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Lets be honest, the only reason any of us signs up for wasting our weekends and
evenings studying for a fucking test years after we graduate is all about the money
and title and maybe a little about being able to convince your friends to let you do
stupid shit in the name of engineering.
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Passing the test depends on two things, being prepared and trusting in yourself.
Youve spent 4 years in school (or 8 if youre me but I blame changing degrees and
schools for those victory laps it certainly had nothing to do with late nights at the
bar and chasing girls), got a job and busted your ass learning things for another 2-4
years, if nothing else know that I believe in you. And you should believe in yourself
too.
Now trust being covered, I figured it best to help you a little with the preparedness.
There are a ton of resources out there on passing the PE exam. So in an effort to
help you out, Ive read through a lot of them, asked a ton of questions of various
experts and others who have both passed and failed the exam.
I hope youll walk away from this guide with answers to all of your questions.
I cover everything from how much you should study, should you attend a review
course, and even ways to estimate your score so you walk out of the exam knowing
you kicked its ass.
Table of Contents
Chapter 1 Learn from other peoples PE results
Chapter 2 What should you study for the PE exam?
Chapter 3 How to build a PE reference manual
Chapter 4 How to take a PE practice exam
Chapter 5 Do you need to take a PE review course?
Chapter 6 Keep building your PE reference manual
Chapter 7 What score do you need to pass the PE exam?
Chapter 8 A secret method to stay calm during the PE exam
Chapter 9 What to do the week before the PE exam
Chapter 10 What to do the day of the PE exam
Learn to Pass the PE Exam and Still Have a Life, Not Much Time Left: 1 day, 01:50:43 Find Out More
Its got a ton of resources, suggestions, and even action steps for you to take at the end
of each chapter. Itll take you some time to read and work through all of the steps
mentioned, but if you do, I have no doubt that youre going to be a professional
engineer soon.
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Luke is still relatively new to engineering and still trying to find his way around the
force. Around the office he shows amazing promise with several of his tasks.
After years of tutelage under his very own Yoda and Obiwan, hes ready to tackle the
PE.
The battles are fierce, and hes made some ground up against the dark side but
unfortunately he has yet to pass the test, despite taking it twice.
His third time facing it is coming up, and he promises this time will be different.
I havent really told anyone this, but I didnt really study the first time around, Luke
said. I heard stories of some people around the office who passed without studying,
and I thought I could do it too.
I was wrong.
When time came for him to take the test for the second time around, he tried to
study. It was hard to concentrate, theres just so much going on in life. I just wanted
to spend time with my girlfriend and friends, not studying.
Luke took the 2 weeks off before the test and tried to cram as much as possible.
He bought one of the online courses offered and tried to step through a few of the
lessons. I worked a few problems, but I kept referring back to the solutions whenever
Id get stuck. I hated not knowing the exact method of solving something.
What Luke failed to realize is that theres always going to be stuff on the exam that you
dont know.
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Its nearly impossible for someone with only a few years of experience to have enough
knowledge in all facets of their field to answer every question without looking things
up.
Based upon what Ive heard from others, I need to rely on my resources. Luke plans
on building a reference manual like Ive suggested before to help him where hes
weak.
It seems like he starting to listen to people whove come before him. I think Luke will
do a great job heading into this final battle with the darkside.
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Photo Credit quickmeme.com
After a lifetime of grueling and thankless work, he fell to a more ruthless gang than
Detroit has ever seen the knees and back of a 20-year master electrician. Finally one
job was just too much for him to take on.
He was rebuilt by his very own Omni Consumer Products, in his case the University of
Texas, and transformed into the bad-ass engineer that I befriended on a job site in the
middle of nowhere some 4 years back.
His journey to becoming a PE was not an easy one as you shall see.
When I first took the PE exam, I consumed every practice problem that I could find,
Alex said. I spent hours working through examples and trying to learn as I went.
But when he went up against the worst enemy of all, he went at it alone.
Much as the leader of a cocaine gang in inner Detroit has a few secret directives up
their sleeve to prevent justice from being done, early Murphy was too confident in his
own knowledge and walked into a trap preventing him from extracting his vengeance.
I didnt take much with me in the way of resources. I can see now where itd be
beneficial to have my worked problems better organized and with me in a reference
manual.
While wed talked before the exam, he hadnt headed my advice to build a reference
manual or gather some other resources from his days in school. They were still locked
in his storage container, all the knowledge from his past hidden from him when he
needed it most. The flash backs haunting him.
Hes working through problems and asking friends for a little help when hes stuck.
Hes cracked open that storage locker and grabbed a couple of the books I
recommended for him. And hes building that reference manual I told you about.
Learn to Pass the PE Exam and Still Have a Life, Not Much Time Left: 1 day, 01:50:43 Find Out More
I dont know about you, but armed with that sort of firepower, I think he could take on
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an army of ED-209s and certainly some asshole named Dick Jones or even an 8-
hour test.
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Instead of my daddy paving my way for me, it was my own money combined with a
life devoid of responsibility.
I didnt know where to start when it came to studying for the PE exam.
My saving grace, one day my alma-mater sent me an email about a class that was
being put on by my favorite professor and it was geared for me. He was teaching a
course about taking the Power PE exam over the summer. And as luck would have it,
it was being taught at my work.
Perfect.
I hated class.
Lectures were always the bane of my existence, and Id vowed to myself that Id never
go back.
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Then I was saved, my work needed me to go onsite and it overlapped a couple of the
lectures.
I got a free pass to escape the monotony of class! Yes please. No one could question my
work requiring me to go to a jobsite for a few days.
Then I put 1+1 together (remember, Billy Madison here) and realized that I didnt even
need to actually go to a job site to tell everyone thats what I was doing.
I had my escape, and it was the worst thing I probably could have done.
So class ended, Id attended maybe half of the classes, and didnt learn much.
Not the best scenario for someone hoping to pass the exam.
Luckily I had all of the tools from the class to be a success, I just had to buckle down
and figure out how to use it to my advantage.
I divided the weeks up and figured out how much time I would truly need to study.
I learn better via working practice problems that I ever have being taught in
traditionalLearn to this
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meant Exam
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I knew myStill
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exams.
With 8 weeks until the exam, I figured I could make this work in 10 hours or less a
week.
The method I used will be what I present you in the rest of this manual. Im no
prodigy, I dont have an eidetic mind, Im lazy but I just know how to break a
problem down and find the easiest way to accomplish my goal.
Follow my method presented in the following pages, and Im sure that youll be as
elated as I was the day after the letter from NCEES arrived.
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Action Steps
These examples are just a small sampling of an overwhelming group of people who
have managed to not pass the exam. Chances are, theres someone at your company or
in one of the professional organizations you belong to who also failed at least once.
Hearing in greater detail from them about why they didnt pass the first time, but did
subsequent times will be beneficial.
1. Ask your mentors (you know, the people who signed off on you taking the test)
if they know anyone who took the PE exam recently.
2. Message the local chapter of IEEE or MSPE and ask them if they could direct you
to anyone who could talk to you for a few mins about the PE exam that recently
took it.
3. Spend about 10-15 mins interviewing them. Ask them what went well, what
didnt, how they studied, what they would do over again, and what they
wouldnt. Gain a little experience from those who went before you.
4. Book a hotel room for the night before the exam real close to the test site. Well
cover this in more detail later, but trust me youre going to wantit.
As an aside, get on this scientists thered be so many cool things that I could do
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But since we all just werent broke out of the Matrix (or at least I dont think so). Well
need to rely on being prepared with the correct materials we need for the test.
Theres three main things youll need to figure out before you can even begin studying,
what to study, what references to use, and which calculator to bring.
Sourcing this information can take hours and hours of time. But dont worry, Ive done
much of the work for you.
These design guides will show you the exact topics that are covered, how the test is
setup, and what the weighting is of the various subjects. Handy, huh?
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Well come back to this shortly, for now having a copy is enough.
If you have a resource who has taken one of the tests not mentioned below, please let
me know so I can fill in the information.
Thanks!
This was single-handedly the best reference book that I had. So many of the questions
related to the material that was presented in this book that I always turned to it before
looking at any of my other reference materials.
Here are links to the various discipline manuals that I was able to find:
If you dont bring any other reference with you to the exam, you should definitely
make sure that you have this book. Itll assist you in answering a ton of questions,
everyone that Ive asked from different disciplines has agreed.
The following references that Im mentioning Ive gathered from various other sources
I have who have taken and passed the different exams over the last few years.
Civil, Structural
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Shares CERM definitely a recommended resource since it covers nearly all topics
youll see
CERM Sample Problems
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NCEES Practice PE Exam for Structural
A handful of other practice problem books, like 6 minute solutions, and
textbooks that werent particularly useful.
CBC definitely bring the code year the exam uses
ACI 318-08 I got away with 08 because there werent many changes to the 11
code
AISC 360 14th ed.
NDS barely used
ACI 530 barely used
AASHTO didnt study with it, but used it to answer a single question on the
exam!
As stated before, if youve got any suggestions for additions to the above list, please let
me know.
Now if you want to go cheap you can try and borrow them from your works library (if
available), or order used ones online but I hate stuff that has other peoples marks in
them. For me, a new copy is always best.
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Just get the books on order, and consider yourself accomplished.
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One more thing youll need, practice exams and solutions. These are a gold mind of
information,
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back in the swing of things.
I prefer anything from the NCEES themselves. They make the test, and the best
practice tests Ive ever had.
How many do you need, Id suggest at least 4-5 different tests. Youll see why a little
later.
Therefore, there are a limited number of calculators that are allowed for each test.
Unlike many others who rant and rave about the options and features of the different
ones, I gotta be honest it doesnt fucking matter. I believe I had the FX-115 ES Plus,
but I was probably just drawn to it because of its quantity of numbers and letters and
that plus. That plus has gotta mean its good, right?
Just pick a calculator, buy two of them, and move on to more important things:
Why two? Its vitally important that you have that calculator unless you really want to
waste extra precious time multiplying by the square root of 3 by hand.
Action Steps
You didnt think I came up with this book for you to not take any action did you? Yeah,
not happening youre passing this damn test. And Im gonna help make it simple
and easy.
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1. Go to the [above list hyperlink] and download the guidelines for your
reference manual.
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2. Review the [reference materials hyperlink] recommended for each discipline
and buy (or borrow) those that you dont have yet.
3. Pick a [calculator hyperlink] from above and buy it. There are different ones
recommended for each test, but dont agonize over the decision. Just make one
and buy two.
4. Go to amazon and buy the following items if you dont already have them
readily available at the office or home:
1. A 2 or 3 inch Binder
2. A-Z Dividers
3. 4 hour timer
4. About 10 sets of ear plugs
The problem is, that can also give someone a false sense of hope. This test is like no
other youve ever taken before (provided you forgot all about that FE exam a few years
back). Remember the faitful first trial of our hero Luke, dont underestimate this
thing.
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The best way to counter any trap, have a bad ass fly millennium falcon through a
narrow trench and fire a couple of shots at the station reactor core.
My best friend when I was taking my PE exam was a book of quick reference sheets
and previously worked problems that I could flip through whenever I was unsure
about a question.
Now granted my filing and retrieval time isnt exactly as quick as broadband speeds,
but it was like having Google at my fingertips. In fact, over a year after the exam, I still
refer back to that manual frequently. Its awesome.
Cheat sheets
Some cheat sheets youll have to create yourself, others you can find online.
The first little part of my manual began with a couple of great cheat sheets. For me
(being an EE), that was a couple of pages dealing with single and three phase power
systems and per-unit calculations. These had no examples on them; rather they
focused on the fundamentals of all of electrical engineering.
Given enough time and focus, most problems related to your specific discipline should
be able to be solved with the use of these pages.
For mechanical engineers maybe this is a HVAC and refrigeration sheet with all of the
formulas and key terms. For structural engineers maybe a sheet on the fundamentals
of structural mechanics going over bending, shear, and axial moments and stresses.
You know your discipline a lot better than I do, and Im sure you know what would be
beneficial.
If I had it to do over again, Id have taken all of the indexes and arranged them in a
single index so that I wouldnt have to flip through four different indexes each time I
needed them.
Practice problems
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This is the layout that worked well for me, one problem per page.
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This is the crux of your manual and it should take up the vast majority of space. For
me, it was 95% of what was in my 3 thick notebook.
To start filling in this area you need to know what sort of problems youll be facing on
the exam.
Remember that guideline that we downloaded from the NCEES last chapter? Its time
to really put that thing to use. For each one of those topics, you want to find a clear
and concise description of the topic, typical terms, abbreviations, formulas, and maybe
even a practice problem or two worked out.
Organize this using your alphabetic dividers, so you can have this information readily
available. This wont be all we put in this section, but its a great start.
Action Steps
Alright, that was some boring shit right. Dont worry, you only have to do this once,
and itll pay dividends. Youll be able to refer back to this manual (and should keep
building it) for the next 20+ years of your career.
1. Find some cheat sheets.I told you what I used as a double E for mechanical
engineers maybe this is a HVAC and refrigeration sheet with all of the formulas
and key terms. For structural engineers maybe a sheet on the fundamentals of
structural mechanics going over bending, shear, and axial moments and
stresses.You know your discipline a lot better than I do, and Im sure you know
what would be beneficial.
2. Build your index.Grab all of those reference manuals you got, and make a copy
of the indexes in them. Take and put them at the beginning of your reference
manual ahead of the alphabetic dividers. Now instead of opening 5 different
books, youve got a quick place to scan to see if a topic is covered in any of your
references.Now if youre really anal (I wasnt) you can take all of the indexes
and arranged them in a single index so that I wouldnt have to flip through four
different indexes each time you need them. But Im unsure its worth the
trouble.
3. Practice problems.For example, if I was taking the Mechanical Thermal and
Fluids exam, and I was trying to find information relative to this portion.
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Id just go down the list and do a quick Google search for each of the items
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This pdf was a 7-page excerpt which was well written. It has diagrams to
explain some of the basics, an explanation of the principles and various well-
known cycles, and even a lot of the equations that might be needed to work a
Learn to Pass the PE Exam and Still Have a Life, Not Much Time Left: 1 day, 01:50:43
problem. Find Out More
This is a perfect addition to the manual youre creating.
If not, and you dont know of the brilliant teachings of Mr. Miyagi, Im not sure we can
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be friends but I digress.
Before Daniel-son ever stepped into the ring, before his knee was ruthlessly destroyed
by Bobby with an illegal move, and before he refused to back down and defeated
Johnny with a beautifully executed front kick to the chin out of the Crane stance, he
got a baseline for his fighting skills.
So whats the point of all of this? Before you go and fight in a marathon tournament
against your mortal enemy (read: 8 hour exam), you need to get a little training. That
all starts with a baseline though.
When Daniel was getting ready to fight, he stood up in a fighting stance, his hands
ready to punch.
If youre going to take a practice exam, you need to make it as real as possible too.
Gather all of your reference manuals, your cheat sheet, your calculator and head to
the local library early one Saturday or Sunday morning.
Put in some ear plugs, turn your phone to airplane mode, set a timer for 4 hours, and
go. Learn to Pass the PE Exam and Still Have a Life, Not Much Time Left: 1 day, 01:50:43 Find Out More
Dont look to the solutions side, and workout each problem on its own sheet of paper.
Please note, were going to have a use for these later, so take your time to write so at
least you can read it.
If youre like me, youll be drained the first time you do this, so Id suggest blowing off
the rest of the day.
Go out and grab a few drinks, spend some time with your lady, go to the gun range and
squeeze off a few rounds whatever it takes for you to relax and decompress.
Well take the second half of the test in the same manor the next day. Rinse, and
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repeat.
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Grade yourself.
Dont worry about how you did, were going to improve on it. The first time I took a
practice exam (I just looked this up, and have to say Im embarrassed), it was not
pretty I only got a 38%. Yikes.
If you got an 80 or higher, youre an all-star. Send me a message when youre done
passing the exam, I know of a company that is looking for talent like yours.
Take another practice exam and if you get the same score or better. Youre ready for
the real thing. Congrats (and I hate you)!
For the rest of us who dont have an eidetic memory, lets continue.
Action Steps
This ones simple, itll take you about 10 hours to complete. Were going to split it up
over 2 days so its not so unbearable. The first time I took a practice exam I did so in
one sitting, Im only here typing this because I didnt have a razor blade handy to slit
my wrists.
Going from 0-60 is difficult for anyone, so do yourself a favor and take this in parts.
1. Gather everything that youd take for the real test. If you need a reminder,
heres a handy lil list thatll work for today:
1. Timer
2. Ear Plugs
3. Reference Materials (Textbooks, Code References, Reference Manual,
etc.)
4. A pad of paper
5. A couple bottles of water / snacks
2. Go up to the local library, sit at a small table and organize your stuff so you can
find it.
3. Leave your phone in the car, or if its your timer make sure its on airplane
mode.
4. Put in your ear plugs.
5. Set Learn to for
the timer Pass the PE Exam and Still Have a Life, Not Much Time Left: 1 day, 01:50:43
4 hours. Find Out More
6. Kick some ass.
7. Party a bit.
8. Come back the next day and do it all again.
9. More partying.
10. Grade yourself.
People hype up the results that youll have, charge you a lot of money (and maybe
convince you to take out loans to pay for it), and then deliver mediocure results.
This isnt an attempt to try and prevent you in paying for a class from some online or
in-person group related to passing the PE exam. Its just a word of caution, from a man
who paid for one such course.
My favorite professor from college taught the course. This guy loves the power
industry, after retiring as the head of one of my companies largest competitors Energy
group he started teaching.
Dont get me wrong, I learned a ton from him. Both in school and while taking the
course on passing the PE exam. But I dont know that the later was necessary.
If a guide like this existed before, I may not have needed to take that course and drop
that $1000 to my alma-mater.
I travel a lot for work, in fact right now Im writing this from 40,000 feet above some
Learn
obscure town to Pass
on the the PEofExam
pan-handle andOrStill
Florida. HaveSomewhere
Georgia. a Life, Not in
Much Time Left: 1 day, 01:50:43
the southeast Find Out More
US, that is really unimportant to the point Im trying to drive home.
When I was taking his course, the information presented was great. It was years since
the last time that Id taken a college course, and it was something that I had no desire
to ever do again.
Fact is some recent studies have shown that its actually one of the least effective ways
for students to learn. Theres a bunch of different metrics that they use, but it shows
above and beyond that there are two ways that are way more effective for most
students.
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I hate to admit this (partially because I know you read this blog Mike), but I wasnt
always out of town when I didnt show up to class. Sometimes I just didnt feel like
sitting through a lecture.
There was some invaluable information that Mike did give me in the few classes that I
did show up to.
The first was the creation of a reference manual much like I described before. He not
only went far enough in telling us what to include, but hed done the research, found
the sources we should use, printed them out, and gave them to each of us.
If thered been a guide like this out there before, and Id actually taken the time to ask
google about it and then spent time reading the ridiculously long-winded stories this
author has put out. I may not have taken his advice, I might have said, that reference
Learn nice,
manuals sounds to Pass the PE
but that alsoExam and
sounds likeStill
a lotHave a Life, Not Much Time Left: 1 day, 01:50:43
of work. Find Out More
Have I said Im lazy?
And if youre lazy too, then I recommend you pay someone else to build your
reference manual for you. I did, and Im glad I did.
The second thing that he did which helped me immensely, he gave us a ton of practice
exams.
The idea of a benchmark test, I stole that from him. (Thanks again Mike.)
He also wrote up a ton of other exams for us to take throughout the summer to ensure
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that we were learning the materials and making progress.
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Or you can pay someone to create them for you. It doesnt matter. Just pick whatever
method you want, and move forward.
The last thing that I cant thank Mike for enough was explaining what was on the
exam.
Much like the NCEES guide that I had you get a copy of early in this guide, Mike came
to class and went over with us exactly the quantity of questions that would come from
different topics.
Without this information from the course, I wouldnt have known where to focus my
time. And as a lazy person, I hate wasting time.
If youre willing to put the effort in on your own, Im certain you could pass the test
without the extra $1000 expense that I knowingly took on. Ive given you examples of
others who have done so.
Either go to a class, or do a little studying on your own. Whatever you choose, follow
through. Focus on the big rocks thats in that guide.
Find resources thatll help you, work through examples, and put them all in your
reference manual.
Action Steps
Time to make a decision, and stick to it. Theres a lot of options out there, from in
person classes to online prep courses. Which one is right for you, I cant tell you but
I have given you the ability to not spend the $1000+ on a course and instead put in the
time and energy to pass by yourself.
1. Look into the online options out there, heres the ones that I was able to turn up
in no particular order:
1. Kaplan PE OnDemand Review Courses
Completely online courses limited to Structural (Vertical/Lateral), Civil
Learn to Pass the PE Exam and Still Have a Life, Not Much Time Left: 1 day, 01:50:43
PE, and Electrical Power PE courses, all of which list for $549.
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2. School of PE
Multiple options, from in-person to live online lectures to on-demand.
Prices vary from $990 to $1190 and include all disciplines (from what I
saw).
3. PPI Power to Pass
Limited in-person classes, mainly live online or on-demand. Some of the
options include all of the recommended reference materials for the
classes, and prices vary from $935 to $2140.
4. SmartPros (MGI Management)
They have a few options, all on-demand and at a pretty low price point
$524, minus some discounts. Didnt care to signup for their email list, so
youll have to find out about the discounts yourself.
2. If youre spending the money on it, you better make it worth it. Schedule out the
19 next 2-3 months anywhere from 5-10 hours a week to study. Some classes have
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dedicated times, others are on-demand. Do whatever works for you.
3. Dont ignore the rest of this guide. Itll still help you pass, I promise.
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1. Good for you, you obviously believe enough in yourself (and arent as lazy as I
am) and have faith youll put in the work to build a good reference
manual.Congrats.
Hard to imagine isnt it? I still dont feel anywhere close to an expert.
Problem is, your field of choice is probably pretty niche. I know mine is, they dont
exactly have a PE test on designing fueling systems for large airports and trucking
companies. Much of the stuff that I was quizzed on during the exam Id never really
dealt with since college. And some Id never seen.
But I passed.
When a baseball player takes the winter off, the get out of shape. Their 6 packs are
replaced by 2 packs with a little keg below it. Or at least thats what I imagine
happens.
Learn to Pass the PE Exam and Still Have a Life, Not Much Time Left: 1 day, 01:50:43 Find Out More
So
19 before the team thats paying them millions to go out and play a game is willing to
put them on the team, they train.
They spend weeks running drills. Fielding ground balls, catching pop-flys, relearning
how to focus in on a ball coming at them at 100 miles an hour and hitting it with a
small piece of wood. How theyre not scared of that last one Ill never know.
After that, they play some organized ball. Practice isnt enough, they have to actually
get used to playing in games again.
Action Steps
Youve got the tools you need, your glove is well oiled and your bat is coated with pine
tar (do they even still use pine tar?). Its time to get in the game again.
1. Take another practice exam.See where youre at. Youre getting more used to
taking tests again. And who knows, maybe that cute librarian that you keep
eyeing will smile at you next time you come in and youll get a date out of all
this studying.
2. Keep working out the problems on individual pieces of paper.If you got the
answer right, cut out the question from the study guide and put it at the bottom
of the page. Then stick that page in your reference manual for you to refer to
later, you know just another little weapon for the war.
3. If you miss a problem, rework it. And definitely put it in the reference
manual.Youll know how to work through it next time. And if not, youve got a
handy little guide that will show you what to do. Just in case.But you wont
need it. Its just there for the peace of mind it gives you.
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X-MEN: THE LAST STAND, Famke Janssen, 2006, TM & Copyright (c) 20th
Century Fox Film Corp. All rights reserved.
But how cool would it be to be able to know what was going to happen?
Jeans powers were nothing compared to that of her alternate personality, Phoenix, but
the one that Id like the most was the psychic ability.
No more worrying about if youre going to get that raise and promotion that youve
been angling for.
No more second-guessing if the generator and wiring was sized large enough for the
second increase in horsepower that the mechanicals just told you about.
No more questioning whether that girl would say yes if you asked her out.
Unfortunately, not being a psychic, I (and no one else) has the ability to know the
proprietary methodology that NCEES uses to determine the actual score needed to pass
the test. From what Ive heard, it varies based upon the test and sometimes questions
are tossed out.
What held true for me, and for many of my friends, is that if I was getting 75-80% on
Learnthen
practice exams to Pass
I was the PE Exam
probably goingand Still
to be Have a Life, Not Much Time Left: 1 day, 01:50:43
okay. Find Out More
For the real test I shot for a 75% assumption that Id pass.
So while you might never be able to anticipate the last min horsepower changes of the
motors in your system, let me show you how you can walk out of the PE exam
knowing (or having a good feeling for) whether you passed.
In general I feel like there are three different answers youll be giving on the exam:
1. Problems youve done a ton or looked up and have a great feeling about the
answer youre getting because it matches one of the numbers there.
2. Problems where you know at least 2 of the answers dont make any sense but
19 you cant eliminate one of the other two as you can get either answer depending
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3. Problems youve got no clue on and cant locate in your reference manuals.
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When I was working through the exam, and as I solve a problem, I would assign a
certainty to the correctness of the answer based upon the above.
On one of my sheets of scratch paper Id put a tally mark next to each number.
A sample session could look something like this after 3 hours of taking a practice
exam:
Correct Answers 29
Educated Guess 8
Complete Guess 0
Youll notice that I did not guess on any questions yet, Id skip any questions that Id
not seen before and had no knowledge of. At this point of the exam Ive taken 37 of 40
questions.
Now for each of these Id add a potential of getting the problems correct. For those in
number 1 90%, 2 50%, and 3 25%. Doing the math, you can see that right now Id
be at 30 out of 40 possible questions or 75%.
At this point in the real test I would only answer questions Id seen before and guess
on all others.
Then Id spend the remaining time ensuring that my answers were on the right line of
the answer sheet to make sure a stupid error doesnt result in me having to retake the
test.
While this comes nowhere close to Jeans ability, I trust shed approve.
Action Steps
Its kinda becoming repetitive, and you can see how much emphasis I put on working
problems over listening to lectures, but
Learn to Pass the PE Exam and Still Have a Life, Not Much Time Left: 1 day, 01:50:43 Find Out More
1. Take another practice exam.
2. As you go through the exam mark your certainty of getting the problem right
with a 1, 2, or 3 on the corner of the page.On a separate piece of paper keep a
running tally of your progress.
3. At 3 hours check-in with how youre doing, run some quick math and figure out
what your potential for passing is.
5. You shouldnt be guessing on practice exams, so make sure you still take the
time to work every problem. Youre just trying to get a feel for your progress
and how quick youre moving.As you take more exams more of your answers
will go from 2s to 1s. And your scores will go up.
6. When you grade the test, see how true the calculation holds up for you. Were
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Shares you within 5% of what you expected? Did you get better than 75%?If not, dont
worry. Youll keep getting better at this the more tests you take.
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As he expressed to me one day, I HAVE to pass this test. How will I go back to work
after everything theyve given me if I dont pass?
He would always bring in several pencils and erasers to any test. I was never sure if it
was because he really changed his mind that often, or because he was busy beavering
the pencils into a damn he used to hold back the sweat dripping from his brow.
While it was probably all in his mind, he was convinced hed only have one chance at
this test.
If I dont pass this, theyre going to fire me. I know it. They will never give me
Learneveryone
another chance, to Pass the
elsePE
hasExam
alwaysand Stilltheir
passed Have a Life,
first time.Not Much
I dont Time
think I canLeft:
do 1 day, 01:50:43 Find Out More
this.
Im not sure that anyone can build something up in their mind as much as he did.
No amount of explaining sense to him made any difference. I tried to explain to him
my theory about passing rates and that he was doing well enough on the tests that hed
do fine.
But its just not the same. Just because I can pass a test at the library doesnt mean I
can do it in REAL life.
How he ever found a wife with his self-confidence issues, Ill never know.
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I got tired of it. So I snapped at him like all of my friends know that Im apt to do when
I get tired of something. Dude, shut the fuck up. If youre so worried about it, why
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dont you go to a hypnotist? You said they helped you quit smoking, maybe she can
talk some fucking sense into your dense head.
The crazy thing, he did it. And it worked for him. He called me as soon as he got done
with the test.
Skye, I fucking love you man. You saved my ass. Not exactly sure what I had done to
help him, I pressed him for a few details. The hypnotist, she worked wonders man.
Ive never been so calm going into and taking a test in my life. I just wish Id thought
about this in college.
Action Steps
Are you dealing with confidence issues? Dont be afraid to try unusual sounding
advice that comes from a place of anger.
1. Check groupon. I dont know how many times Ive seen hypnotists on there,
business must not be great for them. (I should try and enter into marketing for
them, hypnotism to pass tests. Id make a killing.)
2. After your session, try your next practice exam. If it goes easier, then maybe
your jitters are behind you. If not, maybe youll need a few sessions.My friend
said he took 3, over the course of 3 weeks leading up to the exam.It worked for
him, who knows, maybe youll have a little success with it as well.
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A day before you sit for the exam, theres nothing you can do. No amount of cramming
will help you from here. This isnt a college Chemistry test and you cant memorize all
of thermodynamics in a single evening.
Youve worked a ton of practice problems. You spent hours creating a reference
manual. You studied those areas you didnt fully understand and now have an at least
basic knowledge of them, or at least where to look them up in your references.
You deserve a day off. No seriously, take the day before the exam off.
Ive got a lot of stuff left for you to do today. You dont need to be worried with
whatever internal office politics is going on at work. Theyll understand how
important this is to you. Put on the auto-responder and dont check your email.
Action Steps
This time is really important, and if you dont do anything else that Ive mentioned
through this long-long-long post I hope you follow this.
1. Pack up all of your reference materials with everything else youre going to
need for the test. Because if youre anything like me, youre not just lazy but
youre forgetful, heres a list for you to check off:Reference books
Code references
Reference manual
Calculators (x2)
Water (x4)
Snacks (x2)
Lunch
Ear plugs (x2)
Learn to Pass the PE Exam and Still Have a Life, Not Much Time Left: 1 day, 01:50:43
Pencils (x2)To tell you the truth, I cant remember if I had to bring my own
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pencils, but better safe than sorry.
2. Now that everything is packed up, its time to do a trial run. Yeah, youre going
to go to the hotel, drive from there to the testing site and make sure you know
the way and that theres no construction.You dont show up late to a test like
this. They wont let you in.
3. Since thats done, its time to focus on the important things. Go take a massage, a
long walk, watch a movie, spend some time with your lover. Whatever de-
stresses you, do it.Youre going to do fine. Youre ready.
4. Oh, and set at least 2 alarms for the morning. Showing up is the hardest thing
left to do now.
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If youre anything like me, the day of the exam therell be a few jitters. Hopefully
youll know a few faces in the crowd and you can talk to them about whats about to
happen.
Your practice test scores in your back pocket, you know youve got this thing.
Remember our friends from before, the two heros who like you are taking the exams
for the second or third time this October. Theyre going to do better, theyre focusing
more on working problems and bringing the right resources. You, youve already got
the right resources and exams under your belt.
Before I send you off with a few parting words, I figured it might be beneficial for me
share another story for you. But no cute subtitles for this one.
He started out like many others who were taking the PE Exam for the first time. He
thought he had all of the time in the world. But then life happened, and before I knew
it there was only a few months left.
It didnt take me long to give up on trying to learn new things, I figured if I
Learn
understood to Pass
the basics thenthe
Id PE Exam
be in and
a good Still Have a Life, Not Much Time Left: 1 day, 01:50:43
spot. Find Out More
He didnt take a class to prepared, so how do you think he spent his remaining weeks?
Id say more than 50% of the time I spent working practice problems. Wow, that
sounds eerily familiar.
Is there more to this story, a bit. You see Matts a Structural engineering based in
California.
If you didnt know it, California is one of the few states that has requirements for their
civil / structural to take an extra exam due to the seismic activity their states
experience.
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And you thought you had it hard? He had to sit for 2 freaking days of tests, but he
followed our same strategy.
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He has two little bits of advice for those who want to pass the PE exam the first time
(or subsequent times).
First off, work practice problems, then take those into the exam with you.
Secondly, and this really just applies for those taking the second day worth of exams
in California, focus on surveying. Few people do it, and its surprising how knowing
something like that can give you a leg up.
Action Steps
1. Be like Santa and check your list twice, make sure youve got everything you
need to own this fucking test. Youre going to make it your bitch.
2. Have a good breakfast. Whatever you like and wont upset your stomach. Its
hard to concentrate when youve got bowel movements on your mind. When
youve only got 4 hours for each half of a test, you dont want to spend a lot of
precious time on the toilet.
3. Leave about 15-20 mins earlier than you think you need to. Just in case.
4. Take a few deep breaths. Realize that youve put in a ton of effort into this, 4
years (or more) of schooling, 2-4 years of on-the-job training, and a couple
months of building your arsenal.Youre ready to kick this tests ass. And you
will.
5. Remember that little trick we used to guess at how wed do on the practice
exams. Were going to do that here as well, to help us figure out how were
doing and know when weve conquered our enemy.
6. After youve won, when youve managed to whip the test into submission. Have
a drink, celebrate. Youve just taken the last test you need to for the rest of your
career.Congrats, and welcome to the profession.
Learn to Pass the PE Exam and Still Have a Life, Not Much Time Left: 1 day, 01:50:43
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costs associated with running this blog. It does not increase the cost of the items to
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~ Skye
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Skye Coleman
I've been helping engineers pass the PE exam in less time for over 3 years now.
In my professional life I design fuel systems for large airports and trucking
companies. I love travel, writing, and helping others.
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[] That said, I wrote another epic post this year which included a ton of actionable advice on
passing the PE exam. []
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[] helps engineers get more out of their career through tips and tricks ranging from how to pass
the PE exam, get a new job, and even travel faster and smarter. If you want to pass the PE exam,
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[] The Ultimate Guide to Pass the PE Exam in Less Time Description:An excellent post by a
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