Really Really Having Tough Time Getting Over 50% Correct On This Test

[mcordivari]

Hello All,

   I haven't been on this site since I last attempted the Mechanical Systems and Materials PE in April of last year.  I made a valiant effort to pass the exam early last year.  I took the School of PE course, I studied as much as possible in my free time, essentially gave up a lot as mostly everybody does for this exam.  I was very disappointed to learn in June that I had failed, with a 37/80 test score.  At that point I had even debated on even trying to take it again in the future.  Ultimately, I dusted off my ego late last summer and skipped last October's exam as I got married last September.  I decided I'd go full throttle on studying for the April 2016 exam after the Christmas season. 

   Fast forward to this spring.  This time around, I abandoned the School of PE's free re-take policy.  Part of my decision to do so was because they practically wanted my birth certificate and health records to certify that I failed the exam.  Also, I had scored a 37/80 after taking their course last time so it honestly must not have been that helpful anyway despite their "94% of students pass" statement.  I decided to take a new study approach for the April 2016 exam.  This time, I bought the practice problem companion to the MERM and went through the entire book, answering as many questions as possible within the last 2 months.  This past weekend, I took the NCEES sample exam for my discipline, Mechanical Systems and Materials.  I was very optimistic this time around since I had worked TONS of problems from the MERM companion.  I set up my home office just like a real exam, I had ear plugs, a stop watch, asked the wife to leave the house, the whole nine yards.  I must say I was extremely disappointed to score 39/80 after an additional 2 months of studying for this go around. 

   I have recently debated simply cancelling my exam registration and salvaging some of my costs incurred, as it doesn't look good for me at this point.  However, looking up the exam policy indicates I am S-O-L on re-cooping any funds 45 days prior to the exam.  I am going to study the heck out of this sample exam, as some of the questions seem identical to what was on last year's exam.  My question to you all is, how helpful is this NCEES exam with regards to a study guide?  Have any of you had similar situations with your studies where you have scored poorly and turned around and passed the exam?  I feel like I can't go on like this giving up my life and then failing this exam every time.  I need to figure out whether I should cut ties with this or try a different approach.  Am I getting psyched out?!  Any advice is greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Mike

 

[Audi Driver P.E.]

The sample NCEES exam problems (both sets) were the only problems I really worked.  The key to passing is, when you miss a problem, what do you do to learn that subject matter?  When you review the subjects you miss problems from, you should be understanding the underlying principles of the subject, not just how to work that problem.  If you don't, you're not going to pass, plain and simple.  There really is no magic problem set that if you do those, you'll pass.  Either you know the material, or you don't.  So, at this point, I recommend still taking the exam, I mean the only thing you really lose is 8hrs.  Between now and then, you're going to have to review the subjects you're shortfalling until you can basically teach someone else how to do problems from that subject.  Another key for your exam day will be to just relax.  Keep your pace working problems and try not to take it too seriously.  Sometimes nervousness will kill you more than anything else.  If you run into specific questions about problems you're working post them on up in the approriate subforum.  Good luck.

 

[mcordivari]

Thanks for the advice I appreciate it!  I'll continue to review the exam sample problems, their solutions, and do the 6 minute solutions.

Mike

 

[cupojoe PE PMP]

See my comments on this thread:

 

[WingNut]

Mike-- OK, let's not panic!  You are a smart guy-- you can do this.  Don't introduce self doubt on this.  You need to really understand the principle that is being tested.  No, not memorize it, understand it.  There is a difference.  Understanding the principles that are being tested will be 99% of the solution to the problem.  You have time to conquer this challenge this time-- you are a smart guy-- you got through engineering school-- don't make this any more complicated than it is.

Go back and review each problem-- make sure that you know what they are asking for and then give it back.  Remember, this is a BS level examination, you have studied all of this material in school.  You have paid your money, no reason to bail out now.

Put your shoulder to the wheel and push-- push hard-- I know that you will do well and have this examination over with in Mid April.  You can do this.

 

[thekzieg]

Mike, WingNut is right. You're smart. You can do this!

It took me two tries to pass the PE and I found when taking the practice exams that I did pretty terribly.

On my second go-around studying I decided to write out the steps to solving the problems I missed on the practice exams in order to better wrap my brain around how the problems are solved. Something about writing out the theoretical steps (without using the problem-specific numbers) in a way that made sense to me helped to solidify the concepts in my brain (not to mention that you can take all of those pages with you into the exam, so long as they are in a binder). The key is to find a way to translate what the books are saying into a language that your brain can digest.

You've got this, Mike. Keep your chin up. 

 

[NYCProjectEngineer PE PMP]

The sample NCEES exam problems (both sets) were the only problems I really worked.  The key to passing is, when you miss a problem, what do you do to learn that subject matter?  When you review the subjects you miss problems from, you should be understanding the underlying principles of the subject, not just how to work that problem.  If you don't, you're not going to pass, plain and simple.  There really is no magic problem set that if you do those, you'll pass.  Either you know the material, or you don't.  So, at this point, I recommend still taking the exam, I mean the only thing you really lose is 8hrs.  Between now and then, you're going to have to review the subjects you're shortfalling until you can basically teach someone else how to do problems from that subject.  Another key for your exam day will be to just relax.  Keep your pace working problems and try not to take it too seriously.  Sometimes nervousness will kill you more than anything else.  If you run into specific questions about problems you're working post them on up in the approriate subforum.  Good luck.

I agree with this 100%. Practice problems are good to reinforce your ability to apply the engineering principles being tested on the exam... but if you do not understand the underlying principles then doing practice problems ad nauseam is not the right approach. 

 

[mcordivari]

Thanks for the great advice, guys.  I'm going to take a different approach to my final studies and write out the solutions step by step like some of you mentioned, learning as I go.  I'll keep you all posted.

Mike

 

[JHW 3d]

Care to share which areas you struggled with on the exam last year? How did that knowledge factor in to your prep this time around? Have you read through those trouble areas in the MERM? Independent of "doing problems and getting them correct" do you feel like you qualitatively understand that material better than last time?

You mentioned you bought the MERM companion problems "answering as many problems as possible the last two months." Did you focus on any sections in particular? Two months is not enough (IMO) to go through even the essential sections, let alone the whole book. I suppose if you look at each solution without attempting/struggling to do the problem it's possible in two months, but I never understood why anyone would do that. You end up learning how to do MERM companion-specific problems, possibly at the expense of learning, and then owning, the fundamental concept of the problem -- a process which often takes struggling at first to pull together "what you know" from the theory, and then discovering what critical piece you were missing from your understanding. Learning how to do MERM companion-specific problems isn't even useful -- they don't represent the exam problems -- they do, however, help to distill out the important concept, which is much more powerful anyway.

 

[RockChalkEngineer]

At this point you should already know the underlying principles of the subject you are taking so studying theory is prob gonna be a waste of time. I would focus on understanding the test itself. The biggest pain of the test can actually be the greatest asset, the distractor answers.The distractor answers can suck when you get the result after making a simple mistake, however knowing they are there and how you think they are going to try and trick you can be very advantages. If you can eliminate 1 or 2 answers from the start then your odds improve greatly. When I took the exam before going to solve the problem I would try to find and eliminate the distractor answers or at least be privy to which answers they might be. Also before you go to start solving the problem ask yourself what or where is the most likely place for a mistake to be made (alot of time it is units or where you actually need to measure from, elimitating usless info at the beginning is helpfull also). Also if you have no idea on a problem skip it and come back if you have time (if you have to guses pick the same lether each time, i chose c). I guessed on 5-8 questions on morning and afternoon exam because i skipped, went to the next problem, and solved ones i actually knew. These things helped me pass so hopefully they will help you. (Disclaimer I took the civil water resources exam but think this advice should apply to ME also)

 

[mcordivari]

Thanks guys.  JHW, what twists me up on the test is when they take one theory and mix it with another.  Say for example, a thermo problem using steam to push a lever that generates a force based on right angles and velocity.  There's so many variables it ends up getting the best of me.  I went through the book and answered as many reasonable questions as possible given the amount of time I had to study (3 months total).  I spent an equal amount of time on each subject, and would throw out the obvious book subjects that I knew for a fact weren't on the test (i.e. calculus integrals, illumination and sound, linear programming, etc.).  I really forced myself to struggle with the problems, and did on a regular basis.  The latter parts of the chapters had problems so intense they actually had a 1 hour time limit on them, so I would review them rather than study them.  What really grinds my gears is for 2 months I studied religiously, then the test comes and I get nearly the same grade as last time.  I'm reviewing my sample test and finding out where I went wrong.  It looks like a lot of unit conversions were messed up, and some key formulas that I couldn't find in the MERM index.  Oh well, I'll try this go around and see if I have a slim chance of passing.  Looks like I'll be trying to find a new discipline to take this in for the next go around.  Thanks guys.

 

[Audi Driver P.E.]

sounds like you could really benefit from Lindeburg's unit conversion book.  If you ask me, apart from the MERM it's the most important reference for your exam.

 

[Monza]

Some good advice here. When I was studying and took a practice exam for the first time, afterward I categorized all of he problems I got wrong. For me, most of the errors were due to simple mistakes, usually with units. For example, in calculating losses in a piping system one of the problems gave all the supporting info in head. I calculated the final loss in head (ft). But the question asked for this in pressure (psi), but the head answer was there as one of the options. During the actual exam I circled the units required by each question. After working my solution I would verify my units versus the circled units to make sure I was answering what was being asked. I did much better on my next practice exam and passed the PE first time.

The key is understanding where you are making mistakes. As others have said, if it is the fundamental understanding of the topic then you need to focus on truly understanding. Sometimes it is just a matter of understanding why one equation applies instead of another. Finally, don't psyche yourself out thinking it must be harder than it is. Sometimes, the exam question was quite simple despite being given a plethora of data, much of it superfluous.