PE Exam - Professional Engineering Licensure

[isukendall]

Anyone have any advice for a guy taking the PE Exam on Friday? I'm sure it's probably too late to make any major changes (i.e. study harder/sooner), but any thoughts would be appreciated. I'm taking the Ag/Bio test as that was my undergrad and master's degrees. Some people have told me the practice exams are way harder than the actual exams....I hope so, because I know I couldn't pass the practice exams at this point.

Side note: I'm taking the exam in Lincoln, NE on Friday. Convenient indeed for my plans on Saturday:biggrin:

 

[Jables22]

Anyone have any advice for a guy taking the PE Exam on Friday? I'm sure it's probably too late to make any major changes (i.e. study harder/sooner), but any thoughts would be appreciated. I'm taking the Ag/Bio test as that was my undergrad and master's degrees. Some people have told me the practice exams are way harder than the actual exams....I hope so, because I know I couldn't pass the practice exams at this point.

Side note: I'm taking the exam in Lincoln, NE on Friday. Convenient indeed for my plans on Saturday:biggrin:

Take a watch or some other time keeping device (not a cell phone) to the room. I took mine exactly a year ago and the clock was in the back of the room. It was annoying turning around constantly to check the time.

Also- don't drink too much coffee. I felt pressed for time for both the morning and afternoon. Don't want to waste time sprinting to the restroom.

If a question looks especially difficult or time consuming- skip it and go back to it at the end. Some questions are way easier than others. I took the Mechanical exam, but I'm assuming the others are structured the same.

Good luck!

 

[SeattleClone]

I'm taking it Friday too (Civil/Structural) and as much as I'd like to study harder/sooner, it is too late for that. Not sure how your review materials compare to Civil, but I've heard the NCEES sample test is easier than the actual test, while the other test (same publisher as the Civil Engineering Reference Manual) is harder. I'm also studying the "6-minute" solutions book as it seems like a good way to find tricks to eliminate answers, and make some of the questions easier to break down.

The main piece of advice I've gotten that I'll try to follow is: At the beginning of the test, go through and read every question first and assign it a value of 1 to 3, based on how easy/hard you think it will be to solve. Then go back through and do all the 1's first, then 2's, and then 3's. That way you ensure you hit all the questions you know you can solve first, instead of wasting too much time on a hard question (that you may miss anyways) and then not having time for a "gimme" at the end.

Good Luck!

 

[Dave19642006]

go in with a positive attitude......get the questions you know first, and come back...

No Coffee, Do not drink the night before, and most of all....have a clear mind and think about the test, no personal issues should be involved, Study up on your weakness, you know what that is. Day of the test......speak and talk to noone till you get there, basically......no girlfriend the night before or that day. Stay focused....and you will pass...good luck.

 

[MNCyGuy]

I'm not anywhere close to taking mine, but how would people say it compares to the FE exam?

 

[cycloneworld]

I took it 1 year ago and there is not much you can do at this point. If you put the time into studying (most people told me the MINIMUM study time is around 150 hours) and did so many practice problems you want to puke...then you are probably ready.

I took a half day off of work the day before and went home and watched movies. I didn't look at anything related to the exam until it started on Friday morning. I'd recommend that to others as it worked really well for me.

Another thing that worked for me was taking 2 5-hr Energy shots, one before the test and one at lunch. Again, that worked well for me.

Get ready for a LONG day. While the exam is 8 hours, its about a 12 hour day and is really mentally taxing.

Good luck to all who are taking it!

 

[cycloneworld]

I'm not anywhere close to taking mine, but how would people say it compares to the FE exam?

More specialized and more difficult IMO. I took the FE my senior year in college and everything was relatively fresh in my mind. The PE covers areas that I do not work with on an everyday basis so its a lot more time/effort to prepare for.

 

[cyco2000]

I'm taking it Friday too (Civil/Structural) and as much as I'd like to study harder/sooner, it is too late for that. Not sure how your review materials compare to Civil, but I've heard the NCEES sample test is easier than the actual test, while the other test (same publisher as the Civil Engineering Reference Manual) is harder. I'm also studying the "6-minute" solutions book as it seems like a good way to find tricks to eliminate answers, and make some of the questions easier to break down.

The main piece of advice I've gotten that I'll try to follow is: At the beginning of the test, go through and read every question first and assign it a value of 1 to 3, based on how easy/hard you think it will be to solve. Then go back through and do all the 1's first, then 2's, and then 3's. That way you ensure you hit all the questions you know you can solve first, instead of wasting too much time on a hard question (that you may miss anyways) and then not having time for a "gimme" at the end.

Good Luck!

Hoy crap--you must be a structural guy--taking time to rate questions, etc.

Just relax, take your time, read all the questions before doing any, go with your gut, and you'll be fine....unless you're working for the DOT........mostly kidding!!

I'm not anywhere close to taking mine, but how would people say it compares to the FE exam?

In my opinion, the FE was about 20 times harder than the PE (FE in 2000, PE in 2004). In the afternoon PE session, I reviewed my answers 2 or 3 times and was out of there in 2 hours--was nervous as hell that I screwed things up because I thought it was too easy. I don't really remember which practice test is better (that's all I did to study), or even what the questions were, except they were basically what I had been doing for 4 years...practical rather than the FE questions.

(FYI, my overall GPA upon graduation was under 3)

 

[tim_redd]

Hoy crap--you must be a structural guy--taking time to rate questions, etc.

Just relax, take your time, read all the questions before doing any, go with your gut, and you'll be fine....unless you're working for the DOT........mostly kidding!!



In my opinion, the FE was about 20 times harder than the PE (FE in 2000, PE in 2004). In the afternoon PE session, I reviewed my answers 2 or 3 times and was out of there in 2 hours--was nervous as hell that I screwed things up because I thought it was too easy. I don't really remember which practice test is better (that's all I did to study), or even what the questions were, except they were basically what I had been doing for 4 years...practical rather than the FE questions.

(FYI, my overall GPA upon graduation was under 3)

Seriously? The FE was ridiculously easy. Half of the answers came straight from the guide book they give you.

 

[cyco2000]

Seriously? The FE was ridiculously easy. Half of the answers came straight from the guide book they give you.

That's what some people told me, but I was sweating that thing...

I should have paid more attention in school, I guess.

 

[MNCyGuy]

Seriously? The FE was ridiculously easy. Half of the answers came straight from the guide book they give you.

This is what makes me think the PE will be harder even if it is more practical. How about LEED, anybody able to a comparison between those two tests. I thought LEED was pretty easy, but found the amount of memorization a bit ridiculous.

 

[Clonehomer]

So what's the better route, taking the FE out of college or waiting to take the PE?

 

[MNCyGuy]

So what's the better route, taking the FE out of college or waiting to take the PE?

Have to take both, don't you?

 

[Dave19642006]

This is what makes me think the PE will be harder even if it is more practical. How about LEED, anybody able to a comparison between those two tests. I thought LEED was pretty easy, but found the amount of memorization a bit ridiculous.

first think about the test you are taking....forget the others...

 

[CIVILCY]

Seriously? The FE was ridiculously easy. Half of the answers came straight from the guide book they give you.

I would have to agree that the FE was easy. I was a bad student and didn't study for the FE and some how I passed.

I'm taking the PE Friday too, but atleast I studied a little this time.

 

[jtaconutz]

I was good at gym class so I really never had to study for any of the tests.

 

[FrankvilleClone]

I'm glad to hear that you are taking the Ag Engineering exam. The practice Ag Engineering exams were intentional written to be a little harder than the actual exam so when you took the actual exam it wouldn't seem too difficult. Unfortunately, the soil and water questions tended to be a little more indepth and more difficult than they needed to be.

If you have a firm grasp of basic engineering principles, you should do well. The exam is written to be straight forward and is not intended to have trick questions. You have an average of 6 minutes per question. I would skim through the exam and answer all the easy questions first, which should take no more than 3 minutes per question. Next, work on questions that require more thought, which should take about 5 minutes per question. Next, work the harder questions, which could take 6 to 8 minutes. Finally, take an educated guess on the last questions. If you spend 10 minutes on a question, then you are taking too much time on the question.

Good Luck.

 

[CO4Cy]

This is what makes me think the PE will be harder even if it is more practical. How about LEED, anybody able to a comparison between those two tests. I thought LEED was pretty easy, but found the amount of memorization a bit ridiculous.

I took the FE and the LEED NC tests. The LEED test was ONLY memorization. I think I drank half of the things i memorized away the night I passed the test.

I am planning on taking the PE in the next couple of years. I work for a mechanical contractor so there is not quite as much "engineering" involved as a typical engineer role. I am a little behind in practical engineering by working for a contractor.

 

[cycloneworld]

So what's the better route, taking the FE out of college or waiting to take the PE?

You have to take both. I'd HIGHLY recommend taking the FE while still in school or just after you graduate while everything is still semi-fresh in your mind.

 

[MNCyGuy]

I took the FE and the LEED NC tests. The LEED test was ONLY memorization. I think I drank half of the things i memorized away the night I passed the test.

I am planning on taking the PE in the next couple of years. I work for a mechanical contractor so there is not quite as much "engineering" involved as a typical engineer role. I am a little behind in practical engineering by working for a contractor.

Yea, that was my experience with LEED as well.