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seedling
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| Joined: | Mon Apr 14th, 2008 |
| Location: | Los Angeles, California USA |
| Posts: | 4 |
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Posted: Mon Apr 14th, 2008 09:02 pm |
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Hello,
I just took the M/E exam Saturday, my first ARE exam so far and I have some general advice for people who have yet to take it. The general concensus on how people feel about this exam seems right-on to what i experienced. The fact that 70% of people pass (According to NCARB in 2006) means that when we all leave with that "I have no idea how I even did" feeling, we probably passed. Having said that, this is how i felt about it-
I was very surprised and confused, throughout the exam, as to how specific and random each question was. I studied MEEB like crazy, did the entire Kaplan study guide, all the quizzes, read sources online and had my engineer friends help me out so I truly understood circuits, phases, lighting, etc. And still, I felt like out of 105, there were maybe 10 questions that were remotely similiar to a practice exam I had seen somewhere. MANY of the questions mentioned something i was very familiar with, let's say a heat pump, but the choices for answers were parts I had never heard of, or seen. I mean, I studied a heat pump til I was blue in the face, yet the diagram had parts on it that I hadn't even seen mentioned in MEEB. I pretty much ran out of time, shocked as too how little they give you considering some of the calcs I got would take a few minutes to really sit down and do (calculate wall assembly R-Values) The reason being, is that the questions are worded so confusingly, and you're trying so hard not to be "tricked" or to rush through it, that by the time you want to go through the answers you can't stop looking at the cursed clock on the bottom ticking away. I actually started laughing at some of the questions, like one on Canadian Building Code, ummm yea, come on!! So this is the only analogy I can come up with (and it is pretty bad) that can describe how the test is-
If you are a baker, and you went to culinary school, you learn about baking, how it is a chemistry and how all the parts need to be measured, and how important certain pieces of the final product are, mixing, rising, etc. Then you take a quiz on cake-baking (hang in there I swear this is going somewhere) and the question would be something along the lines of-
"Which of the following cakes would taste the sweetest?"
You imemdiately get excited, like oh, I know cakes like the back of my hand! I know which ones are sweet, and what makes them sweet. Well, then you look over at your multiple choice optons and you're looking at 4 different kinds of cake, you've only ever heard of one, and there's no way of knowing if the other cakes mentioned are even sweet because there's no indication as to what ingredients or cooking technique they used.
Now, from what I have heard, this is how every exam is. You can read read all you want, but they will take the information, get insanely specific as to the problem, or put it into a context you are not familiar with. I say, just fill your brain with enough information, TRULY understand each concept, don't memorize things in the books because when the context is different, you won't know how to answer the questions. I think it is more important to understand relationships between things so you can narrow answers down, i.e. when voltage goes up, what happens to the current, amps, and power? Things like that. I definately knew all the concepts and felt as prepared as I could have been, meaning I couldn't have studied harder to improve how I did. Just pace yourself, don't look at the clock (I think I bugged myself out a bit) and if you think a questions is going to take more than 2 minutes, come back to it. I spent too much time dilly dallying trying to calculate something I realized I couldn't do, and wasted time. I finished the exam with 4 1/2 minutes left, and left with an odd feeling. Not dread, not relief, just that confused "well, if I passed I won't be surprised, but if I failed I won't be either" feeling. Don't let posts about people thinking they did horrible bring you down. I have never heard of someone come out of ANY exam like this thinking "wow, I am going to toast right now because I aced that mo-fo" So just relax, and start studying the next exam. That's what I am doing, BD/MM here we come!!
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ferndale
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| Joined: | Mon Jan 30th, 2006 |
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| Posts: | 147 |
| Exams Taken: | GS, LF, ME, BD/MM, CD, SP, BP, BT | | Exams Passed: | GS, LF, ME, BD/MM, CD, SP, BP, BT | | Describes Me: | |
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Posted: Wed Apr 16th, 2008 01:54 am |
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| Excellent post, thank you. I especially enjoyed your cake analogy...
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bolemo
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| Joined: | Fri Mar 7th, 2008 |
| Location: | Areland |
| Posts: | 132 |
| Exams Taken: | PD, GS, LF, ME, BD/MM, CD, SP, BP, BT | | Exams Passed: | PD, GS, LF, BD/MM, CD, BP, BT | | Describes Me: | |
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Posted: Wed Apr 16th, 2008 03:29 am |
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Well, I wish you luck....I strongly believe luck is the only thing that can help on this particular exam.
I have had very similar experience. It was my first exam as well, which now I believe was a mistake...After it was over I was confused, furious and terrified at the same time. There is one thing I need to tell though....through perspective of taking all of the other exams...This is the worst one!
Don't worry. After this terrible experience you will have just smooth sailing with any other one ....but maybe couple of drafting sections. 
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sunshine42
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| Joined: | Mon Dec 31st, 2007 |
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| Posts: | 192 |
| Exams Taken: | SP | | Exams Passed: | SP | | Describes Me: | |
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Posted: Mon May 12th, 2008 09:30 pm |
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Bolemo,
Thank you for your post. Now I don't feel so crazy. I feel confused, furious and terrified just studying most of the time, but that's me. Your post made me smile, which I needed.
Sunshine
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seedling
Member
| Joined: | Mon Apr 14th, 2008 |
| Location: | Los Angeles, California USA |
| Posts: | 4 |
| Exams Taken: | ME | | Exams Passed: | | | Describes Me: | |
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Posted: Mon May 12th, 2008 10:11 pm |
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Hey guys,
Thanks for the replies. I got my letter last wek, I failed. I thought I would pass just based on everyone else's horror stories and they pass mostly. Guess I am going to have to take 4.0 now since this was my first exam. I definately couldn't have studied anymore, I knew the material, I just psyched myself out or something. I haven't taken an exam in years and I just couldn't stop looking at the timer and thinking about how badly I had to pee but couldn't risk leaving the testing room and missing time. Next time I will relax more, and not drink tons of water beforehand!! Hope you all do better than I did!
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bolemo
Member
| Joined: | Fri Mar 7th, 2008 |
| Location: | Areland |
| Posts: | 132 |
| Exams Taken: | PD, GS, LF, ME, BD/MM, CD, SP, BP, BT | | Exams Passed: | PD, GS, LF, BD/MM, CD, BP, BT | | Describes Me: | |
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Posted: Tue May 13th, 2008 04:16 pm |
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seedling wrote: Hey guys,
Thanks for the replies. I got my letter last wek, I failed. I thought I would pass just based on everyone else's horror stories and they pass mostly. Guess I am going to have to take 4.0 now since this was my first exam. I definately couldn't have studied anymore, I knew the material, I just psyched myself out or something. I haven't taken an exam in years and I just couldn't stop looking at the timer and thinking about how badly I had to pee but couldn't risk leaving the testing room and missing time. Next time I will relax more, and not drink tons of water beforehand!! Hope you all do better than I did!
I am sorry seedling!...But on the other hand you never know what this could be good...
As I mentioned before I started exams long time ago ... I believe at that time they had 125 questions for ME, 4 vignettes for SP and 3 vignettes BP and then they switched to 3.1 - reduced ME questions to 105 and vignettes to 3 and 2...
I am sure you'll have better luck with 4.0!
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ferndale
Member
| Joined: | Mon Jan 30th, 2006 |
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| Posts: | 147 |
| Exams Taken: | GS, LF, ME, BD/MM, CD, SP, BP, BT | | Exams Passed: | GS, LF, ME, BD/MM, CD, SP, BP, BT | | Describes Me: | |
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Posted: Tue May 13th, 2008 08:24 pm |
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| Sorry to hear that seedling. But you are at the beginning, so don't get discouraged. Once you get the first Pass under your belt you will feel much more confident. Look at this as a practice test. Now you know what you expect. And you picked a tough one for the first exam, so don't be too hard on yourself.
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