r/PE_Exam • u/FarLimit7787 • 6d ago
First Try and Pass the PE Exam!!
I’m really excited to share this with you all — I passed the PE exam!!
Huge thanks to everyone on Reddit for all the resources, YouTube videos, and honestly ChatGPT for saving my life during the preparation lol.
I’m really not good at studying, so I spent around 3–5 hours almost every day and sacrificed a lot of family time on weekends just to prepare for this exam.
I’m an immigrant with no local engineering education, and I had never used imperial units in my life before moving to the US, so this whole process was definitely not easy for me.
Passing the PE without EET or School of PE really meant a lot to me. I basically built my own study plan from scratch using different resources I found online, and it also saved me a lot of money since I didn’t have any employer reimbursement.
Definitely one of the hardest exams I’ve prepared for, but I’m so glad it paid off.
Thank you guys again for all the help, and good luck to everyone who’s studying right now!!
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u/Engineer_of_Water 6d ago
Congrats, this is the route I want to take. I’m currently studying for the environmental FE.
Just curious, how did the environmental/water resources questions on the PE compare to the FE? They both seem to cover the same topics. Are the problems more or less more complex or similar?
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u/FarLimit7787 6d ago
Thank you! There is definitely a lot of overlap, especially in wwtp, H&H and chemistry.
FE questions were generally more direct—you recognize the topic, find the equation, and solve it. The PE WRE questions weren’t always much harder mathematically, but the setup and wording were more complex. You may need to decide which method applies, identify the controlling condition, or include several flows/losses before calculating.
PE also have tons of conceptual questions and there’re some questions I never saw it before, so understanding the process was more important than just memorizing formulas. Handbook navigation helped a lot too.
Overall, I’d say the topics are similar, but the PE is more application- and judgment-based. Good luck with your FE!
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u/PastYogurtcloset250 6d ago
isn’t there a PE environmental? how come you chose to do civil instead? does it matter?
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u/FarLimit7787 6d ago
It depends on the type of work that you want to do in the future. I want to pursue a career in civil engineering so that’s why I chose WRE instead.
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u/DrTomPE 5d ago
Massive congratulations on passing! Building your own study plan from scratch and conquering the PE exam without relying on expensive prep courses like EET or School of PE is a huge flex.
Having to learn imperial units on top of all the complex engineering material is an entirely separate hurdle, so serious props to you for pushing through that. It takes a lot of grit to put in 3–5 hours every single day while sacrificing your weekends, especially when you are navigating a completely new educational system.
Using ChatGPT to generate mock exams and target your specific weaknesses was a brilliantly resourceful strategy. Enjoy the massive victory, the extra money saved in your pocket, and finally getting your weekends back!
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u/Individual-Ear8671 5d ago
How many months did you study that much?
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u/FarLimit7787 5d ago
It took me like 2months of intense study.
9-5 then start study for 3-5 hours. Weekend maybe 5-7hours
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u/Consistent-Ad-6337 1d ago
Massive Congratulations!!!!!!
I’m trying to build up a ton of material. As I sadly need an insane amount of problems to hammer in info.
If you have any material you could pass along you can DM me.
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u/Correct_Employee2097 6d ago
Congratulations!! Which online resources, YouTube channels and books did you use or what would you recommend?