Oct 2015

[Joe Dirt PE]

Like many, I felt the Civil morning had a few curve balls. The best strategy for me was to spend a few minutes at the beginning of each session and read the questions in their entirety and rank them 1) I've got this 2) I've probably got this but it will take some time and 3) WTF. By waiting until the end to do the "WTF" questions I actually was able to figure a few of them out with no pressure, knowing I could always fill them in with guesses if I didn't get them. I feel like I probably punted a couple of them but I had logic behind the guesses I had to make.

Good testing strategy on your part. Not getting yourself bogged down on any one question is in your best interests, especially during the morning session where you have less time per question on average.

 

[NJmike PE]

hey if anyone is looking for a place on this board for non-exam topics, to help ease the next phase of the process (the waiting), try checking out this thread:

spam fest

or some of the other threads in the Shoot the Breeze subforum. They are both great places to hang out and unwind away from the exam.

 

[Swimfastalex PE]

hey if anyone is looking for a place on this board for non-exam topics, to help ease the next phase of the process (the waiting), try checking out this thread:

spam fest

or some of the other threads in the Shoot the Breeze subforum. They are both great places to hang out and unwind away from the exam.

I'm a little afraid to click on any link you suggest Mike....

 

[NJmike PE]

hey if anyone is looking for a place on this board for non-exam topics, to help ease the next phase of the process (the waiting), try checking out this thread:

spam fest

or some of the other threads in the Shoot the Breeze subforum. They are both great places to hang out and unwind away from the exam.

I'm a little afraid to click on any link you suggest Mike....

I promise it's all good in the hood. I'm very serious when it comes the 10k threads

 

[Swimfastalex PE]

hey if anyone is looking for a place on this board for non-exam topics, to help ease the next phase of the process (the waiting), try checking out this thread:

spam fest

or some of the other threads in the Shoot the Breeze subforum. They are both great places to hang out and unwind away from the exam.

I'm a little afraid to click on any link you suggest Mike....

I promise it's all good in the hood. I'm very serious when it comes the 10k threads

 

[asha1985]

I either did really well or really awful, depending on how malicious they were with the distractor answers!

So much this. I feel like I got reasonable answers nearly across the board, but some problems seemed easier than they should have.

My first attempt last year was Structural. After getting 49/50 and realizing I don't do nearly enough structural work in my job, I decided to tackle construction instead. The test seemed pretty fair to me, so I'm hoping that's a good sign.

 

[DontStopBelieving]

Anyone on here take HVAC afternoon? I'd love to hear your thoughts

I took the HVAC afternoon... #Challenge. Was mad about electrical question showing up on the PM section though. I had to guess on about 4 or 5. Heat transfer problems took me for a loop. Who calculates composite wall systems by hand anyways????

Composite wall problems should not take that long to calculate once you set up your thermal circuit equation.

True... I just botched the hell out of them... And ended up taking educated guesses based on knowledge of thermal resistance of an item... Glad there were only a few though.

All in all I felt good. Would be devastated (like everybody else) if I fail though. I studied like a madman since labor day. Like a minimum of 5 hours per weekday and probably like 14 hours on the weekend. Nearly 40 hours per week while working full time! I'd be crushed if I fail!

Glad I'm not the only one that thought it was hard. I ended up guessing on a simple heat transfer problem too. It wasn't that the problem was difficult I just could not for the life of me find all the R-Values and film coefficients needed to solve the problem. I've figured out 6 problems I got wrong in the afternoon... electrical being one of em....

Yeah your def not the only one. But all in all I think the exam was fair, just way harder than the ncees practice exam. I couldn't find anyone else at my test location that was HVAC. Where did you take exam? I was in CT.

 

[JHW 3d]

Sorry to hear about your afternoon experience JHW3, that sounds horrible! I know I was already pressed for time and anxious enough without having any major incidents like a power outage! I took two practice exams before the test, timed and at the right time of day, and still struggled through the afternoon. Honestly, after the morning session I didn't know how I was going to do that for another 4 hours...

Just out of curiousity, which morning/afternoon exam did you take?

I took Mechanical, MD PM

 

[AK Eyes]

Anyone on here take HVAC afternoon? I'd love to hear your thoughts

I took the HVAC afternoon... #Challenge. Was mad about electrical question showing up on the PM section though. I had to guess on about 4 or 5. Heat transfer problems took me for a loop. Who calculates composite wall systems by hand anyways????

Composite wall problems should not take that long to calculate once you set up your thermal circuit equation.

True... I just botched the hell out of them... And ended up taking educated guesses based on knowledge of thermal resistance of an item... Glad there were only a few though.

All in all I felt good. Would be devastated (like everybody else) if I fail though. I studied like a madman since labor day. Like a minimum of 5 hours per weekday and probably like 14 hours on the weekend. Nearly 40 hours per week while working full time! I'd be crushed if I fail!

Glad I'm not the only one that thought it was hard. I ended up guessing on a simple heat transfer problem too. It wasn't that the problem was difficult I just could not for the life of me find all the R-Values and film coefficients needed to solve the problem. I've figured out 6 problems I got wrong in the afternoon... electrical being one of em....

Yeah your def not the only one. But all in all I think the exam was fair, just way harder than the ncees practice exam. I couldn't find anyone else at my test location that was HVAC. Where did you take exam? I was in CT.

I took it in Houston. It was at NRG stadium and there were probably about 700 people taking the test! I was #435. No clue how many mechanical or HVAC though.

 

[DontStopBelieving]

Sorry to hear about your afternoon experience JHW3, that sounds horrible! I know I was already pressed for time and anxious enough without having any major incidents like a power outage! I took two practice exams before the test, timed and at the right time of day, and still struggled through the afternoon. Honestly, after the morning session I didn't know how I was going to do that for another 4 hours...

Just out of curiousity, which morning/afternoon exam did you take?

I took Mechanical, MD PM

Just curious what is the MD exam? I only see four categories for mechanicals and none with a "D"???

 

[denver1000 PE]

Hey JHW how do feel about the test? Other than the exam day experience!

 

[JHW 3d]

Oops sorry. Mechanical systems and Materials.

Hey Denver. I'm sure I'll be going through doubts later, but as of right now I feel okay about how I did. Morning session only guessed on 1. Afternoon guessed on 3.

Didn't rehash any problems with anyone at lunch or afterwards which has helped my sanity.

How are you feeling about it? Did you contact the board on the problem you took issue with? I'm sure I know which one you are talking about!!!

 

[AK Eyes]

Sorry to hear about your afternoon experience JHW3, that sounds horrible! I know I was already pressed for time and anxious enough without having any major incidents like a power outage! I took two practice exams before the test, timed and at the right time of day, and still struggled through the afternoon. Honestly, after the morning session I didn't know how I was going to do that for another 4 hours...

Just out of curiousity, which morning/afternoon exam did you take?

I took Mechanical, MD PM

Just curious what is the MD exam? I only see four categories for mechanicals and none with a "D"???

I believe it stands for Machine Design, not 100% sure though

 

[denver1000 PE]

Oops sorry. Mechanical systems and Materials.

Hey Denver. I'm sure I'll be going through doubts later, but as of right now I feel okay about how I did. Morning session only guessed on 1. Afternoon guessed on 3.

Didn't rehash any problems with anyone at lunch or afterwards which has helped my sanity.

How are you feeling about it? Did you contact the board on the problem you took issue with? I'm sure I know which one you are talking about!!!

Morning I felt ok. I guessed 1 as well. Afternoon I think I spent too much time on the harder ones and made a bone head move of leaving 2 I knew to the end and had no time to check them properly. Yup I contacted the board. You should as well if you had an issue with any Qs. I found about 6 of the afternoon ones really tough and assuming I got all 6 wrong even though I ended up with answers shown in the choices. But I felt it a lot harder than the ncees practice exams!

 

[denver1000 PE]

Sorry to hear about your afternoon experience JHW3, that sounds horrible! I know I was already pressed for time and anxious enough without having any major incidents like a power outage! I took two practice exams before the test, timed and at the right time of day, and still struggled through the afternoon. Honestly, after the morning session I didn't know how I was going to do that for another 4 hours...

Just out of curiousity, which morning/afternoon exam did you take?

I took Mechanical, MD PM

Just curious what is the MD exam? I only see four categories for mechanicals and none with a "D"???

I believe it stands for Machine Design, not 100% sure though

Yup

 

[DontStopBelieving]

Anyone on here take HVAC afternoon? I'd love to hear your thoughts

I took the HVAC afternoon... #Challenge. Was mad about electrical question showing up on the PM section though. I had to guess on about 4 or 5. Heat transfer problems took me for a loop. Who calculates composite wall systems by hand anyways????

Composite wall problems should not take that long to calculate once you set up your thermal circuit equation.

True... I just botched the hell out of them... And ended up taking educated guesses based on knowledge of thermal resistance of an item... Glad there were only a few though.

All in all I felt good. Would be devastated (like everybody else) if I fail though. I studied like a madman since labor day. Like a minimum of 5 hours per weekday and probably like 14 hours on the weekend. Nearly 40 hours per week while working full time! I'd be crushed if I fail!

Glad I'm not the only one that thought it was hard. I ended up guessing on a simple heat transfer problem too. It wasn't that the problem was difficult I just could not for the life of me find all the R-Values and film coefficients needed to solve the problem. I've figured out 6 problems I got wrong in the afternoon... electrical being one of em....

Yeah your def not the only one. But all in all I think the exam was fair, just way harder than the ncees practice exam. I couldn't find anyone else at my test location that was HVAC. Where did you take exam? I was in CT.

I took it in Houston. It was at NRG stadium and there were probably about 700 people taking the test! I was #435. No clue how many mechanical or HVAC though.

I got ya. It was probably similar for us here in CT. I just know by looking at people's references around me that there were an abundance of civil's. There was one gent close to me that was Mechanical Systems and Materials. But that is the only other mechanical I found. I didn't see anybody with a psych. chart. If I pass I definitely owe it to the psych chart.

 

[AK Eyes]

Agreed! I printed out just about every psych chart I could find and put them in a binder

 

[matt267 PE]

While we wait for results, let's head over to the "games" section of the site. The spamfest (aka 10K) thread is a tradition around here. Follow me: http://engineerboards.com/index.php?showtopic=25794

 

[xtinabellina]

hey y'all! I've been trolling the boards for a while on and off but this is my first time posting! Just took the PE Power exam this past Friday and of course can't think about anything else but results! I feel like I did okay in both the morning & afternoon... based on feeling okay, is that a good sign I probably passed??? JUST PARANOID AS FUCK. thanks in advance

 

[matt267 PE]

xtinabellina, I'm not sure what phase you're in.