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Abdullaziz

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Hello everyone, 

I am writing this post about my experience for taking PE examination CBT,  because like me at the time of the test there has been a lot of question about the test, and since NCEES has recently converted to CBT for PE exam not much people have taken the exam. So I have recently taken the Professional Engineering Exam for Chemical engineering and I have passed it (took it on OCT 28th).  Here is my experience.  

Reference Handbook:

The test was actually easy and solvable without the need for provided the reference handbook, during my test I rarely refereed to it. Plus the file provided was difficult to navigate, not your typical PDF file. Search function shows you the location of your search item and then you have to click on it to see the information (which given in a test of time is very critical). So just like in FE exam, one monitor divided into two sections one for questions and one for the handbook. 

The Exam:

When you first login to the test instructions display that there are 2 sessions morning and afternoon. For me it was 42 questions morning and 38 afternoon, where the morning session was all technical and 90% of afternoon is theoretical and experience based and the time provided for test is more than enough. One thing to keep an eye for it is the time there will be no flag/notice to indicates the end of morning session so you could spend all 8 hours at one section.  Also recently NCEES has added a new type of questions, drag and drop fill the plank and so on, however I have only in countered 2 questions of this type and  the reset are normal multiple choice questions.

Now the difficulty of the exam questions I would say very easy to easy, I have put on more effort to study for the exam than it is required for it ( I have started studying from July a total of 4 months).  A good source to study from if the practice exam provided at NCEES website, i have also take PPI2Pass material, it was a good practice for your understanding however it is far more difficult than the exam, but it will refresh your memory. Generally most of exam questions you figure out the way of solving it from the first sentence.One thing I did which is I have divided the exam equally for each section however by the end of the afternoon section I have wished if i have given more time for morning session ( I got an hour left).  I have encountered only one question that I decided to spend the last 30 min of the exam trying to solve it, however I was not lucky.  

The Result: 

After I have taken the exam I was anxious about exam result, they say 7 to 10 days however I have received my result after 3 days. 

So good luck on your exam and hopefully this post will set many tester at ease, and assist you for the test.   

 
@Abdullaziz

Thanks for sharing your experience! And congrats :D

Just curious how many registration windows are there for the cbt? Seems like there is still only two registration windows just like the paper and pencil version? I plan on taking PE enviro (NY State) which is no longer offered in paper format. The board website says the registration deadline is Feb 7, 2019. I don't think I will make it in time to get approval for my application. But say I wanted to take the exam in August 2019,  does that mean i cant since i missed the "spring" registration date and have to wait for the fall registration deadline? 

I tried calling my boards but the person didnt know when the next registration after feb 7th would be. I may call again and see if i can speak with another rep...It just doesnt make sense to only have a spring and fall registration deadline for a cbt exam which is offered ALL year lol.

 
@engineer123

I took the Enviro. exam three times and I failed. Last attempt was April, 2018. So I need one more year of experience before I apply which will be April, 2019. I have emailed Texas Board and they told me that I can submit my application in April, 2019 and I can registered I soon as I got the approval.

 
@Abdullaziz

Thank you for the clarification, since the Environmental will be CBT, the information you posted were very helpful.

 
Thank you for sharing your experience. 

I have a MS degree but I was always the B student in class.

With 5 years of experience, I passed the FE exam by only practicing the NCEES practice exam. I thought I could do the same for PE prep and pass, so I failed. 

I then bought the PPI combo of 3 books and spent 3 months to go through everything. Hopefully I can pass this time. 

But thanks to your sharing, I feel more confident now. 

 
Thanks for sharing, very helpful!

Regarding the reference handbook, was a table of contents provided?

 
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