Study system summary.

[Jacob_PE]

I'd like to see study habit summaries from those scheduled to take the exam this coming October 28th and from anyone who passed on their first try.

Here's mine:

On May 1st I began a 6 month schedule I set up on the PPI website, which is based on taking the Water Resources Exam. I'm reading through each assigned CERM chapter. I've written out the solutions to all the CERM WR/ENV chapter practice problems and will be doing the same for the 6 min soln. and NCEES booklets. I'm not writing out all solutions for the morning chapters but mostly reading through them. I'm recognizing my weak spots and using other books like the M&E to try to iron them out.

 

[knight1fox3]

I'd like to see study habit summaries from those scheduled to take the exam this coming October 28th and from anyone who passed on their first try.Here's mine:

On May 1st I began a 6 month schedule I set up on the PPI website, which is based on taking the Water Resources Exam. I'm reading through each assigned CERM chapter. I've written out the solutions to all the CERM WR/ENV chapter practice problems and will be doing the same for the 6 min soln. and NCEES booklets. I'm not writing out all solutions for the morning chapters but mostly reading through them. I'm recognizing my weak spots and using other books like the M&E to try to iron them out.

Hi Jacob. Have you seen this thread yet? It is a pretty good compilation of the different strategies people used to pass the exam whether it was the first attempt or multiple attempts.

 

[Jacob_PE]

I'd like to see study habit summaries from those scheduled to take the exam this coming October 28th and from anyone who passed on their first try.Here's mine:

On May 1st I began a 6 month schedule I set up on the PPI website, which is based on taking the Water Resources Exam. I'm reading through each assigned CERM chapter. I've written out the solutions to all the CERM WR/ENV chapter practice problems and will be doing the same for the 6 min soln. and NCEES booklets. I'm not writing out all solutions for the morning chapters but mostly reading through them. I'm recognizing my weak spots and using other books like the M&E to try to iron them out.

Hi Jacob. Have you seen this thread yet? It is a pretty good compilation of the different strategies people used to pass the exam whether it was the first attempt or multiple attempts.

Thanks. I have seen that thread. Still interested in hearing about current routines from people preparing for the fall exam. Although I can see how one might argue that the thread says it all.

 

[stevenson]

Some people find it helpful to use specific study systems in their academic career. One of these study systems has the interesting title and acronym of "M.U.R.D.E.R.". Another good study system is the Index Study System.

 

[Jacob_PE]

Some people find it helpful to use specific study systems in their academic career. One of these study systems has the interesting title and acronym of "M.U.R.D.E.R.". Another good study system is the Index Study System.

Thought your murder comment some kind of gag but i looked it up and there it is:

Mood:

Set a positive mood for yourself to study in.

Select the appropriate time, environment, and attitude

Understand:

Mark any information you don't understand in a particular unit;

Keep a focus on one unit or a manageable group of exercises

Recall:

After studying the unit,

stop and put what you have learned into your own words

Digest:

Go back to what you did not understand and reconsider the information;

Contact external expert sources (e.g., other books or an instructor) if you still cannot understand it

Expand:

In this step, ask three kinds of questions concerning the studied material:

If I could speak to the author, what questions would I ask or what criticism would I offer?

How could I apply this material to what I am interested in?

How could I make this information interesting and understandable to other students?

Review:

Go over the material you've covered,

Review what strategies helped you understand and/or retain information in the past and apply these to your current studies

 

[envirotex]

Anybody making an index for their references? I saw that some people did this when I took the exam...I just plastic-tabbed everything with labels.

 

[PJ3346]

Anybody making an index for their references? I saw that some people did this when I took the exam...I just plastic-tabbed everything with labels.

I made a "master index" of all my books, and made a spreadsheet with every topic covered in AM and PM sections, helped me a ton in finding info and was a good tool for studying as well so I could cross reference materials in my different references.

 

[Jacob_PE]

Anybody making an index for their references? I saw that some people did this when I took the exam...I just plastic-tabbed everything with labels.

I made a "master index" of all my books, and made a spreadsheet with every topic covered in AM and PM sections, helped me a ton in finding info and was a good tool for studying as well so I could cross reference materials in my different references.

That's something I've been thinking of doing, could you upload a copy of that master index, I'd like to see how you put that together. Was the CERM you're main source of information during the exam or was something else primary?

 

[PJ3346]

Anybody making an index for their references? I saw that some people did this when I took the exam...I just plastic-tabbed everything with labels.

I made a "master index" of all my books, and made a spreadsheet with every topic covered in AM and PM sections, helped me a ton in finding info and was a good tool for studying as well so I could cross reference materials in my different references.

That's something I've been thinking of doing, could you upload a copy of that master index, I'd like to see how you put that together. Was the CERM you're main source of information during the exam or was something else primary?

PE_Exam_Index.xls

Attached you will find a copy of my master index, hopefully it is helpful. Its partially incomplete due to me writing in some of the remaining information that i put on it. CERM was my main reference, especially during the AM portion. I used it for a good portion of PM but relied more on my geotechnical references for it as needed. One trick that helped me a lot too was tabbing the index on the cerm A-Z to help find topics that may not have been on the Master Index

 

[CivilE]

PE_Exam_Index.xlsAttached you will find a copy of my master index, hopefully it is helpful. Its partially incomplete due to me writing in some of the remaining information that i put on it. CERM was my main reference, especially during the AM portion. I used it for a good portion of PM but relied more on my geotechnical references for it as needed. One trick that helped me a lot too was tabbing the index on the cerm A-Z to help find topics that may not have been on the Master Index

Thanks for sharing! That's a good idea!!

 

[Jacob_PE]

PE_Exam_Index.xlsAttached you will find a copy of my master index, hopefully it is helpful. Its partially incomplete due to me writing in some of the remaining information that i put on it. CERM was my main reference, especially during the AM portion. I used it for a good portion of PM but relied more on my geotechnical references for it as needed. One trick that helped me a lot too was tabbing the index on the cerm A-Z to help find topics that may not have been on the Master Index

Thanks for sharing! That's a good idea!!

That morning index is Gold! Too bad you didn't take the Water Resources afternoon exam. I'm waiting for my All-in-one to arrive in the mail soon, now I'll know exactly where to place its tabs. Thanks!

 

[willsee]

I passed first time April '11 - EE/Power

I started with the nCEES practice test and went through it not knowing how to do 90% of the problems, mainly to get a feel of the types of problems.

Then I worked through the Chelapati manual and Power Systems Analysis

Worked through NCEES again this time trying to find similar questions in any of my books I would be bringing to the exam.

Worked through NCEES again making sure I understood everything, had a book that was tabbed to make sure I could find the topic of the problem to be able to answer similar situations.

Worked through NCEES again under kinda sorta test conditions (I got bored after 3 hours and stopped)

 

[Will_Pass]

Anybody making an index for their references? I saw that some people did this when I took the exam...I just plastic-tabbed everything with labels.

I made a "master index" of all my books, and made a spreadsheet with every topic covered in AM and PM sections, helped me a ton in finding info and was a good tool for studying as well so I could cross reference materials in my different references.

That's something I've been thinking of doing, could you upload a copy of that master index, I'd like to see how you put that together. Was the CERM you're main source of information during the exam or was something else primary?

PE_Exam_Index.xls

Attached you will find a copy of my master index, hopefully it is helpful. Its partially incomplete due to me writing in some of the remaining information that i put on it. CERM was my main reference, especially during the AM portion. I used it for a good portion of PM but relied more on my geotechnical references for it as needed. One trick that helped me a lot too was tabbing the index on the cerm A-Z to help find topics that may not have been on the Master Index

Thanks...excellent idea!

 

[Jacob_PE]

Anybody making an index for their references? I saw that some people did this when I took the exam...I just plastic-tabbed everything with labels.

I made a "master index" of all my books, and made a spreadsheet with every topic covered in AM and PM sections, helped me a ton in finding info and was a good tool for studying as well so I could cross reference materials in my different references.

That's something I've been thinking of doing, could you upload a copy of that master index, I'd like to see how you put that together. Was the CERM you're main source of information during the exam or was something else primary?

PE_Exam_Index.xls

Attached you will find a copy of my master index, hopefully it is helpful. Its partially incomplete due to me writing in some of the remaining information that i put on it. CERM was my main reference, especially during the AM portion. I used it for a good portion of PM but relied more on my geotechnical references for it as needed. One trick that helped me a lot too was tabbing the index on the cerm A-Z to help find topics that may not have been on the Master Index

I've updated/refined the master index provided by PJ3346, thanks again for sharing that, and have filled in the Morning and WR/ENV Depth Syllabus for the CERM and All-in-one. I'll soon have the Depth Lin and M&E index columns completed. Do me a favor and look at the blacked out Goswami fields. Let me know if you can suggest a location for those.

PE_Exam_Index___WR_ENV.xls

 

[CivilE]

I've updated/refined the master index provided by PJ3346, thanks again for sharing that, and have filled in the Morning and WR/ENV Depth Syllabus for the CERM and All-in-one. I'll soon have the Depth Lin and M&E index columns completed. Do me a favor and look at the blacked out Goswami fields. Let me know if you can suggest a location for those.

Thanks for sharing that Jacob! I have been working on a similar index for the Transportation Depth and hope to have it completed and uploaded soon. With all of these "master indices" popping up now, would it be worth listing the edition used for future downloaders?

:cheers:

CivilE

 

[Dexman PE PMP]

I would add that studying routines for an exam like this needs to consider more than just exam content. It's touched upon within the MURDER system above, but I would elaborate a little more on the environment and the physical act of studying/test taking.

When you start studying (especially for those with limited available time - I had a 3yr old and a newborn as I prepared for the exam), I would recommend establishing a "study zone". Basically a place that you can set-up your books, notes, tools, etc and leave them without needing to pack them up and put them away (I got a cheapo desk from craigslist and set it up in the guest bedroom). It needs to be a place that you can effectively study (quiet, secluded, etc), but still be able to protect from friends/family/kids when you're not studying. This way you're not wasting time setting up and tearing down each time you want to study, and affords you the opportunity to do periodic "quick reviews" if you find an available 15-30 minutes during the day (before work, after you put the kids to bed, etc). It also helps get you into the mental state of studying/test taking, because you can start playing around with desk organization (where you want your book, calculator, exam booklet, answer sheet, etc.) and start streamlining your "work zone". This also helps with the subconscious and data recollection because after a while you train your brain to be in test taking mode when you sit down and your books are in certain positions.

As you get closer to the actual exam date, I would also start to focus on the physical act of test taking. Sitting quietly in one place on a metal folding chair for two 4-hour periods with only an hour break is hard enough as it is (especially for those of us in the construction field), but when combined with the brain-dump and having to handwrite equations at the same time, can become very difficult and highly stressful. You should look into taking a couple full-length practice exams in the last couple of weeks leading up to the exam to get yourself physically prepared. The part I had the hardest time getting used to was handwriting for 4 straight hours. Many of us are used to typing/texting most of what we write, and I don't know many engineers who can grab a pencil and write equations for 8 hours.

 

[Jacob_PE]

I've updated/refined the master index provided by PJ3346, thanks again for sharing that, and have filled in the Morning and WR/ENV Depth Syllabus for the CERM and All-in-one. I'll soon have the Depth Lin and M&E index columns completed. Do me a favor and look at the blacked out Goswami fields. Let me know if you can suggest a location for those.

Thanks for sharing that Jacob! I have been working on a similar index for the Transportation Depth and hope to have it completed and uploaded soon. With all of these "master indices" popping up now, would it be worth listing the edition used for future downloaders?

:cheers:

CivilE

Good Point, my CERM pages are from the 11th edition and the Goswami All-in-one book is his first edition - 2009.

 

[GrabNPavement]

I've updated/refined the master index provided by PJ3346, thanks again for sharing that, and have filled in the Morning and WR/ENV Depth Syllabus for the CERM and All-in-one. I'll soon have the Depth Lin and M&E index columns completed. Do me a favor and look at the blacked out Goswami fields. Let me know if you can suggest a location for those.

Thanks for sharing that Jacob! I have been working on a similar index for the Transportation Depth and hope to have it completed and uploaded soon. With all of these "master indices" popping up now, would it be worth listing the edition used for future downloaders?

:cheers:

CivilE

I am interested in seeing what your version of the Transportation Depth will look like. Looking forward to seeing your upload soon. I am going to be putting together my own based on what I have seen uploaded thus far. PJ3346 came up with an excellent version...it is Gold.

 

[PJ3346]

I didn't expect that the index I came up with would be such a hit! Thank you for all the kind comments!

 

[envirotex]

I didn't expect that the index I came up with would be such a hit! Thank you for all the kind comments!

You never know what might interest people around here...

Good luck with your studying!