What would you do the last week before the exam?

[MIPE]

What would you do the last week before the exam? Any advice?

 

[tj_PE]

get organized, double check you have everything, verify your testing location and route to exam site, pack it in a suitcase and relax. 

 

[Jbone27 PE]

I worked a good amount of problems the first couple days then just like @thejulie_PE, just double checked everything I packed and relaxed.

The night before I flipped through my references just to have a fresh memory where everything was but didn't attempt any problems. Then I just watched some 90's sitcoms like Friends or Seinfeld til I passed out.

I'd recommend no booze the week of. 

 

[DoctorWho-PE]

I plan to work one more practice exam this weekend, then organize, pack and relax.

 

[tua85366]

I will be taking the Buildings Lateral Forces Component on Saturday. I took the Vertical component in April (passed) and the PE Structural last October (passed).

I'll be working the NCEES Practice Exam this weekend (timed). 4 hour morning portion Saturday and 4 hour afternoon portion Sunday. Breaking it up allows me time to check my work and learn what I missed without exhausting myself in one day. Then I plan to cram as much problems in Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. I already worked problems from the IBC SEAOC Seismic Manual Vol 1, ASCE Wind Design Example Problems, Bridge Problems for the SE Exam, All-In-One SE Exam Guide, PPI Practice Exam & Seismic and Wind Forces Structural Design Examples. I plan to work 6-Minute Solutions and Kaplan Brightwood SE Exam Problems those three days.

Friday will be a down day for relaxing. I will not study or look at anything.

 

[matt267 PE]

Don't try that new Mexican restaurant....or do.  

I spent the week leading up to the exam reading through my binders of notes.  

 

[leggo PE]

I'm pretty sure this what my schedule looked like the last time I took it (and finally passed):

Saturday before: Took 8 hour NCEES practice exam again (I'd already taken it at least once)

Sunday before: Went through practice exam solutions and analyzed results (were there any particular discipline subsections I was still struggling with? Was I making any dumb mistakes that are totally avoidable? Etc.)

Monday/Tuesday before: Did some practice problems related to the analysis of my exam results, but didn't go crazy on them. Sleep was a priority.

Wednesday before: Doublechecked that I had my exam authorization printed out in multiple places, made sure I had all of my references available and tabbed.

Thursday before: No studying that night! Packed up my Bankers boxes into my suitcase, and loaded into the car. Prepped my lunch and snacks for the next day. Ate a good dinner. Tried to get to bed early and get some rest.

Friday, day of: Got up super early and drove to the exam site! I got there around 6:30, and I think they wanted us there by 7 or 7:15.

Good luck! Not that you'll need it, of course. You've got this!

 

[onemanwolfpack]

+1 to Leggo's schedule. Pretty much did the same for the Lateral test this past spring, and I'm planning to do the same for the Vertical next week. Although I got a little extra sleep, probably didnt show up to the exam site till 7:15am. Additionally, I took off of work a few days prior just to be able to relax some. 

 

[TehMightyEngineer]

Lots of great suggestions. The Structural Engineering Reference Manual has a good checklist of items to bring or do (some are very silly, but most are very practical) .

Make sure you balance your sleep schedule the nights before. Get your sleep schedule setup for the time you need to get up for the exam. Don't go to sleep too early or too late and set two alarms (in the event one fails to go off). You will probably wake up about 30 minutes prior to whatever alarm you set anyway. Or, if you're like me and went to bed too early you'll wake up a few hours prior to when your alarm is...

Don't skip coffee or breakfast if that's your normal routine. Don't get coffee if that's not your normal routine.

Leave your phone, fitbit, google glass, copier/fax/scanner, etc. in the car! Don't get ejected for having some electronic device you're not supposed to in the exam room.

After the exam (and during lunch), TAKE NOTES! Write down anything you can think of. DO NOT SHARE THESE NOTES! However, if you unfortunately need to retake the exam these notes will be invaluable.

Optional: Arrange for a driver so that you can drink after the exam. Congratulations on getting your life back!

Good luck everyone!

 

[OHBridgeGuy]

Same as what everyone else said above, do your last practice test and problems this weekend and the first few days of the week then give yourself time to unwind and decompress before the exam - you want to walk in with a clear head.

I also agree with TehMightyEngineer, take notes in case you don't pass.  I did fine on PE and SE Vert. but SE Lat took me two tries and having the notes I took right after the first try made studying for the 2nd attempt much easier - remember they are 6 months or more apart and you aren't likely to remember the previous test as well.  

One last tip - when you do the morning section run through the exam and do all the problems you know right away first, skipping anything you are at all unsure of, then go back through and do the ones where you had some idea.  Rinse and repeat with the ones you have no clue on (hopefully not many) last.  This maximizes your time on the ones where you have a better shot at the questions.

2nd last tip - when you get the afternoon exam, before you start really working the problems write out a step by step outline procedure for how you are going to solve the problem.  That way even if you run out of time the grader can give you partial credit, and it helps organize your thoughts.  Not saying everyone equation, just a bullet list of the big aspects.