2 Week Plan

[Krakosky]

What's your 2 week plan? I plan to focus heavily on the MD depth by continuing to work problems in Shigley and MERM, brush up on T/F and HVAC by working thru the 6MS, and continue to take timed practice exams to get my speed up.

Burnt out? Yes. Stressed? Yes.

 

[RIP - VTEnviro]

^If you have the chance, take the full blown 8 hour sample test in one shot under close to exam conditions this weekend. Timed, using only the references you plan to bring. 8 hours is a long time to focus and you need to build up to it. Grade yourself, see where your weak areas are and work on them. Glance over the topics you studied first as you may be rusty. The bulk of you're learning isn't going to happen the last 2 weeks.

 

[Krakosky]

I took the 2008 practice exam split up over 2 days. As anticipated, I need to work on my speed. I did pretty well in the am, made some dumb mistakes. I need to be able to work the pm problems faster and also work on some of my weaker areas such as gears and power screws. I plan to take the 2001 practice exam this Saturday and the Chapek practice exam the following Friday bc we have that day off at work. I'll see how those go and see if I can squeeze in another timed practice exam if necessary.

 

[Outlaw44]

I started working through the 2001 NCEES T/F afternoon last night. I, too, need to work on speed. I wasn't rushing myself and did take the time to write out the full equation I used and where it was in the MERM, but I averaged 15 mins per problem. This obviously won't work for the exam. I did feel good that I knew what to do for a vast majority of them, just need to work on speed now.

I've worked through the MERM practice test, Kaplan practice test and will complete the 2001 NCEES T/F afternoon (don't have the morning :wacko: ) before this weekend. I'm going to do an 8 hr simulated exam on Sunday with the 2008 NCEES. Then, use that to focus on weak areas and speed. Will prob try to do those problems over and over again as much as I can handle over the next two weeks. I will most likely re-do a simulated exam next weekend (1 week from exam) to keep myself in check/practice more with speed. Doing more problems in between.

I'm feeling kinda "meh" about the exam, to be honest. I'm excited to get it over with, but in my head, it's not a "take it and it's done" kinda thing. Really hoping I can pass so I don't have to go through this again. I guess it's good that I know generally what to do on each problem, but speed is going to be hard to accomplish. I've gotten familiar enough with the MERM that I know right where to turn to. Practice makes perfect right? It would just be really nice to know that there was no potential of spending 20 hrs/week studying and not passing. I know, I know, preaching to the choir.

 

[MetsFan]

Good luck guys! I'm taking the HVAC depth portion in 2 weeks (man, that is a scary thought). I stil have to finish the Statics / Dynamics / Machine Design of the MERM. I haven't read the chapters and doubt I will have time to read them at this point. My plan is to work on the problem sets for those chapters up until Sunday and then take the 2008 NCEES practice exam on Sunday. Next week I will focus on doing the 2001 NCEES practice exam problems and the Lindenburg sample exam and then go over where I went wrong that weekend.

I did the SMS HVAC book and was encouraged by how much easier the problems were than the problem sets in the MERM. If the test is anything like those that book, then I will be in ok shape.

Outlaw44, I agree with you, especially since I feel pretty weak in the T&F section and haven't really started the MD sections.

 

[jageeto]

Hey guys, been following the conversation and decided to join in. I am taking the thermo PE this April. I have taken the 2001 and 2011 NCEES practice exams and was a little disappointed about how similar they seemed (this disappointment could easily turn to joy if the actual exam follows suit). I initially did the Lindenberg Exam, after not finishing the morning section in time I placed it somewhere not visible and went back to studing the MERM w/ problems. As you have probably heard before or found out while taking them, the NCEES exams are much easier. Krak, I seen you mentioned a Chapik exam. I haven't heard of this one. Is it available for purchase somewhere? Good luck to everybody, I will be skimming back over the MERM pactice problems for the last couple weeks, and hoping it will all be over soon! Still debating if I should try the Lindenberg Exam again... Hate to crush my spirits this close to the exam!

 

[jageeto]

Outlaw44, how did the Kaplan practice test compare to the MERM? Is it worth a look?

 

[Outlaw44]

Outlaw44, how did the Kaplan practice test compare to the MERM? Is it worth a look?

I felt like it was not as complex as the MERM practice test insert shocked face. They were the same types of problems, just a little more straightforward than the MERM. It was a little different, fundamentally, in that there were 3 or 4 problems based around one scenario. i.e. a refrigeration cycle, etc. etc. and then "1) what is the work of the compressor?" "2) what is the COP?" So, once you had the majority of information gathered for the scenario, you could answer 3 or 4 questions pretty quickly.

I obviously don't want to tell you not to look at it; more exposure can't hurt if you have the time for it. The biggest frustration I had was errors. There were errors all over the place with it. Spots where the simple math just did not work. I spent more time than needed to rectify those. The edition I have is from 2007 and I didn't try all that hard to find corrections.

 

[RIP - VTEnviro]

My issue (I'm an envl) was speed in the other way. I tended to rush through questions to get finished up in the allotted time, ended up having plenty to spare, and then kicked myself for sloppy math errors or not converting units properly.

 

[jageeto]

I hear you, the little mistakes are frustrating. I would say the two NCEES tests are very similar in difficulty. The second one I really focused on watching my units. After comparing my results on both tests, I convinced myself that the time I waste writing the units down is well spent. It seemed quite a few the wrong answers were answers you would get if you messed up the units.

 

[Krakosky]

http://books.Google Sucks.com/books/about/Mechanical_Engineering_PE_Practice_Exam.html?id=1hU1RAAACAAJ

There is a book for the morning and afternoon sessions. I bought both off eBay.

Is there errata for the 2001 and 2008 NCEES exams?

 

[jageeto]

If there is I haven't seen it. Thanks for the link, looks like a hard one to get a hold of...

 

[dpavelek]

Here's the Errata for the 2008 NCEES sample exam:
/>http://www.Google Sucks.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=2&ved=0CEgQFjAB&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncees.org%2FDocuments%2FPublic%2Ferrata%2520for%2520PE%2520Mechanical%2520posted%25202.17.10.pdf&ei=l7pzT9vHE-Lk2AXcwcj4Dg&usg=AFQjCNEqeOjhHld7kmf3S0qAGn0lGhDYXw

 

[dpavelek]

Looks like you'll have to copy paste that link and delete the www. and Sucks.com part. Funny.

 

[jageeto]

Thanks

 

[Outlaw44]

Timed myself and took the 2008/2010 exam today. Finished with a 62/80 (77.5%). I'm not terribly disappointed nor blown away happy and not really sure how I should feel. Of those I missed, I was on the right path on a few and just made a small mistake. There were also a couple in the morning that I wasn't quite sure how to approach. I finished the morning in 2 hrs, which I was very surprised at. Took another 1/2 hr to go back on the few I had questions on and to check calcs. On exam day, I feel like I'll prob stay in my chair and recheck everything until time runs out.

In the afternoon, I finished about 1/2 hr early. BUT, there were quite a few problems that were the same as the 2001 sample test, so I'm not sure I was moving fast enough. I do feel good that I at least had an idea and/or got to a solution on every problem.

Will probably time myself again next weekend. Might be deceiving since I saw the problems today (and will review them this week), but it will at least give me a good way to work on pushing myself on time.

 

[Krakosky]

Outlaw,

Any tips on how to increase speed when working thru these problems or just practice, practice, practice? How do you have your reference materials organized? Just comparing what other people have done. Are you using the MERM quick reference guide? I have it but haven't really been using it when working problems or doing practice exams. I find myself just sticking with the MERM itself.

Thanks.

 

[Outlaw44]

Outlaw,

Any tips on how to increase speed when working thru these problems or just practice, practice, practice? How do you have your reference materials organized? Just comparing what other people have done. Are you using the MERM quick reference guide? I have it but haven't really been using it when working problems or doing practice exams. I find myself just sticking with the MERM itself.

Thanks.

I've used what's been coined the "Shaggy Method" of tabbing. I have the major sections of the book along the side and then items worthy of a flag within each chapter along the top (color coded to match the flag along the side). I don't have the MERM quick reference guide. My resources are the MERM, steam tables, practice exams and problems, and then other stuff I've printed out in a binder (psych chart, MERM index, conversions, some appendices that are used often, etc.). And books from college, that I have only cracked once or twice (fluids, thermo, machine design, etc.).

As far as timing, I would say practice helped the most. I guess I don't have a ton of advice since this was my first timed venture. I can tell you that I did really push myself. Almost seemed like controlled chaos until I checked my time about 20 problems in and I realized I was making good pace. Maybe that is one pointer; keep an eye on the clock and know where you should be at a certain time. Otherwise, I think the fastest way to complete the problems is to be able to recognize exactly what they're asking for, peel out the information you need, and use the equation you know you're supposed to (or can look up quickly). The only way that I know of to build this up is to either be able to retain a lot while perusing the MERM/studying or with practice.

Don't get me wrong, I still need to practice my timing in the afternoon. As I mentioned, I think I boosted my time by seeing a lot of the afternoon problems in the 2001 sample test. I still worked them out, but there were a few that I would have had to search for had I not seen them before. Afternoon problems definitely take more time and are more in-depth...over and over again. I felt like the morning is kind of a confidence tease in that way.

 

[Krakosky]

Thanks for the info. I also have my MERM tabbed according to the "shaggy" method. The color coding really helps. Besides MERM I have the steam tables, MERM index separately bound, MERM commonly used appendices bound, Shigley, Machinery Handbook and am putting together some notes on MD topics I feel MERM skimps on to get bound. Are you taking the NCEES exams and MERM problems book to the exam? I plan on taking a full timed practice test this Friday and maybe one also on Saturday. Hoping to boost my speed...

 

[jageeto]

I'd say my NCEES exams went about the same as yours Outlaw, I scored mid 70's on 2001 and 80% on the 2008 one. Krakosky, I starting my studing using the MERM quick reference guide, but didn't feel like it was saving me much time, so didn't use it for the practice tests. I also went with the shaggy tabbing method as well as tabbing the index out well (which I seemed to use a lot). I have it printed and bound but have found it just as easy to flip to the index of the MERM and utilizing my straight edge as a bookmark when needed. My fear is we will get there and only have a small desk to work off of.

So far the books Ive used while take practice tests are (I'm T/F depth by the way)

1. MERM
   
2. Steam Table book
   
3. Marks Handbook (don't know if I needed to)
   
4. College Machine Design book
   
5. College Heat Tranfer
   
6. And elastic bodies book for the beam moment diagrams
   

I have others Thermo book, fluids book, manufacturing book, that I have handy but haven't used.

Is anyone planning on taking any code books to the test? How about Crib/Cheat Sheets? I started making one but thought I would be better of just adding additional tabs to my book.