# of Hours of study & prep

[New_England_Jacket]

I took chem e the first time in april '10.
I studied for about 200 hours, literally until I couldn't think of any other material to cover. I'd say, which was probably way more than I needed (I hope, right?)

Here's what I did:

I took the practice test untimed and I got more than half right.

My first order of business was to work on the weak parts that the test identified (in my case, distillation, adsorption, mass transfer, and indexing "trivia" sections in the ChERM 5th ed.) until they were strong parts, using the Lindeburg supplemental problems*.

I remembered from the FE that there would be some questions in the practice exam that were almost exactly like what appeared on the real test but that the practice test is a lot harder...it wasn't quite like that this time. The practice test was only a little harder, but not as much of a copy of the real test. It was still waay closer than any of the ppi problems.

My second order of business was to get to where I could do any of the sample test problems in under two minutes without using any published references (unless it was a steam table, TEMA table, or a "trivia" section). I made a single page crib sheet that contained the most common constants in different unit systems, hard to find conversion factors, and common mistakes (ie how to spot where they are trying to trip me up on a unit conversion, wt% vs fraction, etc.), and other notes to myself.

Anything that required an involved method (such as the NTU for heat exchangers) got a separate crib sheet that explained the fastest way to group terms to get it done in under two minutes. I went through the practice test a third time to verify that I could recognize everything in it and solve it from memory in under two minutes.

My third order of business was to go through the exam topic specifications line-by-line and read textbook chapters on them. I would also do a couple fundamentals problems out of the relevant textbooks' relevant chapters if I got the feeling that was necessary (did a lot of extra work on VLE, for instance).

I also took a lot of notes that simplified the concepts in the textbooks in the ways that I thought NCEES could actually formulate a test question about them. I feel like this was where I made most of my key breakthroughs in preparation. I also indexed Perry's for the trivia sections around this point.

My fourth order of business, the last thing I did, was read through the practice test problems a fourth time. This time, I read it really close, in order to see into the mind of NCEES, if you'll pardon the expression. My main purpose was to try and visualize what other NCEES problems might look like, what could they change about the questions over these topics without making them prohibitively difficult, what did I see in the textbooks that these problems demonstrate, what "trivia" do the solutions of the problems infer. Stuff like that.

Now, I haven't gotten my results yet, but I did finish an 8 hour test in under 5:30.

*supplemental problems were for the 6th ed, so it was kinda confusing at first because I had the 5th ed. ChERM. I read here that the 5th ed. is superior to the 6th ed for chemical, so I guess I got lucky.

I passed, but RI only reports pass/fail. I will email the board and see if they can tell me what my score was.

 

[tsumi]

I started keeping track of my time, but there were too many hours and I gave up... I studied 8-10 hours Sat and Sun, and 3 hours as many weeknights I could manage. I started about 4 months before the exam-- Good luck!

 

[twindadtodd]

I probably put in 30-40 hours of useful studying...

I took the Environmental exam and bought one of the DVD prep courses...found it very useful to focus my efforts.

 

[Waterboy]

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...

I went overboard. I studied about 390 hours over 6 1/2 months.

It paid off because I took the Electrical Power Exam once and passed (received my results today)!

I have been out of college since 1991 but completed my masters in 2006. I felt I needed the extra study time just to get back in the groove.

 

[Paul S]

I did not plan on passing the first time, due to time constraints, and only truly studied for less than 15 hours. I also spend 5 hours one day correcting errata in all my code and ppi books. I did go all out on my Ultimate Book Cart and this helped since I have a talent of remembering where I saw something and in what book.

Passed first attempt.

 

[archeng1]

Studied about 80-90 hours total, began 2 month prior to the April exam

tried to study enough to pass due to busy family life and work life - worked out for me Passed on 1st attempt

 

[Bman]

I didn't keep track, but figured I studied about 250 hours total over about 3 1/2 months. I took the Mechanical-HVAC depth and passed first try.

 

[Bluengineer]

I just took the Mechanical PE Exam, Thermofluids module. I haven't received my results yet, (Wonderful state of Mass.), however I should find out any day?!?!

I started studying beginning of Feb. for April 16 exam. I spent every Saturday in library for 4-6 hours, (40-60 hrs.), I studied at home for 1-2 hours every Sunday (10-20 hrs.) and I studied at lunch at work for about 30-45 min. 2-3 times/week. (10-20 hrs.). So total study time was between 60-100 hours. Also, I took the FE Exam and passed the first try in April 2009 and I graduated with my BSME in May 2009. I went to school at night for 6 years and have 10+ years engineering-related working experience which is why I was able to sit for the exam so quick. I decided not to study as much as others for the PE exam since I was still pretty fresh from school and studying for the FE exam. In retrospect I would have liked to study more, however I also took the GMAT in beginning of Feb. and my wife and I have 11-mo. old twins. So I happy in that I studied as much as reasonable.

I think I passed, however I'd say that I'm between 60-70% confident, not as high as I would like. Hopefully I find out soon!!!

 

[rockycro]

Took Civil/Structural. Passed first attempt Studied about 70 hours including a review class. Important to review all the breadth but don't go crazy. Spend most of your time on depth questions.

 

[Bluengineer]

I just took the Mechanical PE Exam, Thermofluids module. I haven't received my results yet, (Wonderful state of Mass.), however I should find out any day?!?!
I started studying beginning of Feb. for April 16 exam. I spent every Saturday in library for 4-6 hours, (40-60 hrs.), I studied at home for 1-2 hours every Sunday (10-20 hrs.) and I studied at lunch at work for about 30-45 min. 2-3 times/week. (10-20 hrs.). So total study time was between 60-100 hours. Also, I took the FE Exam and passed the first try in April 2009 and I graduated with my BSME in May 2009. I went to school at night for 6 years and have 10+ years engineering-related working experience which is why I was able to sit for the exam so quick. I decided not to study as much as others for the PE exam since I was still pretty fresh from school and studying for the FE exam. In retrospect I would have liked to study more, however I also took the GMAT in beginning of Feb. and my wife and I have 11-mo. old twins. So I happy in that I studied as much as reasonable.

I think I passed, however I'd say that I'm between 60-70% confident, not as high as I would like. Hopefully I find out soon!!!

Just found out today that I passed! Woot!!

 

[civilrobot PE etc etc]

I would love to see an update on this thread. Anybody care to share how many hours they studied and their outcome?

 

[LyceeFruit PE]

I would love to see an update on this thread. Anybody care to share how many hours they studied and their outcome?

Well April 2019 hasn't be released so you won't get an update from that group yet

But the Engineering Pro Guides has stats in the front of it. @justin-hawaii do you have those values handy? 

I think it's around 200-300 hours is the sweet spot. 

 

[Atf TX]

I think I have spent more time on this forum, than studying for the exam

 

[Ranger1316]

I think I have spent more time on this forum, than studying for the exam

First thing I thought of lol.

I quit counting after the first like 50 hours but I'd say around 200 taking into account 84 for School of PE.

Waiting on results for Civil: Transpo

 

[LyceeFruit PE]

148 hours for, waiting on Electrical: Power.

I tracked it, saved 1$ for every hour.

 

[civilrobot PE etc etc]

So perhaps I can dial back on my schedule. I'm sitting at 419 hours. My husband says it's too much but he's not an engineer. He's comp sci. I've been out of school for 15 years so I'm anxious, if you can't tell. I can definitely adjust it down to 250.

 

[LyceeFruit PE]

So perhaps I can dial back on my schedule. I'm sitting at 419 hours. My husband says it's too much but he's not an engineer. He's comp sci. I've been out of school for 15 years so I'm anxious, if you can't tell. I can definitely adjust it down to 250.

How much of the text topics do you deal with often? If it's a lot of them, then 419 hours is likely overkill. If it's not a lot, 419 hours might still be overkill but 300 hours might not be... 

 

[ItsStudyTime!]

I just did some approximate math (I didn't track study hours at the time). I signed up late in the game and had exactly 63 days to prep. I did 8 hour days on most weekends, and about an average of 2 hours per weekday (had a full time job). Adding that up I'm right around the 200 hour mark for studying. It was my first time taking it, power PE, and I passed. I was out of school ~4 years at the time. I wrote up a whole detailed report of my approach and methods on a website. Let me know if you have questions. Good luck!

 

[MEPEPHD]

Updated: Passed first try (ME TFS in CA)

ME TFS here:

I spent about ~30 hours and this might be less time than most of other exam takers. This is because

1. I had a chance to go over undergrad stuff about 10 years ago when I was in a grad school. I had to study for phd prelim exam, which covers wide range of topics in thermo, fluid, heat transfer, and others. Compared to what I studied for the prelim, PE exam questions were much easier.

2. I also did teaching assistant for undergrad thermodynamics courses at least for 2 years, which is a core subject of ME PE exam. In fact, I brought my own thermo summary that I made for undergrad kids for PE exam and it was really helpful.

So it was not because I am smart but because I already spent a lot more time than most of others on the topics even though it was long time ago. I just solved NCEES practice exam questions and few problems from MERM to refresh my memory. For me, MERM is overkill. It has lots of details that often beyond level of difficulties that I saw during exam. NCEES practice exam was very reasonable simulation of real exam in terms of difficulty and topics of questions

 

[civilrobot PE etc etc]

How much of the text topics do you deal with often? If it's a lot of them, then 419 hours is likely overkill. If it's not a lot, 419 hours might still be overkill but 300 hours might not be... 

I deal with scenarios involving Transportation, Construction Methods and Management, and Geotechnical on a daily basis. I am not a designer but I'm pretty comfortable with the math. It's like riding a bike. lol