# clock / watch during the exam



## Road Guy (Sep 12, 2006)

sort of a dumb topic, but I was curious to see who brought a watch or clock to the exam?

I was in the back of the room, and could barely make out the clock, but I didnt bring a watch, i saw some test takers had a small clock they put on their desk.

I was kind of glad I forgot to bring one, because I didnt stress out about the time at all, i noticed the guy in the table in front of me constantly checking his watch, that would freak me out I think, of course if I dont see him in October, I guess he is more the wiser than me...


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## EdinNO (Sep 12, 2006)

I brought my watch. I'm a slow test taker, so I needed it.

There was no clock on the wall, which I thought was pretty crappy of them.

Ed


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## FusionWhite (Sep 12, 2006)

Ill wear my wrist watch but I know Ill have the problem I have every time I take a test. Im cruising along thinking Im doing OK, then I look down at the time and realize I have about 25% of the time left with 50% of the problems to go and freak out.


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## EdinNO (Sep 12, 2006)

On am and pm sessions I had that EXACT problem. I was going through, answering what I could, skipping around, going back to problems, etc... I looked at all of my dots and thought, "man, I'm answering a lot and doing pretty well". Each session with one hour left I decided to count up dots. To my horror, I only had 20 to 24 filled in and only an hour left.

This scared the heck out of me and lit a fire under my butt.

Ed


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## jeb6294 (Sep 12, 2006)

I say it's a good idea to bring one....if you can keep from obsessing about it. This is especially true if you're going to do like a lot of people do and mark problems that you want to go back and spend a little more time on and just make an educated guess on ones you have no clue on. Once you've gone through and done all the ones you are sure about, you can judge how much time you have to waste on a problem that you think you can figure out.

Or, better yet, do everyone a favor and bring a cuckoo clock that chimes on the hour.

BTW, I forgot to bring one for my exam but I have a watch on my money clip so I figured that would work fine. I thought I still had an hour-and-a-half or so to try and figure out some problems I had no clue on. Turns out I forgot to fix it for daylight savings but I didn't figure it out until the protor gave us our 15 minute warning.


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## Mike in Gastonia (Sep 12, 2006)

Geez, what a dumb question......

Just use the clock on your cell phone.... Duh............


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## Road Guy (Sep 12, 2006)

I was going to use the clock on my lap top, I hope there is a plug close by in case my battery goes bad...

but my HP 48 has a clock on it :sniff:


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## petermcc (Sep 12, 2006)

I am a watch man....I do not like to rely on the 15min etc warnings. :hung:


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## RIP - VTEnviro (Sep 12, 2006)

I brought a sundial, but was really thrown for a curve when I found out the test was in the basement...

OK, back to reality. I brought along my digital wristwatch I always wear. I set the countdown clock to 4 hours, as it was easier than trying to remember if we started at 8:06 or 8:09 and then figured out how much time was left it is was 10:43.

I started it when the proctor began the exam, and checked from time to time. I was good about not checking constantly, because I was so busy working the test.


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## VTskier (Sep 12, 2006)

I wore a wrist watch, something I don't normally do. I have a pager and a Blackberry, so how many things do I need to tell time? Of course wearing my expensive Rolex does make a statement especially flashing it as I get out of my Ferrari.

Seriously, I was not constantly checking it and when I did I was surprised how fast the time went. It did help me to figure out at the end how much time I could spend figuring out wheteher I should spend alot time figuring out a problem or go for the SWAG.

I would not go into the test without one.


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## NCcarguy (Sep 21, 2006)

> Geez, what a dumb question......
> Just use the clock on your cell phone.... Duh............


or maybe the one on the HP48GX.


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## CiceroKid (Sep 21, 2006)

I would recommend that candidates have a well thought-out game-plan. This will enable you to avoid getting rattled as the time clicks down.

You can (should?) develop your own system, but here is one suggested approach:

Go through the exam in the order that questions are presented. Don't jump around - it might lead to panic or time wasting. Shifting gears between questions uses up time because just reading and understanding the problem statement might take a couple of minutes.

If you think you can solve the problem in about 5 minutes or less, then work the problem, never to return unless you have lots of extra time later to check your work.

If you think you can solve the problem, but it'll take more than 5 minutes, mark it "T," for "time." Skip it and come back to it later.

If you have no idea how to work the problem, then spend a few minutes and try to eliminate any incorrect answers, and make an educated guess among alternatives remaining. (Often there will be least one or two answers that are unlikely by inspection; eliminating those will improve your odds for guessing.) Scratch off the answers you eliminated as improbable, and mark the question "G," for "guess." You will return to those later if you have extra time.

When you have passed through the exam the first time, then return to the problems marked "T." Spend up to, say, 7-8 minutes on each one. If you can't solve it in 7-8 minutes, then make an educated guess after first eliminating improbable answers.

At this point, you've now answered all 40 questions. Now go back and revisit the questions you guessed on, marked "G." Spend a few minutes on each problem, and see if you might be able to actually solve the problem or possibly improve upon your guess by eliminating another of the choices.

Once you've finished revisiting the questions marked "G," and there is time left, you are in fat city. Go back and check anything that warrants more attention. Don't leave early!

Good luck!

Kid


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## cement (Sep 21, 2006)

^^^Good plan. and welcome to the board!


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## scottiesei (Sep 22, 2006)

Yeah, that was one hell of a first post. I didn't have a time problem at all last sitting. I just picked a topic and went through and answered all of those types of problems. I didn't spend time organizing, just grabbed one and went. I think I started with all analysis, then all RC, then all steel, then all wood, etc. I guess it is easier for us structural guys to do that. Just be careful filling in your dots!


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## Hill William (Sep 22, 2006)

I worked thru the exam forwards. Did all the problems I knew I could do and marked the ones I couldn't on top of page. I then worked thru the booklet backwards and tried to figure out the ones I skipped. I then went forwards again and took educated guesses. I finished both sections in about 2.5 hours and did good enough. Just my strategy.

I didnt fill in the bubbles until last.


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## EdinNO (Sep 22, 2006)

I did similar to Cicerokid's suggestion. I read through each question very quickly and marked 1,2 or 3 for level of difficulty. I went back and did all the 1's first (easy ones), then 2's (mid level) and then 3's (hardest).

I filled dots as I went. Only thing that got me- and scared the heck out of me- was that after filling dots spread throughout the exam, it appeared I had a lot more done than I had. With one hour left, I barely had over half the dots filled out. I had to get into high gear after that. It can look like you have more dots filled than you actually do when they are spread out across the answer sheet!

Ed


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## DVINNY (Sep 22, 2006)

Sounds like Cicerokid has a good plan there,

Very close to how I've done it before, I hope it works for me this time.


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