Congratulations!
Mine was quite a few years ago, but still a memorable experience. I used the Baker written study guides. BUT, I did an FBO apprenticeship instead of going to a formal A & P school. I already had three years of working on aircraft before taking the tests, a huge advantage.
The DME who administered my oral/practical exams, had recently attracted the scrutiny of the FAA. When I arrived for my exams, there was an FAA person waiting, and he evaluated my DME.
The oral was a clusterfluck. My DME was so nervous, that when he read a question, he left out words that were difficult for him to pronounce, or substituted other words in their place, so he wouldn’t look stupid in front of the fed. The result was him asking me questions that didn’t make any sense. I had seriously studied, and knew the questions and the answers he wanted, but giving the correct answer to a twisted question would have looked like we had colluded previously. When I tried to get him to clarify the question, he simply repeated his previous statement. The FAA guy finally realized what was happening, and clarified the questions so my answers made sense. It was incredibly aggravating for the first 30 minutes. I was furious. I soooooo wanted to reach over and smack my examiner up side the head.
Another problem was that my examiner used a question list that hadn’t been updated in 10+ years, so a number of those questions I had never seen on my up-to-date study guides. He also selected questions he was familiar with, from his work on small GA aircraft (wood & fabric). Most of my work experience was on turboprops and jets.
Practical was several hours of doing a 100-hr inspection on a C-172, next to a seasoned mechanic who asked me questions during the work. Child’s play, boring really. I was already doing far more complex work on jets.
I’ve never met a DME who didn’t want everyone to pass, but they do have standards to uphold, and none want the feds asking questions about their newly licensed students. I would try to dig up info on potential DMEs, to see if any have a history of failing a lot of students. Today, there are computerized study guides available that are a huge advantage. Get a friend to ask you the oral questions, to help build your confidence.
I would suggest you spend some time with your selected DME before the tests. Ask to work in his shop (without pay) a few days. I’m sure he will accept, and spend enough time with you to provide a VERY specific idea of the knowledge (oral) and skills (practical) he is looking for. Take notes! Use a digital voice recorder. Expect everything he tells you to be part of the oral/practical.
Good Luck.
And don’t spend too much time working for a small FBO. Corporate aviation is where the serious money is right now.