency number. Fortunately police responded and were able to unlock the car for her. She was the last to arrive in her testing room minutes before they were about to begin.
> ...




Keep it in mind for when you take the Oct test Matt.


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## matt267 PE (Apr 20, 2015)

Yup, brake the window then call the wife to call a glass repair company and have fixed it before the morning session is done.


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## Ramnares P.E. (Apr 20, 2015)

While she's bringing them to your car she can bring you a sandwich for lunch...


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## btcs31 (Apr 20, 2015)

matt267 said:


> btcs31 said:
> 
> 
> > Not me but a coworker of mine: arrived at the test center with plenty of time to check-in, etc. Got out of her car and went to open the rear door to get exam materials. It was then that she realized she had locked herself out of her car. Frantically trying to figure out what to do a passerby recommended calling the police on the non-emergency number. Fortunately police responded and were able to unlock the car for her. She was the last to arrive in her testing room minutes before they were about to begin.
> ...


We talked about this later that day - even ignoring the time costs associated with having to prepare for the exam again in October, the dollar cost of a new window would've still been less than registering for another exam. Granted smashing your window to get your materials probably doesn't leave you in the best mindset for the next 8hrs - unsecured car, what if it rains, etc. etc..


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## matt267 PE (Apr 20, 2015)

I'm just talking tough. I would likely start crying and have my wife come get me.


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## Ramnares P.E. (Apr 20, 2015)

matt267 said:


> I'm just talking tough. I would likely start crying and have my wife come get me.




When did you adopt Mike's default problem-solving mechanism?


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## matt267 PE (Apr 20, 2015)

You're just fixn' to get Mike going aren't you? Keep it up!


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## Ramnares P.E. (Apr 20, 2015)

Figured he's been too silent so trying to get him riled up. It's weird not seeing a butt-load of posts from him.


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## matt267 PE (Apr 20, 2015)

Be careful of what you ask for.


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## Ramnares P.E. (Apr 20, 2015)

Good point, I better pipe down.


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## salsill (Apr 20, 2015)

my friend was supposed to take a late flight at 7.40 pm to come to Houston Thursday night. His plan was to arrive and go to his hotel room and rest for the rest of the night. There was a thunderstorm Thursday night and his flight was delayed. The plane left at 1.20 am Friday morning. checked in to his hotel at around 4 am Friday morning.

The worst part is he had taken days off work. Don't know why he did not take the first flight Thursday morning.

My other friend did not take a spare calculator. He said that in the morning session of the exam he pressed some buttons and messed up with the settings and was giving him weird answers. He panicked and said that he lost about 20-30min trying to figure out how to fix his calculator.


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## Ramnares P.E. (Apr 20, 2015)

salsill said:


> my friend was supposed to take a late flight at 7.40 pm to come to Houston Thursday night. His plan was to arrive and go to his hotel room and rest for the rest of the night. There was a thunderstorm Thursday night and his flight was delayed. The plane left at 1.20 am Friday morning. checked in to his hotel at around 4 am Friday morning.
> 
> The worst part is he had taken days off work. Don't know why he did not take the first flight Thursday morning.
> 
> My other friend did not take a spare calculator. He said that in the morning session of the exam he pressed some buttons and messed up with the settings and was giving him weird answers. He panicked and said that he lost about 20-30min trying to figure out how to fix his calculator.


This is a good example of a bad example. A cursory search of this board would have provided threads advising you to scope out the exam area well in advance and to definitely take a second calculator.

Most folks spend months prepping for the exam, it certainly wouldn't hurt to spend a couple hours reading through "What to do the week of / the day before the exam" threads.


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## Amanda74 (Apr 20, 2015)

In Alabama, the room (and apparently 4 city blocks) lost power for over an hour... it happened an hour or so into the PM session. It was a mess and the proctor's had a hard time knowing what to do... we sat and were told not to continue working (so little light it was almost impossible to see anything anyway) and were given back that time when the power finally came back on... Very disconcerting in the middle of the session


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## MechE_in_PA_PE (Apr 20, 2015)

Wow these are some true horror stories...other than the room being like 75 degrees for half of the morning session (the proctor eventually got the AC turned on) and getting to see a number if people dressed up in some very, very strange costumes for a Japanese pop culture / anime convention that was occurring on the same floor, my experience was great.

I was a little concerned when we went out on the third floor terrace for lunch, and had to make sure a little block of wood kept the door open so that we did not get locked out, luckily to my knowledge no one did.


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## Mike in Gastonia (Apr 20, 2015)

Cheme2013 said:


> I guess the worst that happened to me that day was when I was trying to use dolly for the first time. *I thought we weren't allowed suitcases, everything had to be in a clear container.* I was walking to my car, my container toppled , the lid fell off and all my books were in the middle of the road. I had to quickly out half back in container carry them to the car , come back for the other half ...




Just curious. What made you think this?


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## Engineer222 (Apr 20, 2015)

I remember reading it on some forum that every thing has to be in a clear container..


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## Blue 8 (Apr 21, 2015)

For Maryland you could bring in the suitcase but had to take all of your resources out and put the suitcases along the wall. They only allowed clear or see thru containers to stay at your desk area.


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## Porter_ (Apr 21, 2015)

TheBigPig said:


> I decided to hit the sack early. Well, that didn't work out too well.




when i took the APR 2014 exam my wife was ~4 months pregnant and she was waking up a lot during the night. so naturally i was awake a lot the night before the exam. when i took the OCT 2014 exam my son was 3 wks old so again i was up a lot. i don't think my lack of sleep really had an affect, once you're seated and ready to take the exam adrenaline takes over.



MechE_in_PA said:


> and getting to see a number if people dressed up in some very, very strange costumes for a Japanese pop culture / anime convention that was occurring on the same floor,




when i took the OCT 2014 exam ComicCon was going on in the next room over. it was a strange collection of nerds (engineers) and nerds (comic geeks) in the hallway


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## knight1fox3 (Apr 21, 2015)

Porter_ said:


> MechE_in_PA said:
> 
> 
> > and getting to see a number if people dressed up in some very, very strange costumes for a Japanese pop culture / anime convention that was occurring on the same floor,
> ...


LOL! That's pretty epic. Though I suppose not if you were taking the exam.


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## ptatohed (Apr 25, 2015)

Amanda74 said:


> In Alabama, the room (and apparently 4 city blocks) lost power for over an hour... it happened an hour or so into the PM session. It was a mess and the proctor's had a hard time knowing what to do... we sat and were told not to continue working (so little light it was almost impossible to see anything anyway) and were given back that time when the power finally came back on... Very disconcerting in the middle of the session


Yikes! That'd be rough.



MechE_in_PA said:


> Wow these are some true horror stories...other than the room being like 75 degrees for half of the morning session (the proctor eventually got the AC turned on) and getting to see a number if people dressed up in some very, very strange costumes for a Japanese pop culture / anime convention that was occurring on the same floor, my experience was great.
> 
> I was a little concerned when we went out on the third floor terrace for lunch, and had to make sure a little block of wood kept the door open so that we did not get locked out, luckily to my knowledge no one did.


75 isn't that bad, is it?



Cheme2013 said:


> I remember reading it on some forum that every thing has to be in a clear container..


FE only.


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## mustang462002 (May 6, 2015)

Precise reason why I commuted from northern Virginia for this exam. Had to wake up at 4:30 for the 1:30 commute. It had rained the night before and traffic was very heavy with and accident and low visibility. But I luckily had a good nights rest.

The exam room was very hot.


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## ptatohed (May 6, 2015)

mustang462002 said:


> Precise reason why I commuted from northern Virginia for this exam. Had to wake up at 4:30 for the 1:30 commute. It had rained the night before and traffic was very heavy with and accident and low visibility. But I luckily had a good nights rest.
> 
> The exam room was very hot.


What is the precise reason you commuted?

1 hour and 30 minutes is nothing, the nearest test center to my house is 90 to 120 minutes away. My house is about halfway between the San Diego CA center and the Pomona CA center.


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## mustang462002 (May 7, 2015)

Sorry, in reference to the first post about having a terrible night in a hotel so as to not have a commute in the morning.


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## team1887 (May 18, 2015)

I was super nervous for the exam. Barely got any sleep the night before (3 days prior I flew into NJ from Japan where I currently live) so between jetlag and anxiety I wasn't doing so well. Woke up and my neck/chin was a little itchy. Got to the exam site and went to the restroom and realized I broke out in some kind of rash all around my neck, must have been from the stress and anxiety. Never had anything like this happen before. I was panicky up until I opened the morning session questions, then my nerves started to settle. Glad its over and I pray I dont have to do it again


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## team1887 (May 18, 2015)

BTW, OP- 5 hour energy is 2 servings! Most people don't realize that. Its not supposed to give you a rush of energy like redbull, but more of a natural boost of energy.


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## matt267 PE (May 19, 2015)

You flew to NJ? Well, that was your first problem. It likely explains the rash too.


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## P-E (May 19, 2015)

Why would anyone want to go there is beyond me.


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## Ramnares P.E. (May 19, 2015)

power-engineer said:


> Why would anyone want to* live* go there is beyond me.


fixt


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## John QPE (May 19, 2015)

Lets cut the bridges and let it float away, so I can have beachfront property in Philly.


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## iwire (May 19, 2015)

team1887 said:


> BTW, OP- 5 hour energy is 2 servings! Most people don't realize that. Its not supposed to give you a rush of energy like redbull, but more of a natural boost of energy.


Cocaine has the same effect like bull..but it's good lol


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## mustang462002 (May 19, 2015)

iwire said:


> team1887 said:
> 
> 
> > BTW, OP- 5 hour energy is 2 servings! Most people don't realize that. Its not supposed to give you a rush of energy like redbull, but more of a natural boost of energy.
> ...


I like how you know the effect of Cocaine!


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## Bcbillings (May 19, 2015)

I failed in October because when i opened my binders for HCM, roadside design guide, and geometric design binders came open so all the pages were considered "loose" and not only that, they were all mixed up. i learned this time for April to check them very well before the exam started.

good news is this time I feel it went very well, there was no question I had to guess on and I finished both parts of the exam with A LOT of time remaining.


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## John QPE (May 19, 2015)

whaaaaaaaaaat!!!!


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## Bcbillings (May 19, 2015)

John Q said:


> whaaaaaaaaaat!!!!


For the October 2014 exam I lost 5 reference binders from my blunder (I only had 8 references total with those so their loss was keenly felt). So i used JB weld and better binders for the exam this April.


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## mikeyd917 (May 19, 2015)

Nothing too stressful happened for me. I had checklists to make sure I had everything packed, started packing 3 days in advance, drove to the newly constructed convention center, sat in fairly comfortable chairs, temperature was nice, folding walls and windows were all covered so no sun got in... my biggest issue was my table partner was extremely nervous and disorganized, throwing books around, huffing and sighing...and i drank a 5 hour energy at lunch and spent the first hour vibrating.

the only reason i post this is a reminder that preparation is key! i got a full night sleep, arrived with a smile, and worked through the test systematically. If i have to retake the exam, I'll set myself up the same way, except the 5 hour energy...ha

I was pretty nervous about the 3 ring binders. When I was running through my binders the night before the exam to make sure everything I needed was packed, I found loose pages in the pockets...yikes. If those were discovered, I'd have been kicked out. We have a book binder at the office, if I retake the exam, my loose pages will be bound that way.


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## Ramnares P.E. (May 20, 2015)

One of the best things about taking it at Pratt is that they had the single desks so there was no sharing of workspace. It would have driven me crazy having to share a desk with someone else.


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## iwire (May 20, 2015)

mustang462002 said:


> iwire said:
> 
> 
> > team1887 said:
> ...


What...of course from what I read on the internet !


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## Porter_ (May 20, 2015)

mikeyd917 said:


> my biggest issue was my table partner was extremely nervous and disorganized, throwing books around, huffing and sighing...




when i took the APR 2014 exam my table partner was like this, huffing and sighing and throwing materials around. about halfway through the afternoon portion he just stopped and sat there with his hands folded, looking pissed off. it was weird that he didn't get up and leave but at least he was being quiet. on the flip side when i took the OCT 2014 exam my table partner was extremely calm and quiet and i was probably the rowdy one. i was jacked up on caffeine and in the zone flying through problems. No time to gently set down the CERM!


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## mikeyd917 (May 20, 2015)

Porter_ said:


> mikeyd917 said:
> 
> 
> > my biggest issue was my table partner was extremely nervous and disorganized, throwing books around, huffing and sighing...
> ...




I'm sure the last hour in the afternoon i could be heard throwing fits, caffeine had worn off, and I was down to those last 2 problems that were like none of my review problems.


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## lundy (May 20, 2015)

I bought anhydrous caffeine and took some before the test and at lunch. That did wonders. Although I didn't take any during the test because I didn't want to explain to a proctor what type of white powder I was ingesting.


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## iwire (May 20, 2015)

lundy said:


> I bought anhydrous caffeine and took some before the test and at lunch. That did wonders. Although I didn't take any during the test because I didn't want to explain to a proctor what type of white powder I was ingesting.


haha...that would be one hell of explanation. Possible police will be called!

Or someone saw you ingesting some white powder in your car!


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## NikatKimber (May 22, 2015)

Nothing terrible in OK.

I didn't sleep well. But a new bed (didn't want to risk breaking down on the 2.5hr drive that morning), and being away from my wife (not used to sleeping alone).

Almost forgot to leave my phone in my car - remembered before they started the 7 dozen warnings about phones though.


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## team1887 (May 26, 2015)

John Q said:


> Lets cut the bridges and let it float away, so I can have beachfront property in Philly.








Ramnares P.E. said:


> power-engineer said:
> 
> 
> > Why would anyone want to* live* go there is beyond me.
> ...








power-engineer said:


> Why would anyone want to go there is beyond me.


I agree with all the above! Work for the military and NJ was the only state I was associated with before, so I figured that was my best bet. I realized after the application went through that I could have applied to Oregon and only had to fly to Tokyo to take the test. oh well....


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## hsilva (May 29, 2015)

My exam day experience wasn't horrible but the week leading up to it was less than ideal...most of which was my fault.

I planned ahead and took the week prior to the exam off to give me lots of time to cram before the exam. I had the breadth portion of the exam down pretty well and intended to focus on the depth portion during the last week (with a week off I figured to get about 20 hours or so of studying in and I had already done 10-20 hours for the depth portion). The unexpected portion began when my wife who is a stay-at home mom constantly chasing a very active 1-1/2 year old really, really needed a vacation before her next baby and there was no other time we could do it. So, I decided to multi-task and go somewhere close on vacation for a few days before the exam and fit my last minute study time in during the vacation. What ended up happening was that a work emergency came up and instead of studying for the exam I worked on fixing a project documents that had to issued in my absence. I didn't crack a book until for 2 weeks until I finally got home and got set to study on the day before the exam.

The day before the exam, I took a full 8-hour practice exam and didn't a score high enough to pass. This was especially disheartening because I had used about half the questions as quizzes during my study prep so I had an advantage that I wouldn't have during the actual test. Late in the afternoon I dove into cramming for the PM section of the test and tabbing the CERM. I also realized my afternoon references were insufficient and looked desperately for a couple text books I knew I had but couldn't find. I ended up driving to my parents house and finding one of the two books. Got back home and studied until 9 or 10 and then went to bed since I had to get up at 4:45 the next morning to make the long drive to the testing site.

Unfortunately, my 1-year old had a rough night and I was sleeping lightly anyway because I was nervous about the test and worried I'd sleep through my alarm so I got only about 3 hours of sleep. Got to the test site fine and the morning session went great (that portion of study I had done in an organized and thorough manner). During the lunch break though I just crashed. Sleep deprivation caught up with me and I went into the afternoon session exhausted and with a headache. The afternoon session was way harder than I expected and there were very few questions I knew how to do. I spent the afternoon making educated guesses and trying to focus in spite of my desire to sleep. I walked out of the test pretty tired but with not much hope of passing.

I ended up passing but it definitely wasn't a comfortable experience. Glad I don't have to do it again.


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## MetsFan (May 29, 2015)

Man, there are some crazy stories in here. Aside from the actual exam, my day was a cake walk. I even found an old co-worker I hadn't seen in a couple of years and we ended up having lunch together.


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## YMZ PE (Jun 1, 2015)

I had to pump breastmilk during the breaks with a female proctor sitting 3 feet away from me, two days in a row. Anyone want to beat that?


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## knight1fox3 (Jun 1, 2015)




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## matt267 PE (Jun 1, 2015)

Pics or it didn't happen.


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## leggo PE (May 23, 2017)

This thread is great. It makes me thankful for my experiences.

This past April, the worst thing that happened was that there was random, continuous shouting outside our hall in the afternoon section. Apparently there was a crossfit gym on site, and they were doing their workout outside. The proctors would occasionally walk over and look out the windows to see what was going on, and one point security went over, but for the life of me, I couldn't figure out why they weren't stopping whomever was shouting outside. Later, when I found out it was crossfit related, it made a lot more sense.

Otherwise, it was just uncomfortably cold inside. Thankfully, I'd brought a jacket and lightweight scarf, but when I went outside for the break, I was so hot initially! I felt a tad silly, is all.


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## DoctorWho-PE (May 23, 2017)

My PE wasn't bad.  The worst parts were the chair has a weird slope to the seat that took some time getting used to, and the was prep space behind the exam room where people were getting ready for a lunch in the adjacent room banging pans around.  And it smelled like lunch.  Then in the afternoon someone set up a wedding reception outside of the exam room, so we had to leave our room, and cut through a different room so we weren't wheeling all of our things through the reception space.

The FE however (the fist time at least) there was a pool tournament going on in the hotel I took it in.  There was loud music, and you could hear the doors bang open whenever people would go outside to smoke (which you could smell in the room.  It was awful.


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## Limamike (May 23, 2017)

matt267 PE said:


> Pics or it didn't happen.


COoooldddd Bluuuhded


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## trackerjacker (May 24, 2017)

This past April, I stayed in a hotel by the stupid interstate, and I swear it sounded like motorcycles were going by my window all night.  Then, an effing bird decided to sing outside my window THE ENTIRE NIGHT.  I'm not even exaggerating.  I thought they only did that around dawn - he should have his bird card revoked or something.  Then, it sounded like someone was stomping around in the room above me most of the night.  I was afraid to use the earplugs I brought with me in case I didn't hear my alarm in the morning.  I did not sleep well, lol.


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## trackerjacker (May 24, 2017)

Exam day was good though - the Pennington Research Center in Baton Rouge was nice and quiet, comfy as far as temperature went, and had a big clock on the wall.  All my fellow exam takers were really courteous and quiet, too.


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## fujichan (May 24, 2017)

Lol...love this thread!

My worst experience was October 2015...left at 6:00 for a one hour drive to the exam site. Arrived at said exam site at 8:04...mmhmm. Some poor soul decided to flip his truck on the interstate that morning. I felt so bad for the poor security guard at the exam hall that had to deal with my sobbing and carrying on, that I almost went back with a box of chocolates. I didn't, but kept an eye out for the same guy this time around - I didn't see him, perhaps he quit or asked to be reassigned  :mellow: .

This time around I stayed in a hotel about 5 miles away from the exam site, and even then I left about an hour earlier than I needed to.

Other than my own stupidity - the exam hall was ok, no clocks anywhere, but pretty chatty and friendly proctors.


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## HopefulPE (May 25, 2017)

Here's my story. 

Studied my butt off like most here. Studied all of Christmas vacation (2 weeks), and took the week off from work for the exam to study. 

The night before, couldn't sleep. Much like the op. Also bought five hour energy for the first time in my life. The fiancee' works by where I was testing so we decided she would drop me off. Double checked my crate of books and supplies before she picked me up. All was good.

I was exhausted and still waking up during the drive, I didn't have my cell phone so we were going to meet at a decided spot by the testing center at 6pm. She dropped me off early, all was well.

Brought my crate of books in, sat down for the exam, and 5 mins before testing I noticed my crate was a little empty. What was missing? My Graffeo book. Where I had all of my notes and equations as well for specific topics. Not to be found anywhere else. My heart dropped, my stomach felt sick. All that work and studying, and I was missing the formulas for 20% of the test. 

The horror. Anyway, I take the test with what I have, skip lunch since I'm so depressed, and push on. Finish the test on time and go out to meet the fiancee at the predetermined spot.

Carry my 50 lb crate of books to our spot and sit down. 1 hour goes by. 2 hours go by. Where is she? My brother told me to meet him at our favorite bar 5 minutes ago! I'm depressed, haven't eaten a bite all day, and want to go. Cop stops by and let's me borrow his cell. I'm so brain dead I can't remember anyone's number. I call my house phone and leave a message. Somehow my brother was late and caught it, calls my fiancee and tells her where I'm at.

She arrives, I'm furious ....where have you been? Turns out I remembered the wrong place. My fault. Looked in her car and the book slid under her seat when I got out in the morning.

Drive to the bar and my brother through a congratulations party for me. Family, friends, a coworker.... Had to break the news to them that I may have not passed. Had a few beers, wound down, and went home. On my bed a card from my bro, "congratulations you are the best" or it should have said. That message was scratched out and "condolences" were written on the card. I still got to keep my presents. He went all out. What a shitty day.  

Lay down. Depressed. All that vacation, and this happens. Promised my deceased father before he passed that I'd get my PE and I failed him. I'm also getting married in September, had little vacation remaining to study again, and studying in the summer with a wedding would be horrible. Time for bed.

Time goes on. The next week sucked. Another 4 weeks later, surprise promotion. Very large raise. Today...

PASS! 

A story for the children and grandchildren, and a very good night sleep tonight. Thanks for listening, and yes, all true.


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## HopefulPE (May 25, 2017)

Bcbillings said:


> For the October 2014 exam I lost 5 reference binders from my blunder (I only had 8 references total with those so their loss was keenly felt). So i used JB weld and better binders for the exam this April.


My story was horrible, but that may take the cake. Sorry to hear that your binder was screwed up. I hope you passed that next round! (Edit I just noticed this was a 2015 post)


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## humble8228 (May 26, 2017)

the week of the exam, I got seriously sick... could not focus, tried to study problems and work through to get solutions...

finally the day before the exam felt better... went into the exam morning session went well... Lunch break... Got something in my eye, Eye started burning, took out contact rinsed, etc... not better, Than started to feel nauseous... Time to get back into test, my eye still not better, stomach upset, 1.5 hours into test, could not see out of one eye, other eye started to get blurry, stomach not better, Im exhausted from trying to focus on test questions and not panic...... once the time was up... eye was better, stomach felt


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## anarchonobody (Jun 2, 2017)

My wife gave birth the weekend before the exam. 3 days later, the newborn got a 102 degree fever, and so we were all in the hospital pretty much the whole week. I took the exam unable to do any of my last-minute studying, utterly concerned about by new-born, and on little-to-no sleep.

The exam location was OK, but one of the proctors was wearing a god-awful perfume that was making me nauseous.

Not to brag, but I somehow managed to pass.


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## gpoli111 (Jun 2, 2017)

anarchonobody said:


> My wife gave birth the weekend before the exam. 3 days later, the newborn got a 102 degree fever, and so we were all in the hospital pretty much the whole week. I took the exam unable to do any of my last-minute studying, utterly concerned about by new-born, and on little-to-no sleep.
> 
> The exam location was OK, but one of the proctors was wearing a god-awful perfume that was making me nauseous.
> 
> Not to brag, but I somehow managed to pass.


You must be on cloud 9 now with a pass in hand and (hopefully now) a healthy baby


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## alien (Jun 21, 2017)

Couldn't sleep the night before the exam due to loud music blaring from a building right across my hotel room. Maybe slept 3 hours. Got to the exam site just fine. Took my ID from my wallet and put in on my lap while I was sitting in the car so I wouldn't forget. Except, I forgot it was on my lap and I got out of the car and was waiting for the exam room doors to open. When the announcement happened that they will need to see ID and exam registration, I had a panic attack since I couldn't find my ID. Had a friend watch my stuff while I made my way to the car dizzy. As soon as I opened the car door, I saw the ID peeking out from the bottom of the seat. Luckily I didn't have to go searching for it. This was the most eventful moment of the day. Exam went fine. No issues with the exam site or anything else.


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## ruggercsc (Jun 21, 2017)

The night before my exam, in April 2016, I tossed and turned all night, then finally said the and got up.  I wanted to eat a good breakfast and the only thing open was "Waffle House". I arrived at Waffle house around 4:00am  and decided to go with the scattered, smothered and covered hash browns with my meal,  along with about 3 pots of coffee.  I surfed the internet on my phone during my breakfast and realized it was an election year, March Madness was over, and baseball season had started (I had no idea life went on for everyone not taking the test).  I left WH at about 5:15/5:30-ish to make the 20 minute drive to the exam site.  As I neared the exam site, "It" hit me.  Luckily for me, my office at the time was only about 1/2 mile from the exam site, so I made a quick detour.  My office is not like the "home field advantage", but at 5:40 am I had the place to myself.  After "camping out" for another hour letting things work themselves out, I realized I needed another pair of underwear, which I know I had not packed (I should have listened to my mom all those years ago). Luckily for me, I had a workout bag in my office.  I found a pair of boxer briefs that were actually clean because I put everything on hold when I started to study for this dammed test and forgot it was there.  I made a quick change and went off the exam site.  I am sure some people thought I was being anti-social by keeping my distance and keeping to myself, but I was actually to to protect them from the residual effects.  In the morning session, it took a lot effort for me not to just rip a big one, but I did have some small silent ones that were not too bad (everyone was too engrossed with the exam to notice). 

Not to change the subject, but years ago I tried to order to a salad at Waffle House.  I was greeted with a "Hon, we don't have salads".  I pointed to the menu and showed my waitress (that is what they were called then) the salad on the menu.  "I'll be dammed", Wanda (the waitress)  said.  She then yelled "Earl (who was the cook), do you know we have salads on the menu.  "Yep" Earl answered.  "You ever make one" asked Wanda.  "Nope", replied Earl.  I then decided I had better go for the scattered, smothered, and covered and coffee and have stuck with that as my go to Waffle Hose cuisine.


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