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I passed the MDM CBT in 2021. I chose the self-study route and I hope my reflections can benefit others.
First, I will not arrogantly act as if I crushed the test - I most certainly did not. In all my practice and in the final exam I felt like my performance was borderline at best. I walked out of the exam feeling that I was barely above the passing mark if at all. However, a passing score at least validates my test preparation strategy which I'll share here.
1. In exam prep, hard work outweighs intelligence (just my opinion). I am not a genius, I'm not very creative, and I'm not the best engineer. I do think I have a good work ethic and that's what I bring to the table. What makes the PE exam difficult is a) studying is hard and nobody wants to put in the hours and b) there is a vast scope of material to cover so you have to commit a huge chunk of time to it. There’s no way you can cover all the material if you don’t do the boring, unglamorous drudgery of reading. I firmly believe that the average engineer can pass this test and that genius is not required.
2. Self-study requires more time but costs less money. I spent 400 hours in study time and $750 on everything including registration fees (state and NCEES). I didn't have the money for a class, but I did have my textbooks and the MERM. Perhaps out of pride, I felt that I could do the same amount of prep that a class would provide. With a class, I assumed I’d paying for the luxury of somebody else laying out which topics to study and which practice problems to do. I chose to do this myself, but the downside to this path was that I ran the risk of not covering a topic in study prep. But several thorough reviews of the exam specs and textbooks proved to be enough to mitigate this risk.
3. MERM and Shigley are all you need (mostly). The EPG study guide is helpful too with caveats (see below). Shigley covered most of the exam specs in good detail without being too in-depth. I think it's very well written and has excellent example problems. The questions at the end of each chapter are also very good, but sometimes rely heavily on appendices or tables. MERM covers very nearly every topic in the exam specifications, but often without great detail. Because there’s so much info in the MERM, I tried to guess at which subsections were out-of-scope. For instance, if a formula or subsection wasn’t covered in the NCEES reference manual, I skipped it. I bought the MERM 13th solely because it was cheaper. I don’t think the 14th edition is required because the only difference is information formatting. Careful reading of the 13th will provide all the info needed. The EPG study guide is awesome for vibrations. It's clear and simple. I did not read any of the links provided for outside reference material. I also used other textbooks occasionally; Physics for an intro to vibrations, Mechanics of Materials for column buckling, Statics for a refresher and extra practice problems, etc.
4. Do not sacrifice your entire life to studying. I made this mistake and should not have. I could have easily covered all the material within the confines of my normal life without extensive sacrifice. The first pass through the exam specifications can be done at any pace without sacrificing quality or without soaking up tons of hours. To be sure, the second and third passes leading up to the exam will take more time and will require some sacrifice. The last month too will be full throttle and miserable, but this studying endeavor need not consume your life. Family & friends are infinitely more valuable than letters after your name.
My background: 10 years out of school with 5 years of experience. My motivation for getting the license was twofold: it was a personal goal since college, and I really needed to sharpen my technical skills after not doing engineering for 5 years. It was not required for my job, and therefore I had no pressure from my company to finish in a certain time frame. I studied mornings and lunch breaks which was sufficient. Evenings were devoted to family time so nighttime studying was out.
Other various notes:
-The EPG study guide is very helpful for covering all the topics, but it’s hit or miss on necessary depth. Some topics (hydraulics) were covered far too deeply. Others (gears, failure theories) were not covered deeply enough. Its outstanding for vibrations, however. At $40 it's a solid purchase. All in all, it's a great resource but not the gold standard.
-Practice Tests: I used three: the 2001 & 2019 NCEES practice tests and the EPG practice test. The 2001 practice test was the most challenging and really made me doubt my preparation level. It has challenging problems with a good mix of quantitative/qualitative problem types. The 2019 practice test seemed slightly easier than the 2001 version but was still hard. The EPG practice test is very good at covering all the topics, but it's far too easy. It’s probably a good measure of your study breadth, but don’t use it as a gauge of your preparation level. With all practice tests, I solved every question at least twice and thoroughly read each solution to understand what I missed. Doing the test twice helped me to create a "test rhythm" before starting every problem: breathe deeply, read the problem slowly, write out what I'm solving for and its units, etc.
-Do not rush. 6 minutes is plenty of time to solve every practice test problem. Rushing caused me to make a bunch of silly errors that were totally avoidable. It's not worth getting a problem wrong for simple things like using diameter instead of radius.
Conclusion: this test is passable by the average engineer. It takes diligent, consistent study effort, but it is not impossible. A paid class is not mandatory. Basic study materials are all that is required. Do not sacrifice your life to this endeavor.
I'll happily answer questions as long as they do not discuss the exam directly.
First, I will not arrogantly act as if I crushed the test - I most certainly did not. In all my practice and in the final exam I felt like my performance was borderline at best. I walked out of the exam feeling that I was barely above the passing mark if at all. However, a passing score at least validates my test preparation strategy which I'll share here.
1. In exam prep, hard work outweighs intelligence (just my opinion). I am not a genius, I'm not very creative, and I'm not the best engineer. I do think I have a good work ethic and that's what I bring to the table. What makes the PE exam difficult is a) studying is hard and nobody wants to put in the hours and b) there is a vast scope of material to cover so you have to commit a huge chunk of time to it. There’s no way you can cover all the material if you don’t do the boring, unglamorous drudgery of reading. I firmly believe that the average engineer can pass this test and that genius is not required.
2. Self-study requires more time but costs less money. I spent 400 hours in study time and $750 on everything including registration fees (state and NCEES). I didn't have the money for a class, but I did have my textbooks and the MERM. Perhaps out of pride, I felt that I could do the same amount of prep that a class would provide. With a class, I assumed I’d paying for the luxury of somebody else laying out which topics to study and which practice problems to do. I chose to do this myself, but the downside to this path was that I ran the risk of not covering a topic in study prep. But several thorough reviews of the exam specs and textbooks proved to be enough to mitigate this risk.
3. MERM and Shigley are all you need (mostly). The EPG study guide is helpful too with caveats (see below). Shigley covered most of the exam specs in good detail without being too in-depth. I think it's very well written and has excellent example problems. The questions at the end of each chapter are also very good, but sometimes rely heavily on appendices or tables. MERM covers very nearly every topic in the exam specifications, but often without great detail. Because there’s so much info in the MERM, I tried to guess at which subsections were out-of-scope. For instance, if a formula or subsection wasn’t covered in the NCEES reference manual, I skipped it. I bought the MERM 13th solely because it was cheaper. I don’t think the 14th edition is required because the only difference is information formatting. Careful reading of the 13th will provide all the info needed. The EPG study guide is awesome for vibrations. It's clear and simple. I did not read any of the links provided for outside reference material. I also used other textbooks occasionally; Physics for an intro to vibrations, Mechanics of Materials for column buckling, Statics for a refresher and extra practice problems, etc.
4. Do not sacrifice your entire life to studying. I made this mistake and should not have. I could have easily covered all the material within the confines of my normal life without extensive sacrifice. The first pass through the exam specifications can be done at any pace without sacrificing quality or without soaking up tons of hours. To be sure, the second and third passes leading up to the exam will take more time and will require some sacrifice. The last month too will be full throttle and miserable, but this studying endeavor need not consume your life. Family & friends are infinitely more valuable than letters after your name.
My background: 10 years out of school with 5 years of experience. My motivation for getting the license was twofold: it was a personal goal since college, and I really needed to sharpen my technical skills after not doing engineering for 5 years. It was not required for my job, and therefore I had no pressure from my company to finish in a certain time frame. I studied mornings and lunch breaks which was sufficient. Evenings were devoted to family time so nighttime studying was out.
Other various notes:
-The EPG study guide is very helpful for covering all the topics, but it’s hit or miss on necessary depth. Some topics (hydraulics) were covered far too deeply. Others (gears, failure theories) were not covered deeply enough. Its outstanding for vibrations, however. At $40 it's a solid purchase. All in all, it's a great resource but not the gold standard.
-Practice Tests: I used three: the 2001 & 2019 NCEES practice tests and the EPG practice test. The 2001 practice test was the most challenging and really made me doubt my preparation level. It has challenging problems with a good mix of quantitative/qualitative problem types. The 2019 practice test seemed slightly easier than the 2001 version but was still hard. The EPG practice test is very good at covering all the topics, but it's far too easy. It’s probably a good measure of your study breadth, but don’t use it as a gauge of your preparation level. With all practice tests, I solved every question at least twice and thoroughly read each solution to understand what I missed. Doing the test twice helped me to create a "test rhythm" before starting every problem: breathe deeply, read the problem slowly, write out what I'm solving for and its units, etc.
-Do not rush. 6 minutes is plenty of time to solve every practice test problem. Rushing caused me to make a bunch of silly errors that were totally avoidable. It's not worth getting a problem wrong for simple things like using diameter instead of radius.
Conclusion: this test is passable by the average engineer. It takes diligent, consistent study effort, but it is not impossible. A paid class is not mandatory. Basic study materials are all that is required. Do not sacrifice your life to this endeavor.
I'll happily answer questions as long as they do not discuss the exam directly.
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