RIP - VTEnviro
His Memory Eternal
If you have any questions, we're here to help.
Taking the October 2011 Exam?
- Thread starter Massalia13
- Start date
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FLBuff PE
Multi-disciplinary engineer
What's the best thing to eat for lunch in between the morning and afternoon sessions?
I could use some advice... I've started studying for the exam. I worked the problems in EERM for fluids, groundwater, hydrology, open channel flow (half or so), water treatment (ch 23-24), wastewater treatment (ch 25-26), and water distribution. I bought used NCSU review DVDs recently, and I've watched the wastewater sections and I'm about 1/2 way through the air videos. I've worked the wastewater example problems from NCSU. And I'm about 1/2 way through the air examples - I'll finish the other half when I watch the rest of the air videos.
My general concerns are: 1) I think I spent too much time fooling around with hydraulics since I don't know if the environmental PE exam is as in depth as the civil-water/environmental exam - and I'm not very good at that stuff. 2) I'm really slow at the problems. 3) There's still a lot of material left to cover, and I don't know how to prioritize my studies.
I've still got to cover:
Finish air review - are the Lindeburgh practice problems adequate?
Solid Waste
Health & Safety
I've got the opportunity to attend a hydraulics/pump review by Test Masters through work this weekend - but is that really a good use of time? Are hydraulics/pumps really important for the enviro exam?
When is a good time to take a practice test?
Getting nervous.
It's been a few years, but you will see hydraulics questions on the exam. How many? Hard to say - probably in the range of "you could still pass, as long as you got almost everything else correct".
I would start focusing on the air, haz waste, and health and safety stuff now, if I were you. You still have quite a bit of time, but I'd definitely start putting most of my effort on those areas now. It sounds like you've hit the hydraulics stuff hard enough now.
The EERM is not very useful for the haz waste/solid waste questions. It's not bad for reviewing air and health and safety, but you will want some supplemental references on haz waste. La Grega is always the recommended reference, but I've seen some others here who recommend Kuo (remediation calculations something?) - check some of the stickied threads on references and advice.
Good luck.
I would start focusing on the air, haz waste, and health and safety stuff now, if I were you. You still have quite a bit of time, but I'd definitely start putting most of my effort on those areas now. It sounds like you've hit the hydraulics stuff hard enough now.
The EERM is not very useful for the haz waste/solid waste questions. It's not bad for reviewing air and health and safety, but you will want some supplemental references on haz waste. La Grega is always the recommended reference, but I've seen some others here who recommend Kuo (remediation calculations something?) - check some of the stickied threads on references and advice.
Good luck.
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RIP - VTEnviro
His Memory Eternal
Review the exam spec on the NCEES site. Hydraulics is part of a group of areas that comprise 4% of the test. Try to study with the percentages in mind. For example, for every 100 hours you study, devote around 4 hours to hydraulics. A little less if you're strong, a little more if you're weak. There are a ton of disciplines covered on that exam, and you can mess up your chances to pass if you spend too much time on any one area.
Jeffrey - Here are my thoughts on your questions based on my experience with the April 2011 exam (which I passed). 1) You probably did spend too much time on hydraulics, but don't worry about it now. I would not recommend doing the hydraulics review course. That time will be better spent on another topic. 2) I was slow at problems too. I did 3 timed practice tests (only 1 in a single day!) and could never finish the morning section in 4 hrs. On the actual exam I finished the morning 30 minutes early. 3) For the material left to cover, divy up what you haven't covered according to % covered on the exam.
Some other thoughts:
Re: Air - I didn't work any problems in the EERM. If you can get your hands on the 101 Problems by Schneiter, the air questions in it are very thorough. I did find the slides from the NCSU DVDs very helpful on the air section during the exam.
Re: Solid Waste - Again, the 101 Problems were helpful. A solid reference is also a must. I used Integrated Solid Waste Management (Tchobanoglous) and Hazardous Waste Management (Lagrega).
Re: Health & Safety - The NCSU DVDs were helpful. Good references are key. A copy of the NIOSH Pocket Guide is recommended.
Re: Site Assessment & Remediation (new topic starting April 2011) - None of the study materials adequately address this in my opinion. Luckily it's what I do, but I could definitely see this being a big problem if you don't work in this field. My best advice here would be, again, get some good reference material and familiarize yourself with it. I recommend Practical Design Calculations for Groundwater and Soil Remediation (Kuo). Also have a good groundwater reference (like Applied Hydrogeology by Fetter). Also bring a copy of the Federal Drinking Water Standards.
Re: Practice tests - I started three weeks out. I had the Schneiter tests (3) and the one from NCEES. I did the first Schneiter one untimed in the weekday evenings just to get a feel for it. Then for the other 2, on the weekends I did morning session on Sat, afternoon session on Sun, timed. The Monday before the exam I did the NCEES one timed, just like the real thing. It was a brutal 3 weeks. Take the day before the exam off.
Good luck!
Some other thoughts:
Re: Air - I didn't work any problems in the EERM. If you can get your hands on the 101 Problems by Schneiter, the air questions in it are very thorough. I did find the slides from the NCSU DVDs very helpful on the air section during the exam.
Re: Solid Waste - Again, the 101 Problems were helpful. A solid reference is also a must. I used Integrated Solid Waste Management (Tchobanoglous) and Hazardous Waste Management (Lagrega).
Re: Health & Safety - The NCSU DVDs were helpful. Good references are key. A copy of the NIOSH Pocket Guide is recommended.
Re: Site Assessment & Remediation (new topic starting April 2011) - None of the study materials adequately address this in my opinion. Luckily it's what I do, but I could definitely see this being a big problem if you don't work in this field. My best advice here would be, again, get some good reference material and familiarize yourself with it. I recommend Practical Design Calculations for Groundwater and Soil Remediation (Kuo). Also have a good groundwater reference (like Applied Hydrogeology by Fetter). Also bring a copy of the Federal Drinking Water Standards.
Re: Practice tests - I started three weeks out. I had the Schneiter tests (3) and the one from NCEES. I did the first Schneiter one untimed in the weekday evenings just to get a feel for it. Then for the other 2, on the weekends I did morning session on Sat, afternoon session on Sun, timed. The Monday before the exam I did the NCEES one timed, just like the real thing. It was a brutal 3 weeks. Take the day before the exam off.
Good luck!
