There are many aspiring engineers seeking success to be PE license holders in the US. And for each of these candidates, the PE exam prep study guide and method go differently. Each individual has their own way of preparing that can bring success.
However, for the civil engineering PE exam, the mistakes made by many candidates over the years have the same pattern. In simple words, it is usually common types of errors made by different people that prevent them from fulfilling their dreams of being professional engineers. If you are preparing to take this exam, wouldn’t you want to learn about essential tips to avoid making these mistakes?
Civil PE exam prep is a broad concept. There are so many things to check, so much to understand and work on. It could get a bit daunting for a newbie candidate to know where to start, focus on, the PE civil practice exams needed, etc. By familiarizing yourself with the PE exam tips that can guide you through the exam, you will plan out the preparation in the most effective way.
Let us dive deep into these PE Civil Exam tips:
Know When to Register for The Exam
To begin with, do you think applying for the test should have a strategy too? If you don’t, then you are already on the wrong track. PE civil exam requires utter dedication and time for preparation. And needless to say, during a family function or festive season, your studies are affected by various distractions. So, if possible, before you register, check your calendar.
Make sure when the exam day gets closer, you don’t have any significant distractions coming up. Like a close relative’s wedding, Christmas holidays, etc. This will allow you to give ample time to study without any distractions around. You should know the exact amount of time you have for studying. This is a crucial tip that many engineers tend to ignore initially and face unnecessary challenges later on.
You do not want to keep kicking your registration date down the road. The NCEES will charge you a fee for the change, so things will be much better for you if you can keep to the date you originally wanted. Plan accordingly.
Create a Well-Thought-Out Study Plan
After you know precisely the time you have in hand for the test, do not prepare without a plan. A well-thought-out study plan is not an option but a requirement to make your learning effective and more manageable. How? For starters, when you have a plan, you can create a balance between studying and relaxing, which is very important.
The amount of material you have to cover through courses and practice exams can get overwhelming. But when you plan out a detailed schedule, you can prepare without burdening yourself. The preparation pattern must be such that you cover up all the topics you are strong at quickly to give more time and energy to topics and concepts you think are your relatively weak area. Follow the NCEES specifications for exact topics, and make sure to give yourself plenty of time to cover both the breadth topics and even more time for your depth topics.
Learn How to Manage Your Time
Time management is an issue faced by candidates more frequently than you think. At the start of the exam, most of us feel that we have enough time to get going, but we might not. Wasting too much time on a single problem leads to missing out on questions you do know the answer for. And this is a horror every PE aspirant needs to stay clear of.
So, while you are preparing, think about how should can improve your time management skills. The answer to this statement lies in your practice tests. The more you solve them, the easier it will get for you to manage time. Make sure you know how much time you have, how much you can spend on one problem, and learn when to move on when approached by a difficult problem. The trick is to switch over to the next one if you don’t know a question and come back to it later once you are done. This gives you the chance to get answers to all problems except those you might be struggling with.
Back Your Strengths
When you enroll in a PE civil exam course or practice at home, you will realize some concepts are your strong zones, and some aren’t. As a candidate aiming higher, you must target all these concepts and try to learn them. However, there is nothing wrong with having a strong and a weak zone, keeping this in mind. You cannot be perfect in everything, so it’s better to acknowledge the concepts you are vulnerable to and what you feel comfortable with.
Once you realize that, you find a new approach for taking the exam and a somewhat effective one. On the exams, the problems that are your strong areas must be completed first. So that you can have enough time to work on the ones you are less confident with. Even when preparing at home, try to learn the more complicated concepts with a fresh mind to grasp more, and please don’t take your strong zones lightly too. Back them up with more and more practice papers too.
The 24 Hours Before The Exam are Critical
All the preparation you have been doing for months needs a strong finish a day before the test. For most of you, the final day of preparation is about drowning in study guides and books. What if we told you that’s not it. You had months to soak in books and prepare. If you studied hard, you have already completed a course and solved quite a few question papers.
Hence, the 24 hours before the test must be for relaxing your mind and body. It is important to sit through an 8 hours exam the next day and be at your productive best during that time. Allow your brain to rest and feel fresh for the exam. You can spend that time doing light revision for a while and the remaining day listening to your favorite music, hanging out with your family, etc. Also, make sure you get to bed on time and eat a healthy breakfast.
Conclusion
When you are preparing for the civil PE, do not overwhelm yourself by thinking about the results. Instead, focus on your preparation. Find a good PE exam prep study guide and a course provider like Civil Engineering Academy and get started the right way. Always trust the process and have faith in your abilities. With the proper guidance, you can become a professional engineer license holder in the United States.