October 2007 Exam: What you did right

[p_marr]

1. What exam did you take?

Mechanical with Thermo-Fluid PM

2. How many hours did you study?

~200

3. What did you study?

All of Merm with Practice Problems, NCEES Sample Exam

4. Any advice to those taking the exam in April 08?

- Don't be surprised to see questions from all 3 disciplines in the afternoon

- Don't expect the % of each topic given by NCEES to be followed, take a broad based approach to your studying. I suspect that I almost didn't pass because I somewhat neglected studying HVAC/Refrigeration (Which I never did in college or since then at work).

 

[fmullner]

1. What exam did you take?

The 100-question Environmental exam

2. How many hours did you study?

150-200 hours.

3. What did you study?

I went through the ENVRM essentially cover to cover and knew it pretty well by the time I was done. I focused on basic chemistry, groundwater hydrology, air pollution and air pollution control, industrial hygiene, and economics. I've been working in environmental compliance for about 10 years, and I was already familiar with a lot of the regulations which helped a lot.

4. Any advice to those taking the exam in April 08?

a. Be well versed in all the subjects listed above.

b. Be familiar enough with your references so that you don't have to hunt for information.

c. Well-annotated copies of RCRA, SDWA, CWA, and CAA regs are good to have.

d. The exam seemed to have a lot of storm water and biological wastewater treatment questions. That's where I struggled most and it was all in the morning. If water is your weak area, make sure you brush up on it. For the most part, what's in the ENVRM is pretty good, but definitely make sure you understand the biological processes and the associated chemical reactions that take place in wastewater treatment systems and know which treatment options are most appropriate for which waste streams.

e. The real challenge of the exam is the breadth. The ENVRM is a good guide to the breadth of the exam, although I think it goes into way too much detail on most of the topics.

f. Most of the problems seemed to be about as difficult as the ENVRM example problems in the chapters themselves or the first several practice problems at the end of the chapter. Don't waste your time sweating over the really difficult problems. I did and I wasted a lot of time.

g. Any assumptions you have to make are fairly straightforward, and if you have a to pick a coefficient or a constant from a range of numbers, picking the one right in the middle seemed to work well for me.

h. KNOW HOW TO WORK YOUR UNITS. This allowed me to answer about 5 questions that I otherwise would have guessed on.

And finally, get some good rest, try to relax as much as possible, and take your time during the exam.

 

[engr_tam]

The Engr_Tam Method:

1. I enrolled in a PE prep class, starting in October of the previous year. There was where I discovered the Lindenberg texts. And the guys teaching the once-per-week course gave us sample problems and all we did was work the problems and they showed us some tricks and tips on getting a solution quickly.

2. After that, I studied on my own, maybe 5 hrs a week max. Also had a field assignment out of state where I worked with some people who had just taken it and they lent me some sample problems to practice on too.

3. I took the week off of the exam. I studied Monday and Tuesday. Wednesday I went to a spa. (yes - a SPA!!) The facial and massage worked wonders.

4. Thursday, I chilled, I took my time gathering my stuff, and left that afternoon (the testing site is an hour away and I don't trust my alarm clocks (or my boyfriend) at home. Got a hotel room - Delaware's site is a the U of Delaware in Newark - and it has a hotel right next to it. Yay!

5. When I got to the hotel, I took a dip in the hot tub, hung out in my room and watched whatever was on tv. Had dinner in the restaurant downstairs, a marathoner's meal - chicken and pasta. With some Sam Adams.

6. Went to bed fairly early.

7. Had nightmare that I was kidnapped during the test! (about 1 am)

8. Woke up again to the cell phone alarm and the hotel provided alarm.

9. Just walked into the exam and did my best!

10 - Received letter from DE Board of Engineers stating that I PASSED!

Mechanical Engineering, 1st time taker.

 

[ChrisCT]

1. I took the Civil-Structural PM

2. Totally study time = 250 hours (I have a full-time job, a family, and my own business, so I had to start the process in May in order to get this time in)

3. Studied primarily the CERM and made sure I covered almost all the chapters with the help of a detailed schedule. Also, I started the whole process by gathering(buying, borrowing, begging, didn't have to steal) all of the Structural Codes and became familiar with those that I wasn't already used to. I also used the Structural Depth Reference Manual and a Timber Design Manual.

4. Advice to future Examinees:

a. Start the whole process early and formulate a study schedule. Looking at all of the subjects covered along with the total time I had available, I made some choices about the percentages of time that I would be able to devote to each and went from there. I went Structural(55%), Geotech(20%), Transpo(10%), Enviro(5%), WR(5%), Misc(5%) and it worked for me...your mileage may vary.

b. Be honest with yourself and your family about how much you want this and what it's going to take to make it happen.

c. Take the Practice Exams with some studying time left before the exam. Don't let your confidence get too shaken if these go miserably(as I almost did when they did for me)...just take the problems you missed out on and figure them out before the exam.

d. Do whatever it takes to be rested and relatively relaxed on Exam Day and get in ther and let 'em have it!

 

[Brianne]

1. What exam did you take?

Civil - Environmental, California Seismic and Surveying

2. How many hours did you study?

Approximately 150 hours studying, plus 80 hours in a review class

3. What did you study?

CERM 10, the other board's practice exam, 6-minute solutions for environmental, water resources, geotech, and transportation, Kaplan's practice exam, 101 solved environmental engineering problems, chelapti's books for environmental, water resources, and geotech, Hiner's Seismic Review Workbook, Surveying Principles, Surveying solved problems, and surveying sample exams

4. Any advice to those taking the exam in April 08?

Start preparing early. I took a review course in Spring '07 because I wanted to have a better idea of what to expect (and I didn't want it to get in the way of football in the fall.) I didn't start seriously studying until a road trip in July. Then I started studying every weekend at the beginning of August and continued through the test in October. Even on game days I studied in the morning before leaving to tailgate and watched most away games surrounded by my books.

I think the most important thing is to work problems. Make an attempt on every problem, without looking at the solution. When I looked at the solution, I still copied down all of their steps and studied where they got their equations. I created spreadsheets for each book of practice problems, detailing the type of problem and the reference where I found the appropriate equation and/or look-up tables.

I originally decided not to really try on the seismic test, allowing myself to concentrate on it next time. But then I discovered they were switching to the most up-to-date building code and I discovered the Hiner workbook through this website. Without it, I never would have passed. I've never done any seismic work and I never plan to, but I passed the first time.