100 days...

[NB15]

How is everyone's studying coming along?

I am feeling a little better in that now I've at least tried problems in all the main topics in the NCEES spec. I know I have to do more practice problems in the breadth portion, but I think I'm at the point where with that remaining practice, even if I'm not strong in the subject, I will know where to find the info and how to use the formulas on exam day.

I still have a lot of work to do for my depth, but we have about 6 weeks until the exam and think it's doable. I got over the fear of admitting how much I don't know in my depth area by just trying to answer the problems without studying, getting them right or wrong...and being ok with that. Getting it wrong now still counts as studying if I learn why I got it wrong. With that pride hurdle aside, I'm ready to jump into it the remaining core subtopics of my depth section.

I also learned I really need to work on answering the questions more efficiently. It doesn't help that I got the right answer if it happens 2 hours after the exam's already ended. I realize that I'm writing out the solutions neatly and noting equations and thought processes so I can follow the steps during the exam. During my next practice exam runs, I'll treat it like the real exam and use some of the time-saving tips I've been reading (knocking out the easier problems first, eliminating obvious wrong answers, using the four answer options in formulas and back-solving to see which one is correct if stuck, etc.).

We can do this...

 

[Ramnares P.E.]

Just a quick note of caution NB15, while you certainly don't want to lose time writing your solution neatly and annotating equations and thought process etc., you also don't want to be overly sloppy either. You will have more than enough room in the booklet to work through the problem so you should attempt to keep it somewhat neat. I worked through the entire exam once (no identifying problem difficulty and jumping around) and marked the problems that I felt I wasn't very confident on (put an asterisk next to the problem number). However, on the first pass-through I did start working through the problem, and on my second pass-through, the equations and process were still there so I could quickly check to see if I had done something incorrectly the first time. A few of the problems I ended up changing answers on were because I had missed a conversion on a component of an equation, or simply forgot to enter that variable.

 

[matt267 PE]

^ I'm struggling with the same thing when it comes to units. It takes time to write the units and make sure everything cancels, but it's worth it. I found with the civil/wre practice exam that almost ever afternoon problem needed a conversion. Without tracking the units, that could be difficult.

 

[Ken PE 3.1]

Hang in there, it will be worth the effort when you pass.

 

[Blue 8]

Studying is steady and this School of PE class is helping tremendously and we're only on the third day. No, I didn't get paid to say that either. Something that had been hounding me for months clicked tonight thanks to the Prof. Environmental is so broad that it is hard to know everything. I'll just continue to do problems (although I find the Linderberg/Schneiter problems seems so much harder than the School of PE problems)... get my references tabbed up well and put together my binders. Just keep pushing.

 

[Ramnares P.E.]

^ I'm struggling with the same thing when it comes to units. It takes time to write the units and make sure everything cancels, but it's worth it. I found with the civil/wre practice exam that almost ever afternoon problem needed a conversion. Without tracking the units, that could be difficult.

Exactly this. It's good to get in the habit of noting what units the answers are in so that you know what you are ultimately working toward. For the vast majority of the problems I wrote down the equations I used, filled in the variables (with units), and made sure my final answer was in the units I needed. The Lindeburg conversion manual is a must have - it WILL save you a lot of time and headache.

I've heard stories of people who are more comfortable in SI / US Customary converting all the units to the system they are more comfortable with. I think you need to work enough problems that you are confident working in either sets of units. You don't want to be thrown off your game plan by something as fundamentally simple as units.

 

[iwire]

oh..i can sense the excitement as it get closer but remember not to get burn out on studying, don't cramp all at once..spread it out. Also, take a break a couple on the weekend (drink, movies, sex, exercising, park, camping etc)...help to ease the mind!

Also, organized your material and learn how to use the calculator to your advantages!