I just want to reiterate that Ram's methodology is indeed a solid approach. I'm guessing that if you follow what he did to the letter, you too will pass (everything short of a guarantee here). I followed it as closely as I could have (I found his post about half way through my prep period, so there was no way to do it all) and I passed on my first time taking the exam. I had both NCEES practice exams, and if you can only get the newer one, you're really not missing out on much. About half of the problems are repeats and the content of other half wasn't really represented on the exam, anyway. Furthermore, the newer practice set has better solutions, IMO, if that makes sense (some are better explained, anyway). About the only thing gained from the older one is that it comes with all the focus sections, so there's no need to buy them separately. I don't know if I would recommend working those necessarily, but surely if you have it, it wouldn't hurt to do them if time allows. I did not work those, and after taking the test, wished I had, but I passed anyway. If I was to go back and do it over, I would have probably liked to have had the SMS, and would have worked those in lieu of the focus problems for the other sections. As it was, I didn't really have time to do either one. Either way, my recommendation is to get as broad a representation of subject matter as possible, to practice with.
A couple other odds and ends things. The older MERMs have the problems right in the text, so there is no need to buy a separate problems book, like there is with edition 13. My buddy loaned me his 12th edition to use (as well as the 2001 practice exam) and I ended up buying my own copy of the 13th edition because I wanted to make notes in the text and do my own highlighting (his was bare... don't know how he did that, honestly, but he passed :blink: ). I saw test some takers that had the 12th (the majority of test takers) and some with the 13th, but really no others in the exam room. If I was going to do it again, I would buy the 12th edition because the practice problems are right in the text. I would probably also buy the "Quick reference" book of equations (Companion book to the MERM). The MERM is a great reference, to be sure, but you really really have to wade through a ton of information to find pertinent equations for the problems you're looking to solve. You definitely want to make your own reference binder of equations, but you won't have everything you need... there's just no way. You'd have to duplicate that book.
I don't think I can say this part enough: you definitely, without a doubt, want the Engineering Unit Conversions book. And in your practice, highlight the conversions you used. I also recommend learning to do the conversions in different ways. What I mean is if you always use g=32.2 ft/sec^2 you end up only memorizing that value and you will have to do more conversions than necessary, in some cases. But, if during your practice, you plug in 386 in/sec^2 where it's appropriate and remember to use that value, you may end up saving yourself some time.
Also, (for TFS guys) you will want better steam tables than what is in the MERM. Those tables are pretty lousy, actually. You can spend some dollars and get the ASME steam tables for Industrial Use or you can get good ones for free and put them into your binder (like I did). Here is a link for the best Imperial units table I could find (I did a lot of searching)
http://www.tuner.tw/omega%20cd/zsection/STEAM_TA.PDF and a GREAT compilation of SI units (tables 1, 2, and 3) here:
https://www.nist.gov/sites/default/files/documents/srd/NISTIR5078.htm
There was definitely a need for a good SI units table. Note, the Imperial units table is from ASME data, whereas the SI units tables are from the newest standard developed by NIST. I know how to work a Mollier diagram and had a large format one with me, but it's more accurate to look values up in a table, IMO.
I really want to emphasize one thing from Ram's post that may not stand out on first read of it: know the methodology, not just the applicable equation(s). You definitely DO want to know the underlying theory behind the problems you're working and why you're using the equation you're using, etc.
One last parting word of wisdom on exam prep: the test makers know that the MERM exists and know its content well. They write questions that are not quickly looked up in it, or that may not be clearly answered by quickly reading a section that deals with the type of information you're looking for, and they use terms and phrases that Lundeberg doesn't necessarily use or explain in a way that can easily answer their riddle (otherwise it would be pretty easy: hey, they want this... here's where MERM answers it). You've got to be able to interpret what the question is looking for, to a certain extent. Just don't let that trip you up, by knowing how to approach problems from more than just the MERM way. After reading this, you may ask: is the MERM really the reference I need, then? Yes. Categorically, yes. You just ALSO need to need to know how others deal with the same information by, for example, reviewing texts from your engineering course work.