Mechanical (HVAC & R) PE exam Paper based Vs Computer based

[FA_Mechanical engineer]

Hi everyone,

I have been thinking about taking Mechanical - HVAC & R; PE exam this October 2019 which I believe is the only time one can take paper based exam or otherwise computer based starting from April 2020 onwards. Due to personal reasons, I may not have enough time to prepare for October 2019 exam and may not be able to appear in the exam however if that happens I'll loose the opportunity to take paper based exam where I can bring all the reference materials including MERM, personal notes, charts, quick reference guides etc. I am now getting double minded whether I need to just take it in October 2019 and be done with it or just simply get ready for computer based testing system which does not allow you to bring anything with you besides the calculator I think!!!.

My question is directly to the individuals who have already taken a computer based test in a different discipline and found it easier or difficult to take . Anyone who can comment the pros and cons of the computer based testing is welcome to comment here as well. I am sure this question is bothering a lot of future Mechanical test takers which would be dealing with a big change in the testing environment and how to prepare to overcome this change.

Thank you for your comments in advance,

FA_Mechanical engineer

 

[Audi Driver P.E.]

I took a similar computer based exam for my patent agent license. One of the benefits is you are assured that the reference material will help you achieve the correct answer. The down side to bringing your own references is, they may have slightly different information than the text the test makers worked from (due to rounding, experimental methodology and so forth). If you become very familiar with their reference, look ups will be super fast.

 

[goodal]

No reference materials?!?!?!!?  How in the world?

 

[Audi Driver P.E.]

No reference materials?!?!?!!?  How in the world?

There is a provided reference.

 

[goodal]

So no more suitcases or dollys or milkcrates loaded with books?  That was half the fun seeing what everybody brought to the test.

 

[EngrPaper]

On the plus side of CBT, you can CTRL-F for everything in the reference.  It made the FE quite easy.  On the downside, its hard to have "spatial awareness" in a computer file, so looking around for a reference apart from searching can be harder, if you are unfamiliar with the layout.