Just started studying for the PE. I'm already frustrated! 3

[bradpa77]

I just started my study plan for the PA Mechanical PE Exam. I'm on day 2 and I'm extremely stressed and overwhelmed. I have a copy of the Lindeburg "Mechanical Engineering Reference Manual for the PE Exam". I put together a study plan based on recommendations from the author in the beginning of the book.

Week one is Thermodynamics. I have been reading through the book on the topic and doing the example problems as I go along. This strategy seemed to work good yesterday, but today I'm getting into more complicated thermo and I'm starting to really get frustrated. The book goes too fast. I realize that it can't get real detailed or it would be 10 feet thick but it jumps through tons of topics before it does a sample problem. I remember seeing these equations and vaguely remember how to use them but I need more example problems so I can really refresh my memory on how this stuff is used in a problem.

I tried to switch gears and read my thermo book from college but it's the other extreme. It's way too detailed. I got really overwhelmed by the shear amount of material in there and didn't even know where to start.

So now I'm just feeling really lost and discouraged. The whole test is really overwhelming me. I haven't seen this stuff in 5 years. I can't believe how much stuff I need to re-learn on my own in order to pass.

Does anyone have any better ideas of how to go about studying for this thing? What worked well for you? I wanted to take a class but there weren't any available in my area for the fall exam prep.

 

[jpankask]

Bradpa77,
Relax, if you already knew how to do all the problems, you wouldn't be studying. I felt exactly the same way. At first, I was always looking at the solution manual because I would get stuck, getting very frustrated. You have a good plan, you just need to stick with it and make sure you study enough the first time that you don't have to take the exam a second time.

Here is what I did. I created a study plan based on the one in Lindeburg, slightly modified. I was taking the thermo/fluids depth so I spent some extra time in these subjects. I did spend some time in the college thermo and fluids textbooks, but not until after I finished the MERM review. I did not work any of the MERM problems that said "Time limit: 1 hour". There is nothing that detailed on the exam. Work methodically through your study schedule. Spend 2-3 hours per day studying and a good part of most Saturdays. Leave yourself a few whole weekends to relax and try not to study on most Sundays. Plan your study schedule so that you finish up your review 3-4 weeks before the exam. Get the NCEES practice exam. DO NOT look at it before you finish studying. After you have finished your study plan, block off a 9 hour period on the next Saturday and try to simulate the exam conditions as much as possible at work or somewhere. Give yourself 4 hours to take the morning session, an hour for lunch and 4 hours to take the afternoon session. Do not take anything with you that you can't take to the exam. Bring a notepad to jot down things you want to make sure you take the exam. The NCEES practice exam will be very similar to the actual exam in level of difficulty, etc. Score your practice exam, but don't worry too much about the results. Use the information to concentrate your studying for the next couple weeks on your week areas and to reinforce your strong areas. Pay attention to the distribution of the exam, i.e. don't spend an extraordinary amount of time on machine design topics if you are taking the thermo/fluids depth exam.

When it comes to exam time, make sure you know where the exam location is, how to get there, how long it takes you, etc. Take the day before the exam off work and DON'T STUDY. If you don't know it by then, either it doesn't matter or your won't know it and you will only get yourself worked up about the points you might miss, etc. Study like you want to pass and you probably will. Good luck!

 

[JamesBarlow]

First off relax. It's just a test. If you don't pass it the first time you will take it again in 6 months.

I passed it my second time.

Like yourself I only work with a small fraction of what the test covers. I'm a machine designer so thermo and HVAC is something I haven't seen since school.

I passed it the second time because of what I saw the first time. The morning section is much like the EIT in that covers a lot of different subjects but nothing that indepth. Trying to study the entire thermo/hvac/electic sections from the PE book will be overkill, unless that's what you are preping for. I skimmed most of those other sections just so I could find formulas and things but only really worked thru the machine design chapters.

An example will be the electrical section. The chapters are very indepth but all I needed for the afternoon section was how to convert motor horsepower. Electrical in Hp out kind of stuff.

My fist time taking the test I studied much like yourself. I spent most of my time on the sections I didn't know trying to relearn it and then just skimmed the things I knew from work. I got crushed.

I learned and passed the second time.

Figure out what you will take for the afternoon section and work from there.

 

[zdas04]

One thing that really helped me and hasn't been mentioned--the test was held in a hotel and I booked a room in that hotel for the night before and the night of the exam. That way the only administrative stress was my wake-up call and I could turn my damned cell phone and pager off as soon as I checked into the hotel and didn't turn them back on until I finished the test. I passed the Thermo/fluids the first time.

David

 

[GSTeng]

bradpa77,

I did the Thermo/fluids in April and just found out I passed. So I was in your shoes about 8 months ago. jpankask's description is right on the money, star for you. I did something similar.

What I think you are missing is the "Practice Problems for the Mechanical Engineering PE Exam" (also by Lindeburg) this is 500 practice problems that are like the ones on the test, with complete solutions at the end. These are the ones that have the "Time Limit: 1 hour" note on them (I did many of these problems and they did not take 1 hour). You did not mention having this book, only the reference book. If you don't have it, GET IT. The examples in the reference book are too few to be of much help (as you mentioned) and it is just that a reference book, not a practice book.

I studied Thermo, fluids and heat transfer in depth and really skimmed the other Mech topics. Then I took the practice exam, as jpankask did, 3-4 weeks before the exam. I learned that I had forgotten most of my machine design stuff so I made a new plan to brush up on those items and other Items in which I was deficient.

I spent 4 months studying about 10 hours a week, 160 hours as they recommend. Towards the end I was falling behind in the material I was planning to study so I started to do every second question instead of every question.

Like the others said don't stress about it. I scored 53%on the morning practice and 40% on the afternoon practice exams and I passed the official test fine after all the secondary review of my deficient topics.

I think the key to passing the test is to take you practice test early and make it as much like the real test as possible, then review your mistakes and review your problem areas.

Good luck on the test!

 

[COEngineeer]

Just do the practice tests... Really, the real exam is not as hard the practice exam. The practice exam I feel like every single question cannot be solved in a few seconds. In the real exams there will be a lot of questions that you can solve instantly so you will have plenty of time to do the hard ones. But dont take anything i say for granted because i have not heard whether I pass or not

http://www.swijetty.com

Sea Water Intake and Jetty Construction

 

[trey25624]

I took the civil PE, but as far as studying the same concepts apply. Definitely relax, thats the best advice. I took it twice to pass. If you fail the first time, so what. You will likely pass the second time. If you have a list of all the concepts the test covers then use that as your guide. Sounds like you know not to get too in depth. Take each of those concepts listed, do several problems in each, and if you feel yourself getting too in depth then move on. Not sure if its like the civil exam, but we have an afternoon test that focuses on an area of speciality. I spent most of my time studying for this half since it was far more difficult and in depth. The morning was easy and didn't require as much studying. So figure out approximately how much time you should spend studying what, it likely won't be equal. Just do what you can do and remember you don't have to score really well, you just have to pass.

 

[SWComposites]

The above is all good advice. Work lots and lots of sample problems. I studied for and passed both the FE and ME PE exams after being out of school for 20 years, and having never once done anything remotely related to any of the topics on the ME PE exam (but since I had a ME degree I figured it would be the easiest PE exam to pass). Spent 3-4 months of part time studying before each exam.

Upon leaving the PE test site I prompty forgot 99.99% of what I studied for the exam; good thing I passed the first time.

Don't give up so fast, it can be done (though it will seem like silly drudgery at times).

Steve

 

[bradpa77]

Thanks for all the great help everyone.

I didn't expect to get so many great replies.

It's really appreciated.

Unfortunately, I don't have time to reply to each of you individually. All of you had great advice to give though.

I feel revived now and much more relaxed about the whole thing. I am going to order the "Practice Problems for the Mechanical Engineering PE Exam" as soon as I'm done writing this. I think that probably is what I'm missing. Hopefully it will give me some good practice problems to do with the reference book. Then I'm going to follow all the great advice I got.

Thanks!

 

[ShaggyPE]

My recommendation is to work lots of problems. Don't so much read the chapters and then do problems, just hit the problems and then dig through the chapters to find the info you need. Get the practice problems that PPI sells, BTW these problems are more difficult than test problems. Also get the PPI sample exam and the NCEES sample exam. As you are finding good formulas and charts in the MERM, put tabs in to label and mark the pages. The speed at which you can find data during the exam is crucial.

Also visit the below website, it is filled with individuals that are in the process of taking the exam or have just recently taken the exam:

http://engineerboards.invisionzone.com

Oh and also, make sure you get a NCEES approved calculator as soon as possible to do your studying with. There are only four or five approved calculators, so make sure the one you get is on the list.

-Shaggy

 

[EddyC]

I bought the Lindeburg book also when I started studying. I also got discouraged shortly afterwards and decided to take a home study course. I feel that the Lindeburg book is more in depth than the exam was. What seemed like a good reference, as well as a study guide, turned out to be the reference manual for the FE exam, of all things.

 

[plasgears]

Find an organized refresher course for the PE. It made all the difference for me.

The class is generally divided into teams, and team members share the solutions of assigned problems. You will find that experienced engineers have their tricks of the trade, and that is what makes the difference. You are also an expert in your field.

 

[Feric]

Hi there:

Initally you get frustrated.

It is so much to get covered and not enough time, resources etc.

However, this is a good forum and you do get good pieces of advise.

I can only add, do not get frustrated. It is one day at a time. Plan your schedule. Keep going over and over the difficuly areas. Come to Eng-Tips for additional help for your specific problems.

In the end, you will master the subject area and be able to successfully pass the test and become a PE.

Good luck!

Thnaks,

Gordan Feric, PE

http://members.aol.com/engware

 

[JStephen]

Way back when I took the tests, I ordered all the sample-test books available from NCEES. I went through them and it wasn't too hard to figure out what I remembered pretty well and what was pretty hazy. (I took the tests 13 years after I graduated.) Then I boned up on what I didn't know so well. I had all my old textbooks from school, and never even looked at any study guide books.

The tests have changed some through the years, but check on to what extent you choose your problems. (IE, work any 4 out of 12 or whatever it was). You better know a bunch of stuff for the test, but you don't have to know everything about every topic. I think I picked one of the thermo problems because it was the lesser of the evils.

 

[ShaggyPE]

The tests have changed some through the years, but check on to what extent you choose your problems. (IE, work any 4 out of 12 or whatever it was).

The tests have changed more than that. You no longer are able to select which problems you do. There are 80 multiple choice questions in the morning and 80 in the afternoon. In the afternoon, the examinee may choose which depth section he likes best.

I don't believe that one format is more difficult than the other. Both difficult in their own right... just different.

-Shaggy

 

[cliffy]

Shaggy: I think you mean 80 questions total, don't you?
40 in the AM and 40 in the PM?
(Sheesh...I sure hope so since I'm taking it this Oct.!)

My hovercraft is full of eels.

 

[sms]

I'd recommend a refresher course also, but then again I used to teach them so I am a bit biased...

"Why don't you knock it off with them negative waves? Why don't you dig how beautiful it is out here? Why don't you say something righteous and hopeful for a change?" Oddball, "Kelly's Heros" 1970

Please see FAQ731-376 for tips on how to make the best use of the Eng-Tips Forums.

 

[ShaggyPE]

Shaggy: I think you mean 80 questions total, don't you?
40 in the AM and 40 in the PM?

cliffy,
Yes, my bad. 40 morning and 40 afternoon. Good luck in October. I am still awaiting my results from April (I'm in California and the results will be mailed out July 30).

-Shaggy

 

[EngineerDave]

I took mine in 2003. I think the key is to figure out which texts you want to take, highlight them extremely well and in the process realize you might not have much time at all to refer to them during the test!

But after reviewing them, you'll feel better. Just bite off a little each day.

I passed the first try, barely, but I'm so glad I did. I started studying for the October test in July.

Now I have other exams in the new field I'm in that are important professionally.

Sticking to a regular study plan is the hardest part. But do your best to study every day as much as possible. The days you are tired after work make it tough, but just do a little.