BLOG: Studying for the PE Begins
For the last month, I've been spending half of my free time studying for the Professional Engineering exam.
The exam itself is scheduled for April 13th and despite the fact that I purchase a study manual, I found it extraordinarily difficult to stay on track studying. I've been primarily studying with the holy grail of PE study guides for the Civil Engineering PE exam, the Lindeburg manual and practice problems.
The manual itself is well organized, but difficult to stay focused on since it is unavoidably boring and raw, so I did some research and asked some friends what they did to get ready and came across a program called "School of PE".
Unfortunately the program is quite expensive, and most employers won't pay for it (which is ironic since they want you to have a PE). The program cost a whopping $1149 and you have the option of going to a class in person, having a live webinar, or watching pre-recorded videos. If you choose the online version of the class, you will have access to online chats and forums, professors and TAs who will answer your questions. Knowing the type of person I am, I decided to go with the pre-recorded videos so I can study every night solo. I heard great reviews about the course, so I didn't hesitate to pay the premium for it.
In the grand scheme of things the videos and the course manual breaks down all of the information you need to know in an organized way. This takes most of the guest work out of studying, you simply need to listen and do the work, and for someone who has a busy schedule like myself, its one less thing to focus on, and more time to study.
So here are some notes about the exam that I found REALLY useful to put into words.
SOME NOTES ABOUT THE EXAM
The exam is about time management. There are 80 questions, separated into two 40 question sections that are 4-hours each.
The exam is attempting to test your skills, so you need to build your problem solving skills in order to pass. All other accessory information such as conversion units, or definitions should either be engrained in your memory or written down in an easy to access reference manual. While it is an open book exam, you simply won't have enough time to go back and refer to problems you've done before. But you are allowed to bring any text book you want, so as long as it is bound and neatly held together.
They highly suggest that you read through all 40 questions in the morning session and label them with a 1 to 3 on it. 1 being this is easy, 3 being i dont know, I need to look it up. The idea is, if you get crunched for time and you end up on something you know is a 3, and you know there are several level 1 or 2 questions ahead, you can take advantage of knowing that there are easier questions ahead. Reading 40 questions should take you no more than 5 minutes is less than 10 seconds each.
In each topic that's covered, there will be several question types that are asking for ratios, or proportion. These are essentially free questions if you have a good reference manual and know where each equation is.
In each topic that's covered, there will also be several productivity type questions. These questions can be bifricated and are designed to force you to think about 2 problems and perform multiple steps to reach the answer. You need to be very productive in these questions to answer them as quickly as possible since they are designed to take up large blocks of time.
The exam also employs "Too Much Information" to distract or confuse the reader. If you take the additional information into your calculations, sometimes the wrong answer shows up as well.
Many of you know these are techniques in exams, but have never actually internalized them in words. In fact, many of you guys probably are so far from continuing education that you probably can't remember when you last had to take an exam! I know I certainly haven't taken any real exam since school ended years ago!
Since the information on the exam is well known to everyone, there should be no reason to ever go into an exam blindly since there are hundreds if not thousands of resources available online, both free and paid.
Adults optimize learning through practice and conditioning
If we know how adults learn things, then its important to employ ways that best work with the adult mind. The course focuses on this by teaching you the material in a multiple choice format. If you see the format enough, then you will be comfortable with the setup of the test. The knowledge will come as they work through the problems. At the end of the day, all of the information on the PE exam should be items that you are familiar with, at the very least. The School of PE makes it a point to say: in no situation do we normally sit down and answer 40 multiple questions under the pressure of time. It's highly unusual and uncommon. So practice is necessary to learn the skill of test taking.
There are over 100 hours of video and I've just gone through the first 5! The exam is about 60 days away and I'm hoping for an average for 3 hours a night studying, or 180 hours total to practice locating my resources and working through practice problems. Some might say this is excessive or just enough for the exam, but I know the type of person I am, and I'm always more comfortable knowing I'm well prepared. I also don't want to ever study for this exam again, and I really need to free my life from studying for a career where I feel like the knowledge I learn through working is miles above what I would learn academically.
I DONT MEAN YOU SHOULDN'T STOP LEARNING!!! I'm just saying that I learn better through working on projects and learning as necessary!
One positive I got from PE studying was re-learning to use a pencil and hand held calculator again. I was so used to using a computer at work for calculations, my first practice test was a big flop. Of course it was good to brush up on the material as well since there was a portion I had not even considered since school. I did find the extra information interesting as well, it can be easy to get tripped up by something you do not even need to solve the problem. I found that for some problems where it involved multiple computations, it was actually easier to plug in the answers and work backwards (LMTD heat exchanger problems for those Chemical Engineers out there). I think I overstudied, but I am like you in that I would rather be prepared.
As far as learning as an adult, I had so much more practical experience I found it easier to figure out "real world" type problems. On the flip side, the theoretical "which of these answers is least similar to..." sort of problems really threw me for a loop.
They let us bring in paper as long as it was in a binder. I made some equation cheat sheets (dimensionless numbers were big for ChemE) and also conversion cheat sheets. I also made an index of the practice problems I worked and the reference manual so I could find them fast.
Sounds like you are doing it the right way. It seems like a lot of work now but it will pay off and you will not regret all the effort. Make sure to relax during the exam. Best of luck!
@ai125, thats a huge item! for most calculations, i refer to the use of computers now, and going back to hand calculations for some items, trips up how i organize the calculation on paper since spreadsheets and software take care of all of that for you. I rather over study by 25%, then fail by 1%. I dont want to study like this anymore. Im just so tired of going through the academic motions of learning topics to proove that you know them, but never actually use them for anything.
They actually tell you EXACTLY what the defintiion of "most closely" means. For example, im going through the construction module right now, and they had a great example of moving excavated dirt. When you run your numbers, you get 52.3 of trucks to remove the excavated soil. The question was, what is most nearly the number of trucks to remove the soil
Your 2 closest answers were 52 and 55. If you pick 52, you are wrong, because you still have 0.3 trucks. you need 55!!
I'm going to do exactly as you suggest, make quick sheets for everything and print out an INDEX of practice problems for quick reference.
RELAXXXXX is the key. Keep the adrenaline low, so you can keep the focus high!
Thanks for the tips!
The honest to goodness truth for me is: if I want to learn something I just do. The just do part varies on the topic and the frequency at which I can either study (learn/research) or practice (use) the respective topic. Ultimately for me it’s about repetition and usage. The more I actively use something -be it a formula, a code reference, a product, a language, a video game, a cooking recipe- the better I get at it.
The same can be applied for learning anything I think. If you don’t have a guide, tutorial or course, ask people who have experience and if possible just dive right in.
And I think this applies to me at all stages of learning. To fully respond to your initial reader question.
Yeah I am big into just doing something to learn also. Learning something at work goes that way for me. I just have to try it myself to really understand how it all goes together no matter how many times I see someone else's output. Good call on a recipe in particular. Takes me FOR-EV-ER to make something the first time and half the time I still leave out an ingredient or screw it up somehow.
For cooking, I've had mixed results with altering recipes. Either intentionally or unintentionally. Once I misread (brain fart) 1/2 teaspoon for 1/2 cup. I thought it was a lot so I put less but it was no where near the recommended 1/2 teaspoon haha.
im werid with cooking, i never follow instructions to the T, so my results vary a ton. I just do everything to taste* lol
But for everything else, such as doing a valve adjustment on a motor, the first time takes twice as long as the book time for the service. the second time, it hit the book time, then the 3rd time, i realize what i really dont need to do, or little tricks to make it easier and i can do it faster than book time! Its all in practice!
Thats exactly the method that school of PE is applying. We get used to familiarity and our stress levels decrease if we see the same thing over and over again and begin to understand it more and more. The way they teach you at the school of PE is simply by throwing problems at you, and then teaching you as they solve. I don't think its an easy thing to do since you have to really refine the material, but they pulled it off. so far worth the $1190 i paid!
April 13th? I'll give you to the first of May before I start ragging you to ride your motorcycle.
To the question? I'm a lot more conceptual oriented now than I was 40 years ago. I was really hands on (or brain cells on) than I am now.
Sounds to me like your preparation is immaculate. Not being surprised is a huge part of the battle.
Im probably going to be riding the week AFTER The exam!
Its harder and harder for adults to learn new concepts because we spend LESS time learning academically and more times figuring things out/problem solving. I think i am doing just the right amount of prep work, and Its great to hear from you guys that Im doing the right amount.
its a lot like buying quality tools that dont strip your nuts and bolts. a little extra care in selecting good tools, prevents a ton of headaches down the road.
Now...if only i could find a way to quit my job AND RIDE FULL TIME....
Thank You So Much For Providing The post and Notes...
I hope, it's a great decision for you.
but why "School of PE" don't offer any Scholarship?
School of PE is just the name. its a paid for service, thus no scholarship.
all of the exams was made difficult, but that's the fruits of your hard work to enjoy the sweetness at the end of the road.
thinking cannot weaken the will semagat to fight.
you sure ... you can make it, I'm sure it's good.
thanks @motoengineers for sharing
keep working
thanks!
Wow, great writing !
thanks!
Interesting thoughts, and coincidentally, I was recently talking with a friend about my childhood memories, one of them being of my father studying for his PE exam.
The differences of how I study now vs. as a student are huge. First and foremost because when I started my second degree I felt like my knowledge absorption rate dropped below zero, and it was just because every field of study requires different types of studying. Architecture is more about doing, theoretical sciences are more about memorizing stuff and putting different things together in various combinations to generate ideas, so I almost completely un-learned this skill...
I agree with you strongly on the time management `aspect - it's something I wasn't taught in school. I recently took an exam that would have gotten me a way better result if I had a technique. So after all it's not just about what you know.
Now I learn more strategically. It's easier for me to select things that I feel will be useful, based on experience. But because I now I only learn things I want to learn, it's easier to invest some extra time in it, and the results are better.
Good luck Kui!
Just give up man, you dont want to be a professional engineer, what you want to be is a Steem Engineer! :P
Joking.
Best of luck man, I wish you the best.
Adults are more biased, young adults kind of study without too much critical thinking, while we now start to doubt some things on our textbooks as most of them are written by people who haven't really updated their knowledge too much.
At least that's what I feel.
Cheers!