One of the questions I get asked the most from students is:
“Zach, how many Months do I need to study to pass the PE exam?”
Each and every person has their own individual needs based on industry experience, math background, and test taking skills. This means that it is close to impossible to say exactly how many months you, in particular, would need to study to pass.
But, what I can tell you, is what the successful engineers that DO pass have in common with their studying habits and how long they prepared for.
Ready for the answer?
They study A LOT.
We polled our April 2017 students to find out what the successful engineers that passed the Electrical PE exam had in common.
When asked: “How many Months did you Study for the Electrical PE Exam” to students that passed, here is how they answered:
The large majority of passing students studied between 3 to 4 months before the PE exam by a combined 70%!
That is 35% for 3 months and 35% for 4 months.
If we add up the percentages of students that passed the Electrical PE exam that studied any amount other than 3 or 4 months, it comes out to just 30% of all passing students.
This means that only 30% of all passing students studied for a time amount other than 3 to 4 months leading up to the exam while 70% of all passing students did.
What this means for you:
Statistics can be a great tool to see how large groups of people measure up.
If you want a decent shot at passing the exam, you should be studying for at least 3 months.
If you want a *great* chance of passing the exam, you should be studying for no less than 4 months leading up to the exam!
Now, of course, there are exceptions to every rule, and these percentages are just numerical correlations. In fact, we had a student pass that only started studying 2 days prior to the PE exam. You can read his testimony here: Matt Green – PASSED April 2017 PE Exam Testimony.
Is this common expected result? Definitely not. But what it does is illustrate for us how different each individual’s experience with passing the PE exam can be based on their background when we compare to someone who may have taken the exam multiple times before passing.
This is why it is so important to look at the numbers and see what works the most as a whole and why a review course with a proven track record is so important. Afterall, your goal should be to sign up for the PE exam, put in your time studying, pass the exam, and then move on with both your professional and personal life.
As a quick bonus before we close, how many of our April 2017 exam students do you think passed that studied for a total of 6 months leading up to the exam?
The answer is 100%.
Of course, the number of months leading up to the exam doesn’t really matter if you aren’t putting in the hours each week.
So to compare, next week we will be diving deeper and looking at the results of how the total number of hours spent studying per week also affected the success rate.
See you next week!
I used this article as a guide to setting up my study schedule. I mapped everything out by day for a July through October study period for the October PE. 4 months of solid studying was my goal, and hopefully it pays off!
I follow Zach’s study advice wholeheartedly. On one of his webinars on how to prepare for PE Exam, he said that a laid back approach just does not work, and that is absolutely true! This has motivated me to work harder.
I initially was reading the PPI Power reference manual, when I came across this website. I emailed Zach to see what I could get out of this course and i don’t regret it one bit. I am happy with the time lines given and the time Zach takes to guide you through preparing for the exam.
Thanks, Orlando, I’m glad you’ve enjoyed the review course.
Zach’s study advice was a welcome feedback for me and helped me to structure my learning process and schedule. The minute I registered for the Electrical PE Review course, Zach reviewed where I was academically in regards to passing the PE Exam, and structured a personal plan of study for me.
Before I took the Electrical PE Review course I did not pass the PE Exam in past attempts. Now I can clearly understand why!
Thank you Zach for all your coaching and support!
Sincerely – Jeff.
You are most welcome Jeff, as always thanks for the kind words!
This article was just the motivation I needed to start studying early and stick with it. Thank you.
Glad that I found this article early on in my studying. There is plenty of truth of how much studying it actually takes to even just feel 50/50 for the exam. I have put in the effort, now it is time to close the deal.
This article is where I began my journey back when I was looking into taking the PE Exam. I took Zach’s advice and began studying 4 months prior to the exam. There is so much material on the exam, and I agree that it is necessary to allow yourself at least 4 months to work through all of the topics. I won’t know if I have studied enough until after the exam when the results roll in, but I am glad I started when I did. Thanks for the tips Zach!
“What do successful engineers that pass the PE have in common”….They take your class!!! I would have also done much better in college had I known about this class. Thanks Zach!!
Zach,
Thanks for this article and for your honesty in what it takes to prepare for this crazy, long exam!
I have followed your guidance and the tip on how to take the test in more than one pass, I am sure it will pay off!!
Best of luck on the exam Issac and thank you for the kind words.
Great advice on study time before the PE Exam.
Excellent Article. Thank you very much Zach!
Good analysis!!!
I am preparing myself for the last two months and hope to appear on the next NCEES PE EXAM.
I know my personal study habits are not great, but I also know that I only want to take the PE exam once. This article helps reinforce that studying can only help. This is also what makes me so interested in your course. Sometimes I need that financial investment to motivate me to keep studying. I’m going on three months of study and we will see how it pays off. Thanks for the great article, and great study material.
This is my favorite article. I think it gets your ready to go into study mode and pump up to pass the exam. It is also an eye opener on what kind of study habits we have. Thank you for providing this Zach!
Great article to analyze and use time effectively. I followed this and prepared for around 3 months.
Great Article! The exam is less than two weeks away and I just re-read this article to give myself some reassurance in what I have been doing to prepare. I feel confident. I was not studying hard enough at first but after the first online live class, Zach inspired me to dig deep and really put my all into studying.
This article set the tone for me, when I started studying three months ago, now been a couple of weeks close, it just reassured me it isn’t over yet, and need to oish even harder.
really appreciate it!
The PE is an extremely hard test and when I decided to take it I was pretty clueless on how to start. I found Zach’s site (thank you Google!) and started with this article (there is a ton of free material available to students of the PE.)
Zach’s article helped me to make a study plan and stick to it.
Although a bunch of stuff is free, you really need to join up — his content is amazing and second to none!
I just sent this article to a friend of mine who will be taking the PE next April. I’m about to take the October exam and I still wish I had started just a few weeks earlier. Maybe I can convince him to take this advice!
Zach’s article really explains what it takes to do well. I’m glad I spoke with him early for the best strategy and advice. If you’re in this category ( balancing career, family, kids, taking this class, and studying), my advice is to keep pushing even when time seem so stress and busy. The focus is to be prepared and train wisely. I hope the best for everyone taking the 2019 October Class and stay motivated.
This article and class 1 of your Live Class was crucial in helping me create a study plan for myself. Everyone taking the PE should read this article! Thanks Zach!
I have read this article so many times it isn’t even funny. It gets me pumped it. It proves to me others out there are HUNGRY to better themselves and TACKLE THIS TEST! Thanks for the write-up Zach! <3
Ha glad you enjoyed it Bill, love the enthusiasm.
Thanks for sharing, very helpful!
Glad it helped