Just started studying for the PE. I'm already frustrated!
Just started studying for the PE. I'm already frustrated!
(OP)
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.





RE: Just started studying for the PE. I'm already frustrated!
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!
RE: Just started studying for the PE. I'm already frustrated!
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.
RE: Just started studying for the PE. I'm already frustrated!
David
RE: Just started studying for the PE. I'm already frustrated!
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!
RE: Just started studying for the PE. I'm already frustrated!
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RE: Just started studying for the PE. I'm already frustrated!
RE: Just started studying for the PE. I'm already frustrated!
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
RE: Just started studying for the PE. I'm already frustrated!
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!
RE: Just started studying for the PE. I'm already frustrated!
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
RE: Just started studying for the PE. I'm already frustrated!
RE: Just started studying for the PE. I'm already frustrated!
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.
RE: Just started studying for the PE. I'm already frustrated!
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
RE: Just started studying for the PE. I'm already frustrated!
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.
RE: Just started studying for the PE. I'm already frustrated!
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
RE: Just started studying for the PE. I'm already frustrated!
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.
RE: Just started studying for the PE. I'm already frustrated!
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RE: Just started studying for the PE. I'm already frustrated!
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
RE: Just started studying for the PE. I'm already frustrated!
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.