Schedule for Studying

[team1887]

Hello All,

I am having a bit of a panic attack right now. I know the exam isnt until April, but I am the type of person who needs longer to study usually because of my ADHD, lack of ability to focus for a long period of time. So while I study have to constantly eat something and get up every half hour or so and do something. With that being said, I feel like I am getting on the bus really late for studying. I just received my study material (and I am still missing references for the Transportation specific portion, like HCM, HSM, MUTCD, etc). I did design for my first 2 1/2 years of work and now I am working in project management, so I haven't been around the formulas for 2 years. I know everyone is different with how they study, but I would like some feedback as to whether this schedule is overkill. Responses are greatly appreciated. Thank you.

Week Starting

s

m

t

w

t

f

s

total



12/21/2014

8

4

0

0

4

4

6

26

TRANSPORT

12/28/2014

8

4

0

0

4

4

6

52

CIVIL

1/4/2015

8

4

0

4

0

4

6

78

TRANSPORT

1/11/2015

8

4

0

4

0

4

6

104

CIVIL

1/18/2015

8

4

0

4

0

4

6

130

TRANSPORT

1/25/2015

8

4

0

4

0

4

6

156

CIVIL

2/1/2015

8

4

0

4

0

4

6

182

TRANSPORT

2/8/2015

8

4

0

4

0

0

0

198

CIVIL

2/15/2015

0

0

0

4

0

4

8

214

TRANSPORT

2/22/2015

8

4

0

4

0

4

6

240

CIVIL

3/1/2015

8

4

0

4

0

4

6

266

TRANSPORT

3/8/2015

8

4

0

4

0

4

6

292

CIVIL

3/15/2015

8

4

0

4

0

4

6

318

TRANSPORT

3/22/2015

8

4

0

4

0

4

6

344

CIVIL

3/29/2015

8

4

0

4

0

4

8

372

TRANSPORT

4/5/2015

8

4

0

4

0

4

8

400

TRANSPORT

4/12/2015

2

2

2

2

2

EXAM



410

Both

 

[team1887]

See attached PDF. Thanks!

Schedule for Study.pdf

 

[Kovz]

Do you work full time? I just don't see how studying 4 hours on weeknights after work will be possible. But maybe that's just me.

Those are some long days on the weekends too for the next 4 months. It may be a bit overkill, but better to be over-prepared than not prepared enough. Best of luck!

 

[Ramnares P.E.]

I agree that 4 hours on weekdays will be tough to actually accomplish. I worked full time while prepping for the PE and managed to study 3 hours during the week (Mon-Fri), and 8 hours each Sat/Sun. I have a 1-year old at home and was studying for an MS degree at the same time though so my attentions were divided.

It really depends on your work schedule. I was able to study this way because I get in to work early and leave at 3:00 PM. I was home at 4 which gave me enough time to study. The last couple weeks before the exam I did 4/hrs a night during the week too.

Your schedule looks feasible and the cumulative hours look similar to what I put in.

 

[Ramnares P.E.]

Also, instead of alternating days - 4, 0, 4 etc, you may want to just break them evenly into 2 hours. I know a lot of folks on here recommend a day off during the week but I didn't need one during the 3-1/2 months of prep I did.

 

[P-E]

You're not too late. Don't get bogged down on topics outside the ncees syllabus

 

[Porter_]

i agree with a couple things said so far: 1) you're not too late to start studying, 2) 4 hours on weeknights is probably unrealistic.

I've taken the exam twice and both times i started out trying to study on weeknights and both times it fizzled out quickly. being tired from the workday would result in about 30 minutes of actual studying spread across 3 hours of sitting at the table. what i ended up doing (and i don't know if this is an option for you) is convincing my work to let me work a 4-10 schedule (M-Thur, 10 hrs/day) and then i would attack studying on the weekends Fri-Sun. usually averaged around 7 hours a day, so about 21 hours per weekend.

good luck!

 

[knight1fox3]

Studying for the PE, 4 hours is probably not very practical. Grad school on the other hand, it wouldn't be out of the ordinary from me to work straight from 6pm to midnight most week nights. So it's doable to put a fair amount of time in, but it also largely depends on what support you can get from your family to make it happen. I happen to have excellent support in that regard.

 

[Ramnares P.E.]

Exactly, 4 hours every other night is a bit excessive. I think it's much smarter to simply break it into 2 hour sessions and not take a day off during the week. Your schedule, while admirable, seems certain to set you up for burn out.

 

[ptatohed]

You're showing 410 total hours. You can cut that back to 300. Also, your "schedule" doesn't really show much more than the allotted days/hours when you'll be studying. You might consider a more detailed schedule showing what you'll be studying.

 

[Porter_]

^ on that note, here's my schedule for studying for the OCT 2014 exam: http://engineerboards.com/index.php?showtopic=23613&p=7201886

 

[team1887]

Thank you all immensely for your input! I may cut back the 4 weekday hrs to 3hrs. My only commitments are work 730-430 and coaching crossfit. So thats why I chose to have 2 days off. I normally coach 4 days a week after work, but I cut it down to 2 so I can study M-W-F.

I thought about the idea of scheduling each week or day for a specific topic. But I get hung up on areas I am not clear on, I have trouble moving on to the next topic. Thank you all again!

 

[ptatohed]

Thank you all immensely for your input! I may cut back the 4 weekday hrs to 3hrs. My only commitments are work 730-430 and coaching crossfit. So thats why I chose to have 2 days off. I normally coach 4 days a week after work, but I cut it down to 2 so I can study M-W-F.

I thought about the idea of scheduling each week or day for a specific topic. But I get hung up on areas I am not clear on, I have trouble moving on to the next topic. Thank you all again!

Start with the topics you like and know well. That way you will feel good about covering graspable topics. Also, look carefully at the NCEES exam outline. Study the topics that will give you more study "bang for your buck". For instance, topics that make up a great % of the test. Or topics you find in the AM and PM. Don't be afraid to jump around. And don't be afraid to skip a topic you hate. Don't study anything not on the exam outline. Good luck.

 

[king7146]

The schedule looks ambitious to say the least. I won't comment too much on your schedule, but I can describe what my schedule was like. For reference I took took the October 2014 exam and just found out I passed.

I "scheduled" 2 hours of studying per weeknight (Mon-Thurs) and 8 hours per weekend day (Sat-Sun) for a little over 2 months. I rarely managed to hit those numbers though (having a baby throws a wrench in studying you know!). I logged 150-200 hours total study time, which I would consider an absolute minimum. Another guy mentioned 300 hours and that is a much safer goal.

Do your best not to fall behind in whatever schedule you set up. Even falling behind one day puts a burden on you in the future. I used the online School of PE class that allowed me to watch (and re-watch) review videos whenever I could fit them in. I HIGHLY recommend some sort of review course. I had a good experience with School of PE and I've heard good things about EET as well. If you decide to self study pay very close attention to the NCEES exam outline. The CERM is full of great information...but a lot of it won't apply to you.

I finished the bulk of my studying 2 week prior to the exam to allow time for practice exams. By this point all my reference materials were covered in post-it rainbows and my confidence was much higher than when I started. So on the Saturday 2 weeks prior to the exam I took a practice exam put out by the same guys who make the CERM. It kicked my butt. I spent the week reviewing my weak areas from the practice exam, and on the Saturday before the exam I took the NCEES practice exam. This boosted my confidence right back up again, and I didn't really study after that point. I spent the week leading up to the exam quadruple checking my tabbing on all the references and self medicating with beer.

Hopefully this helps you and gives you an idea of what is in-store. Here are two threads that probably helped me the most with my preparations.

http://engineerboards.com/index.php?showtopic=22891

http://engineerboards.com/index.php?showtopic=23592

Cheers!

 

[ruxiao]

How about Selemic and Survey? Do you take those this time?

 

[iwire]

I find that weekdays studying, quantity is not as important than quality. I did like 30min daily Monday to Thursday. Then Saturday for 1 hour and Sunday for 2-3hours during my time helps

 

[buffalo]

I didn't have a schedule set in stone, but I would maintain "core" days for studying. I took online class 2 nights a week (each lecture was 3+ hours, 7-10pm). The other evenings I would carve out as much time as realistically possible to do "homework" problems and organize, read, and understand my references. Most studying would occur late at night after getting the kids to sleep. This may sounds zany, but I would also fall asleep, wearing earphones, re-listening to weekly lectures hoping that I would subconsciously retain more information. The subliminal learning process was probably not effective. But, hey, why not? I scheduled time-off from work the 4 Fridays preceding exam and spent 8 hour day at the library wearing earplugs, solving problems, using my references. I believe that was the most important part of my schedule. It gave me mental endurance and prepared me for exam day environment. Good luck.

 

[Mike M PE]

Did you apply for disability waiver from NCEES? If your disability is documented they will make accommodations for it such as more time, splitting the rest up over several days etc...

Don't be shy about asking for it if needed.

 

[team1887]

Ha! I'd get laughed at if I tried! They would only consider it if I was taking med's and I definitely won't ever take med's for my condition, I just have to live with it.

Studying is going extremely slow. Yesterday was worst where I dedicated 8 hrs to study and got about 20 minutes done. Complete waste of a day

 

[CU07]

Ha! I'd get laughed at if I tried! They would only consider it if I was taking med's and I definitely won't ever take med's for my condition, I just have to live with it.

Studying is going extremely slow. Yesterday was worst where I dedicated 8 hrs to study and got about 20 minutes done. Complete waste of a day

I'm not sure who "they" is, but NCEES has a thorough ADA accomodation policy.

http://ncees.org/exams/special-accommodations/ada-testing-accommodations/

You have until February 19, 2015 to request accomodations for the April 2015 exam. Check out the NCEES Examinees With Disabilities Guide for documentation guidelines...you would need a doctor to explain your diagnosis, limitations, and the specific accommodations needed.

Good luck.