CBT prep

[timmer1026]

Got the result, I passed. Thank you to all the EB members who shared their exam experience.

Big thanks to @GirlsCanDesign@txjennah PE for your help, advice and support.

been months since I've logged in... congrats @Maryam!  So happy for you

 

[txjennah PE]

Hey guys, got the result and PASSED

Thank you to everyone who provided advice along the way. It was a tough journey but it is definitely doable!

Also I will provide a write-up shortly of what materials I used to study.

Update: Here's how I prepared.

I studied for about 6.5 months (almost every day after work and on the weekend). I studied both calculations and reading as well. The prep material and references I used were:

Intro to Environmental Engineering textbook

Air Pollution Control by Cooper & Alley

Other materials used for reading were Environmental Law Handbook, RCRA Orientation Manual, EPA Fact Sheets, etc.

PPI PE Environmental Practice by Wane Schneiter

PPI PE Environmental Practice Exam by Wane Schneiter (two sample practice exams)

PPI2PASS On-demand Course (sample quizzes and exams were useful. You can also watch the lectures if you need to)

NCEES PE Practice Exam

So overall, I think the PPI material helped me the most with my preparation. I can agree with everyone else that the exam had a lot of qualitative questions. For these types of problems, I spent a good amount of time reading and memorizing facts (which I'm glad I did lol) from my textbook, codes & regulations, printed handouts, etc. I also wrote A LOT of flashcards because that helps me to remember. Good luck to all

Congratulations @engineer123, so happy for you!

 

[engineer123]

Thank you!! @txjennah PE

Now comes the waiting part lol the state boards told me it takes about 6 weeks to receive the NCEES scores and then another 4 weeks for the license #. I hear that NY is a very long wait and could take many months  hmy:

 

[Maryam]

@engineer123 Congratulations, so happy for you .

 

[Maryam]

been months since I've logged in... congrats @Maryam!  So happy for you

Thank you.

 

[vee043324]

it makes me a little nervous that ~30% of the exam is qualitative. that's a lot for closed book exam. i love the idea of making flashcards (thanks @engineer123) but don't know if i trust myself enough to make the right ones with the right content. sighhhhh.

 

[Phdengineer]

@engineer123, can you please share your flash cards for the qualitative part?

 

[EngMel]

Took the exam last Thursday and found out today that I passed! I'll be right behind you in line for a NY license, @engineer123, ha.

Thank you all again for your advice. I felt nervous about being the CBT guinea pig in my circle, and it really helped to see that so many of you were having success with it.

To prep, I used the on-demand School of PE videos, then worked through the Schneiter P.E. Environmental Practice book, then took the most recent NCEES practice exam one week before the exam. I got a 56 on that exam, so I was super nervous about taking the exam and almost postponed my appointment. I spent the last week looking over my School of PE notes and reading through my intro to environmental engineering textbook from college (Mihelcic and Zimmerman). All told, I spent about 150 hours studying over about three months.

I felt decently confident coming out of the exam. I had flagged about 20 questions overall and was able to come up with educated guesses for most of them. There was one question that I hadn't seen in any of my prep, but I was able to find a formula for it when I came back to it. There was also one question that the School of PE instructor for that section had speculated wouldn't be included (purposefully being vague, sorry), so take that kind of conjecture with a grain of salt. Overall, I thought it was similar to the NCEES practice exam, just a bit easier.

No issues with the test center. The dry erase booklets were fine, the computer was fine, and it was very quiet. I don't think I worked particularly quickly, and I had plenty of time - I used 3.5 hours in the morning and 3 hours in the afternoon.

Good luck to everyone else preparing!

 

[Maryam]

@EngMelCongratulations!!!

 

[txjennah PE]

Took the exam last Thursday and found out today that I passed! I'll be right behind you in line for a NY license, @engineer123, ha.

Thank you all again for your advice. I felt nervous about being the CBT guinea pig in my circle, and it really helped to see that so many of you were having success with it.

To prep, I used the on-demand School of PE videos, then worked through the Schneiter P.E. Environmental Practice book, then took the most recent NCEES practice exam one week before the exam. I got a 56 on that exam, so I was super nervous about taking the exam and almost postponed my appointment. I spent the last week looking over my School of PE notes and reading through my intro to environmental engineering textbook from college (Mihelcic and Zimmerman). All told, I spent about 150 hours studying over about three months.

I felt decently confident coming out of the exam. I had flagged about 20 questions overall and was able to come up with educated guesses for most of them. There was one question that I hadn't seen in any of my prep, but I was able to find a formula for it when I came back to it. There was also one question that the School of PE instructor for that section had speculated wouldn't be included (purposefully being vague, sorry), so take that kind of conjecture with a grain of salt. Overall, I thought it was similar to the NCEES practice exam, just a bit easier.

No issues with the test center. The dry erase booklets were fine, the computer was fine, and it was very quiet. I don't think I worked particularly quickly, and I had plenty of time - I used 3.5 hours in the morning and 3 hours in the afternoon.

Good luck to everyone else preparing!

Woot woot! Congratulations!  

 

[engineer123]

it makes me a little nervous that ~30% of the exam is qualitative. that's a lot for closed book exam. i love the idea of making flashcards (thanks @engineer123) but don't know if i trust myself enough to make the right ones with the right content. sighhhhh.

@vee043324It is kinda tricky as to what information you want to write down on the flashcards (because they can ask you anything haha) but you should at least capture the basic facts/concepts. The Intro to Enviro textbook is pretty useful. Go through each chapters and write down terms, definitions, etc. I will say it is time consuming to make flashcards but this is a study method that I know works for me lol good luck!

 

[vee043324]

@vee043324It is kinda tricky as to what information you want to write down on the flashcards (because they can ask you anything haha) but you should at least capture the basic facts/concepts. The Intro to Enviro textbook is pretty useful. Go through each chapters and write down terms, definitions, etc. I will say it is time consuming to make flashcards but this is a study method that I know works for me lol good luck!

that's a great idea.  i found a good website for online flashcards earlier this week that *allegedly* is designed to help you remember stuff better than handwritten. i don't know if i buy it BUT they do have a cell phone app so you can review stuff anywhere which is a nice sell. we'll seeeee

 

[JayKay PE]

To everyone in NY who passed (I think @EngMel and @engineer123), sometimes the licenses take really long and sometimes the don't.  I was one of the last paper tests and I think the reason it took so long for a license number to be issued (found out I passed in October 2018, only received my license number in March 2019) was because of the huge influx of reciprocity licenses and new licenses being processed at the same time.  I think they used to do it all in batches.  I'm not sure if the CBT would make things go faster, since they're a steady influx, or if they'll hold off on licenses to do a huge batch?  Either way, congrats on passing and I hope the wait for your license number is short! 

 

[EngMel]

To everyone in NY who passed (I think @EngMel and @engineer123), sometimes the licenses take really long and sometimes the don't.  I was one of the last paper tests and I think the reason it took so long for a license number to be issued (found out I passed in October 2018, only received my license number in March 2019) was because of the huge influx of reciprocity licenses and new licenses being processed at the same time.  I think they used to do it all in batches.  I'm not sure if the CBT would make things go faster, since they're a steady influx, or if they'll hold off on licenses to do a huge batch?  Either way, congrats on passing and I hope the wait for your license number is short! 

This is crazy, but my license was actually issued two days after I got my result! I was checking the website for kicks and was totally shocked when I saw my name pop up. I'm wondering if it was mostly lucky timing, being just before the October exam? There must not be much of a backlog at the moment.

 

[JayKay PE]

This is crazy, but my license was actually issued two days after I got my result! I was checking the website for kicks and was totally shocked when I saw my name pop up. I'm wondering if it was mostly lucky timing, being just before the October exam? There must not be much of a backlog at the moment.

Ahhhhhh!!!!  That's amazing!!!!  I'm def thinking they're trying to clear the docket before the paper PE exams.  I think results hit them last time early December, and with the holidays and everything, they were really swamped/attempting to upload license numbers for a while.  I think they finally finished the PE paper results in April?  Right before the next exam?  Doesn't help that now the PG exam is held the same time.

 

[engineer123]

@EngMelYeah same here, I was surprised at how quickly they processed it!

 

[Ronald]

This is crazy, but my license was actually issued two days after I got my result! I was checking the website for kicks and was totally shocked when I saw my name pop up. I'm wondering if it was mostly lucky timing, being just before the October exam? There must not be much of a backlog at the moment.

I'm also in NY.  33 days since I got my result and still not licensed.

 

[Bull Lily]

Hey all, I am taking the Environmental PE CBT exam on Monday, December 9th. Any chance I'll have results by Wednesday, December 11th or will it likely be the following Wed? Is three days unheard of for results? I have enjoyed reading this thread. I'll be so excited to have this exam behind me! 

 

[GirlsCanDesign]

@Bull Lily - I took my CBT exam on a Monday and didn't hear back until the following Wednesday. Unfortunately, I think there's a 95% chance you'll have to wait. To put it into perspective, it's not really 3 days as you had said. Your results are submitted at 5pm the day of the exam, leaving Tuesday with a full day for grading/review, and then scores are typically released in the morning/mid-morning on Wednesdays. So in theory it would really only be 1 day for the exam grading/review turnaround, which doesn't seem plausible to me. 

I feel your frustration though. I actually found it harder to wait 10 days than the full 8 weeks that I did after my paper exam attempt in Fall 2018, because the anticipation stays fresh when you know you're getting the results that much sooner. Best of luck to you!

 

[Bull Lily]

@GirlsCanDesign-yep. That makes perfect sense. Figured it would be the following week. I will be out of the US on Holiday so hopefully I can put it out of my mind until then. Starting to have nerves. I feel prepared, but just can't wait to have this test over and done with. Thanks for the response!