Any April 2015 test takers?

[Blue 8]

Figured I'd try to reach out to encourage whomever is studying. Since I work in regulatory compliance, having to learn the information has been humbling. But I will take it and see what happens.

I salute you PEs and will say keep pushing to those of us in pursuit.

 

[CycleBrew]

I am a regulator as well, in air, and am taking the exam in April as well. Studying is taking me down memory lane, and not all of them are pretty

Studying the ERM, the accompanying problems book and sample tests are on their way, and moving up to a TI 36x pro (from solar version). Gathering my old text books too, and will need to purchase a couple.

Good luck everyone! Cheers to self determination!

 

[Dleg]

You guys (or gals) can do it! I took the exam as a regulator, too. So if I can do it, so can you!

I moved out of regulation and into more hands-on engineering (utility engineering department) and I highly recommend taking a break from regulatory work once in a while. I enjoyed regulatory work for the most part, and would like to return to it some day, and I think that having some experience on the other side is very beneficial, to prevent you from becoming unreasonable and unrealistic (it also helps your credibility).

 

[Blue 8]

Gal here ?Thanks for the encouragement. Did you make the change once you had your PE? I have actually enjoyed learning the information and remembered I always wanted to do waste water work. But I wonder if it's hard to go back to the technical if you've don't have that hands on experience and not wanting to go back to the entry level salary.

 

[Dleg]

I made the change a few years after getting my PE. You don't necessarily have to go back to entry level salary. Many utilities welcome regulatory experience, and will work you into a position that is part compliance assistance and part engineering. That's what happened with me, which allowed me to ease my way back into the technical side of the business. The regulatory experience works well for planning projects like master plans, too, so you could advertise that, if you can find a utility that is getting ready to embark on a master plan update.

 

[Blue 8]

Very good advice. Thank you.

 

[Blue 8]

Good luck folks. I've been in a tough season of life so I am not going in confidently. However, miracles do happen lol. See you on the other side of this exam.

 

[Blue 8]

Any thoughts on the exam? Anybody?

I will say that I felt that all the design basics (water quality, waste water) did not show up at all. The stuff I knew lol. Also very surprised at the amount of qualitative questions. They may have given me a chance!

 

[Adair1492]

Totally agree. I was surprised about the number of qualitative questions (but not unhappy). I felt good about the morning session but the afternoon was a lot more challenging in my opinion. I've never been good at air or wastewater, which is why I don't do those things now!

 

[CU07]

My exam in 2012 was nearly exactly 50% qualitative, I would say. I touch on tons of different regulations at work so I think that was something that really helped me pass - I know a little about a lot of stuff!

 

[E-Ramone P.E.]

I took the April 2015 Environmental exam in Rochester, NY. To me, it seemed like there were more qualitative questions on the afternoon portion than I was expecting based on the NCEES practice exam I had been studying. I thought this was beneficial for me as it seemed like I could answer them quickly to save time for the more complex problems.

I guess overall, I thought the morning was pretty much exactly what I thought it'd be (not that it made it any easier, lol!), but I thought the afternoon was much more focused on qualitative environmental site assessment type of questions than I was expecting. Fortunately, this is my strongest area. I'm keeping my fingers crossed...

Good luck you guys as well!

 

[Dleg]

I think people with a strong site remediation background (incl. chemistry) are the best prepared for this exam, because there aren't that many (any?) good references that cover that material in a comprehensive manner, while there are many choices (including the ENVRM) for the more "traditional" engineering-related topics such as water, wastewater, and air.

 

[Blue 8]

The School of PE course did a great job with site assessments, remediation problems. I highly recommend it for those who are looking for a course. It narrowed down the broad topics for me and allowed me to focus. In hindsight, I would have taken the SOPE course a cycle ahead to allow more time for problem solving. Learn for the Oct 2014 course but sat in April 2015.

After taking it I will say I don't know if I could have studied anymore than I did bc you really can't prepare for every topic they may throw at you.

 

[E-Ramone P.E.]

I took the School of PE review course as well based on the Oct. 2015 notes. For the exam, I printed out the notes and problem solutions and used them as reference materials during the exam which were very helpful. I'd definitely recommend SOPE to anyone who's studying for the PE exam. Even more so If I pass!

 

[E-Ramone P.E.]

I meant the October 2014 notes, sorry.

 

[GAEnvEngineer]

The wait for results is killing me...unfortunately, patience has never worked for me.

 

[CycleBrew]

Hope you guys passed! I put it off once, and missed the NCEES signup date in Oct, so 1 year later it back at it