i think it's more so you don't spill or get chocolate on your exam booklets than cheating. i got called out SO MANY times because i would drink from my water bottle and then forget to put it ON THE FLOOR instead of the table ooooopsies! my advice - bring a couple disposable water bottles and some granola bars, if they let you in with it, you're fueled, if they don't, not much of a loss.
Table set up at exam
- Thread starter bellalshaaban
- Start date
Help Support Professional Engineer & PE Exam Forum:
leggo PE
Straight Waffle-izer
Wow, I'm really glad I was allowed food and water (I tested in California). I keep myself very hydrated during the day (and thus am very aware when I am dehydrated), and also have trained my body to eat at very specific times of the day. I was very uncomfortable during the 2.5 hour state specific exams! I can't imagine going 4 hours from roughly 8 am to 12 pm, then again from 1 pm to 5 pm (or longer, with the reading of the rules and such) with no food, and especially no water.
Good luck to those who have to do it that way! Hopefully you're not like me.
Good luck to those who have to do it that way! Hopefully you're not like me.
Surf and Snow
PE Power Engineer
Well crap, now you just shook me all up. Does that happen? Forget just the price of the books, I'd be more upset that if I come back from lunch and find someone stole a bunch of my references, my afternoon testing is tanked. What do people do? Stay at their table during lunch? Take all their books with them? I'd like to think that proctors monitor the room during lunch break, and that in addition to ethics being a part of the PE, folks wouldn't want to risk being expelled, failed and potentially permanently banned to steal a $100 book. Hoping your paranoia causing my new found paranoia is just that, and not an actual valid concern or common occurrence... :mellow:
youngmotivatedengineer
Well-known member
Not sure about all locations, but when I took it at NJIT in NJ, they locked the room during lunch. For rooms that can't be locked, I would imagine they'd have someone watching it, especially for all the test materials in the room.
Ramnares P.E.
Well-known member
- Joined
- Feb 6, 2013
- Messages
- 9,212
- Reaction score
- 1,303
I also took it in NYC but if I recall correctly, I left all my materials in the room. I believe they locked the room and certainly by the time I returned for the afternoon session it was swarming with proctors.
Sorry, I didn't mean to scare anyone. But like I said, being from NYC brings out the cautious side of me. Realistically though, I don't think you need to worry about theft.
I don't think you need to be sorry. In fact, thank you! Makes my brain relax more knowing my stuff will be secured during lunch break. I just bought the same at home depot.
Surf and Snow
PE Power Engineer
I’m sticking with a backpack. Easier mobility. I’ll stick my books on the table or floor if I need to. Going with the K.I.S.S. method. 
FWIW I've never heard any stories of things going missing during the tests. You shouldn't worry about it.
I can sympathize with the paranoia. I'm originally from Philly so theft is something I thought about too. To be safe they locked the room during the lunch period in Maryland - so the time window for theft by another examinee would have been limited. I doubt the proctors would even know what to steal.
I left everything at my desk. I was taking a rare exam so I figured no one else would take my references. I'd have to have been a random victim of a chaos muppet for anything to be stolen or moved around.
But when you think about it: you are taking a test with a bunch of people in the same situation as yourself. Everyone there has to have at least decent character level to be allowed to take the exam. Chances are a bunch of them will have security clearances or could get one if needed. Everyone is stressed out, solely focused on their own test and probably too emotionally and mentally exhausted to care about anything else. Unless someone forgot a reference, gets desperate, and has a serious lack of ethics they're just going to leave you and your stuff alone. Everyone wants to pass the test and doesn't want to screw it up by doing something ethically stupid like theft.
Surf and Snow
PE Power Engineer
Last edited by a moderator:
Surf and Snow
PE Power Engineer
Following up so that this post might be helpful to some engineer searching for this in the future:
Test date: 4/13/18
Test location: Salem, OR at the Oregon State Fairgrounds Expo Center - Columbia Hall (research seemed to indicate its always here)
Table set-up: Very large 2' x 8' folding table, one person per table. You could put as many books on the table as you wanted. Any bags/boxes/bins/crates/food/drink etc... had to be on the floor, not allowed on the table, but you could have them on the floor right next to you. I had a small rolling suitcase that I kept right next my chair within arms reach. Sections were in columns of 10 tables with rows of 3 tables, per proctor (ie 1 proctor per 30 test takers in each section). I've read lots of stuff on here about evil proctors, but mine seemed pretty cool. Younger girl in her 20's, lots of tattoos, walked around in socks the whole time and was very friendly and quite sweet actually. Not to suggest the rules weren't applied of course, but she wasn't the nightmare strict evil proctor that I hear about.
Time keeping: Important note: There was not a single clock in the whole building. Wearing a watch is a MUST. From the time the test starts, there is not a single time check announced until the 15-minute warning, then 5-minute, then 1-minute. So for 3:45 you are on your own to know how your pace and time management is going. I STRONGLY RECOMMEND WEARING A WATCH! If you dont have one, or only have a smart watch, you can buy a cheap basic watch for <$5. Do it. You will need it. And you cannot place watches or clocks or stopwatches on the table. It must be wrist worn.
Security: Everyone was required to vacate the building during lunch, proctors stay there. Video surveillance is present and posted. Everyone including me left their stuff at their table. I didn't worry. No one is there without being, registered I.D.'d and on camera. They'd be pretty stupid to try to steal a book and risk losing their ability to get a PE license, face criminal charges, losing their job etc.
Without getting into the test itself, the test location experience was great. everyone was very nice, and having a huge table and my suitcase at my side was much nicer than what I've heard others experienced. Would recommend if you are between locations.
Test date: 4/13/18
Test location: Salem, OR at the Oregon State Fairgrounds Expo Center - Columbia Hall (research seemed to indicate its always here)
Table set-up: Very large 2' x 8' folding table, one person per table. You could put as many books on the table as you wanted. Any bags/boxes/bins/crates/food/drink etc... had to be on the floor, not allowed on the table, but you could have them on the floor right next to you. I had a small rolling suitcase that I kept right next my chair within arms reach. Sections were in columns of 10 tables with rows of 3 tables, per proctor (ie 1 proctor per 30 test takers in each section). I've read lots of stuff on here about evil proctors, but mine seemed pretty cool. Younger girl in her 20's, lots of tattoos, walked around in socks the whole time and was very friendly and quite sweet actually. Not to suggest the rules weren't applied of course, but she wasn't the nightmare strict evil proctor that I hear about.
Time keeping: Important note: There was not a single clock in the whole building. Wearing a watch is a MUST. From the time the test starts, there is not a single time check announced until the 15-minute warning, then 5-minute, then 1-minute. So for 3:45 you are on your own to know how your pace and time management is going. I STRONGLY RECOMMEND WEARING A WATCH! If you dont have one, or only have a smart watch, you can buy a cheap basic watch for <$5. Do it. You will need it. And you cannot place watches or clocks or stopwatches on the table. It must be wrist worn.
Security: Everyone was required to vacate the building during lunch, proctors stay there. Video surveillance is present and posted. Everyone including me left their stuff at their table. I didn't worry. No one is there without being, registered I.D.'d and on camera. They'd be pretty stupid to try to steal a book and risk losing their ability to get a PE license, face criminal charges, losing their job etc.
Without getting into the test itself, the test location experience was great. everyone was very nice, and having a huge table and my suitcase at my side was much nicer than what I've heard others experienced. Would recommend if you are between locations.
Last edited by a moderator:
I'll add here too, NYC area it was given in a gymnasium at Queens College, everyone got a 2.5'x2.5' table for all their materials. Books, crates, and boxes coud be placed on the floor next to your table, but there was only 2' between your table and the ones on either side, could only have a couple books actually on the table at a time, not allowed a big stack. I was barely able to fit all my codes for the Structural depth under my table and on my left side (the area to my right was used by the person on my right). All other bags and items had to be left at the proctor's table, including lunch bags, water bottles, ect. You were not permitted any drinks during the exam. If you had to use the bathroom you had to ask the proctor for a pass, only one person in the section of about 50 people could go to the bathroom at a time, and the bathroom were out the gym, down a floor, and on the other end of the building so it was like a 10 minute round trip walk. There was no clock in the gym, and everyone was required to leave the building during lunch (not just the gym), everyone left their materials in the gym during the lunch break. The proctors were nice but serious, a lot more relaxed after the exam finished.
Yup, my table was shaking lol and seating at that bucket chair made the test 20% harder jajaja
I'll add some more info as @Surf and Snow did.
Test date: 4/13/18
Test location: Raleigh, NC (McKimmon Center at NC State University)
Table set-up: Large 2.5' x 10' folding table, two people per table. You could keep books on the table so long as they were standing upright or placed in such a way that the proctors couldn't easily see your test. Bags, shelves, boxes, etc had to stay on the floor. Food and drink could not be placed on the table, not even a bottle of water. I had a folding wagon that I rolled halfway under the table, this kept it out of the aisle and my books were easily accessible (photo below). There are multiple rooms in the McKimmon center, two big rooms (room 1 has about 330 people, room 2 has about 150 people, rooms 3-5 have about 40 people each). You don't get to choose which room you are in, you are assigned. Room 1 was laid out in columns with the center columns being two tables together, so not every seat is on the aisle. The proctors were pretty nice, it's a slow process passing out and collecting all the materials so expect to be patient.
Time keeping: There were clocks in the big room 1, but I couldn't see it well enough from my seat for it to have been of use (I have 20/20 vision, do not wear glasses or contacts). Plan to wear a watch or bring a clock to go under the table. You cannot set a wristwatch on the table, it must go under the table or on your wrist.
Parking: Arrive early, there is plenty of parking but the later you arrive the farther away you'll have to park. The parking lot is on a hill so if you have a rolling suitcase/wagon/crate/etc. be prepared to pull it up a hill toward the building.
Lunch: There are lots of places outside and inside to eat lunch. There's a cafe on site but it may or may not be open. There are lots of fast food joints close by. I packed my lunch and ate with friends at a table outside in the sun, it was a nice break. I didn't want to risk leaving the site to get lunch, just in case.
Security: The testing rooms were closed during lunch. You had to use your authorization and ID to get back in for the afternoon session. Don't leave your keys inside if you left your lunch in your car, I saw several people unable to get back in to get their keys and couldn't get into their cars during the break.
Restrooms: There were only two restrooms and one of the ladies rooms was closed for some reason. The lines got a little long but luckily there's a lot more men who take this exam than women.
Test date: 4/13/18
Test location: Raleigh, NC (McKimmon Center at NC State University)
Table set-up: Large 2.5' x 10' folding table, two people per table. You could keep books on the table so long as they were standing upright or placed in such a way that the proctors couldn't easily see your test. Bags, shelves, boxes, etc had to stay on the floor. Food and drink could not be placed on the table, not even a bottle of water. I had a folding wagon that I rolled halfway under the table, this kept it out of the aisle and my books were easily accessible (photo below). There are multiple rooms in the McKimmon center, two big rooms (room 1 has about 330 people, room 2 has about 150 people, rooms 3-5 have about 40 people each). You don't get to choose which room you are in, you are assigned. Room 1 was laid out in columns with the center columns being two tables together, so not every seat is on the aisle. The proctors were pretty nice, it's a slow process passing out and collecting all the materials so expect to be patient.
Time keeping: There were clocks in the big room 1, but I couldn't see it well enough from my seat for it to have been of use (I have 20/20 vision, do not wear glasses or contacts). Plan to wear a watch or bring a clock to go under the table. You cannot set a wristwatch on the table, it must go under the table or on your wrist.
Parking: Arrive early, there is plenty of parking but the later you arrive the farther away you'll have to park. The parking lot is on a hill so if you have a rolling suitcase/wagon/crate/etc. be prepared to pull it up a hill toward the building.
Lunch: There are lots of places outside and inside to eat lunch. There's a cafe on site but it may or may not be open. There are lots of fast food joints close by. I packed my lunch and ate with friends at a table outside in the sun, it was a nice break. I didn't want to risk leaving the site to get lunch, just in case.
Security: The testing rooms were closed during lunch. You had to use your authorization and ID to get back in for the afternoon session. Don't leave your keys inside if you left your lunch in your car, I saw several people unable to get back in to get their keys and couldn't get into their cars during the break.
Restrooms: There were only two restrooms and one of the ladies rooms was closed for some reason. The lines got a little long but luckily there's a lot more men who take this exam than women.
Audi Driver P.E.
Well-known member
- Joined
- Sep 21, 2015
- Messages
- 4,851
- Reaction score
- 1,675
Yep. I used just a handful of books. But the MERM and the Unit conversion book were always open.
Was it vertical during the test? Which testing location let you get away with that set up?
Szar
Commander of the Legion of the Unholy Pear
Yes it was stacked just like that for the test. I wouldn't understand why a testing facility would have an issue with this.
I had it set up directly to the left of my chair with the splines facing me. If they allow plastic tubs and suitcases, they should allow this too.
