PE Online Exam Prep Course

[TOTPH20]

I took the PE exam in April (Civil in W&W depth) and got into the test fully prepared and it happened... I totally CHOKED! I ran out of time on both sections and ended up making blind guesses on 19 questions... That being said, I was within a few question (from what I can tell) of passing.

Anyway, I know this has probably been discussed Ad nauseam but for my particular situation (getting comfortable with the test), which online test preparation course would be best. I am definitely looking for one that puts some focus on TEST TAKING STRATEGIES since I felt very prepared for the test as far as the information I knew the day of the exam.

I know the standard ones: School of PE, Dr. Goswami's course, PE Review, PASSPE, and MGI. Could anyone make a recommendation on these or any other courses with respect to cost, overall effectiveness, provided study materials, and test taking strategies?

Thanks in advance.

 

[ptatohed]

TOT, it sounds like you are good with the PE exam material, you just need help with test taking. A review course is going to cost you hundreds and I doubt you'll get hundreds worth of test taking tips that you can't find on your own. A lot of the PPI and other PE review books include test taking tips near the front of the book. Strategies differ a little but the main thing I think everyone will tell you is to work the problems in order of "easiness" - easiest (least time consuming) to hardest. Of course the trick is to identify the difficulty level of each problem without wasting too much time doing so! What worked for me was, starting with problem one, you read it and make a quick decision - work it or flag it and move on? If it's a quickie (either you happen to know off the top of your head, or you know how to quickly solve or look up the answer), do it right then. Likewise, if it's one of those problems that you look at and say: "Huh? I wouldn't get this answer if I had 8 hours just for this one question", then fill in a guess answer and move on. When you get that middle range of problems (ones you are confident you can do but will take some time calcing or looking up), then flag them and move on. I broke these "doable but with time" problems into 3 levels. Level one is: you know how to do it, you know where to look for the formula, etc., it will just take a little time. Level three is: you recognize the problem but it's not your forte - so getting the correct answer is possible but not a given, you'll need to spend some time on it. Use symbols which you place on your scantron just to the left of the question number (erase the symbols at the end, just in case - you don’t want any scrantron grading machine errors). I used a checkmark for the first pass given "quickies", and an X for the I’ll-never-get-these "skippies". Then for the intermediate ones, I went a la Consumer Reports and used a circle with the top half filled in for level 1, an open circle for level 2 and a circle with the bottom half filled in for level 3. You can come up with your own symbols of course. It's definitely advisable to not use letters (at least A-D) and perhaps even numbers might not be wise. So, after your first pass, you'll have the checkmarks and the Xs with answers already filled in. Then you'll have your intermediate questions (levels 1-3) flagged but with no answers yet. Now go back and work the level ones (circle with top half filled in), then the level twos (open circle), then if time allows (it didn't for me), the level threes (circle with bottom half filled in). Good luck!

P.S. You might want to practice at home under timed conditions.

 

[ptatohed]

By the way, that reply took me the better part of my lunch hour so............. you're welcome.

 

[TOTPH20]

Much appreciation... You've convinced me to skip the PE Exam review course and approach it per your description. Please tack on an extra hour to your next lunch break ON ME!!

I am now trying to motivate myself to retake the exam this go-around. I have worked a few problems that are very similar to probs I saw on the exam and was able to solve them easily... However, that is in an UNOFFICIAL test environment. I really don't see being more prepared for the test than I was in April. As I stated in my first post, I definitely psyched myself out and CHOKED the 1st time.

 

[Jacob_PE]

Much appreciation... You've convinced me to skip the PE Exam review course and approach it per your description. Please tack on an extra hour to your next lunch break ON ME!!
I am now trying to motivate myself to retake the exam this go-around. I have worked a few problems that are very similar to probs I saw on the exam and was able to solve them easily... However, that is in an UNOFFICIAL test environment. I really don't see being more prepared for the test than I was in April. As I stated in my first post, I definitely psyched myself out and CHOKED the 1st time.

Sorry you're having to go through all this again. I've been studying since the beginning of may and right now I feel 'equipped' to take the test and soon I might feel really prepared. But I keep imagining reading through the 40 morning and problems and saying 'I don't know how to do any of this!' What happened, did you see questions that you hadn't studied for. Do you think it was mostly anxiety? Had you worked through all the NCEES 2011 problems?

 

[TOTPH20]

I was prepared the first go-around. I aced the practice exam. However, once they handed out the test booklet, my went blank... So guess it was mostly anxiety. I even forgot to put my name on the front of the test (a proctor had to point it out). The "bubbling in of my name" before the test was even a challenge because I was so stressed. Guess it was a severe test anxiety. I settled down about halfway through the morning section but the damage was already done.

Same thing happened in the afternoon. All in all, I would say I straight guess on 15 to 18 question because I ran out of time. I want to take it again but I don't feel like ANY amount of studying is going to improve my test taking ability and control my nerves in an actually test environment... Hope it goes better for you. The test day was pure hell because as I sat there trying to get my mind to think cognitively, it wouldn't and time continued to tick away. I would equate it to watching an oncoming train heading for something sitting on the tracks. Anyway, if you've been studying since May, you should be more than prepared on test day. Best of luck

 

[Jacob_PE]

I was prepared the first go-around. I aced the practice exam. However, once they handed out the test booklet, my went blank... So guess it was mostly anxiety. I even forgot to put my name on the front of the test (a proctor had to point it out). The "bubbling in of my name" before the test was even a challenge because I was so stressed. Guess it was a severe test anxiety. I settled down about halfway through the morning section but the damage was already done.
Same thing happened in the afternoon. All in all, I would say I straight guess on 15 to 18 question because I ran out of time. I want to take it again but I don't feel like ANY amount of studying is going to improve my test taking ability and control my nerves in an actually test environment... Hope it goes better for you. The test day was pure hell because as I sat there trying to get my mind to think cognitively, it wouldn't and time continued to tick away. I would equate it to watching an oncoming train heading for something sitting on the tracks. Anyway, if you've been studying since May, you should be more than prepared on test day. Best of luck

I'm normally a really nervous guy myself, I remember being really nervous on the day of the FE exam but when I saw this soft ball question, It settled me down into thinking the test wasn't so impossible after all. I'm gonna take the advice given on this thread and read through all the problems and on each one underlinine exactly what they want and ranking them 1,2,3 for easy,medium,hard. Once I get the 1s out of the way, and I know they will be there, I'll have enough confidence to kill the rest. Something else that I think helped settle me down were the snickers bars I took into the FE exam. Everything looks easier when you're eating a chocolate candy bar.

 

[markS]

What helped me in the exam was the exam experience. It's one thing to study and learn the material, and very often quite different to take an exam. That's why I believe in solving question especially the ones that have appeared in previous exams.

I am looking for a website where we can discuss questions in detail and take sample exams.