ME PE Exam

[MGM]

What is the key to preparing and passing the ME PE exam?

Please provide a list of proven references and prep courses.

MGM

 

[Rich2001]

The keys are:
(1)Knowing your refreneces, where to find tables etc quickly. A good reference is Lindeberg's Mechanical Engineering Reference Manual purchase from this site

http://www.ppi2pass.com

(2) Relaxing, take a thermos of coffese or hot chocolate in with you, when you are stressed sit back for a minute or two and relax.

Spend about an hour a day studying, take a sample test , access your skills and brush up. I found the PE examine much easier than the FE(EIT) exam more too the point.

Good luck

 

[MGM]

Rich2001--

Thanks for the quick response.

I am aware of the MERM offered by PPI. Did you work all the problems in the book in order to be prepared? Did you take any prep courses? Do you have any other reference or prep course suggestions? Do you know (or have you heard) anything about the courses offered by NSPE (through MGI) or ASME?

I look forward to and appreciate your feedback and anyone elses.

Thanks again--

MGM

 

[Rich2001]

I have seen the information in the ASME course, it looks good. If your local chapter is giving a course I would take it.

Another text is,
Mechanical Engineering License Review: For the Professional P. E. Exam by John D. Constance. I did not find this to be as useful as Lindeburg's book. I does however have some worked at problems.

Know how to work psych charts and power cycles.

When you are preparing for the exam: ( makes a good reference for future work).

1. Make a sketch of the system.
2. Write out the procedure you are going to use to solve the problem.
3. List any assumptions.
4. List all references.

A few thing to find out:

1. What is the board's standard is for reference material? 2. Are books with solved problems allowed?
3. How any refernce books are allowed?
4. Is a three ring notebook of notes, worked out problems, etc, acceptable?
5.Does the board have a list of approverd calculators?

In general taking any prep course is very helpful, many people will push off studying if they are not in a class.

I did not take a course, the closes course was 120 mile away 1 night a week. So, a co-worker and I prepared for the exam together, we would bounce ideas, questions, etc. off each other. We would spend an hour and work one problem a day. We did this for 6 months.

 

[brad]

I didn't take a course for the ME PE. I bought the book Principles and Practice of Mechanical Engineering, Merle C. Potter, Editor, Published by Great Lakes Press.
I self-studied this book, trying to devote one evening/week for 3 months. In total, this probably amounted to about 40 hours of going over sections of the book, working problems, refamiliarizing myself with concepts,etc.

In my state (and maybe in all others??), when you sign up for the exam, the testing service sends a confirmation and lists the breakdown of questions for the PE by subject.

There are 10 questions a.m., 10 questions p.m., and you have to answer 4 in each. Although you know from what subjects the 20 questions will come, you don't know which 10 you'll see in each session. To be more effective in my studying, I decided to make sure that I knew enough subjects to be qualified to answer 13 questions (the logic being that even if one test had 10 that I knew, I could still answer 3 in the other session). In fact, that very thing happened to me--I only found 4 problems that I was comfortable with a.m., and it took me all of the 4 hours. P.M session had 9/10 problems that I knew I could answer; I finished the 4 I needed, relaxed, doublechecked my work and left with nearly 1 1/2 hours to spare.

While I won't say that my "learn 65% well" will work for everybody, I passed the test on the first attempt, so I guess it worked for me.

Rich's comment of coffee and relaxing is a good one. Also, take LOTS of books, but be smart about it. I probably had a dozen books with me--4 general purpose books and the rest subject-specific. My intent was to use the subject-specific books only as a safety net. In the a.m. session that safety net was useful for one problem. In the p.m. session, as I found very familiar problems, I didn't crack open a single one of the "subject" books.

You're allowed as many books as you want, so don't leave any at home that you think may be useful. I saw two people bringing in books in Radio Flyer wagons. It's noteworthy that they also left early with their Radio Flyer wagons, suggesting that they were more prepared than most.

Good luck

 

[MGM]

Rich, Brad--

Thanks for your input. This feedback is useful and helpful.

I welcome anyone else who may have any comments.

Thanx--

MGM

 

[awol]

The books I took were the EIT Review Manual, Marks', a materials book (which I used least), and an Econ. book.
The economics questions are real easy and count as much as one of those vapor power questions-from-hell. Take food. Keep in mind engineers will probably be grading the exam, configure your answers logically. Best of luck.

 

[way]

MGM,

I took and passed the PE exam last year. I purchased the MERM study package, and I found it to be a great reference and great study tool. I also purchased sample questions from the NCEES.

I focused on several areas with a combined total of 12 questions (about the same as bradh). I studied for about 80 hours, spread out over a month and a half. I reviewed the chapters of my choice in MERM and did the problems at the end of the chapter. I also timed myself on some of the NCEES sample problems. Then to punish myself, I also took MERM's full length practice test the saturday before the test. I did great on the practice test, and this allowed me to relax the week before the test...and just thumb through my references and look at different problems. One thing I would have done differently, not that it really mattered, was to work out some of the problems in MERM's 101 solved problems (I forgot about these until the last week).

A couple of pointers.
1) Bring a full set of ASME steam tables.
2) Bring two calculators.
3) Make sure you know when the test starts.

#3 may sound a bit funny...but it happened to me. I actually arrived ten minutes into the test. That really got my heart pumping. And then my calculator wouldn't work (I had replaced the batteries the night before, and forgot to check it). Fortunately, I fixed the calculator, and finished my first AM problem in 35 minutes to get back on track.

Good Luck.
Way

 

[SnowCrash]

The best way is to take an ASME refresher. Don't struggle alone. The positive attitude of the instructors and other students will help provide you with the confidence to demonstrate the ability you have at test time.

Crash 'good luck' Johnson

 

[Snork]

I took the PE exam about 4 years ago and passed on my first attempt. I live 2 hours from civilization in any direction so no review courses were available. I got all the books from NSPE (Lindeberg) and started studying about an hour a day in early July for the test in October. The Lindeberg text (Mechanical Engineering Reference Manual) was a great help and continues to be one of my most useful reference texts, although it is in English units and most of the work I do is in Metric.

A couple of things on study. Spend time on what you know or things that are not too far from what you know. I work in engine R and D so I spent time on power cycles, fluid flow (conpressible and non-compressible), thermodynamics, and machine design. These were worthwhile. But to increase my odds I also spent time on HVAC in which I have no experience. This proved to be a waste of time as I didn't answer a single HVAC problem on the test. I would have been better off to spend more time on things closer to my work experience.

As for taking the test. RELAX - hum the Frankie goes to Hollywood song of the same name. My college room mate was a fairly bright guy but bombed tests all the time because of nerves. As to books, don't short yourself, but don't plan on having time to do a lot of searching either. Take texts that you're familiar with so you can find things quickly. Also make sure to take a really good units convertion table. The last thing you want is to get stuck on a problem because you understand hogsheads per fortnight and the problem is given in pecks per year (sidereal).

Good luck to everyone on taking the test.

 

[DonLeffingwellPE]

Here is a URL for this site with more information.

http://www.eng-tips.com/faqs.cfm?spid=731&sfid=3&CFID=16647063&CFTOKEN=71076716

Good Luck

Don Leffingwell