Disclaimer: This article is not intended as financial advice. Everyone has different financial resources and values. There’s no right or wrong way to study for the PE Exam, but I believe the broad framework outlined in this article may be helpful for figuring out which course of action makes sense for aspiring professional engineers.
Studying for the PE Exam is a journey much like traveling to a faraway destination. You have a variety of options for how you choose to travel, and different modes will make sense for different people, or the same person under different circumstances. This article describes four levels of exam preparation that candidates broadly fall into.
- Level 1: The Gritty Minimalist Method (aka Walking)
- Level 2: The Independent & Self-Directed Method (aka Driving)
- Level 3: The Assisted & Accelerated Method (aka Flying Economy)
- Level 4: The Fully Supported & Personalized Method (aka Flying First-Class)
As we move from one level to the next, the size of the required investment goes up due to the increased amount of planning and labor being delegated to others. Correspondingly, the total amount of time required to prepare for the exam decreases because you’re spending less time figuring out what to study and more time actually studying. Provided you are working with experts you trust, the amount of confidence you have in the process generally increases with each level. The degree of accountability you will be held to also increases, both as part of the plan itself and because we are more likely to maintain our effort when we have made a significant investment. Ultimately, the quality of your preparation in terms of knowledge and skills required for the PE Exam can be sufficient with any of these methods, though your experience studying may vary dramatically.
Level 1: Gritty Minimalist
Level 1 is like walking. It’s easy to start moving toward the destination and it carries minimal cost. Another advantage is that this option is highly flexible. Not every ambitious engineer wakes up in the morning with a deep belief that getting their PE license is a necessary stepping stone in their career. Some will enjoy a high level of success regardless of whether they choose to become licensed, and others plan to make a shift in their focus to another field in which the PE license is not essential, or at least remain open to the possibility of such a change. By not fully committing, the Gritty Minimalist enjoys flexibility to change their mind since for them, the PE is not a high-stakes endeavor but rather a “nice to have”. The primary disadvantage to this approach is that it is slow, strenuous, and often unfocused. To succeed, the candidate must cobble together a study plan using some combination of free, low-cost resources with varying degrees of reliability by scouring the web, YouTube, used books, and hand-me-downs from colleagues. This inefficient path involves many blind alleys and dead ends, constantly forcing the candidate to back out and course-correct. The majority of the Gritty Minimalist’s time is spent figuring out how to study rather than actually studying, and then searching for motivation after inevitable setbacks, confusion, and doubt. If candidates can maintain their gumption and continue to put one foot in front of the other, they will eventually accumulate the hundreds of hours needed to plan all the work and work the entire plan, including all its twists and turns, and they can survive the journey, pass the exam, having captured cost savings in the process. Clearly, this approach is not for the faint of heart, but it may be the right choice for engineers that are currently out of work and have limited resources, or who are unsure of whether Professional Licensure is definitely something they want to pursue.
Level 2: Independent & Self-Directed
Level 2 is like driving. It’s way faster and easier than walking. However, you incur the cost of fuel and you are still responsible for staying on the correct route and steering the vehicle throughout the trip. The fuel in this analogy is the set of books or other study resources you select and use. It is no small task researching options and assessing their relevance, usefulness, and value for money. A possible advantage to mixing and matching is that you are able to leverage the strengths of more than one expert who has spent time thinking about what sound PE Exam preparation should involve. However, a potential disadvantage is the lack of calibration of the difficulty of the practice problems used. Problems that are too easy may help you to get started, but they could also give you a false sense of confidence and cause you to take your foot off the gas. Problems that are too hard will be impenetrable, especially if the solutions are underexplained, and will not contribute to your progress. Most concerning of all, the responsibility to gauge whether a particular topic or concept is important enough to dig into or not, or whether a certain resource is useful enough to spend valuable time on or should be ignored, sits squarely with the candidate himself. As the process is self-directed, engineers that choose this method gain efficiency by splurging on books, but they give a substantial amount of time back trying to figure out what to trust and what to discard. Having personally taken this path, I know I am not alone in saying that there can be a tremendous amount of frustration with solutions that fall far short of helpful. Too often questions lead to more questions and a feeling of hopelessness. One way of compensating for dubious materials is to consume a large number of them from a wide variety of sources and in as much detail as possible, which was my way of dealing with the general lack of credibility. However, this answer drives up both cost and time. Therefore, while the Independent & Self-Directed candidate is better off than the Gritty Minimalist, the whole experience is enough to make you feel like there has to be a better way.
Level 3: Assisted & Accelerated
Level 3 is like flying. It’s faster than driving and you have a professional pilot following a pre-defined flight plan that passengers like you have used to successfully reach their destination many times before. Of course, you still have to pack your bags, get to the airport on time, and follow the rules and guidelines of air travel. You can’t simply purchase plane tickets and then magically warp to the destination without first showing up for the flight. In practical terms, the Assisted & Accelerated method takes advantage of a well-crafted, highly-trusted, and comprehensive collection of resources such as books and videos, coupled with additional technical support and accountability structures, to demystify the study process and remove as much friction as possible. A good program is intuitive, convenient, and offered on demand so that candidates are able to study on their own time and at their own pace. By getting off the ground as with Levels 1 and 2, Assisted & Accelerated candidates avoid roadblocks and traffic entirely and soar through open skies unobstructed. A major benefit of this approach is its high degree of predictability. Because the path is well-defined and the candidate controls the speed, the time required to reach the destination can be reliably projected, such that you are certain you will be ready to pass the PE Exam in 4-6 months. In contrast, the Gritty Minimalist and Independent & Self-Directed methods may endure months of trial and error to get only a rough handle on the study process, which makes long-range planning impossible. Candidates who choose the Assisted & Accelerated method place a high premium on their time and value efficiency above all else. They view the higher cost as an investment which produces a return in terms of the speed with which they can reach the desired outcome and the avoided uneasiness about how the future is going to play out.
Level 4: Fully Supported & Personalized
Level 4 is like flying first class. You still arrive at the same time as the rest of the passengers on the plane, but the trip is luxurious and pleasant from start to finish. You now have a tutor, coach, and mentor that checks on you frequently and offers you delightful extras, helpful hints, a listening ear, an entertaining anecdote, or a colorful explanation to supplement and solidify your expanding knowledge and skills. Part of the reason you became an engineer is because solving problems and exercising your critical thinking skills is deeply satisfying, and this method indulges that enjoyment. There is a high level of personalization at Level 4, with a dedicated expert working directly with you to craft the ideal schedule based on your specific time allowances, constraints, and desired overall duration. The Fully Supported & Personalized method means having direct access to the instructor for technical and general support so that troubleshooting can happen as close to real-time as possible. Scheduled check-ins are conducted regularly to ensure the highest level of accountability, as the coach shares in the responsibility for the candidate’s success. The engagement is flexible and adapts on the fly to the needs and personal preferences of the aspiring Professional Engineer. Candidates who choose this method are optimizing not only for speed and certainty but also for enjoyment, support, and accountability. They are willing to expend resources to leverage outside expertise as much as possible and to have the best possible experience throughout their study journey.
Conclusion
The choice of which study method fits you best is highly personal, depending on the value you place on control, convenience, efficiency, predictability, reliability, and enjoyment. Back in 2014, when I was about to start studying for the PE exam, I found a course in New York City where I lived at the time which had a price tag over $2000. As someone who has always placed a high value on growth opportunities both professional and personal, the Assisted & Accelerated method resonated with me the most, so I enrolled without hesitation. Unfortunately, the instructor had a conflict 6 months before my exam, the course did not run, and I had to study on my own! I was downgraded to the Independent & Self-Directed level against my will. At the time I was working a new job and training for an ironman triathlon so I had barely any spare time to study, but I really wanted to pursue the PE, so the value that I placed on my time was extremely high. I had absolutely no problem with the price because of my personal goals and situation at that point in time. In fact, studying on my own was a real burden because I had to put in twice as much precious time (easily 300+ hours) because there was no one to guide me and I had to figure everything out on my own.
Most PE candidates fall into Independent & Self-Directed or Assisted & Accelerated, because they are 5-15 years into their career and have achieved a certain level of success. They are busy with their careers first and foremost and also oftentimes with family responsibilities. So for this group of engineers, it typically makes sense to leverage external resources to make the PE exam easier.
Today, Mechanical PE Exam Prep serves engineers on all four levels.
- On Level 1, the Gritty Minimalist will get a jump start by watching the Daily Insights course along with hundreds of sample videos on YouTube for zero cost.
- On Level 2, the Independent & Self-Directed engineer can access the popular Mechanical Engineering Fundamentals for the PE course and the Practice Problems Book or eBook. Total cost: Under $1000.Â
- On Level 3, the Assisted & Accelerated engineer can use the Full Access Bundle which brings the problem solutions to life with down-to-earth video explanations and includes monthly Zoom chats and bi-weekly Office Hours. Total cost: $2000.
- On Level 4, Fully Supported & Personalized engineers get direct access to me inside the PE Accelerator program. They also get a personalized schedule, 48 hour email support, WhatsApp messaging for daily communication, and me in your space, in your face, and on your case until the day you pass. Total cost: $7500. Limited Space Available.
If you found this article helpful, I’d be honored to support you on your journey toward professional licensure. To learn more about the process and our programs, contact Dan@mechancialPEexamprep.com.