PE Exam: Game Day

 

Most successful exam takers recommend doing nothing but relaxing the day before taking the 8-hour Professional Engineering exam. I ignored their advice. I had finished a practice exam the previous Saturday, but it was only on the day before test-day that I had time to rework missed problems.

Even on test day, between breakfast at the Holiday Inn Express and the test center opening, I ran through my flashcards with important formulae- rules of thumb- not included in the test handbook.  

I prepared snacks and lunch in portioned bags, placing them in my test candidate’s locker. Save brainpower for the test, instead of thinking about what to eat. In previous times, PE exam candidates, like lawyers aiming for the State Bar, would convene at certain convention-like centers around the state on a given day. Now, nearly all tests are offered at Pearson’s Professional Testing Centers, which serve members of various trades and professions, including nurses, EMTs, and dentists.

At least at the center I tested at, order of seating is given on a first-come, first-serve basis, so anxious individuals with a 2-hour exam could be seated ahead of full-day examinees. But there was a silver lining in the wait, as I decided to take my morning break early. If was fortuitous that I could plug-and-chug until lunchtime.

It had been several years since I sat for a major exam, so, like plunging into the cold water of the hotel pool, I remembered to mind my breathing and heart rate (My grad school program in Systems Engineering had no timed tests, just projects and reports).

Unlike most every other academic exam, the NCEES’ PE exam is a test that is about endurance, strategy, and time management. It is a test where perfection is erroneous, and where you are expected to skip questions to better manage time- an average of 6 minutes per question. Indeed, PhD’s are often permitted to skip this exam on the road to state licensure- their work is quite different from the constraints faced by ordinary practitioners of the engineering profession.

 I took the Mechanical- HVAC version, which errs towards the blue-collar side of the PE exams that NCEES offers. In this test, the writers want to ensure that someone long out of college, but dedicated to the industry, can pass the exam. I reviewed refrigeration questions from the US Coast Guard’s Marine Engineering test series, which is heavily focused on practical applications; several questions were direct hits.  

Each half of the test is about the same length in questions. But there is no cutoff clock for the first half, so you could pace 4 hours and 4 hours, or 3 hours and 5 hours between the halves. To reduce stress, I was not going to allot extra time to the first half of the exam, since the second half is traditionally the harder- and time-consuming half.

In the first half, I recall that I spent too much time on one question, then had to shoot-from-the hip on one I could have calculated. It resembled a practice problem, so I chose the answer from memory. It turned out the second half of the exam was the easier one, this cycle. (Four versions of the test are issued each year, and April 1 was the first day of a new test version). I definitely was dragging by question 75, out of 80, yet I had time to rework uncertain problems, and leave the test center 20 minutes ahead of time.

At the end of the exam, I had a high level of confidence, which waned with second-guessing myself the next day. A missed fundamental concept, such as confusing latent heat with sensible heat, could cost 7 questions, and the test-writers know which wrong answers to give as choices. One missed fundamental leaves little room for other errors, for the average-performing test taker. And of the fill-in-the-blank questions, what was the leeway given for rounding errors? The never specified the number of decimal points to give.

 With the computer-based test, I completed the exam on Friday, April 1, and received results on the following Wednesday. I couldn’t bear to see what I might see, but I saw the green bar of success! As I have completed all of the other state prerequisites for licensure (education, references, and an ethics exam), I am just waiting on the official letter to come from Richmond, VA.

As I sat on the tailgate of my car, having completed the test, I wondered at the feeling of having completed “the last test of your life”. For many of my undergraduate classmates at the US Merchant Marine Academy, comprehensive tests for the US Coast Guard Merchant Mariner License were the end of their academic careers. We had a profession for life, if sailing as a mariner is what we wanted.

Approved to Test

 "Who knows when thou mayest be tested? So live that thou bearest the strain!"

From "The Laws of the Navy", by Rear Admiral Hopwood

I've been through the routine of large exams: US Coast Guard Marine Engineer Licensing, twice, National Registry for Emergency Medical Technicians, and the NCEES' own Fundamentals of Engineering. Now, it's time for the Professional Engineering exam. 

In contrast to school exams, predictably scheduled,  professional exams occur based on the ebbs and flows of work experience, completion of prerequisites such as career training, and by the individual's own volition. So there is a general sense of when things will come together, but the "statutory" readiness occurs when it does. As for the individual readiness of studying, it's good to be prepared ahead of time, but to prevent knowledge attrition, the six-month period before the exam is critical. 

Which brings me to the point of scheduling the exam. Exams for certain desirable positions, such as high-end firefighting and ship's harbor pilots, only test twice a decade. More commonly, they might be twice-annually, as the Professional Engineering exams used to be. So you would typically schedule for the next exam available. And when there is flexible, daily test availability? Just schedule it and hold yourself to that date.

The Fun Never Stops

St. Anselm's school year for upperclassmen works as follows: regularly-scheduled classes end the Friday before the start of the two AP weeks. Given that students typically will take three or more of these 3-to-4 hour tests, it makes reasonable sense to not even worry about having classes these two weeks. Given the tests' comprehensive nature, students feel entitled to a multi-hour r+r period after taking the test. I do too. The administration's support for leaving time after the last class and before exam week is that teachers will get to use all their classtime up to AP weeks teaching new material. Students would then study on their own with a review sheet, and come in if they want help. Washington Christian Academy in Germantown, MD, also uses this open scheduling system during AP weeks, to my knowledge.

So you may think that this time as a two-week reprieve, but read this: Teachers can still have due dates on papers and projects, and athletic teams still hold practice. Despite this, I know that some students have used this time to catch up on missed vacation, but apparently that's not me.

I finished my last AP of the year, Biology, on Monday at noon. Yet, I've been up and around, at school handing in papers and prize submissions, finishing on the engineering class' group semester project, attending track practice, and handling all of the pre-enrollment material for the Academy ahead of July. Oh, and I shouldn't forget about the social events, nor the exams next week.

Sceptics of open scheduling during AP weeks can see that, well, at least a few students are putting their larger chunks of open time to good use.

No Test Material on This Page

I'm sure that anyone involved knows that October SAT scores came out today. I know that it was hard to get through between 12:01am and 2:00am, as the needlessly worried students stayed up to see the event. The lines probably were also heavy from 6:00am to 8:00am, as the early to bed crew started to rise. Mom convinced me that I should save the surprise as an afternoon treat. Why'd I want to check at 6am? "So I wouldn't wallow alone". Commiserating is a sport. In fact, SAT was the topic of our shortened day. Busy with a Latin test for a good part of the time, I wasn't able to run to the Publications Lab to check my results. After all, I don't have my SAT login code memorized.

If you're wondering, I did a swell job. Only thing, is that the scholarships get bigger the closer to 1600 you get. At some point I have to stop worrying. Talk about restoring sanity, though.

Patriot's Day ACT

This passage is based on material from practice tests and post predrafted on Sept. 10. I took the test this morning at West Potomac High, South Fairfax, VA; the last available site in the Anselmer's sphere of influence.

The ACT is a great relief for the College Board student. Looking at the prep material, there's a greater patriotic element in the literature comprehension selection than in the SAT. On this chain, the ACT also contains more material which the mainstream of collegebound students would find interesting.
Many of my classmates who scored in the 1800's (of 2400 potential) topped 30 (out of 36 potential). The ACT conversion indicates a 27 would be expected. Thus, it's fair to say that you, too, might do better on the ACT. Is it right for everyone, though?
You ought to have taken math through the Algebra 2 level; and had a thorough teacher at that.

Learn to conceal your laughter at bad grammar
You don't need a big lexicon
While reading passages, think of ways you'd shorten the text
Know that the ACT wants you to be succint and direct,like the archetypical American.
You will spend more time with the calculator
Some problems will resemble math class
Don't get discouraged by the dense language of the intercultural reading passage. The ACT only has one.
You should be able to analyse data and make logical leaps as the time presses short

Is it a forewarner of America's future? The science section was designed to be pressed on time, compared to the english and math sections. The math is at a challenging level for most test-takers. Some pundits have used the ACT as positive proof of poor math and scientific ability in American youth!

A teacher who will remain nameless has the tendency to let his students' essay-writing skills deteriorate after 2 semesters. The east coast SAT- slicker may find the transition back to AP's (especially AP English Language!) Not to fret. While the ACT has been favored upon by talent searches such as John Hopkins U's CTY, more east coast colleges have come to accept the test from Iowa.

SAT II, Round 1

SAT II today...
I took the tests at Holton Arms
Halfway between home and my violin instructor
(I was not the only one- other kids had their violins too, for after the test!)
I was originally scheduled for two- French and Chemistry
But I decided to throw in a Math II at the end
It turns out that when you take SATII you get the whole book of 30-something tests- and can choose which one to take at what time.
I heard US History is a popular impulse purchase.
The folks in Jersey say that they'll just bill your family for the extra tests.
Does this invoice delay my scores?

Better Grades

Ah, on the brink of my final AP. But unlike the others (Comp Pol and Music Theory), it seems as if every other American student will take an English AP. Will that raise the stakes or not?

As a student striving for a high score, I encourage testtakers who decide to give up to not cancel their scores. This lets the people who don't try get the 1's and 2's and those who try better scores. Plus, it'll save you ten bucks. If you don't want to let your college see your slack status, then by all means order a non-report of your score. But pls don't cancel.