Calling all Professional Engineers!!!!

What is ".....the PE exam..."?

Is it the IEE chartered engineering exam? or maybe the American version of it?

John (I'm getting a bit grumpy about these questions with no answers!)

John,

The PE (Professional Engineer) exam is administered in order to obtain a PE license by each state in the U.S.A. It is in accordance with the NCEES guidelines and sponsorship: http://www.ncees.org/ It also varies with discpline, I am a chemical engineer, however each discipline takes the same first 4 hour block of test questions, the second 4 hour block is discipline specific.

I am not familiar with the IEE chartered exam. The PE exam here is the USA is not required for most engineers to have, but is useful for career advancement especially in the realm of contract engineers and consultants. One important note: Only licensed professionals are allowed to offer their services to the public and sign and seal plans for the public.

Ohhhhhhhh I didn't know that!!

Sounds like its similar to the Chartered Engineer status in the UK then.

Although there are many ways to get the chartered status...

Thanks 'shooter' ......... John.

I'm not sure if that is true--from my recollection (I took the PE exam in 2003), both 4 hour blocks were discipline specific.

I took the tests (EIT then the PE - 1 year apart) starting 3 years ago. I sent for a prep booklet and I've still got it. It's at home right now, and I dont remember the exact title. Funny thing was that about 2 months before the PE exam, I lost my job. I was down about it for a few days, but then realized all the time I now had to study! I studied for ~ 2 months (sporadically before that) for 3-6 hrs a day, 6 days a week. The study guide went through all of the sections to prep for the ChemE exam. I studied the material & worked the problems. I took the tests & timed myself. I flagged inportant sections in my textbooks (yes, you can take text & reference books into the testing room - just no qwerty calculators or PDAs) in preparation as well. There were several times that sets of equations needed to be solved, that was when I was glad I had learned to solve them with matrices on my HP calculator! There are a lot of prep materials out there - I'll try to remember to get the name of the prep guide tonight & let you know tomorrow. Another thing, I don't know about your state, but they may make you take the EIT again - I have the book for that as well. I heard so many horror stories about people who had to take the test several times before passing. However, I studied (maybe not as adequately as I should have liked!) a fair amount and passed on the first try! I believe that my God was with me; the loss of a job gave me a PE License and a much beter salary today! For that I am thankful. I'll try to let you know the exact names of the resources tomorrow.

If you are CE, I know the California State Special exams for seismic and land surveying are typically considered the substantially harder than the NCEES exam (Seismic in particular). Unlike the NCEES exam, which can readily be completed with in the alotted time, everyone i know who took the current Land surveying and seismic exams indicated they didn't see a single person complete the exams before the time limit. Knowing how to select questions can be important in these cases.

I took the PE test about 20 years ago. To prepare, I bought a PE test prep book. I took all the practice tests for each of the sections (there were about 20 for civil engineers). The problems I couldn't solve quickly identified the sections I spent most of my time studying. When I could solve all the problems on the practice tests quickly, I was ready. I didn't ace the test, but my score was pretty good.

I think I spent a few evenings or afternoons a week studying, for about 4 to 6 weeks. So, about 30 to 40 hours? I took the EIT while I was a senior in college, and the PE about 4 years later.

Chuck M.

Just took the PE exam for my state, and found it helpful to get the exam prep books from PEI. Depending upon your discipline (EE,ME,CE,ChemE, etc.) the first four hour block is a discipline specific and test your braod general knowledge of your discipline. The second half is in depth design in a specific portion of your discipline. I suggest that you look at the NCEES website's exam format, bring as many book and references as you can carry, and do as many practice problems as you can. Check with your local engineering society chapter (IEEE, ASME, ASCE) as they might hold an exam prep course. The pass rate is about 60%, but don't let this scare you. Just study everything that you can and rest up before the exam. Hope this of help.

I prepped for mine at about 3-4 hours a week (by working sample problems) for about 10 weeks before the exam. Another thing that helped me, along with the prep and studying was adopting the mind set "You learn to take the test by taking the test" . It may relax you and thus enable you to do better. It worked for me as I passed it on the first try. Not by a heck of a lot, but it was enough.

Go find a good review course, preferably in a classroom, not online. I took one that lasted 16 weeks. I assume it's open book. So pick your favorite texts and tab the pages, and index, so you can find things quickly. Get a good night's sleep the night before and use all of the time available. Leaving early doesn't get you any points. I went through the exam (California) four times and found mistakes the first three times. I'm now a New Mexico PE.

I apologize for not wrapping this up sooner, but I have been in the field for a few weeks. Thanks for all of your comments and suggestions. I hope all of you have a Merry Christmas and a Happy and Prosperous New Year.

shooter