Confession of an ECE Board Exam Passer

I still remember on my undergrad days, when my professor was discussing Digital Signals Processing, haaaay! Kakaantok. Haha. Kinalabit ko yun bestfriend ko and say, ‘Pag ganyan board exam, di ako papasa…’

I am a typical student. Mag-aaral pag may exam at kakalimutan lahat ng pinag-aralan after exam. Mangongopya pag kinakailangan :p

After graduation, ano bang plano? Eh di mag take ng board exam since yun ang trend. I enrolled in a review center. Actually, hindi ako ginanahan magreview. Siguro dahil 5 years na kong nag-aral… sabik na kong magtrabaho at kumita ng datung! Hahaha. While reviewing, nag-aaplay na ko for a job. Then, natanggap ako as Associate Software Engineer. This is the time I made a big decision…. Magtatrabaho ba ko or magrereview? Hmmm.. Pwede naman both… kya pinagsabay ko. Sobrang hirap pala ng nag-aaral at nagtatrabaho ng sabay (kaya naman saludo ako sa lahat ng working students!) So what I did, binitiwan ko ang pagrereview. I decided na magtake na lang sa March board exam. The truth is, strategy ko lang talaga yun… I mean, nagwork talaga ko para hindi mag board exam. Kasi mataas ang expectation sa akin ng parents ko. Feeling ko kasi, hindi talaga ko papasa.

Then October board exam was released, parehong pumasa yun dalawang bestfriend ko. Yun mga klasmeyt ko na hindi ko iniexpect pumasa, eh mga nagsipasahan. Im happy for them, but then I felt sad for myself. Kasi naman tinamaan ng economic crisis yun company where I work. I was terminated. Haaaay.. jobless na nga wala pang license.

Since feeling ko napag iwanan ako ng mga klasmeyts ko, I take the March Board Exam. This time, desido na talaga ko. Wala ng urungan. The result? I passed the exam! Yahoooooo! Trivia – Sa University where I graduated, 8 first takers kaming kumuha ng exam. Luckily, ako lang ang pumasa sa walo. What an achievement!

So whats the secret? Wala. Tamang preparation lang. Hindi kailang maging sobrang talino para pumasa. Tamang sipag at basa lang. 3 months lang ang preparation ko. I started reviewing after New Year... so January lang ako nag review. Heres what I do:

1. Enroll in a review center. They will help you a lot especially on Math. Lahat ng techniques sa calculator malalaman mo. Pati how to solve Math problems in an easy way. Petiks! Nakakagana pating mag review if you see same students who has the same goal as yours—at yun ay ang pumasa! It challenge you more na mag-aral ng mabuti.

Recommendations:

1. Excel Review Center- the best in GEAS and COMMs.

2. PERC DC – the best in Electronics, Math (magaling daw teacher sa Math ng PERC )

3. Edge - Communications

2. MATH

Write all formulas in Manila paper tapos idikit mo sa wall or kahit san pa yan basta lagi mo sya dapat nakikita. Practice solving problems. I bought a notebook na parang pang lesson plan type. I started Algebra… sinulat ko lahat ng problems sa Algebra na nakita ko sa book or any review materials. Lahat ng logarithm problems, magkakasama. Lahat ng about probabilty, magkakasama pa rin. Ganun din ginawa ko sa Geometry at Calculus. Para pag nireview mo sya ulit, madali ng hanapin since naka classify na sya.

Book: Review materials, How to Solve Problems in Calculus by Don

Tip: Memorize only the basic formulas. Sabi nila Math daw ang pinakamadaling subject sa board exam pero the truth is dito nagkakatalo ang mga examinees. Kasi, 1^st subject sya na itetake so maraming kabado. Kahit ganu kadali basta kabado, wala pa rin kuwenta. Saka, 4hrs mo lang syang itetake tpos kailang mo pang mag solve… kung mabagal kang magsolve, ubos ang 4hrs mo. So.. practice lang ng practice!

3. Electronics

Read books. Know the basic operation of transistor, amplifiers, oscillator, etc. Familiarize the terms.

Book: Review materials, Grob, Gibilisco

Tip: No need to study and analyze the circuitry. Basic electronics lang.

4. Communications

Same lang in electronics. Know the basic principles on AM, FM, TV, Telephony, etc. Familiarize terms. Write all frequencies na makikita mo.

Book: Review Materials, Tomasi, Frenzel

Tip: Study how to solve basic problems in comms. Konti lang naman yun problem solving kaya basic formulas lang ang dapat imemorize. Pero about sa mga terms… dyan sangkatutak ang Comms kaya pagalingan na lang sa pag memorize.

5. GEAS

Walang reference materials kundi yun Review material ng review Center mo. Kanya kanyang aral at diskarte since madaming subject ang under sa Geas.

6. One month before board exam… read all the review materials na my collections of passed board exam questions. May instance kasi na umuulit yun tanong saka while reading the passed questions you’ll realize the trend of board exam. Malalaman mo kung gano ka basic lang yun tanung. Bago mo sya basahin, i-highlight mo na lahat ng sagot para pag nagbabasa ka na ng questions nafofocus yun mata mo sa sagot lang. Wag mo ng intindihin yun choices kasi nakakagulo lang sya sa memory mo basta read the question then look at the answer. Tanung tapos sagot…. Ganun lang!

7. No man is an island. Maghanap ng klasmeyt na pede mong makasama sa isang section sa review center. When I was reviewing, tatlo kaming magkakasama sa isang section. We help each other especially on areas na medyo nakakalito. Before board exam, make sure na makipagkita ka sa lahat ng friends and klasmeyts mo from other review center. Tanungin mo sila kung san area nag focus yun review center nila at anong book yun ginamit. Kasi bawat review center, may kanya kanyang diskarte. (Malalaman mo sya pag nag refresher ka!)

8. Pray. Sobrang dasal ang kailangan. Actually, on the time na nagstart ulit akong pumasok ng review center, walang araw na hindi ako nagpunta ng simbahan. Sobra sigurong nakulitan sa akin si God kya narinig nya un prayers ko. On the board exam day, no one is in control. Walang nakakaalam ng pwedeng lumabas na tanung… God is the only way for you to pass. Bahala na si God sayo. You cant have everything, but God will give you what you deserve.

9. On the exam day, relax. Smile para pumasok lahat ng positive energy sayo. Para mabawasan ang kaba, eat chocolates. Effective kasi sya for me. Wag magmadaling ipasa yun answer sheet. Ulit ulitin mong i-review sya bago ipasa. Malay mo, bigla mong maisip yun tamang sagot. Wag kabahan kung madami kang bura sa answer sheet. (kasi pinagbabawal na magbura sa answer sheet, pag daw na-i-shade na, bawal daw burahin kasi sensitive daw un computer na nagtsetsek ng answer sheet) pero sabi ng mga klasmeyt ko na pumasa, nagbura daw sila pero pumasa naman. Pag wala ka ng maisagot talaga… dasalan mo lahat ng numbers na hinulaan mo lang. Walang imposible kay God.

Yan lahat yun mga ginawa ko para pumasa lang. Pero kung gusto mong mag top notcher, aba dapat mahaba yun time preparation mo. O kaya while youre still in your college days, nag-aaral ka na ng mabuti.

I am not a bright student. Mas tamang sabihin na nakakaintindi lang ako especially pag binasa ko na syang mabuti. Kabado rin ako dati nung hindi pa ko nagtetake ng board exam. Pero I made it! Kung nagawa ko…. I’m sure magagawa mo rin. Focus. Study. Pray. “Walang aayaw… think positive.” Never say die. Tomorrow is another day!