when to "quit" studying for exam?

[jrf500]

I'm curious when people (either past examinees, or ones taking it Friday) began to relax and "quit" studying going into the exam? I've studied pretty hard...200 hours, did the full School of PE class and now am relaxing this weekend and plant to relax most of this coming week till the test. I'm sure I'll flip thru my notes some and what not. But I finished up my last practice exam this morning and now plan to take it easy.

I thought this was a great plan and now I feel terrible for not studying right now. Don't know what to do.

 

[Deadbeat_Mike]

I plan on working hard at it through this weekend and then doing a few problems each night until the test to stay mentally limber. I find that when I take a whole week off and come back I need to find my bearings and get back into the swing. I am only talking about losing 15 minutes over a half a day but that could be important!

 

[CincinnatiControlsGuy]

I completely quit about 10 days before the exam and from that point on I just organized my notes and what I was taking to the exam. As for being worried about the exam, I can tell you that I considered canceling the exam because I felt that I could get killed on RF questions and that NCEES could, in theory, make the electrical EC&C module RF question centric, however unlikely. The breather, I think, was important because it calmed me down and boosted my confidence: over time I tend to convince (lie to) myself that I know more than I really do. At this stage, you're better off just letting the chips fall where they may.

 

[kengineer]

I took the day off before the exam and played some golf. Two days before I put all of my books away in the crates along with my calculators, batteries, straight edge, exam authorization, etc. If you don't feel like working problems go through the books you have and tab them up, or if you have your tabs done, look through every page again. I passed, but know I missed a few questions because I simply couldn't remember where I saw a formula I needed. As tired of the whole thing as you may be, you would be better off putting in a few more days of work than another six months of it. From someone who took a few times to pass, trust me. Good luck.

 

[Happy]

It doesn't sound like you guys are willing to pull an all-nighter with me at the hotel next to the exam site?

Seriously though, I plan to study right up until I go to bed Thursday night. Even though I've been studying for months and am just about as prepared as I can be, my relaxation comes from knowing I'm doing all I can to be as prepared as possible. In University I never studied more than a day or two before any exam - so it would be really wierd for me to not study the day or two before the exam.

 

[jrf500]

Lot of different opinions on this topic! Which is fine, everyone is different. I ended up finishing my last practice exam on Saturday morning and have been taking it relatively easy since then. Roughly 2 hours a day just looking thru old notes, solved problems, etc. Refreshing my brain on some topics I studied a month ago...but not really solving any new problems. I figure I've learned what I can, and now I'm just refreshing myself on stuff so I can find it a bit quicker during the exam.

Good luck to all!!! I wish everyone the best.

 

[RIP - VTEnviro]

My last 2 weeks were spent reviewing my earliest topics one last time, getting my references in order, making sure I had my exam ticket, etc., and correcting what I did wrong on the NCEES practice exam.

 

[Dexman PE]

My last couple of weeks was similar to VTE's. Light review, but mostly compiled everything so I wasnt doing a last minute scramble to find it. I officially stopped studying on Wednesday, then Thursday I spent test driving cars I couldnt afford. Nothing is more fun than fishtailing and smoking the rear tires of someone elses R/T Charger through the S curves of the foothills.

 

[jrf500]

My last couple of weeks was similar to VTE's. Light review, but mostly compiled everything so I wasnt doing a last minute scramble to find it. I officially stopped studying on Wednesday, then Thursday I spent test driving cars I couldnt afford. Nothing is more fun than fishtailing and smoking the rear tires of someone elses R/T Charger through the S curves of the foothills.

Or were you subconsciously test driving those expensive cars knowing the PE test you were about to pass would afford you the ability to buy any car under the sun!?!?!?!?

 

[Dexman PE]

My last couple of weeks was similar to VTE's. Light review, but mostly compiled everything so I wasnt doing a last minute scramble to find it. I officially stopped studying on Wednesday, then Thursday I spent test driving cars I couldnt afford. Nothing is more fun than fishtailing and smoking the rear tires of someone elses R/T Charger through the S curves of the foothills.

Or were you subconsciously test driving those expensive cars knowing the PE test you were about to pass would afford you the ability to buy any car under the sun!?!?!?!?

Nope

Here's my daily driver now, though...

 

[dastuff]

I stopped studying the day before to calm my nerves. At that point I just packed everything and checked that I had everything I needed.

Don't worry, you won't forget everything in a day and @ 200 hrs you've done a great job studying.

 

[ironman]

I know that cars like corvettes and high end porches they wont let you test drive, people get angry if there is more than 1 or 2 miles on them (from moving the car from the trailer to the lot) and wont buy them. Thoes mid range sports cars I would be very weiry of, I would probably have a mechanic hook up a computer to it to make sure it was never red lined and measure the tread depth. And even then I would want it with only 1 or 2 miles on it ..... becasue of people like you.

 

[Dexman PE]

Most larger dealerships have a few vehicles set aside specifically for test drives (especially the more popular models like Chargers, Challengers, Camaros, and Mustangs), and then are sold later as "demos" with a $5k discount, or "tricked out" with aftermarket crap to show off what can be done through their parts department. When it comes to these cars, most are sold on the test drive. The salesman WANTS you to rage it and to see what the car can do. It adds to the emotional aspect of car sales and makes their job easier.

Besides, I wont do that to some car fresh off the delivery truck.

I was the only one to drive my car (aside from the usual delivery guys) and mine had 12 miles on it before the test drive. They had 2 Camaros (one V6 and a fully loaded SS) that were used as test drive cars, but I still test drove mine before I bought it. Just in case...

 

[goodal]

VERY nice Dexman. I like my TT but I'm leaning pretty hard toward a Camaro for my next ride (couple years probably). But back to the thread, I studied for 6 months 20-25 hrs a week. The day before the test I drove to the site to make sure I knew where everything was and then went to a baseball game. I don't know if that helped but I needed to reset and actaully really enjoyed the night.

 

[envirotex]

I studied until Wednesday, but I didn't start studying 'til a month before the exam. Thursday, I thumbed through all my materials looking for stray pencil marks (and I missed a few) and packed all my stuff. Made my lunch for the next day, and went to bed early...It was all just enough to get "The P".

 

[LEEDengineer]

I just finished loading the books into the boxes and put away everything related to it. Tonight is all about reality TV and the DVR I've neglected for the past month and tomorrow I'll probably hit up Macy's and do some shopping... retail therapy always relaxes me.

I'm done studying and now I'm more concerned with what snacks I should bring and if I REALLY need to bring a lunch with me???

 

[maryannette]

NOW, it is time to stop studying. Good luck to all.

 

[Dexman PE]

NOW, it is time to stop studying. Good luck to all.

+1

 

[hombre]

I kind of pooped out this afternoon. About 300 hours of studying but starting from really, really cold. Still want to do some light stuff tomorrow morning before I make the trip to Seattle.

 

[ptatohed]

I took this whole week off work. I have been studying all day long every day. I have been going to bed at 3am! I finished study-studying last week. This week has been nothing but working problems (I have the 6 Min Solutions, Goswami's practice exams, and the NCEES practice exam). I'll work until the wee hours in the AM tonight (Wed.) but probably stop doing problems by tomorrow (Thurs). I do like to flip through the pages, look at the table of contents, flag, etc. my resources the day before. Good luck everyone! Back to the NCEES sample exam......