# of Hours of study & prep

[cdcengineer]

There may be a post like this out there, but I didn't find it...

Anyway:

How many hours did you study - 275

# of times you've taken the test - 1

Let's see if hours studied relates to success...

 

[MWC PE]

i didn't really keep track but I think it was around 200 hours.

1st time taking it.

Honestly after taking the test, 200 hours seemed excessive, but I was well prepared so thats good.

 

[schmidty99]

About 200 hours not counting sitting/sleeping through some Dr. Blanks DVD's.

To be honest, I could have used another couple weeks. That was my problem though, due to bad scheduling, etc.

First time taking it, Electrical/Electronics.

 

[MNEnvEPETstee]

I took the FE last year, about 12 or 13 years out of college (ChemE). I started studying in January for the April exam, I would guess I put in 250-300 hours. I had to relearn a lot of stuff. Passed first try. I just took the Enviro PE, and started studying in February. Definitely put in less time. I'll call it 150-200 hours.

 

[Santiagj]

My total was about 170 hours. Including a prep course that I forced myself to take. The prep course was 80 hours long.

Took the test once and passed.

One thing to note though was that I recently finished my masters degree in engineering. The classes I took were mostly in the field that I was tested on so I am sure they helped.

 

[MWC PE]

My total was about 170 hours. Including a prep course that I forced myself to take. The prep course was 80 hours long.
Took the test once and passed.

One thing to note though was that I recently finished my masters degree in engineering. The classes I took were mostly in the field that I was tested on so I am sure they helped.

+1, my MS classes were definitely a help for me also.

 

[yatkins]

About 80 hrs self study.

Took and passed first attempt.

 

[PowElec]

170+ hours!?!?! That would be 17 straight weeks of studying at 10 hours per week... or 8.5 weeks at 20 hours per week... or 1 full month of 40 hours per week... Is it just me or does this sound exaggerated?

Maybe I am on the low side here but I spent 2 hours each Sunday afternoon for about 1 month prior to the exam... so I spent maybe 10 hours tops.

 

[MWC PE]

I started studying for it as soon as I graduated with my MS(which I only got so as to take the exam earlier) in December. I did an hour a night Sun-Thu for about 16 weeks. I also spent lunch hour/down time at work(The recessions was good for my studying) probably 5-10 hours a week for about 14 weeks. I think 200 hours was fairly close to what I actually did. The biggest problem was I ran out of stuff to look at. (3 Civil FE books, 6 min solutions for PE, Lindburg practice PE, NCEES Practice PE, CERM practice problem book) I ended up doing most of the practice exams twice.

Yes it was overkill, but I figure it was important enough for me to spend the time to do it.

 

[jmbeck]

30 hours

 

[jldavis2]

1st try (and 1st use of 90% of the subject matter in 12yrs out of college) so....

200+ hrs of actual review/problem solving with more for misc stuff like reading these forums

 

[Shanks]

After reading how many hrs others have spent, I feel dumber...spent about 100hrs in first attempt, missed by 3points, second attempt with 200-250hrs, result awaited (I am not very hopeful though)

 

[jmbeck]

After reading how many hrs others have spent, I feel dumber...spent about 100hrs in first attempt, missed by 3points, second attempt with 200-250hrs, result awaited (I am not very hopeful though)

It really depends on your industry.

Luckily, as I took the HVAC depth, there was little on there that I hadn't seen in my work experience. So, technically, I guess you could say I studied for 5 years.

For others, it's not quite like that.

So, don't let anyone's study time, or lack thereof, have any bearing on your thoughts. Everyone's situation is different.

 

[MNEnvEPETstee]

170+ hours!?!?! That would be 17 straight weeks of studying at 10 hours per week... or 8.5 weeks at 20 hours per week... or 1 full month of 40 hours per week... Is it just me or does this sound exaggerated?
Maybe I am on the low side here but I spent 2 hours each Sunday afternoon for about 1 month prior to the exam... so I spent maybe 10 hours tops.

Not exaggerated at all. For me, pretty much every weekend from the middle of February through the test was spent at the library studying. Also did some on weeknights. After taking that test, I know I spent hours on things that weren't on there, but I had no way of knowing that in advance.

 

[Dleg]

I was about 16 years out of school and taking the exam in a field different than my degree, so I spent a full 300 hours or more, and walked away from the exam feeling like I had passed, which I did. For the enviro exam, I can't see studying for only 10 or 50 hours at all. It covers so much ground there is no way to prepare other than by spending a lot of time studying and practicing.

 

[indeng]

In addition to the above two posts, the point of the PE exam or SE exam, or any specific exam, is not to try to see if you can "pass" a test. Obviously you can, or you wouldnt be in a position to take the test. The point of the test is to force you to brush up on knowledge you havent used in a while, restudy the most up-to-date codes, and just become a smarter engineer.

I easily stuided 500 hours for the PE, and then 500 hours again for the SE1 & SE2. Walking out of the PE I felt I got a 100%. Maybe I didn't need to study so many topics in depth, but it did make me a smarter engineer. The same goes for the SE. I havent got my results back yet, but I feel great about it.

I would strongly encourage to study as much as you can. Statistically, the more you study, the better you'll do. At this point in your career, there is no wasted time studying... even if that question doesnt appear on your test.

 

[Santiagj]

170+ hours!?!?! That would be 17 straight weeks of studying at 10 hours per week... or 8.5 weeks at 20 hours per week... or 1 full month of 40 hours per week... Is it just me or does this sound exaggerated?
Maybe I am on the low side here but I spent 2 hours each Sunday afternoon for about 1 month prior to the exam... so I spent maybe 10 hours tops.

Yup, I'm serious. I started studying months in advance. Plus I took the week off prior to the exam and used that time to study a minimum of 10 hours a day. I wanted to get the exam over with. One shot, one kill style. My goal was to give the exam my 100% the first time and not bother taking it a second. I think alot of people fail because they do not put the time that is required and they go in unprepared.

 

[MechGuy]

I tried studying for about 30-40 hours the first time, and I missed by one point (69). After that I put in over 300 hours easily (4 months of studying every day), and passed the HVAC depth.

 

[TXCoogPE]

Yup, I'm serious. I started studying months in advance. Plus I took the week off prior to the exam and used that time to study a minimum of 10 hours a day. I wanted to get the exam over with. One shot, one kill style. My goal was to give the exam my 100% the first time and not bother taking it a second. I think alot of people fail because they do not put the time that is required and they go in unprepared.

+1, plus taking TestMasters in addition to self-study. I only wanted to take that test one time.

 

[bta15]

I studied for approximately 16 hours. 2 hours each weekend for a month prior to the test, then 8 hours the day before the test, no review course. I took the Civil Transportation exam and passed the first try.

6 minute solution FTW.