PE Review Courses 1

[g2ktcf]

I was approved a LONG time ago to take the PE exam. During this period, I changed jobs and my new job made it impossible to take the test. Now, some 13 years later, I am reapplying. I am no longer a spring chicken having some 20+ years of experience. I know I need some help to prepare for the PE Mechanical exam. What review course would you recommend? I am not in a hurry as I am still adding some 12 years to my SER, but I really think I need to start now! lol

 

[EngrPaper]

As a recommendation, the website engineerboards.com has a lot of advice for taking the PE. Do you know which exam you will be taking (one of the mechanical ones, I assume).

I did not take a review course (and still don't know if I passed), but the two I most commonly see recommended are the School of PE and PPI courses.

 

[g2ktcf]

I believe I am going to start with the machine design version. My background is piping and compression systems and it really spans both depth sections.

 

[g2ktcf]

I forgot to mention that I really prefer "self-driven" type courses. Some training courses kill me as they are so freaking slow.....lol

 

[SandCounter]

gektcf,

As an alternative to a review course, NCEES publishes the topics covered by the exam and how many questions on each topic. When I prepared for the exam, I took the estimated 300 hrs that successful examinees said they had spent in preparation, and divided and pro-rated the study time among the topics NCEES listed. I would find the topic in my text books, book mark the page, make sure I knew how to work that kind of problem, and made a table of contents of all my books for each topic type (hole-punched and put in a binder to make it "legal"). Then at the exam, when I came up on a particular question, I looked it up in my table of contents, referenced the book and page, and used the example to work the problem similar to what I had already seen. The Mechanical Engineering Reference Manual covered about 90% of the topics at just the right depth which kept me from having to bring too many text books.

Not only did it result in a pass of the exam, but it was a great review that really refreshed and strengthened my capabilities.

I used to count sand. Now I don't count at all.