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What to Put on Your Cheat Sheet for the PE Exam
- By Blake
- On
Do you know what to put on your cheat sheet for the PE exam?
The PE exam is open book, so you can bring with you almost anything you want. It’s great to bring with you all of your study guides, reference materials, and books, but one of the most useful things you can have at your disposal during the test is your own personal notebook, or cheat sheet, as I call it, with certain equations, conversion factors, tables, etc. These are notes you have written down because you found that you use them often and need a quick reference or that you haven’t found in your other go-to reference material such as the MERM.
Let’s discuss the best way to set up your cheat sheet.
1: What to Put on Your Cheat Sheet for the PE Exam
The point of the cheat sheet is to have data available to you quickly. The best way to do this is to get a spiral notebook (single subject is fine). Alot the first 5 pages for equations, the next 20 pages for tables, diagrams, processes or notes, and the rest of it for practice problems. Tab this notebook in the same way as you did the MERM and other reference material.
As you go through your studying, you’ll come across equations, conversion factors, important data, etc. that you’ll want to include in your cheat sheet notebook. Notice patterns as you go and watch for data and equations that you use frequently. These are the things you’ll want to put in your notebook on the first 5 pages. You’ll come across some equations that you use so frequently that you’ll memorize them. Even so, you’ll definitely want to put them on your cheat sheet for the PE exam. Test day can do weird things to you and you don’t want to be blanking out and forgetting something simple. Put it on the cheat sheet!
You’ll also want to put things on your cheat sheet notebook that you found in a problem solution that aren’t in your reference material. This will catalog that information so that you now have it and can find it quickly.
The next 20 pages will be your notes of data such as diagrams, equations, tables and illustrations of processes. The point of this section is to allow space for you to make notes in your own style and in ways that may make better sense to you than the way it has been presented in other reference material or to organize it in a different way. Make notes of things that appear often that you’d like quick access to, even if you can find it elsewhere. Why drag out a big book for a common equation that you’ll know you’ll see on the test?
The rest of the notebook will be practice problems that you have solved by hand. Solving problems by hand is critical for your success and understanding. As you study over the next few months, note problems and solutions that you come across that appear useful and illustrative and write them out in your notebook. You may be surprised how helpful this process is for your understanding. It’s good reassurance to know that you have a solid collection of useful problems and solutions at your fingertips to reference during the test.
2: Tab Your Cheat Sheet
Tab your cheat sheet notebook. It’s only a few tabs, but you’ll want to be able to easily flip through to each section at will. Tabs are very effective and should be one of your best friends as you prepare for the PE exam.
Also make sure it’s all bound and no loose leaf papers. The NCEES policy does not allow loose leaf paper. If a page comes out, reattach in a manner that complies with their policy.
3: Final Thoughts
You now know what you need to put on your cheat sheet for the PE exam.
Fill out your notebook with tons of useful information and make sure you tab it properly. Tailor the information to you and organized in a way that is familiar to you and makes sense to you.
This cheat sheet is yours! Do it your own way. The goal is to develop a quick reference for you that maximizes your effectiveness during the test. Make it your own!
