Material You Can Bring in to the Exam

As we are nearing an exam weekend I thought it would be good to go over what you can and cannot bring in to the exam. The NCEES is extremely strict about what you have so please, unless you want to be escorted out by the police, follow their guidelines!

NO CELLPHONE, leave it in the car! If your Android IceCream buzzes during the test -> instant police escort.

NO FOOD. Oreo cookies during the breadth? -> police escort.

NO Pencils or Erasers, use theirs or be escorted.

The PE is open book, however, all material must be BOUND. This includes notes and handwritten things (unless you are in the state of Illinois). Make sure you have don’t have anything loose as it may be taken away or… police escort.

I keep mentioning the police escorting you out because I actually saw it happen when I took the EIT exam in Fall 2009 in Pomona, CA. Someone finished their test early and pulled out a novel to pass the time. The proctors on the side of the room saw this and he had two police by his side escorting him on the long walk out as thousands of us watched on. So play it safe!

OR if you do want to waste the money and time please put on a good show for the rest of us so we can talk about it later!

Good Luck!

And finally for reference, here is a copy of the exam day policy from the NCEES website (your state-specific policy may differ, here is Californias):

What can I bring to the exam?

Calculators: To help protect exam content, NCEES only allows candidates to use approved calculator models. Candidates who are found using unapproved calculators after the exam has begun will be dismissed from the exam site.
View the NCEES calculator policy.

Writing materials: Do not bring your own pencils or scratch paper to the exam. NCEES will provide pencils, and your exam booklets can be used for scratch paper.

Reference materials: The PE, PS, and SE exams are open-book. Candidates may bring printed reference materials as long as they are bound and remain bound during the exam. Loose paper may be bound with ring binders, brads, plastic snap binders, spiral-bound notebooks, and screw posts, but not with staples. Sticky notes and flags are permitted only when they remain attached to book pages.