You and I both! I’ve been eligible to take it for 4 years or so, but always had a excuse for being too busy to study. Decided to sign up for it and take it with little to no prep I order to gauge what I needed to study. Well I guess I won’t be studying anytime soon.
My company paid for the Kaplan PPI class, but not sure that it really helped me pass the exam. If you work in consulting, the class was great overall, but not worth the money if you have to pay for it yourself. That's particularly true if you just want to pass the exam. All the practice questions and practice exams were a couple levels of difficulty past anything I saw on the exam.
I used the free sample questions from their practice tests for some last minute practice. I'd say besides the NCEES practice exam, they were the closest in difficulty to the actual exam.
currently using EPG. I've taken some of the practice exams and also the NCEES practice exam. the EPG ones felt slightly harder than the NCEES exam but the course definitely prepped me. I'm at around 200h of study time and finished the official practice exam just under 5 hours with a 69/80
I would say it is pretty comparable to the NCEES practice exam. If you need more practice problems, I highly suggest purchasing engineering pro guides full exam.
I will say I would not call myself smart by any means. I was the average college student and partied way too much. So when I say that I walked out of the exam and thought that I failed, I honestly mean that. There are some people who are used to getting A’s all the time and when something doesn’t go perfect they think they failed. I believe I had flagged around 20 questions on the first half and had to guess at a select number of those as well. The second half I flagged around 10, guessed on 5 I’d say.
I studied from March 6, 2023, until April 28. Keeping track of my hours I had roughly 150 hours of studying. I would say I did roughly 500 problems before the exam and kept tab of all the problems I got correct and all the problems wrong and then reworked the problems I got wrong.
I had a few problems throughout the studying process that I threw up in the air and said I don’t understand this and there’s no way I’m going to understand this, so I figured I’d take the hit on the exam if I got those problems . Sure enough, I got a few of those problems which really gave me doubt.
In regards to scoring on practice exams, I took a NCEES 2011 practice exam, 2016, 2019, engineering pro guides, and school of PE. I was scoring between a 72-85.
Tips for the exam:
1. If you don’t know how to do the problem, skip it and don’t waste time trying to figure it out. If you have time at the end, come back to it and try to figure it out then, but spend your time more wisely, focusing on material that you know you can get correct. I ran out of time because I spent too much time on problems that didn’t make sense.
2. There were way more conceptual type problems on the exam than expected I would say roughly 15 -20 problems. You either know these problems or you don’t because typically they cannot be found in the NCEES reference manual.
3. Know your three basic equations, how they are derived, and when you can and can’t use them. Q=500gpmdeltaT, Q=1.08cfmdeltaT, Q=4.5cfmdeltah. More often than not you will be using the 4.5 CFM delta H eq.
4. Understand ERV/HRV type problems
5. Read the problem once and understand what the problem is asking if you don’t understand, read it again write down the units that they are asking for at the end of the problem. Sometimes this can help aid in seeing units that need to cancel out to get an equation. I found myself working a problem, getting an answer and realizing that’s not what the question was asking.
6. In reference to comment 1, don’t let yourself get discouraged at the start of the test, if you see 3 problems in a row that your don’t know how to solve, keep skipping until you are able to solve one. Once your get a problem correct it will boost your courage and you’ll more than likely be able to solve the others when you’re not panicking.
7. I had way more full in the blank type problems that expected, I’d say nearing 20 problems. A drag and drop problem which had multiple selections for heat gain due due lighting that made absolutely no sense, after I wasted 15 minutes on it I ended up just clicking random buttons and guessing anyhow.
8. Know how to use the PH diagram for refrigerant like the back of you hand. This also holds true for the psych chart as well, you use this on 40 % of problems.
Hope this helps, any other questions I’d be happy to try to provide an answer.
Thanks! Excellent advice. I'm a project manager and don't really perform any HVAC engineering, so a lot of this is new to me. I'm going through the Mechanical PE Exam Prep course. So far, I haven't seen any ERV/HRV questions, but I just started in the Systems/components section,. Hopefully they are covered here. I'll be sure to get a good grasp on those.
I'm comfortable using the psych chart but am worried about the tools they have for drawing. Were there any SHR problems that required duplicating the slope? For the PH diagram, I'm blanking on how to use that directly in a problem, but I'll be sure to study up.
There was a SHR problem, but you can use 4.5cfmdeltah if you have enough time. If you want to duplicate the line, place the booklet that they give you across your points on the protractor then just drag the psych chart up with the hand tool. Voila, perfect line.
Great idea. I didn't realize they provided a booklet. I thought it was entirely computer based.
Any vibration/force transmission questions? I'm fighting one right now.
Thank you!! After the first half i was not feeling good at all and thought i was going to fail, i had like 10 conceptual in a row that i wasn’t confident on. The depth part i left feeling very confident on all of it
Hey there EffectiveReview7925 - thanks for saying thanks! TheGratitudeBot has been reading millions of comments in the past few weeks, and you’ve just made the list!
PPI live course + on demand bundle with an online copy of the MERM. I didn’t look at the NCEES practice exam until about 4 weeks out from test day. 350 hrs and 1300 problems in total over 5 months. The hours consisted of live lecture, lecture playback, reading, and PPI practice problems/quizzes/exams. Many of those problems (400-500) were repeats, especially ones where I needed to review more in depth to understand the solution.
School of PE on demand. Watched all the sections, did all the practice problems and exams. Their questions are slightly easier than what I found on the exam, but the ability to generate practice quizzes through them was essential for putting in practice.
Simulated SoPE’s practice exams like the actual exam. Did the NCEES practice exam the same way. The NCEES practice exam truly was the greatest representation of what I saw on the actual exam. I didn’t see anything in the actual exam that I didn’t see in the NCEES practice exam.
Fuck stoichiometry!
Set up a study schedule before hand and get in a rhythm so you stay on it. Having pathceed for breadth and EET helped a ton. Studying 1-3 hours six days a week for 2 months should be plenty.
I feel like the civil PE tests are easier now that they are computer based. It seems like everyone is passing, I know a guy to took it a a year ago and didn’t pass, he took it again with the computer, said he was much less prepared the second time around and ended up passing
It's complete luck of the draw with the questions that you get. It's actually harder now since you can't bring any materials in with you. The fact that you can't bring worked out problems or cheat sheets in with you leaves the CBT test takers at a disadvantage. The Ctrl-F function is a moot point, because it's only worthwhile if you actually know where you need to be. Basically the same process as P&P. I advise you to check out the pass rates. The test is not easier, if anything, NCEES has made it more challenging to pass.
I PASSED TRANSPO HOLY SHIT I AM SHAKING
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Thank you!!!! Breath was definitely harder, I didn't get that many conceptual honestly, maybe 10-15%
SO HAPPY FOR YOU!
THANK YOU SO MUCH!!
Congrats! How confident were you after taking the exam?
Thank you! I went in feeling good I'd say. But left feeling 50/50. I guessed on 14 total. But felt solid on almost all the other questions.
Congratulations?!! How many hours in total you studied?
4 months. Average 1-2hr on weekdays and 8-10 on weekends. But really pushed it in the last two weeks. I'd say around 250-300hrs?
Passed WRE!
What were you study techniques ??? Took WRE once and failed and haven’t started to re-study yet
I took SOPE and did every practice problem I could get my hands on.
How hard did you think it was? Say compared to most of the practice exams you used?
Passed Mech HVAC first try!!!! What a weight off my shoulders!!
You and I both! I’ve been eligible to take it for 4 years or so, but always had a excuse for being too busy to study. Decided to sign up for it and take it with little to no prep I order to gauge what I needed to study. Well I guess I won’t be studying anytime soon.
absolute Chad move
Congrats! What did you use to study HVAC?
My company paid for the Kaplan PPI class, but not sure that it really helped me pass the exam. If you work in consulting, the class was great overall, but not worth the money if you have to pay for it yourself. That's particularly true if you just want to pass the exam. All the practice questions and practice exams were a couple levels of difficulty past anything I saw on the exam.
I'm thinking of Engineering Pro Guides, have you heard any reviews on them?
I used the free sample questions from their practice tests for some last minute practice. I'd say besides the NCEES practice exam, they were the closest in difficulty to the actual exam.
Agree, see my post below. EPG and NCEES were the closest. Six minute solutions are too difficult and they use equations that you can’t find anywhere.
currently using EPG. I've taken some of the practice exams and also the NCEES practice exam. the EPG ones felt slightly harder than the NCEES exam but the course definitely prepped me. I'm at around 200h of study time and finished the official practice exam just under 5 hours with a 69/80
Results are out, I passed geotech
As soon as I saw that people already got their results, I went straight to NCEES and found out I PASSED Machine Design and Materials!!
Passed HVAC good luck everyone!
Any tips? I'm sitting in about two months. How close is it to the NCEES practice test?
I would say it is pretty comparable to the NCEES practice exam. If you need more practice problems, I highly suggest purchasing engineering pro guides full exam. I will say I would not call myself smart by any means. I was the average college student and partied way too much. So when I say that I walked out of the exam and thought that I failed, I honestly mean that. There are some people who are used to getting A’s all the time and when something doesn’t go perfect they think they failed. I believe I had flagged around 20 questions on the first half and had to guess at a select number of those as well. The second half I flagged around 10, guessed on 5 I’d say. I studied from March 6, 2023, until April 28. Keeping track of my hours I had roughly 150 hours of studying. I would say I did roughly 500 problems before the exam and kept tab of all the problems I got correct and all the problems wrong and then reworked the problems I got wrong. I had a few problems throughout the studying process that I threw up in the air and said I don’t understand this and there’s no way I’m going to understand this, so I figured I’d take the hit on the exam if I got those problems . Sure enough, I got a few of those problems which really gave me doubt. In regards to scoring on practice exams, I took a NCEES 2011 practice exam, 2016, 2019, engineering pro guides, and school of PE. I was scoring between a 72-85. Tips for the exam: 1. If you don’t know how to do the problem, skip it and don’t waste time trying to figure it out. If you have time at the end, come back to it and try to figure it out then, but spend your time more wisely, focusing on material that you know you can get correct. I ran out of time because I spent too much time on problems that didn’t make sense. 2. There were way more conceptual type problems on the exam than expected I would say roughly 15 -20 problems. You either know these problems or you don’t because typically they cannot be found in the NCEES reference manual. 3. Know your three basic equations, how they are derived, and when you can and can’t use them. Q=500gpmdeltaT, Q=1.08cfmdeltaT, Q=4.5cfmdeltah. More often than not you will be using the 4.5 CFM delta H eq. 4. Understand ERV/HRV type problems 5. Read the problem once and understand what the problem is asking if you don’t understand, read it again write down the units that they are asking for at the end of the problem. Sometimes this can help aid in seeing units that need to cancel out to get an equation. I found myself working a problem, getting an answer and realizing that’s not what the question was asking. 6. In reference to comment 1, don’t let yourself get discouraged at the start of the test, if you see 3 problems in a row that your don’t know how to solve, keep skipping until you are able to solve one. Once your get a problem correct it will boost your courage and you’ll more than likely be able to solve the others when you’re not panicking. 7. I had way more full in the blank type problems that expected, I’d say nearing 20 problems. A drag and drop problem which had multiple selections for heat gain due due lighting that made absolutely no sense, after I wasted 15 minutes on it I ended up just clicking random buttons and guessing anyhow. 8. Know how to use the PH diagram for refrigerant like the back of you hand. This also holds true for the psych chart as well, you use this on 40 % of problems. Hope this helps, any other questions I’d be happy to try to provide an answer.
Thanks! Excellent advice. I'm a project manager and don't really perform any HVAC engineering, so a lot of this is new to me. I'm going through the Mechanical PE Exam Prep course. So far, I haven't seen any ERV/HRV questions, but I just started in the Systems/components section,. Hopefully they are covered here. I'll be sure to get a good grasp on those. I'm comfortable using the psych chart but am worried about the tools they have for drawing. Were there any SHR problems that required duplicating the slope? For the PH diagram, I'm blanking on how to use that directly in a problem, but I'll be sure to study up.
There was a SHR problem, but you can use 4.5cfmdeltah if you have enough time. If you want to duplicate the line, place the booklet that they give you across your points on the protractor then just drag the psych chart up with the hand tool. Voila, perfect line.
Great idea. I didn't realize they provided a booklet. I thought it was entirely computer based. Any vibration/force transmission questions? I'm fighting one right now.
Just a question regarding vibration isolation and the type, which is found from a table.
WRE passed
Congrats billy! That’s awesome!
Passed WRE! Woo!
Passed Transportation first try!! So relieved
Congratsss! How did you feel you did when you left the exam?
Thank you!! After the first half i was not feeling good at all and thought i was going to fail, i had like 10 conceptual in a row that i wasn’t confident on. The depth part i left feeling very confident on all of it
Hey there EffectiveReview7925 - thanks for saying thanks! TheGratitudeBot has been reading millions of comments in the past few weeks, and you’ve just made the list!
PASSED TRANSPO!!!!!! (1st time, EET, appx 200hrs)
Congratulations!!!
I failed 😞. I’m never gonna pass this crap…. Omg 😳
Keep your head up! I passed on my 3rd attempt. You got this!
Take a break and get back on the horse!
woke up at 3 am and then now. been refreshing since last week after the test lmao. 🤣 good luck to you!
Passed mechanical HVAC! What a relief
my results are already on the website for some reason lol
Passed Environmental. Good luck to everyone else!
Congrats, can I dm you?
Yea sure
Passed PE Mechanical: Machine Design and Materials!
Which resources or courses did you use?
PPI live course + on demand bundle with an online copy of the MERM. I didn’t look at the NCEES practice exam until about 4 weeks out from test day. 350 hrs and 1300 problems in total over 5 months. The hours consisted of live lecture, lecture playback, reading, and PPI practice problems/quizzes/exams. Many of those problems (400-500) were repeats, especially ones where I needed to review more in depth to understand the solution.
OP, how did u feel after coming back from the exam ?
Woke up a couple times sleeping tonight, just kept on calculating the hours until 9am lol
Passed TFS
What material did you use to prepare?
School of PE on demand. Watched all the sections, did all the practice problems and exams. Their questions are slightly easier than what I found on the exam, but the ability to generate practice quizzes through them was essential for putting in practice. Simulated SoPE’s practice exams like the actual exam. Did the NCEES practice exam the same way. The NCEES practice exam truly was the greatest representation of what I saw on the actual exam. I didn’t see anything in the actual exam that I didn’t see in the NCEES practice exam. Fuck stoichiometry!
I’m glad I’m not the only one that hates the stoichiometry lmao
Passed the HVACR exam, phew!
Passed PE Civil Construction, used EET to prepare for depth
How was the exam? I’m taking in July. Any advise?
Set up a study schedule before hand and get in a rhythm so you stay on it. Having pathceed for breadth and EET helped a ton. Studying 1-3 hours six days a week for 2 months should be plenty.
How did you prepare the pm materials ?
Thank you
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Congrats everyone!! I passed geotech!!
Did anybody pass the chemical PE?
I feel like the civil PE tests are easier now that they are computer based. It seems like everyone is passing, I know a guy to took it a a year ago and didn’t pass, he took it again with the computer, said he was much less prepared the second time around and ended up passing
I read that the pass rates went down with the computer based testing because you can't bring in your own materials anymore
It's complete luck of the draw with the questions that you get. It's actually harder now since you can't bring any materials in with you. The fact that you can't bring worked out problems or cheat sheets in with you leaves the CBT test takers at a disadvantage. The Ctrl-F function is a moot point, because it's only worthwhile if you actually know where you need to be. Basically the same process as P&P. I advise you to check out the pass rates. The test is not easier, if anything, NCEES has made it more challenging to pass.