April 2008 PE

[lion]

Hi-

Is there anyone who has not started preparing for PE yet? I plan to take my PE in April 2008 and have not begun preparation. I am in two minds now - shd I take it in april or wait until october? Is there anyone in the same place like me? How much time do people usually put in? Is 300 hrs realistic? I will be taking Enviromental discipline. I would really like to hear from you guys. Thanks.

 

[Brody]

Speaking for myself, I took the FE in October 2007 and studied for 4 months. I am starting to study now for the PE in Water Resources in October 2008.

 

[FLBuff PE]

I took the environmental exam (100 questions) in April '07 and Oct. 'o7. I studied my arse off for April, and failed. For Oct., I did not study as much as I would have like, and failed (duh). What areas are you intimate with? I would suggest getting the NCEES Sample Exam, and take it. See how you do, then gauge if you think you have enough time to prepare the way and amount you would like. It is mainly the QUALITY of studying, not necessarily the QUANTITY of studying. There are some very knowledgeable Enviros around. I'm sure they will be weighing in as well. Whatever you decide to do, good luck!

 

[lion]

Thanks guys. I work in wastewater field, so I should be familiar with water/wastewater part. But I have no clue about the other subjects. Does anyone know if doing EVRM sufficient? I know for FE exam FERM was more than sufficient....I didn't even go through half of it. Can you read EVRM and pass the test?

 

[Dleg]

^I say take the NCEES practice exam and see how you do, just like FLBuff said. IMO you need to be reasonably proficient at the subjects other than water/wastewater in prder to pass. Water/wastewater only comprises 25% of the exam, if I am not mistaken? The rest of it is air, hazardous and solid waste, and then a grab-bag of miscellaneous stuff including noise, radiation, workplace safety/OSHA stuff, etc.

There's good info in this subforum, and you should read the threads about "advice.." etc. But real quickly, I think you can learn the air stuff adequately from the ENVRM, and possibly even the grab-bag topics, but the ENVRM is very weak on hazardous waste.

Put as much time into it as possible and go for it, I say. I put the 300 hours into it, but I was unwilling to attempt this more than once, so I tried to prepare as much as I could. Some may say I overprepared, but I don't think there is any such thing - I learned alot from my studying, and have ended up applying a lot of what I learned at work now.

But please, go through some of the other threads in detail, there's some good info and advice in this forum.

 

[Guest]

Does anyone know if doing EVRM sufficient?

I think for ANY of the discipline PE exams, you are typically going to want additional reference materials. The straight-up Env PE Exam is really no different - I suspect that while the EnvRM does a nice job in covering materials, it most likely is lacking in some areas.

As others have stated, I would get a copy of the NCEES Env PE Exam to gauge your skills and start building up your reference lists based on your calculated weak areas.

I have not taken the Env PE Exam but I helped a few people prepare and successfully pass.

IMO you need to be reasonably proficient at the subjects other than water/wastewater in order to pass. Water/wastewater only comprises 25% of the exam, if I am not mistaken? The rest of it is air, hazardous and solid waste, and then a grab-bag of miscellaneous stuff including noise, radiation, workplace safety/OSHA stuff, etc.

A good point here is that the best way to get a grip on how to prepare is to become familiar with the exam specifications and relative % of questions asked per subject/topic. This will give you some feeling for what you will need to know and how much time to devote to studying for different areas.

There's good info in this subforum, and you should read the threads about "advice.." etc. But real quickly, I think you can learn the air stuff adequately from the ENVRM, and possibly even the grab-bag topics, but the ENVRM is very weak on hazardous waste.

Definitely comb the subforum for information! Is the EnvRM really weak on hazardous waste? If so, I think I can help in that area - happens to be my area of practice. B)

Put as much time into it as possible and go for it, I say. I put the 300 hours into it, but I was unwilling to attempt this more than once, so I tried to prepare as much as I could. Some may say I overprepared, but I don't think there is any such thing - I learned alot from my studying, and have ended up applying a lot of what I learned at work now.

I agree - make the decision now as to whether or not you want to prolong the agony. If you can put a solid two months into prep - that should give you an excellent leg up. Even if you don't pass - at least you will have a better idea for how to prepare for the next exam.

Best of luck! Please post follow-up questions as you are preparing!

JR

 

[lion]

You guys are awesome... thanks for all your comments and suggestions. I will go ahead and register for Apr exam.

 

[maryannette]

Good luck, lion. I also put 300 hours in for my exam last year and passed, after not passing many years ago. If you can make a schedule and stick to it, do it. And make the schedule realistic, even allowing make-up time because life throws you off schedule sometimes.