I registered about 2 weeks before the deadline. Fought with the boards over work experience. I do mostly small scale engineering jobs, and from the wording in LA state laws, it seems they want you to have increasing experience in management and project leading more so than pure engineering experience.
I ordered all my reference materials:
/>http://engineerboards.com/index.php?showtopic=20582
+ the MERM (not shown) and 2 Casio FX-115ES calculators
I started reading the MERM about 4 months out and working the simpler practice problems at the end of each chapter and reviewing the longer tougher ones. I did this 3-4 days a week 2-3 hours per day. I did this for about 3 weeks then went on vacation. Took the MERM with me and never opened it. At this point I was about 1/2 way through reading it.
approximately 25 hours of study time
At this point I felt like I had started too late. I have always been a very good test taker, but it has been about 17 years since I left school and passed the FE exam. I changed my goal from high passing to just doing as well as I could, having started late, and hopefully passing, but being more prepared for the next exam if needed.
When I got back, I started in more hard core studying. I still had about 1/2 the MERM to go, but after looking through it, I disregarded large sections of the book:
Skipped-Math
Skipped-Combustion power cycles
Skipped-HVAC controls
HVAC Ventilation/Cooling/Heating loads (very light review of simple concepts only)
Skipped-Control Systems
Skipped-Management Science
Skipped-Instrumentation and measurements
Skipped-Materials Handling and Processes
Skipped-Fire Protection
Skipped-Environmental
Cursory review of electrical circuits, skipped the rest
study time
approximately 25 hours
Total study time to date = 50 hours
At this point I was about 10 weeks out.
I kicked it in to high gear and studied 3-4 days a week for 3-4 hours +6-8 hours on Saturdays.
I decided at this point to do the tabbing method for the MERM that many people recommended on these boards. I started making a list of every page I referenced while working through practice problems. <--- VERY GOOD IDEA
Also, any time I worked a problem from reference in the MERM, and needed data from another section, I hand wrote in pencil notes on that page of what the page #s of the reference materials were <--- VERY GOOD IDEA
I worked through the thick Lindeburg Practice problems, skipping the questions that the book estimated an hour to complete, and skipping the sections I did not read from the MERM.
I worked the Lindeburg 101 Solved Mechanical Engineering Problems.
I worked the Cooke Six minute Solutions and it was probably helpful even though I disagree with some of her answers.
I tabbed my MERM using color coded tabs on the right hand side for major sections, and then sub tabs along the bottom color coded to match the right side major section tabs. I made tabs for most of the things I referenced while working any practice problem. Note: this makes the book not able to sit upright in a bookshelf unless its upside down, its worth it though, so you don't have to lean over the top of your book when sitting to review the tabs.
study time
approximately 100 hours
Total study time to date = 150 hours
At this point I was 3 weeks out and I decided to take a practice exam on my Saturday study day. I decided on the Lindeburg Mechanical PE Sample exam.<--- BIG MISTAKE. The problems are MUCH harder than those you should expect, and there is very little chance someone who wasn't in the business of writing and tests could finish it in 8 hours. I left that day feeling pretty disappointed.
I continued working through all my materials. The following Saturday I took the NCEES Mechanics and Materials Practice exam, and after correcting for 1-2 questions that I felt were ambiguous and 2-3 questions that I made typos on, I made a 76. I felt a little bit better.
I continued to review at my current pace, 2-3 days a week for 4 hours, and 8-10 hours on weekends. The day before the exam, I sat at work and made a single page front and back cheat sheet of all of the common formulas I referenced. If I had a couple more months of studying, I am sure I would have had them memorized. The evening before the exam, I drove to Baton Rouge, got my hotel, and went to find the test site in advance. That night I reviewed the tabs in my MERM for 30 minutes, and then did my best to get a good nights sleep. I was very nervous.
study time
approximately 60 hours
Total study time to date = 210 hours
The day of, I brought some nuts, chips, and water for lunch and arrived early.
My strategy was to answer the questions I felt I knew exactly how to work and skip the rest. When the test started, I was very, very nervous.
I started the morning section and skipped 6 out of the first 10 questions. I started getting into a rhythm and answer probably 26 of the remaining 30. At this point almost 2 hours had passed and I had about 10 questions remaining. I felt a lot more comfortable, and returned to the beginning to start on questions that I had skipped. After re-reading the first questions I realized they were not what I thought and answered 4-5 of them pretty quickly. Of the remaining 5-6 questions, I searched through practice problems and the MERM and came up with answers for all but 2, and completely guessed on the remaining 2.
I left the room from the morning section about 1:40 early and decided I had done well enough and taking some time to recuperate and eat lunch would serve me better than trying to figure out the last two questions that I didn't really even know where to continue to look for answers.
I was a lot less nervous for the afternoon section.
Using the same strategy, I answered about 35 of the 40 questions on the first run through, taking about 2:15 to do it. I ended up answering all but 1, changing my answer on 1 previous vibration question that was off by a factor of 2pi and guessing on 1 question. I ended up leaving the evening section with about the same 1:40 remaining.
The questions on the exam all involve 1-2 equations. You will be given either initial information and asked to make a simple calculation, or given information along the way to a final answer and asked to solve the final portion. I did not have a single question on the test that couldn't have been solved in 10 minutes including looking up references and reviewing how to solve it, and most (if you knew exactly what you were doing) could be solved in 60 seconds or less. One common theme that I noticed was to present a moderately tough problem (that might take 20 minutes to work), give you all of the information to get started and a huge dimensioned sketch similar to those in the practice books, but then to ask a question that didn't involve calculations at all, or that snuck the 2nd to last step answer in along with the starting information so that you had a 1-2 equation problem to get the final answer.
I drove home and felt pretty good about the test overall, but I made several typo type mistakes on the NCEES practice exam, so I wasn't overly confident on my results.
Got my results mid December, I passed, had a great Christmas and am now headed to Disneyworld with my family. Lots of congratulations were had from my Boss, Dad (also a PE, who always laments that lawyers ask him if he passed his PE on the first try when doing expert testimony and he has to answer no), and the rest of the family and friends. My wife was super supportive with the kids and household duties, giving me time to study (I did the same for her while she finished her PhD), and I am very appreciative and lucky to have a woman I love so much as a partner.
Engineering Registration in general, and exam process thoughts:
I understand the reason for going to a multiple choice test, but I don't like the fact that it teaches speed rather than taking your time and making sure things are done correctly. Nobody cares if you designed that part in 2 hours if it fails due to a mistake.
I also disagree with the general strategy for engineering registration that most states seem to be going to. I think that if the end goal is to have all engineers registered like doctors or lawyers, rather than implementing more stringent rules and laws (ie masters degree requirement in 2020), they should be looking to more aggressively implement the ones they already have in place. Most engineers I know are not registered professional engineers. Many large companies (I deal with Petrochemical ones) don't care about the PE stamp and have no problem labeling people engineers based on the job role they are assigned and not what their credentials are. There are plenty of people out there with engineer on their business cards who don't have a BS in engineering.
If there is any lack of trust in the term "engineer" it comes from a lack of prosecution of current laws, not from a lack of Masters degree or other things that make it harder to take the test. Make the test tough, and let it sort out those who are worthy and those who are not. Don't make it tougher for people to take the test based on red tape.
I ordered all my reference materials:
/>http://engineerboards.com/index.php?showtopic=20582
+ the MERM (not shown) and 2 Casio FX-115ES calculators
I started reading the MERM about 4 months out and working the simpler practice problems at the end of each chapter and reviewing the longer tougher ones. I did this 3-4 days a week 2-3 hours per day. I did this for about 3 weeks then went on vacation. Took the MERM with me and never opened it. At this point I was about 1/2 way through reading it.
approximately 25 hours of study time
At this point I felt like I had started too late. I have always been a very good test taker, but it has been about 17 years since I left school and passed the FE exam. I changed my goal from high passing to just doing as well as I could, having started late, and hopefully passing, but being more prepared for the next exam if needed.
When I got back, I started in more hard core studying. I still had about 1/2 the MERM to go, but after looking through it, I disregarded large sections of the book:
Skipped-Math
Skipped-Combustion power cycles
Skipped-HVAC controls
HVAC Ventilation/Cooling/Heating loads (very light review of simple concepts only)
Skipped-Control Systems
Skipped-Management Science
Skipped-Instrumentation and measurements
Skipped-Materials Handling and Processes
Skipped-Fire Protection
Skipped-Environmental
Cursory review of electrical circuits, skipped the rest
study time
approximately 25 hours
Total study time to date = 50 hours
At this point I was about 10 weeks out.
I kicked it in to high gear and studied 3-4 days a week for 3-4 hours +6-8 hours on Saturdays.
I decided at this point to do the tabbing method for the MERM that many people recommended on these boards. I started making a list of every page I referenced while working through practice problems. <--- VERY GOOD IDEA
Also, any time I worked a problem from reference in the MERM, and needed data from another section, I hand wrote in pencil notes on that page of what the page #s of the reference materials were <--- VERY GOOD IDEA
I worked through the thick Lindeburg Practice problems, skipping the questions that the book estimated an hour to complete, and skipping the sections I did not read from the MERM.
I worked the Lindeburg 101 Solved Mechanical Engineering Problems.
I worked the Cooke Six minute Solutions and it was probably helpful even though I disagree with some of her answers.
I tabbed my MERM using color coded tabs on the right hand side for major sections, and then sub tabs along the bottom color coded to match the right side major section tabs. I made tabs for most of the things I referenced while working any practice problem. Note: this makes the book not able to sit upright in a bookshelf unless its upside down, its worth it though, so you don't have to lean over the top of your book when sitting to review the tabs.
study time
approximately 100 hours
Total study time to date = 150 hours
At this point I was 3 weeks out and I decided to take a practice exam on my Saturday study day. I decided on the Lindeburg Mechanical PE Sample exam.<--- BIG MISTAKE. The problems are MUCH harder than those you should expect, and there is very little chance someone who wasn't in the business of writing and tests could finish it in 8 hours. I left that day feeling pretty disappointed.
I continued working through all my materials. The following Saturday I took the NCEES Mechanics and Materials Practice exam, and after correcting for 1-2 questions that I felt were ambiguous and 2-3 questions that I made typos on, I made a 76. I felt a little bit better.
I continued to review at my current pace, 2-3 days a week for 4 hours, and 8-10 hours on weekends. The day before the exam, I sat at work and made a single page front and back cheat sheet of all of the common formulas I referenced. If I had a couple more months of studying, I am sure I would have had them memorized. The evening before the exam, I drove to Baton Rouge, got my hotel, and went to find the test site in advance. That night I reviewed the tabs in my MERM for 30 minutes, and then did my best to get a good nights sleep. I was very nervous.
study time
approximately 60 hours
Total study time to date = 210 hours
The day of, I brought some nuts, chips, and water for lunch and arrived early.
My strategy was to answer the questions I felt I knew exactly how to work and skip the rest. When the test started, I was very, very nervous.
I started the morning section and skipped 6 out of the first 10 questions. I started getting into a rhythm and answer probably 26 of the remaining 30. At this point almost 2 hours had passed and I had about 10 questions remaining. I felt a lot more comfortable, and returned to the beginning to start on questions that I had skipped. After re-reading the first questions I realized they were not what I thought and answered 4-5 of them pretty quickly. Of the remaining 5-6 questions, I searched through practice problems and the MERM and came up with answers for all but 2, and completely guessed on the remaining 2.
I left the room from the morning section about 1:40 early and decided I had done well enough and taking some time to recuperate and eat lunch would serve me better than trying to figure out the last two questions that I didn't really even know where to continue to look for answers.
I was a lot less nervous for the afternoon section.
Using the same strategy, I answered about 35 of the 40 questions on the first run through, taking about 2:15 to do it. I ended up answering all but 1, changing my answer on 1 previous vibration question that was off by a factor of 2pi and guessing on 1 question. I ended up leaving the evening section with about the same 1:40 remaining.
The questions on the exam all involve 1-2 equations. You will be given either initial information and asked to make a simple calculation, or given information along the way to a final answer and asked to solve the final portion. I did not have a single question on the test that couldn't have been solved in 10 minutes including looking up references and reviewing how to solve it, and most (if you knew exactly what you were doing) could be solved in 60 seconds or less. One common theme that I noticed was to present a moderately tough problem (that might take 20 minutes to work), give you all of the information to get started and a huge dimensioned sketch similar to those in the practice books, but then to ask a question that didn't involve calculations at all, or that snuck the 2nd to last step answer in along with the starting information so that you had a 1-2 equation problem to get the final answer.
I drove home and felt pretty good about the test overall, but I made several typo type mistakes on the NCEES practice exam, so I wasn't overly confident on my results.
Got my results mid December, I passed, had a great Christmas and am now headed to Disneyworld with my family. Lots of congratulations were had from my Boss, Dad (also a PE, who always laments that lawyers ask him if he passed his PE on the first try when doing expert testimony and he has to answer no), and the rest of the family and friends. My wife was super supportive with the kids and household duties, giving me time to study (I did the same for her while she finished her PhD), and I am very appreciative and lucky to have a woman I love so much as a partner.
Engineering Registration in general, and exam process thoughts:
I understand the reason for going to a multiple choice test, but I don't like the fact that it teaches speed rather than taking your time and making sure things are done correctly. Nobody cares if you designed that part in 2 hours if it fails due to a mistake.
I also disagree with the general strategy for engineering registration that most states seem to be going to. I think that if the end goal is to have all engineers registered like doctors or lawyers, rather than implementing more stringent rules and laws (ie masters degree requirement in 2020), they should be looking to more aggressively implement the ones they already have in place. Most engineers I know are not registered professional engineers. Many large companies (I deal with Petrochemical ones) don't care about the PE stamp and have no problem labeling people engineers based on the job role they are assigned and not what their credentials are. There are plenty of people out there with engineer on their business cards who don't have a BS in engineering.
If there is any lack of trust in the term "engineer" it comes from a lack of prosecution of current laws, not from a lack of Masters degree or other things that make it harder to take the test. Make the test tough, and let it sort out those who are worthy and those who are not. Don't make it tougher for people to take the test based on red tape.
