CBT prep

[Waterchild]

@BioEngineer I had a sheet of equations that were not in the handbook that I memorized before the test. Turns out I didn't use any of those equations on the exam.

 

[GirlsCanDesign]

@Waterchild same haha!

Here's to hoping you get your green result tomorrow!!

 

[Waterchild]

Results came earlier than expected. Got an email this morning (Wednesday) with the results, and I PASSED! Such a feeling of relief and excitement. Will provide a more expanded summary of my experience later.

 

[GirlsCanDesign]

@Waterchild YESSS! Congrats!

 

[Steve12]

@Waterchild

I took the same test and passed as well. That 6 day wait time was quicker than I expected which was awesome. I was worried because there were a lot of qualitative questions I was basically guessing on. The calculation based questions I thought were easier than I expected.

@Kara_ENGR 

I think my approach worked well, as I passed the test. If I could do it again though I would definitely do more questions as I believe that proved to be the most helpful on the test. Also, not sure if anyone else has recommendations, but I was totally unprepared for the qualitative questions. Maybe because I am a water resources engineer and not doing environmental field services or anything like that, but I am not sure how I would have studied differently for those. I think the Schneiter practice problems, and practice tests, along with the NCEES practice test were the three most important books to have. Reading through the Lindeburgh manual definitely helped me to gain context on the problems I was solving. 

Good luck to all. 

 

[Maryam]

Results came earlier than expected. Got an email this morning (Wednesday) with the results, and I PASSED! Such a feeling of relief and excitement. Will provide a more expanded summary of my experience later.

Congrats!!!

 

[Maryam]

@Waterchild

I took the same test and passed as well. That 6 day wait time was quicker than I expected which was awesome. I was worried because there were a lot of qualitative questions I was basically guessing on. The calculation based questions I thought were easier than I expected.

@Kara_ENGR 

I think my approach worked well, as I passed the test. If I could do it again though I would definitely do more questions as I believe that proved to be the most helpful on the test. Also, not sure if anyone else has recommendations, but I was totally unprepared for the qualitative questions. Maybe because I am a water resources engineer and not doing environmental field services or anything like that, but I am not sure how I would have studied differently for those. I think the Schneiter practice problems, and practice tests, along with the NCEES practice test were the three most important books to have. Reading through the Lindeburgh manual definitely helped me to gain context on the problems I was solving. 

Good luck to all. 

Congrats!

 

[txjennah PE]

Results came earlier than expected. Got an email this morning (Wednesday) with the results, and I PASSED! Such a feeling of relief and excitement. Will provide a more expanded summary of my experience later.

Congratulations!

 

[txjennah PE]

@Waterchild

I took the same test and passed as well. That 6 day wait time was quicker than I expected which was awesome. I was worried because there were a lot of qualitative questions I was basically guessing on. The calculation based questions I thought were easier than I expected.

@Kara_ENGR 

I think my approach worked well, as I passed the test. If I could do it again though I would definitely do more questions as I believe that proved to be the most helpful on the test. Also, not sure if anyone else has recommendations, but I was totally unprepared for the qualitative questions. Maybe because I am a water resources engineer and not doing environmental field services or anything like that, but I am not sure how I would have studied differently for those. I think the Schneiter practice problems, and practice tests, along with the NCEES practice test were the three most important books to have. Reading through the Lindeburgh manual definitely helped me to gain context on the problems I was solving. 

Good luck to all. 

That's awesome! Congratulations!

 

[Waterchild]

Here's a summary of my PE experience

Studying:  I took the PPI2Pass on-demand course (books plus recorded lectures). I found the practice material to be very helpful and there was a lot of it, which played a roll in passing. I did diagnostic quizzes, content quizzes, book practice problems, quizzes in my weak areas, and took their practice exams a few times. I always had the NCEES reference handbook up during study to get comfortable with it. Their recorded lecture were helpful to provide another way to cover material. I used the 1.25x speed player options since the instructor talked a bit slow. This helped knock out each 3-hr lecture faster. Total hours spent preparing/studying = 186. I also realized the week before my test that I was never sent the PPI2Pass printed practice exams book...

Test Experience: I found the test to have more qualitative problems on it than expected. It was also more similar to the PPI2Pass Online Practice Exams vs. the NCEES Practice Exam booklet. I was not able to "ctrl+F" search on my test, and had to click the search button each time. Also, you cannot hit enter to view the next search term, you have to select each one. This wasnt expected and took a minute to get used to. During the test, my keyboard stopped working and I was asked to leave the room while my computer was shutoff and rebooted. This was pretty nervewracking and I am happy that I passed or else I would question the validity of the test and lost time. I finished the morning section with a few minutes to spare, and finished the afternoon section with 45mins left. Bring snacks/coffee and take a quick unscheduled break if you are good on time and hit a wall. Cough drops are the only food allowed in the test room, so bring a few of them to keep your energy level up (sugar).

Advice: Put genuine time into studying. When you are taking the test, accept that you wont know the answer to all questions and move on.

 

[saraxo]

@Waterchild I was planning to take EET WRE course to focus on water and wastewater topics, but maybe PPI2Pass is worth it for the CBT exam? How many practice quizzes and exams do they give? Did PPI cover all topics?

 

[JMP1990]

So I took the CBT environmental PE yesterday, and here's a few things I would have liked to have known beforehand:

1. There were way more qualitative questions than I thought there would be, like 30-40% of the test. Difficult to study for these as there is such a large pool of information to grab any given question from. The reference book you have during the test is not going to help you on most of these types of questions... So actually reading about environmental engineering concepts and regulations and not just going straight to the practice problems when studying is a good idea.

2.  The quantitative questions shouldn't be a problem for you if you've gone thru plenty of practice problems. The NCEES practice exam and PPI practice exams are what I used and it prepared me pretty well for what I saw on test day. 

3.  Time:  I actually ended up liking the CBT format. If you are familiar with the NCEES reference handbook beforehand you can save a lot of time you'd normally waste in the past flipping through different books you brought to the exam.   Using the keyword search function to get to the exact equation you need quickly was pretty nice vs. having to remember what page it is on.

Note:  Your morning session doesn't stop after 4 hours like the paper & pencil exam, it stops after you've answered the first 40 questions. 

4. Overall,  I would say the only curve ball I felt I was hit with was those pesky qualitative problems. My method was to skip them all unless I immediately knew the answer, answer all the quantitative working problems,  and then go back at the end to really sit there and think hard about them to make the best "educated" guess I could come up with. 

Good luck, this was my second time attempting the PE and I was way more intimidated by this test going into it than I should have been, so don't stress yourself out about it too much 

 

[Maryam]

@JMP1990Best of luck. 30-40% qualitative questions, that is so discouraging . Thank you for the advice.

 

[JayKay PE]

Woah!  When I took the last paper test in December, I thought there were more qualitative questions than normal (which worked for me since a majority of my work was in the field/applicable), but I guess they're ramping up the numbers?  I guess this means knowing equations isn't the key anymore with enviro, since 30-40% is def the difference between passing and failing.

 

[engineer123]

Does anyone know a good source for studying Solid Waste Management? I have the introduction to Environmental Engineering textbook which briefly goes through it but there were barely any problems to work out (or the problems barely aligned with the reference manual equations). Also, would I have to know how to calculate truck routes? I just don't feel super confident in this section due to the lack of resources.

 

[Kara_ENGR]

Thanks all for the advice. I was just informed I may be able to have a course paid for by my employer. So far it sounds like ppi is the way to go? Any experience with school of PE? I am to take the test June 24 but may bump it back as I feel unprepared. My only worry is I'll be six months pregnant on the 24th, almost 9 months in September if that's when i choose to take it. 

Added: ppi has a live summer session, is live with the additional almost $1000?

@GirlsCanDesign@Waterchild @Steve12

 

[GirlsCanDesign]

@Kara_ENGR I took the School of PE On Demand course, which allowed me to watch the videos at my own pace. Although I felt they were helpful in refreshing my memory on a lot of topics I forgot after leaving college, I did not find their practice problems to be nearly as helpful as PPI's Practice Exams. I cannot comment on their course, however. It does seem like if their practice exams are more helpful, then their online course probably would be too?

If you're going to be 6 months pregnant for the June exam I would recommend not pushing it back. It's only going to be more difficult both mentally and physically for you to try to take it later in your term. Sitting at a computer for 8 hours puts a lot of strain on your neck and back and I couldn't imagine trying to take that 9 months pregnant.

Ultimately it's your call, but that's what I would do if I were in your shoes. What's the worst that will happen, if you fail you can always take it again! Best of luck whatever you choose.

 

[Waterchild]

@Kara_ENGR I took the PPI On Demand course and would recommend it. It allows you to go at your own pace, and be more flexible with your study hours. This helped a lot since I was working full time and traveling a bit during my study period. 

 

[Waterchild]

@JMP1990 You should get your results back tomorrow morning ( @GirlsCanDesign told me about the Wednesday morning results). I got an email around 08:00am with the results. Best of luck!

 

[txjennah PE]

Go @JMP1990! Best of luck, we're rooting for you!