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1: The Night Before The Test

Test day really starts the day before.  Whatever you the day and night before will affect you on test day.

You’ll want to take it easy the day before and do something relaxing. Study hard up to the day before the exam and after that, let it go.  Cramming the day and evening before is unproductive and actually harms your ability to do well on the exam.  The day and evening before the test should be spent relaxing and taking your mind off the test. The goal is to de-stress and clear your mind so that you are fully rested and prepared to lay it all on the field on test day.  

2: Do not study the day before the test!  

Do something relaxing, go to the park with your kids, go see a movie, go out with your significant other and have dinner. Go get a massage. Whatever works for you.

3: Take the day off from work before the test and relax.  

The test is usually on a Friday, so take that Thursday and Friday off and tell your boss you need that extra day to prepare for the exam.  Your boss will likely understand, especially if they are a PE themselves because they’ve been through it before.

You won’t get any better or more prepared for the test by studying the day before!

Don’t fall into the trap of stressing yourself out the day before the exam by worrying about little concepts that you don’t feel great about.  You likely are prepared for them better than you feel like you are.  Stressing yourself out that day or evening will harm your performance the next day.  

4: Get a hotel if you have a long commute to the test location.  

If you are testing in a different city, or have to drive over about 20 miles, I highly recommend springing for a hotel the night before.  That’s what I did and it did wonders for my peace of mind before the test.  

I lived in Dallas and the test was in Ft. Worth and would have easily taken an hour or more in traffic.  The stress of getting up earlier, fighting traffic, worrying about getting there on time and possibly getting stuck in traffic and not making it on time is much greater than the cost of a hotel room. Do it and thank me later.  Once you check into the hotel, go grab a nice relaxing dinner and drive by your testing location so you know where you’re going tomorrow.  

Your head will hit the pillow a lot easier that night if you do.

5: Make sure you have all of your materials gathered up and ready to go.

You will be so much more relaxed and have peace of mind if you have all of your materials ready to go.

Actively and mindfully try to relax and take your mind off studying the day before!

6: Test Day

6.0.1 The Morning of The Test

Wake up and give yourself enough time to go through your morning routine and to eat a good breakfast.  Test day is game day.  Get up earlier than you normally would and give yourself plenty of time. Wake up at least a couple hours before you must show up for the test, so if your test begins at 8 am, get up by at least 6 am.  

Eat good food.  Lots of protein, complex carbs and healthy fats.  You need great fuel for your body and brain today. 

If you followed my advice and relaxed the night before, you’ll walk into the test feeling confident, prepared and ready.  Your nerves won’t be shot from staying up late the previous night studying and stressing about minor details, as well as fighting traffic and stressing about being there on time.

You’ll be glad you brought your rolling cart with all of your materials in it because you’ll have to drag all that stuff with you across the parking lot, into the building and through a check-in line, so get there early enough to get processed and settled.  If the test begins at 8, walk in at about 7:15.  No need to wait until the last minute.  It’s all about having the lowest stress possible before the test begins. You want to give yourself plenty of time to be seated and familiar with your location before you start the test.

Get your NCEES pencil, protractor, straight edge, eraser, clock etc. on your desk and situated how you like. Put your MERM and other reference materials on your desk if you have room.  You may be sharing a table with someone of a different discipline, so be courteous but be sure to utilize your available space.

Go to the bathroom beforehand.  You will lessen or eliminate the need for a bathroom trip during the test, which eats up precious time that you need to spend on questions.

The proctors will give you instructions about 5-10 minutes before the test begins.  After that they’ll tell you to open your test booklets and get started.

6.0.2 During The Test

After the test begins, you’ll want to be disciplined in your time management.  The clock is officially ticking so it’s important that you don’t let time get away from you.  

You’ll have 6 minutes per problem, so keep that in mind as you go through each question. You have until 12 pm or a little before) for the morning session and 40 problems, so you should be to about question 20 at 10 am, 30 questions at 11 am, etc. Spend a few minutes on each question and if you can’t solve it, move on.  Once you get through all of the problems, you’ll have have time to go back and tinker with the ones you have trouble with.

6.0.3 Remember the rules of the test!

Don’t unknowingly break a rule and get in trouble with the proctors.  The NCEES Examinee Guide and Candidate Agreement will detail the do’s and don’ts of the exam. 

There are no penalties for guessing.  About 5-10 minutes from the stopping time, go back and make sure you don’t have any blanks on your answer sheet. Also check and make sure you aren’t off by one between your questions and your answer sheet.  Double check all of your answers.

They don’t allow scratch paper. Blank pages for scratch work are provided in each solution pamphlet. No credit will be given for answers recorded in the test booklets; the answers must be recorded on the answer sheet.

Attack each problem using my tried and true method.  This method will help you get to the heart of what they are asking and maximize the probability that you will come out with the right answer.  This should be the way you did your practice problems during your studying.

You’ll get about 45 minutes for lunch.  You can bring a sack lunch that doesn’t require refrigeration or bring a cooler with ice and leave it in the car.  Go sit in the car, eat your lunch, get on your phone and text, check email and Facebook and zone out for a few mins.  Let your mind wander for a bit and relax.  Watch the time and just like before, give yourself plenty of time to get seated before the afternoon session.

Approach the afternoon session the same way as the morning session.  The afternoon session is supposed to be more “in-depth” and considered more difficult but they are still limited by 40 questions in 4 hours, so the difficulty and time required for each one is limited by these factors.  

Finish strong and make sure not to leave any questions blank!

6.0.4 After The Test

When they say stop writing/time’s up/test over, etc, stop immediately!  That last answer you forgot to fill in is not worth being disqualified!  They won’t hesitate to disqualify you if you don’t listen. Follow their instructions on how to wrap up and leave when they tell you that you are free to go.

Grab your stuff and get the hell out of there! Get in the car and make some calls, crank up the radio and head home.  Let your subconscious process the test while you decompress.

7: That Evening and Weekend

Go home and relax.  Watch TV, veg out on the internet, have a beer, go out with friends, have sex, go for a run, go lift weights, whatever.  Your brain will want to stress about the test as it tries to process everything.  You may find yourself stressing about certain questions or trying to do some back-of-the-napkin calculations in your head about your odds of passing.  It’s perfectly normal and natural to fear that you didn’t do well or stress that you didn’t pass.  

The likelihood is that you passed!

The odds are in your favor.  Don’t be alarmed when you catch yourself having these thoughts.  They’re normal.  I thought I did poorly after the test, but I passed the first time with an 85.  Don’t give in to those negative thoughts.  

Enjoy yourself.  No matter what your score will be, you are in a golden period where after months of preparation and mental energy being poured into this exam, there is no work left to be done.  Enjoy that freedom.  

Get back to paying attention to your family and friends that have not had your full attention in recent months.

8: What to Expect on Test Day for the PE Exam – The Bottom Line

Test day is the big game.  Be sure you know what to expect on test day for the PE exam.

It’s what you’ve been studying and preparing for.  Make sure you are prepared beforehand and that you follow the rules and are wise with your time while you’re there.  Do your best on the test and forget the rest.  

Then go home and enjoy yourself for a while. You did how you did, good or bad.  Nothing you can do about it afterward.  Enjoy the next few days and give yourself some leeway.  Treat yo’self.  You earned it!