# of Hours of study & prep

[EngMES]

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. 

I Agree!!

 

[NWGrown]

I'm 14 years out of school took, took it last month, spent 250-300 hours studying, feeling confident I did well.

 

[EngrPaper]

ME-TFS.  Results still pending.  I did an hour a day for about 3 months.  Usually 2-4 hours on Saturdays.  That turns into just over 100 hours I think.  Overall, I feel comfortable with my performance on the exam.  Just waiting for validation.  Though I am only about 2 years out of university, so pretty much everything was still fresh in my head.

 

[justin-hawaii]

Here are some stats for the power exam. I had a very small sample size, so feel free to draw your own conclusions. I have other surveys for the mechanical exams. Just let me know if you want those too. 

https://www.engproguides.com/power-pe-survey.html

 

[cvanwy02]

ME TFS.  Studied around 300 hours.  Results TBD.

 

[invu]

9 years out, 300+, passed first time

People who put in 50 hrs and pass are called smart people.  I’m not smart enough to pass with only a few hours, but I’m not dumb enough to take that test twice. 

Regardless of what anyone tells you, there is no substitute for hard work and sacrifice.  

 

[LyceeFruit PE]

148 hours is not enough. 

 

[Dirt Engineer]

I studied prob ~100 hours for April 2018 exam, passed first try. I was 5 years out of undergrad and have a master's in CE as well.

 

[NOLEng]

13 years out; 12 years structural experience in a very niche market; studied close to 400 hrs (including School of PE, multiple practice exams, etc.). Took the PE Civil Structural depth last month in Alabama and received my results today: passed! All that studying paid off. Best of luck to everyone still waiting for their results.

 

[Eye Hate Landscaping PE]

Taken it 5x now across 2 disciplines and come up a few questions short every time. With my work and family schedule it's been impossible to squeeze in more than 60 hours, usually more in line with 30-40. I was counting on a cumulative effect, that hasn't proven accurate. Frustrating to spend so much time on topics that don't pertain to my job at all...but those are the topics I'm constantly short in so either I study them or I'm never going to be a PE.

I'm thinking I'm going to take a break on the exam until I can dedicate closer to 200 hours. 

 

[JayUn PE]

Little over 200 hours for April 2011 exam.  Plowed through the morning in about 2 hours, afternoon took 3.5.  Afterwards went straight to the bar for a couple shots of Jameson and several bottles of Killian's as chasers.

 

[Koz332]

Took it Texas- machine design passed it first time

hit around 300 hours of studying and reading every tips/thread on this damn forum lol

 

[eNgINeER93_PE]

I feel like this is kind of a silly question, because it varies per person. In my opinion, study your ass off. Study as many hours as it takes to feel confident about all of the subjects. I took EET and would highly recommend it. They get you on the right path and give you the tools necessary to study the right material, as well as hundreds of practice problems and quizzes. Im not sure how many hours i studied, but I can one thing, say coming out of the exam feeling confident was worth every minute I set at the dining room table with my head in the books.

 

[J. Jones PE (Shengineer)]

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.

Did you take it this time around? If so,  how did you do?

 

[mlavigne]

9 years out of school, studied (read the MERM and watched youtube videos of problems being solved) 20 hrs and took the 8hr practice exam.  passed HVAC first try.  buy/rent/barrow/steal ALL 4 ASHRAE books.

 

[EI_EI_OH]

Passed. First try. Civil:WRE

I studied about 50-60 hours total. I used reference materials, practice problems and practice exams. No prep classes.

I started strong in mid-January by using the CERM and working through the morning topics. I got through Construction, Geotech, and the Materials topics before I got swamped by work in mid-February. I didn't really have a chance to study again until close to the end of March. I was very panicked and was convinced I was screwed. I ended up taking the week off work leading up to the exam. Best decision ever. I spent that weekend quickly going through all the remaining morning topics. Monday I took off and just relaxed. Tuesday I took a practice exam. I worked through it untimed with my reference materials, but not looking at the solutions until I was completely done. I used this time to tab my references as I went. Wednesday and Thursday I took two more practice exams. I timed these just like the real exam. One hour lunch break and all.

I think doing the timed exams and getting a feel for the speed with which I needed to work was crucial to exam day. It also got me comfortable with using the references. The other big piece of advice that I can give is to split the exam questions into three groups. Questions you read and you absolutely know you can solve, questions that seem solvable with a little search through your reference materials, and finally questions you must make a sacrifice to the engineering gods to be able to solve. Work through those three groups in that order on exam day and you will be better off for it.

 

[Fisherman504]

4 Times

First 3 times were in Transportation PE Civil. 

Last time was in WRE.

1st time - Winged it to see what was on the test. Total 25 hours.

2nd time - Wasn't prepared cause my house flooded. Total 50 hours.

3rd time - Thought I really passed. Took Testmaster and all. 125 hours.

4th time - Tired of the game and went full head on ballistic style. 450 hours. I've solved over 600 problems. I came to the test with 7 binders of my problems, and 3 reference book (CERM, a civil engineering dictionary and Eddy and Metcalf Book) Passed April 2019.

 

[ZW_Pub_Power]

First time Power.

210ish hours

Worked probably 450ish problems.

 

[tiffintexas]

Took civil - water resources. I didn’t take a class, just studied on my own. I started studying mid February, every hour on my lunch break I would work some problems and would study about 2 hours in Saturdays and Sundays. By March I was up to 4-6 hours every Saturday and Sunday. Two weeks before the exam I took a Friday off work and set up a mock test. Then spent Saturday and Sunday going over what I missed the weekend before the exam I took another mock practice exam, then Monday and Tuesday before the exam studied both nights, then took Wednesday and Thursday off from studying. I think in all I was around 100 to 150 hours? 

I used NCEES practice exam and Goswhami practice exam I got off Amazon. I had all of the 6 minute solution books from a coworker and the CERM. Just worked a ton of problems. Passed on my first try.

 

[as_botd]

Passed Civil:WRE first time with probably ~100 hours.

I took the on-demand EET course for both breadth and depth. I watched the lectures after work and weekends starting in early January, took a four week break in February for a trip, and continued prepping up until the exam. I hardly did any practice problems until I did a couple practice exams the week prior to the exam. I was incredibly nervous until that point, as I studied Environmental Engineering in undergrad and didn't have a lot of the background for about 60% of the breadth section but very confident in water related topics.