How to Help Someone Taking the PE Exam?

[Rebecca B]

Hi all,

My boyfriend will be taking the PE at the end of October, and I want to help him do his best. I am not an engineer or in a similar field, so I don't have a lot of experience with studying for this kind of test. What are some things you think would be particularly helpful? Did someone in your life do something you studied that really helped you?

Since I can't help him with the content itself, I've looked into buying some noise-cancelling headphones and some good recipes for oatmeal raisin cookies (his favorite)...but I feel like there has to be something else I can do to help.

I'd really love any suggestions or experiences you had! Thank you all!

 

[Szar]

Well you could... no... not going there.

But realistically just being patient, flexible, supportive (and provide a kick in the ass if he stops studying).   Its an incredibly nerve racking prep session.  You should expect that:

• He will become increasing nervous, frustrated, and self-doubting as the date gets closer.
  
• He will stop having a social life.  (if he ever had one.  most engineers are boring, myself included).
  
• He will start buying random books, materials, and voodoo charms just because there is a 1% chance it may help.
  
• Come test day, make sure he has everything ready and available and the details thought out.  His mind will be mush.  
  
  That may include how he is carrying and transporting his reference books.
  
• How he is getting to the site and where the site is.  
  
• Where he is staying the night before the exam.  Some people rent hotels near the test facility to avoid traffic or other calamities.  (i did.)
  
• What he is eating for lunch so he doesn't have to leave the test site.
  
• His ID / Identification / NCEES paperwork.    
  
• Where Fluffy, Goldie, or whatever the pet is called will be located, fed, etc.
  

But otherwise its your usual 8-hour test, life determining experience.

PS.  Try not to find out your having a kid either until after the test.  From my experience it was a major distraction initially...  but then it forced me to step my game up to succeed.  Your results may vary on that one.

PPS.  There is a high likely hood he will fail.  A lot of the tests have only a 60%-70% pass rate.  He will need encouragement either way, as the test results are not released for a few months.  If he didn't think he failed right after the test, give it a week and the second guessing will ensure he feels he failed.  Even if he passed, he will feel like he failed until the announcement is made several months down the road.  

 

[leggo PE]

Do you live with your boyfriend? If you do and don't already do this, be willing (and not complain) about taking a bigger share of the household responsibilities like cleaning, cooking, and running errands. I definitely had to lean on my now fiance to cook dinner more times than not when I was studying, when usually he cooks maybe 30-40% of the time.

Try not to be distracting to him. Support him while he's studying, and don't make him feel pressured to do something else (like hang out with friends or go to a show) if he knows he should, or needs to, be studying. Like @Szar said, remind him he needs to study if it there are signs that he should be but isn't.

When he finishes the exam, have his favorite food/drink of choice ready for him when he gets home. His brain is probably going to be very tired, if only from just a long day involving a lot of intense mental concentration.

Overall, it's really hard to study for this exam while also working full-time (assuming your boyfriend is working full-time). He's probably going to be tired a lot of the time, and maybe cranky. Don't take it personally! It's a season of life that eventually comes to an end.

And also, I'm just going to give you props for reaching out and asking how to be supportive from a significant other's perspective! I wish my guy had done that. Kudos to you!

 

[squaretaper LIT AF PE]

Do you live with your boyfriend? If you do and don't already do this, be willing (and not complain) about taking a bigger share of the household responsibilities like cleaning, cooking, and running errands. I definitely had to lean on my now fiance to cook dinner more times than not when I was studying, when usually he cooks maybe 30-40% of the time.

Try not to be distracting to him. Support him while he's studying, and don't make him feel pressured to do something if he knows he should, or needs to, be studying. Like @Szar said, remind him he needs to study if it there are signs that he should be but isn't.

When he finishes the exam, have his favorite food/drink of choice ready for him when he gets home. His brain is probably going to be very tired, if only from just a long day involving a lot of intense mental concentration.

Overall, it's really hard to study for this exam while also working full-time (assuming your boyfriend is working full-time). He's probably going to be tired a lot of the time, and maybe cranky. Don't take it personally! It's a season of life that eventually comes to an end.

And also, I'm just going to give you props for reaching out and asking how to be supportive from a significant other's perspective! I wish my guy had done that. Kudos to you!

I second what @leggo PE and @Szar suggest. LadySquare was a major champion of my study efforts and made time for me to study and kept me going with encouragement when I bombed practice exams. If he isn't doing it already, he needs a dedicated space (if you can swing it) where all his PE crap can sit and stay. You can help keep the simulation realistic by not intruding if he's taking a practice exam (versus just working practice problems), sort of like a simulation proctor?

Lastly, tell him to join this forum and SPAM after the exam is over! He will find a supportive and loony community with lots of good advice for the exam and discipline-specific questions.

Also, LadySquare is cashing in on her supportive efforts by making me promise getting her a horse?/mini pony? with my bags of PE ca$hmonie$. Just kidding, she said a vacation would suffice.

So, start thinking about what you'd like to cash in for @Rebecca B!! :rotflmao:

 

[squaretaper LIT AF PE]

Oh yeah, I almost forgot: LadySquare packed a secret exam day care package with sugary snacks (for brain glucose), caffeinated beverages, road snacks (I had a long drive my first attempt), along with an encouraging card. Also, lots of booze or go out for a nice dinner after. He's going to be a ball of nerves for the following weeks so just be patient. Then remind him that it's just a stupid test and it doesn't "mean" anything about his abilities or intelligence. We all need reminders like that.

 

[NY-Computer-Engineer]

You don't need to be an Engineer to be a 'Study Drill Sergeant.'

My best friend was studying for the LSAT exam when I was younger and I would call him every day at the planned start of his study time to make sure he wasn't watching a Football pre-season game.  On Saturday's I went over to his place and worked on my car there, making sure he was focused on that dam test.  At the time his was getting very annoyed with me, but when it was over I got a smile and a "Thank You." (we are not 'those' kind of friends, so that is where it ENDED).

I passed my PE test the first time this past April by pure unadulterated "focus."  I also has something to prove to myself and some of the clowns I work with, so I had motivation on multiple levels.

I would say you follow some of the advice others earlier in this thread gave, but also be there to provide logistical help and more importantly, the push to get it done.  Tell him you want to brag to your friends about him when he passes, or that you will dump his ass if he goofs-off and fails.  Do what ever you can to motivate.

As mentioned above, on test day be that person who makes sure he has the best chance of passing.  Drive him to the test center (just in case there is a parking situation that day), and be there again during the lunch break with something that will perk him up.  Just be as supportive as you can, but push as hard as he tolerates to make sure he studies.

 

[RBHeadge PE]

Echo a lot of what everyone said above.

Studying for the exam is a big time sink. If he hasn't already started, and he really should have at least two weeks ago, he should spend 2-3 hr/ every day. With possibly more on the weekends depending on personal habits. Giving time and space to study is helpful. At this point in his career he should know how to study effectively on his own.

It really is a stressful experience. There may (or may not) be a lot riding professionally on the results of the test.  The test itself is a grueling mentally marathon. Don't expect him to be fully "there" after the test. So maybe have something fun, de-stressing, and not mentally taxing planned for the evening following the test: nice dinner, hanging out with friends, drinking, etc.

As stressful as the lead up to the exam is; the wait for results is much, much worse. You should expect him to have a rough time waiting. Distractions are helpful and secretly welcomed! He may be calm at first but the stress gets exponentially worse as time progresses.  He should come back to this site to blow off steam and maybe get some news or questions answered.

FWIW, I would NOT expect the results before the December 4th. It would not surprise me to see it come out sometime the week of Dec 10, and Illinois has been known to occasionally release later than other states...

As mentioned above, there is a decent chance he won't pass. The stress and process gets worse the next time around.

 

[Szar]

FWIW, I would NOT expect the results before the December 4th. It would not surprise me to see it come out sometime the week of Dec 10, and Illinois has been known to occasionally release later than other states...

Unless he gets the NCEES Survey email a week or two after the test date.  If he gets that, NCEES was so disappointed in his test score they actually lit in on fire and threw it in the trash bin out of disgust.  (There may or may not be maniacal laughter in the background as they dance around it with pointy spears chanting.)  

Get him started on studying again for the next session ASAP.

 

[NY-Computer-Engineer]

Echo a lot of what everyone said above.

Studying for the exam is a big time sink. If he hasn't already started, and he really should have at least two weeks ago, he should spend 2-3 hr/ every day. With possibly more on the weekends depending on personal habits. Giving time and space to study is helpful. At this point in his career he should know how to study effectively on his own.

It really is a stressful experience. There may (or may not) be a lot riding professionally on the results of the test.  The test itself is a grueling mentally marathon. Don't expect him to be fully "there" after the test. So maybe have something fun, de-stressing, and not mentally taxing planned for the evening following the test: nice dinner, hanging out with friends, drinking, etc.

As stressful as the lead up to the exam is; the wait for results is much, much worse. You should expect him to have a rough time waiting. Distractions are helpful and secretly welcomed! He may be calm at first but the stress gets exponentially worse as time progresses.  He should come back to this site to blow off steam and maybe get some news or questions answered.

FWIW, I would NOT expect the results before the December 4th. It would not surprise me to see it come out sometime the week of Dec 10, and Illinois has been known to occasionally release later than other states...

As mentioned above, there is a decent chance he won't pass. The stress and process gets worse the next time around.

I agree on the sever stress encountered when waiting for the results, then wait again for an actual license to be issued. 

As someone mentioned on this board more than once, NCEES and the State boards could make a LOT of money by providing an 'Expedited' application (for a fee of course) to get that time cut in half.  Now with what I know, I would have paid more than $1000 if I could have gotten those two nerve-racking experience shortened.

 

[ME_VT_PE]

All you need to do is ask @Baconator

 

[Szar]

I'm guessing Rebecca B and her boyfriend broke up... she hasn't logged in since the Friday she made this post.  No more then 5 minutes after she made her post none the less!  

 

[cupojoe PE PMP]

I'm guessing Rebecca B and her boyfriend broke up... she hasn't logged in since the Friday she made this post.  No more then 5 minutes after she made her post none the less!  

Either helping too much or not enough.

 

[NY-Computer-Engineer]

Either helping too much or not enough.

Or, I hate to say, a troll looking get us all jazzed-up.  It's unfortunate, but it happens all too often.

 

[RBHeadge PE]

I doubt it's trolling.

 

[Rebecca B]

Hi everyone!

Thank you so much for all the advice. One of the things I've been able to do to help my boyfriend is typing up his indices for the different books and binders he'll be taking into the test. I have mastered the art of the oatmeal raisin cookie (his favorite) and made sure to give him tons of space and study time. 

If you were worried we broke up, don't be - I thought I had set up my account on this site to send me a notification e-mail if someone responded to my post, and when I never got any e-mails, I assumed there were no replies...until the other day when my boyfriend found this very post. So stinkin' cute it could be a movie. 

Again, thanks for all the ideas. If you have any more, let me know. Now that I know I have to keep logging in, I'll be more likely to respond!

 

[leggo PE]

Glad to have you back, @Rebecca B! Hopefully the studying is going well for your boyfriend. It sounds like you're doing an awesome job being his partner in all of this!

 

[NY-Computer-Engineer]

Or, I hate to say, a troll looking get us all jazzed-up.  It's unfortunate, but it happens all too often.

I do apologize for this comment.  I wish your Boyfriend the best of luck.