Testmasters

[IlPadrino]

I, too, had a problem with getting the Testmasters class in my choice of location. I wanted Oregon but they didn't have enough demand so I had to go to Tempe, AZ. Even though I ended up having to fly out there three times, it was still worth it.

If you could buy the notes, I'd say do it in a heartbeat... but I'm not sure they'll do that. I wanted to buy the FE notes for one of my Lieutenants who's deploying to Iraq in September until March and so can't attend the class in person. At first they said no, but after a little insistence and explanation about how we can all do our part to support our troops, they decided to do it. I'm glad they did and it'll be a great help to her while she's in Iraq.

 

[Andros]

Hey Everyone,

Testmasters was not a bad course,

However it will not prove profitable unless you study on your own. Its like a Rerun...Once you have seen before it becomes easy...

I am awaiting my results to see the positive in CIvil PE from DC.

I also used six minutes for environmental, water and geotech and some additional books for review like METCALF and EDDY, Hydrology Book and ofcourse cerm. Spent approximately three months studying at 2hrs a day.

 

[fhredd90]

I took EE review course in Houston, TX. I passed the first time. I feel that the review course focused my studying. The notes were an excellent source. I also enjoyed the lectures and they were valuable because the instructor showed shortcuts or easier ways to get the correct answer that were not shown during my academic years.

 

[dmercado_PE]

I took EE review course in Houston, TX. I passed the first time. I feel that the review course focused my studying. The notes were an excellent source. I also enjoyed the lectures and they were valuable because the instructor showed shortcuts or easier ways to get the correct answer that were not shown during my academic years.

Congrats fhredd90! I took the EE Testmasters review and workshop in Houston too. I passed as well.

 

[LindaM]

I also took the Testmaster's course -- in Dallas. I did not study prior to the course and it definitely identified the areas where I needed to focus my study efforts. I studied about 1-2 hours per night once the course was done. About a month of studying. Preparation is important, but confidence is important too. I for one think 2-3 months of studying shows a lack of confidence. Maybe that's just me...but I think if you are ready to review and seal plans, you should just need to review some of the stuff you don't use daily. I see too many people on this board that lack that self-confidence. Believing in yourself if the first step to success!

 

[squishles10]

Hey Linda- you got an account huh? PS- she also passed after taking this course so I'll be taking it even though I have all her notes.

 

[ClemsonEngr]

Like Road Guy said in the first post, classes are great, but it will also require lots of time studying before and after the class. The class is a good way to outline the material and to get help when you get stuck. BUT don't think that a class alone will get you ready for the exam.

 

[IlPadrino]

Like Road Guy said in the first post, classes are great, but it will also require lots of time studying before and after the class. The class is a good way to outline the material and to get help when you get stuck. BUT don't think that a class alone will get you ready for the exam.

It did for me... I took the course the last few days of March and into April 2007, studied about another 20 hours (mostly going over the sample problems from the notes), and passed on my first try.

The notes were more valuable than the lectures (except for Dr. Israni). It's funny, though, because I think I probably had the same guys as Road Guy (certianly the old Geo fossil!).

Bottom line: Everyone's different and for most everyone, we'll never know what really got them through (assuming they did at least two things).

 

[LindaM]

It did for me... I took the course the last few days of March and into April 2007, studied about another 20 hours (mostly going over the sample problems from the notes), and passed on my first try.
The notes were more valuable than the lectures (except for Dr. Israni). It's funny, though, because I think I probably had the same guys as Road Guy (certianly the old Geo fossil!).

Bottom line: Everyone's different and for most everyone, we'll never know what really got them through (assuming they did at least two things).

See, I agree with you... 20 hours is about reasonable in addition to a prep course which focuses your studying efforts. People that study for 300 hours...wow. To me that seems excessive, but if that's what someone needs to do to feel confident, then DO THAT.

In addition to studying, I spent at least that amount of time organizing the reference materials and making notes for myself. The last day before the exam, all I did was review the formula sheets and made a small notebook of each emphasis area with the important formulas, cross-referenced to pages in the CERM or my notes. This was what I used for most of the "work" problems (as opposed to theory questions).

I found all of the lectures from Testmaster's extremely beneficial. The Transportation, Structures and Geotech review areas were the most helpful to me. Definitely, I was able to answer some questions that became "give me's" only because of what I learned in this course.

 

[LindaM]

I have seen several reviews of the Testmasters courses saying how much they helped. However, I live in CA and don't have access to the courses. Is there any way to get/purchase the class notes?
Thx

I don't really think the notes would be that helpful without the "instructions" that go with them. The instructors explain how to use the tables, what is important and what is not. Not that the material is copywrited, but I don't think it is ethical to "sell" the notes from this course. I guess if you want to give someone your notes, there is nothing wrong with that, but to sell them...I would really question your ethics -- this is the business of these people, they have worked hard to put together a successful course to help US succeed.

Integrity is so important as an engineer ... just think about the guy who posted an exam question on this board and we know what happened. The same is true of sharing the work of someone else without their permission. We can help people by giving them advice, by making questions ourselves that cover the basic areas of knowledge, without giving actual test questions and without using the work of TestMasters.

I personally think that TestMasters was worth every penny. I was a first-time test taker, took the review course in Dallas because that is where I now work. However, I took the PE in Tallahassee because I lived in FL when I applied for the PE (my husband was transferred to Dallas in August).

During the course, I was disappointed in the Structures review which was my weakest area. After taking the test, the instructor covered everything that was necessary for the morning session (he offered additional instruction for the afternoon structures area which he didn't require the rest of us to attend). All of the other areas were excellent. There was nothing on the test that was a surprise, nothing that they said "would not be covered" appeared on the test.

This is not to say that ALL of the questions were like the TestMasters review. There were HARDER questions that were more in-depth than were covered or that I did not spend significant time to understand in an area outside of my concentration.

It is well to remember that no one is going to get 100% on this exam. Concentrate on the easy questions and your area of expertise and I think there are enough of those to pass. Don't try to get EVERY question. Some are best just to skip because they take too much time.

I left the morning with over 1.5 hours left, knowing that there were some questions that I did not get right, but that I made an educated guess at answering. Even if I had spent the 1.5 hours on THOSE problems, I don't think I would have improved my score. I concentrated on what I did know, got 32-34 of those answered (which is over 75%) and didn't worry about those 6-8 I was unsure of.

FOR THOSE TAKING THE TEST AS REPEATS -- DON'T WORRY SO MUCH ABOUT EVERY PROBLEM. CONCENTRATE ON WHAT YOU ARE GOOD AT FIRST AS WELL AS THE "LOOK UP" QUESTIONS, THEN YOU WILL BUILD YOUR CONFIDENCE!

THIS TEST IS AS MUCH ABOUT STRATEGY AND CONFIDENCE AS IT IS ABOUT WHAT YOU KNOW!

GO FORTH AND BELIEVE YOU WILL PASS -- THEN AND ONLY THEN WILL YOU INSURE THAT THIS IS TRUE!

 

[IlPadrino]

I don't really think the notes would be that helpful without the "instructions" that go with them. The instructors explain how to use the tables, what is important and what is not. Not that the material is copywrited, but I don't think it is ethical to "sell" the notes from this course. I guess if you want to give someone your notes, there is nothing wrong with that, but to sell them...I would really question your ethics -- this is the business of these people, they have worked hard to put together a successful course to help US succeed.

I agree with much of your post but for two things...

1) I think the notes were a lot more valuable than the instructions. In fact, some of the instruction was an absolute waste of time (you can read about my detailed assessment of Testmasters elsewhere here). Granted, there were some portions of the notes that were recommended to skip over, and having done so, I don't regret it in the least. But to say the notes wouldn't be helpful without the instructions is way off base, in my opinion of course.

2) I think you're backwards on the ethical issues of selling the notes. I can see of no problem with selling what you paid for. It happens every day with books, music, etc. Why should Testmasters be any different? Understand I'm not talking about selling photocopies of the notes - that's a different matter.