No Studying

[Dark Knight]

If this is any help, I took the test without studying...

and failed!!!!!!!!!

 

[FusionWhite]

I agree that if it could be taken directly out of school, when a lot of the book learned calculation is fresh in your head, it may be doable.

For chemical engineering at least I dont think its too out of the realm of possibility that one person could have enough exposure to all aspects of the profession to pass it. Within a chemical plant you could get lots of fluids, thermo, kinetics, environmental etc etc experience and probably do pretty well on the PE without studying.

 

[MNelson]

I took the Chemical PE cold in October 2010. Waiting for results.

I was planning on studying, but with about a month to go, I cracked a study guide for the first time and it stated that the average passing PE studies 300-400 hours for the exam. This discouraged me greatly, and I never opened the book again until in the exam room.

I was expecting that taking the test would be my first effort towards studying for April 2011, but I walked out of the room feeling much better than I did when I took the FE 5 years ago - which I also took cold and passed.

I will pleasantly suprised if I passed, but not shocked.

 

[Rob in TN]

I took the FE exam a year after school and passed after studying for just one day. I did not have the same hubris for the PE. I gave myself 2 months of studying to prepare. I am fairly certain I passed, we shall see.

 

[NCcarguy]

I say try it and report back your results. We're always looking for the next greatest hydraulic engineer in the world to join the group.

 

[humner]

well, I can honestly say that I count my study time in weeks not hours or days. I have never been very fast at math, not saying I get it wrong, just takes me longer to get there. Those that can crunch numbers in your head, bless you, you have a gift that you should never squander.

 

[YellowJacketEnvE]

HiHas anyone ever heard of anyone passing the exam with no studying?

just curious

I passed my GMAT, GRE, FE, and LEEDS Green Assoc. exams with flying colors and never cracked a book. That said, I would not have attempted that on the PE and I don't think I'd have fared well if I'd tried.

 

[MNelson]

I passed! No studying. As mentioned above it was for the Chem E PE.

Sweet.

 

[avd]

I took the Civil/Construction Oct 2010.

Its been 22 years since I passed the FE

I can honestly say that I only needed a little review for the afternoon session. A lot of what was there is stuff I do on a daily basis.

I crammed the week before, but I studied topics like moment distributions and there were no such problems on the exam. If I had studied my geometric layouts (curves) a little better I would have walked out a little more confident.

My advice, for both the FE and PE is to know your Economics cold. Make sure you can answer some elementary open channel and fluid mechanic questions. And take a lot of sample exams. Spend time READING the text and concepts of you reference manuals, don't fret on problem solving.

I hope this helps someone be confident to take the test. If I can pass, anyone can.

 

[benbo]

I can honestly say that I only needed a little review for the afternoon session. A lot of what was there is stuff I do on a daily basis.

That's the problem. In most cases this is not stuff people do on a daily basis. It certainly wasn't for me. Most people don't pass without studying. Everybody needs to carefully assess their own situation.

 

[Zane]

My boss once told me the story of his FE experience. My Boss was seated next to a guy that took one look at the scantron form and stated several explitives and then asked if he had to solve all these problems. Upon hearing that the did, he quickly, randomally filled out his form, turned it in within 20 minutes and headed to the nearest bar. He returned for the afternoon section smelling of alcohol, and loudly proclaimed that he was "going for the record" for quickest test taking. And again, randomly filled circles without reading a problem and turned in the exam within 20 minutes.

He passed. My boss did not.

I needed to study for the PE. I'm still waiting on results, but either way, I can't imagine putting in less hours for myself. I walked very grateful of every minute spent with the books open, especially for the AM section.

 

[paki]

I studied maybe all of 40 hours for the ChemE PE and passed. If I actually did any chemical engineering at my job maybe I wouldn't have had to study.

 

[snickerd3]

lots of chem Es this time through.

 

[gt2004]

I took the chemical exam cold my first time this fall. I didn't have the time to study that I had planned. I tried to reschedule but missed the cancellation date. I figured I would take it and at least get a better hope for spring. I've done more mechanical and electrical since graduating so none of it was fresh. Don't know my results yet though since Ga is not as quick

 

[teammike]

I took the civil-geotech. I was too busy to study until the last 4 weeks leading up to the exam. i spent 4 saturdays (about 5 hours each day) studying. My "studying" invloved nothing but working practice problems and tabbing references as I saw fit. I passed on my first try this fall. Another guy I graduated with did the same thing for civil-structural and passed as well.

 

[teammike]

I took the civil-geotech. I was too busy to study until the last 4 weeks leading up to the exam. i spent 4 saturdays (about 5 hours each day) studying. My "studying" invloved nothing but working practice problems and tabbing references as I saw fit. I passed on my first try this fall. Another guy I graduated with did the same thing for civil-structural and passed as well.

also, forgot to mention, we graduated with 2 others who were in a similar boat in terms of studying, and they weren't as fortunate. i just think it comes down to how well you take tests, not necessarily your engineering acumen, but others may disagree.

 

[paki]

I took the chemical exam cold my first time this fall. I didn't have the time to study that I had planned. I tried to reschedule but missed the cancellation date. I figured I would take it and at least get a better hope for spring. I've done more mechanical and electrical since graduating so none of it was fresh. Don't know my results yet though since Ga is not as quick

I hope you passed!

Happy New Year!

 

[steveno_3]

i passed the 8 hour ncees exam with construction depth with about 4 hours of tabbing and and reviewing practice problems. Passed CA state specific surveying for PE without sudying, had to study for CA seismic this time around

 

[NCSU_05_FX4]

I studied about 25 hours the first time I took it and failed. I probably studied another 10-15 hours for the 2nd exam and passed.

 

[KansasStateGeoTech]

I took the civil-geotech. I was too busy to study until the last 4 weeks leading up to the exam. i spent 4 saturdays (about 5 hours each day) studying. My "studying" invloved nothing but working practice problems and tabbing references as I saw fit. I passed on my first try this fall. Another guy I graduated with did the same thing for civil-structural and passed as well.

also, forgot to mention, we graduated with 2 others who were in a similar boat in terms of studying, and they weren't as fortunate. i just think it comes down to how well you take tests, not necessarily your engineering acumen, but others may disagree.

One's ability as a test-taker has to be a factor. I've always been a good test-taker, and hope it helped here as well (I'm still waiting on results). I also studied about 200 hours. (Wow.... I really hope I didn't fail after having made these claims)