Working problems

[benbo]

IF you put in the time and try to absorb all that you can you will do well. WORK PROBLEMS, but also READ and try to get the big picture stuff from the references. To me, all the "six minute" talk is misleading. Yeah, there are 80 questions, BUT several of them (in my case) were so "easy" that the "answer" was apparent before even finishing the question. I had to do a "double-take" to make sure that I was not "missing something....
The FIRST time that I took the test there were "very-few" seemingly "obvious" answers, The SECOND time there were a WHOLE LOT more. I guess it came down to finally having a better "grasp" of the BASICS. IF you spend the time preparing, you will "recognize" the "gimmee's." Then, once you "realize" that several of the questions are infernally obvious, you will be able to apply your intuition more effectively.

I STILL cannot "solve" all the problems. There is no need for perfection. I know that I spent 15 or 20 minutes on some questions, but on several others it was done in seconds. Taking a test like this is a good exercise for budgeting TIME.

I KNOW that some of the "harder" questions for ME were probably "gimmee's" to others. There are distractors mixed in with the clues. The "hardest" thing for me was to NOT make the questions "more" difficult than they actually were....

Work your way down to about 5 to 10 "hard" ones per session, then make an "educated GUESS!!"

Can I quote you on that?

 

[Master slacker]

Another month down and feeling just a smidge less dumb. I finished MERM, but didn't do any problems from the Econ section. I read the basics, became disinterested, and left it at that. I have bigger fish to fry. SO I started the 6 minute solutions book for machine design. Wow, for the first 20 questions (morning - breadth section) I thought I was the smartest person on earth. Then I started the depth questions... my opinion of myself changed. Some of these questions completely baffle me while others are painfully obvious. On the whole, I'm still needing much more prep time. Oy... :wacko:

 

[MechGuy]

Another month down and feeling just a smidge less dumb. I finished MERM, but didn't do any problems from the Econ section. I read the basics, became disinterested, and left it at that. I have bigger fish to fry. SO I started the 6 minute solutions book for machine design. Wow, for the first 20 questions (morning - breadth section) I thought I was the smartest person on earth. Then I started the depth questions... my opinion of myself changed. Some of these questions completely baffle me while others are painfully obvious. On the whole, I'm still needing much more prep time. Oy... :wacko:

Do not dismiss the Engineering Econ questions... they are relatively easy but you need to be able to know how to do them and know how to use the tables in the back of the MERM. Trust me, this is something you do not want to overlook!!!

Its such an easy gimme type of question you dont want to get it wrong by not having any practice with the tables. Just spend one night on it and you'll be golden.

 

[JoeysVee]

Keep your chin up my friend. In my experience the NCEES sample exam was much easier than the real thing but others say differently.

Keep working hard and you'll most likely be fine! Keep us updated!

 

[Master slacker]

Do not dismiss the Engineering Econ questions... they are relatively easy but you need to be able to know how to do them and know how to use the tables in the back of the MERM. Trust me, this is something you do not want to overlook!!!

I read about half of that chapter verbatim and remembered the simple things like P = A(P/A, i%, n) and its counterparts. I'll do a few problems here and there, but I'm more concerned about the depth machine design as I'm sure there will be a few more of those problems than econ.

 

[MechGuy]

I read about half of that chapter verbatim and remembered the simple things like P = A(P/A, i%, n) and its counterparts. I'll do a few problems here and there, but I'm more concerned about the depth machine design as I'm sure there will be a few more of those problems than econ.

It varies from test to test, but that may not be an accurate assumption to be honest! I took the test 3 times and was surprised at how many econ questions there were each time.

So I'll leave it at that. Just remember to grab for the "low fruit" first. Don't make the mistake of missing the easy problems because you overlooked them and assumed they were easy and wouldn't be on the test.

Ok, off the soapbox Good luck!

 

[krenim]

I read about half of that chapter verbatim and remembered the simple things like P = A(P/A, i%, n) and its counterparts. I'll do a few problems here and there, but I'm more concerned about the depth machine design as I'm sure there will be a few more of those problems than econ.

Another vote for expecting lots of econ problems!

 

[djshortsleeve]

I disagree with nixing the NCEES sample exam. One of the most useful things I did to prepare for the exam was 2 complete recreations of the testing environment. The first time, I worked the NCEES sample exam, and the 2nd time, I worked a different sample exam. I think having the experience of sitting for 8 hours working a test was very helpful when real test day came.

I see your thinking but thought I would throw out an argument towards doing this. One of the instructors of my review course suggests exams are a bad idea because they can falsely adjust your confidence - whether inflating because of good performance on a practice or deflating for bad performance. The instructors maintain the best way to prepare is to simply do problems and check where mistakes occurred if they so happened.