Advice for 2nd time

[lizardo5]

I failed Civil Transportation first time around. I wasn't too surprised considering I waited way too long to prepare. I'm considering waiting to take again until April '17. I have a lot of weekends in the Fall that I'm out of town and weekends I have to work, so I have a feeling I might be in the same boat as this time. Has anyone waited a year in between re-taking the test? Any advice against this? 

I also want to take the EET Review course - looks like I wouldn't be available for many of the classes. 

Thanks and congrats to all who did pass! 

 

[John QPE]

If you wait a year you are basically starting over from zero .... take it in the Fall, and take the EET course on demand

 

[atmuh]

I failed Geotech in October and passed in April. I would definitely not recommend waiting a year unless you absolutely cannot find the time to prepare at all. I took the School Of PE course and it was sufficient although it definitely wasn't perfect. Based on the amount of praise that the EET course gets I would probably say go with that over school of PE.

Taking a course in general was very helpful, especially since it was on demand and I could fit it around my sometimes crazy schedule. The notes that they provide you with can be some of the most valuable resources during the exam. When I got my results in December I took around two weeks to collect myself as I was really bummed about failing and then after that I went right back into it.

Use the analysis report to identify your worst subjects and watch that portion of the review course a couple of times. I made a schedule of weeks that I would spend on each discipline and a longer period to spend on the depth course.

Most importantly don't lose your confidence! It took me a while to get that back after failing but going in confident and poised made a huge difference.

Don't give up, you'll get it!

 

[lizardo5]

Thanks to both of you for the advice!  @atmuh Congrats on passing! 

 

[jhassle]

I took the Environmental PE back-to-back and failed both times. I needed a break and time to spend with my family and young son so I took a year off, switched to Civil WRE PE, signed up for EET, and PASSED! I was stressed out and really hard on myself after failing the 2nd time so the 1 year break was a great way for me to relax, come up with a new game plan, and start over.

I cannot praise EET highly enough. It's a wonderful course that really gives you confidence and the edge you need for the PE.

 

[uhkhu]

Just passed transpo my second time around. I took the EET course this time and I think it was worth it. Yes, all of your weekends are booked for like 3 months, but that's what it takes to pass this test. I feel the actual lectures weren't incredible, but the review material provided with the class were invaluable. 

The way I did the class was watch the full 8hr lecture on Saturday and then spend Sunday reworking my way through the entire lecture notes. This really helped solidify the concepts in my mind and enabled me to tab my references and cross-reference the notes. A lot of the lectures were just reading the notes, so a little difficult to retain it without thinking about it yourself. During the week you're given more than enough practice problems to occupy yourself for a couple hours a day. 

I didn't really start studying until 3mo before the test, but I hit it really hard. Like 30+ hours a week in studying alone. How do you know your time won't be filled up next year?  The first time I took and failed the test, I was sloppy on adhering to my schedule. I was gone on weekends, took a vacation, and generally slacked on studying. Hit this hard for 3 months then it's over. It's 3 months out of a 30 year career, you'll be glad when it's over. 

 

[lizardo5]

@uhkhu Thanks for input. I completely agree. I think I need to give it a solid 3 months of studying. I didn't do that first time around. That's why I'm debating about the Fall, because I already know I'm out of town 5 weekends from August - October and working some of those weekends. It's true though, I may be just as busy in the Spring, but I would try not to plan vacations. 

 

[Ranger88]

If you wait a year you are basically starting over from zero .... take it in the Fall, and take the EET course on demand

EET!

 

[John QPE]

@uhkhu Thanks for input. I completely agree. I think I need to give it a solid 3 months of studying. I didn't do that first time around. That's why I'm debating about the Fall, because I already know I'm out of town 5 weekends from August - October and working some of those weekends. It's true though, I may be just as busy in the Spring, but I would try not to plan vacations. 

Dude, if you're trying to pass this thing, you can't be going on vacation(s).

This test is serious, and you need to treat it as such. This is precisely the reason why I took the exam in April though, I knew I wouldn't want to study during the summer.

But you're in a different boat. You're a repeat taker. Where are you right now? Ask yourself seriously. Are you halfway there, or did you not really put much effort into the first go around. If you don't have much invested, maybe the April exam is OK, but if you think you just missed it, you need to retake immediately. I'll be honest with you, I'm pretty damn sure I got 100 on this test when I took it. I literally knew everything but one problem. I wouldn't be able to pass a year later, without reinvesting another 50% of the time I put in the first go around. You just don't retain all this stuff.

 

[iwire]

Dude..don't take a year to retake. Signed up for the next one.

Take a week of from now clear your head and regroup after a week.

Here is what work for me

1) Reorganized your notes and study materials.

2) create a personal notes/formulas/quickie notes - print outs, handwritten notes (IN PEN). Use it while you are studying again, you can add notes or reminder in that personal notes book that you will using a lot during the exam

3) Work on practice exam, not just got it but understand how to do it and etc....

4) Repeat and rinse...

Study time:

Study on short burst - Monday to Thursday  - 30 mins to 1 hr max!

Sunday (1-2 hours max),

Friday night -- Drink or whatever

Saturday - chill with human or drink more!

5)Take a week or two off prior to exam - STOP study by then..nothing you do will change the course of the exam or results by then if you are not ready..relax and go for it..last week or so, just make sure you have all your notes ready and packed...

 

[lizardo5]

Dude, if you're trying to pass this thing, you can't be going on vacation(s).

This test is serious, and you need to treat it as such. This is precisely the reason why I took the exam in April though, I knew I wouldn't want to study during the summer.

But you're in a different boat. You're a repeat taker. Where are you right now? Ask yourself seriously. Are you halfway there, or did you not really put much effort into the first go around. If you don't have much invested, maybe the April exam is OK, but if you think you just missed it, you need to retake immediately. I'll be honest with you, I'm pretty damn sure I got 100 on this test when I took it. I literally knew everything but one problem. I wouldn't be able to pass a year later, without reinvesting another 50% of the time I put in the first go around. You just don't retain all this stuff.

I agree that I need to dedicate time! That's why I'm debating about it. I have trips already planned this Fall on the weekends (not all weekends). I'm around during the weeks, so I think I am leaning towards EET on demand and starting that ASAP.  I would say I'm about halfway where I'd like to be. I waited until about 3 weeks before the test to really start studying. I did take a review class at a local university, but it didn't seem very helpful to me. I did put effort into the test (not nearly enough!) but I think it does make sense to keep going from this point on instead of waiting until next Spring.   Thanks for the input! 

 

[hjg7715]

I would agree with the majority of the responses and recommend that you re-take the exam in the Fall. After failing the exam last Fall, I signed up right away to retake this past Spring. I ended up having a lot of distractions that came up, including the death of a sibling, between December and February and was contemplating not sitting for the exam. But eventually decided to take the exam since I had already paid for the exam, spent much of March and the portion of April before the exam studying with focused and structured plan and passed. If you're like most people with families, you have to manage your time and there were weekends I had to travel but I took my study material with me and used every free opportunity I had to study or review something. It certainly helped that a lot of the content was still very fresh and the diagnostic report provided by NCEES really helped me to focus my study in the areas I was weakest. So whether you take a review course or study on your own, I think the key is having focus and structure in your preparation.

 

[Def]

Dude..don't take a year to retake. Signed up for the next one.

Take a week of from now clear your head and regroup after a week.

Here is what work for me

1) Reorganized your notes and study materials.

2) create a personal notes/formulas/quickie notes - print outs, handwritten notes (IN PEN). Use it while you are studying again, you can add notes or reminder in that personal notes book that you will using a lot during the exam

3) Work on practice exam, not just got it but understand how to do it and etc....

4) Repeat and rinse...

Study time:

Study on short burst - Monday to Thursday  - 30 mins to 1 hr max!

Sunday (1-2 hours max),

Friday night -- Drink or whatever

Saturday - chill with human or drink more!

5)Take a week or two off prior to exam - STOP study by then..nothing you do will change the course of the exam or results by then if you are not ready..relax and go for it..last week or so, just make sure you have all your notes ready and packed...

I had almost no time to study during the week, so I crammed it all into Friday afternoon/evening, Saturday, and Sunday. I didn't keep any records of how much I studied, but I imagine I was averaging about 10-12 hrs a weekend over about 3-3.5 months (more than the average towards the end). So what worked for me was sitting down for at least 3-4 hours on a go and plowing into it. 

With the longer sessions, you also build up your testing endurance, so the 4 hour sessions don't seem that mentally draining. Plus it always seemed like I needed a solid 15-20 mins to really get in the groove and just block everything else out (with ear plugs in always).

 

[iwire]

I had almost no time to study during the week, so I crammed it all into Friday afternoon/evening, Saturday, and Sunday. I didn't keep any records of how much I studied, but I imagine I was averaging about 10-12 hrs a weekend over about 3-3.5 months (more than the average towards the end). So what worked for me was sitting down for at least 3-4 hours on a go and plowing into it. 

With the longer sessions, you also build up your testing endurance, so the 4 hour sessions don't seem that mentally draining. Plus it always seemed like I needed a solid 15-20 mins to really get in the groove and just block everything else out (with ear plugs in always).

We all have endurance..we built this during our college time....however plowing through while working and family it's impossible

 

[knight1fox3]

however plowing through while working and family it's impossible

Negative.  There are members here (including myself) who can make it work.  Conditions aren't necessarily ideal, but they are not impossible.  Remember, we're engineers, nothing is impossible. :thumbs:

 

[scatsob]

This is another one of those different strokes for different folks arguments. You need to find out what works for you and fits your schedule. I for one have a short attention span so it was 1 hour max for me. And on the family and work thing, a lot of us have been there and done that and passed ?.

 

[Def]

We all have endurance..we built this during our college time....however plowing through while working and family it's impossible

I just passed by a large margin with a 1 year old at home and lots of expected overtime at work. It's definitely not impossible if you prepared for it.

 

[Ken PE 3.1]

1 hour ago, iwire said: however plowing through while working and family it's impossible

Negative.  There are members here (including myself) who can make it work.  Conditions aren't necessarily ideal, but they are not impossible.  Remember, we're engineers, nothing is impossible. :thumbs:

I agree. I would think a fair number of test takers have family/work issues to deal with. Otherwise there would be a lot more older test takers sitting, not the young bucks (/does).

I hate tapatalk

 

[azsa]

Has anyone take School of PE? I want to take construction exam and I'm not sure which review course should I take? School of PE or EET?

 

[ruggercsc]

I took the School of PE Construction Depth option and Passed on the first attempt.  Both the breadth and the depth were extremely beneficial.  The code look up practice problems that were reviewed in class were very similar to those exam type questions.

I would not have passed if I did not take the School of PE Course.  I attended the weeknight live online class, Monday through Thursday for 4 weeks of breadth and 2 weeks of depth for about 3.5 hours a night.