Sharing Computer Based Exam (CBT) experience - PE Mechanical Engineering

[FA_Mechanical engineer]

Hi All,
Happy New Year. I am wishing the best to you all in year 2021. First I would like to apologize not providing my feedback on my PE mechanical (HVAC & R) exam results in Oct 2020 because of various reasons but I am excited to share that I have passed the exam. I took the test late Sept 2020. Boy!!! I tell you what it was one of the most unique experiences I have witnessed. It was not an easy one due to the fact that I decided to take the exam 13 years after my graduation from Masters in mechanical engineering and decided to self study for 5 to 6 months with some gaps in between to take some rest and still enjoy time with my wife and 2 kids.

Below is what I have done to pass the PE exam,

1. Started with PPI practice problem first. It was way to difficult for me initially, I studied it for 3 months or so to keep my self busy and reading through the background information as well as using the reference manual.

2. The next step was to dive into the practice manual from Engineering pro guides with some good problems. The problems were easy but I started to get a little more focused toward the final exam using this manual. The manual was very helpful overall.

3. Finally, 6 weeks out from exam, I started to take Engineering pro guide final exam as well as NCEES final exam. Did ok in both tests on the first attempt and I was not very happy but I did it 5 times each to get 100% correct in the end. NCEES practice exam was very helpful to get the feel for the final PE exam.

4. Took 3 days complete rest not looking any exam material and took the exam late Sept 2020. I am happy to say that I passed the exam with lots of prayers from my loved ones.

5. Got results within 7 business days.

Good luck to you all

Best Regards,

FA_Mechanical Engineer

 

[oshah34]

Hey all, just wanted to say thanks to everyone sharing their exam experiences. And congratulations to anyone and everyone that has passed!

All of these posts are helping in mentally preparing for the exam, especially small details that you don't always see in study guides or practice exams, like using the NCEES reference manual. I didn't know that you could draw lines on it, that would help greatly for the psych chart and Mollier.

I am about a month out from taking the CBT TFS exam here in NY. I've been using Slay the PE and I cannot stress enough how useful it is. Great for people that want to self-study and the Slack group that they have is invaluable.

 

[Slay the P.E.]

Hey all, just wanted to say thanks to everyone sharing their exam experiences. And congratulations to anyone and everyone that has passed!

All of these posts are helping in mentally preparing for the exam, especially small details that you don't always see in study guides or practice exams, like using the NCEES reference manual. I didn't know that you could draw lines on it, that would help greatly for the psych chart and Mollier.

I am about a month out from taking the CBT TFS exam here in NY. I've been using Slay the PE and I cannot stress enough how useful it is. Great for people that want to self-study and the Slack group that they have is invaluable.

Thanks for the kind words!

 

[Derpify]

Resurrecting an old thread to share my PE exam experience in 2023. I took the MDM PE exam earlier this month and passed.

1. Overall difficulty level?
Hard (mainly due to the PM portion of the exam, see answer to 3. for details).

2. Question outside the NCEES reference manual? If yes difficulty level.
Yes. There were a surprising amount of conceptual problems where the answer could not be found or derived from the reference manual. You just had to know it...

3. Best practice problem book to be used for CBT based on the difficulty level? For eg. PPI Mechanical engineering practice problem, 14th edition, NCEES practice exam etc.
I wish I worked more problems from the PPI Practice Problem Book. For my exam, the PM portion reflected the difficulty of PPI problems. The AM portion reflected the difficulty of the NCEES practice exam problems.

4. When did you get the test results?
I got the test results 1 week from taking the exam.

 

[Pra4surf1]

Resurrecting an old thread to share my PE exam experience in 2023. I took the MDM PE exam earlier this month and passed.

1. Overall difficulty level?
Hard (mainly due to the PM portion of the exam, see answer to 3. for details).

2. Question outside the NCEES reference manual? If yes difficulty level.
Yes. There were a surprising amount of conceptual problems where the answer could not be found or derived from the reference manual. You just had to know it...

3. Best practice problem book to be used for CBT based on the difficulty level? For eg. PPI Mechanical engineering practice problem, 14th edition, NCEES practice exam etc.
I wish I worked more problems from the PPI Practice Problem Book. For my exam, the PM portion reflected the difficulty of PPI problems. The AM portion reflected the difficulty of the NCEES practice exam problems.

4. When did you get the test results?
I got the test results 1 week from taking the exam.

Congrats on your success!