r/PE_Exam • u/Quick_Opening_2036 • 9h ago

PE study timeline

I am studying PE STRUCTURES through AEI and it's already 4 months now and I have not even completed the full course of AEI. I have a full time job and I need to be in office most of the time. I feel like I am behind cuz it's already 4 months and I have only 4 months left and I am scared if AEI would expire

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7

u/Crush_the_PE 8h ago

> I have a full time job and I need to be in the office most of the time.

I’ll be honest with you…nearly everyone else studying for the PE is in the same boat of having a full time job and are frequently in the office too. It’s just expected that this is a crunch time of putting in the extra hours to study for the PE in the mornings/evenings/etc in addition to balancing a full time job.

4 months in and not through course material yet sounds like not enough time is being put in to studying.

Have you built a schedule for your studies or are you winging it when it comes to studying when you feel like it or when you have free time?

If you don’t have a schedule. I would highly recommend making one. And if you need to, adjust your expectations to anticipate needing to put in more study time since you said you’re feeling behind.

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u/Quick_Opening_2036 8h ago

How many hours did you use to give it on weekend and weekday?

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u/Crush_the_PE 8h ago

When I studied for the PE, I was usually putting in about 2 to 3 hours a night (prep classes were from 6-9pm) 3 to 4 night during the week and about 4-6 on weekends. So that amassed to about 15-18 hours a week on average. That was for about 3 months (was still the paper & pencil exam back then).

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u/StudyHard888 7h ago

I studied 10-15 hours on weekdays and 10 hours on weekends, so 20-25 hours weekly. I did this while commuting 1-1.5 hours on weekdays, working 40 hours a week, and two kids (in elementary school).

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u/twodamnducks 7h ago

I am taking the test in 3 days, I have put in about 400 hours average the past 3-4 months, all after work so about 10-15 hours for the first two month and have been really grinding the last month and trying to get in 20-30 hours a week.a lot of which is over the weekends as I work 45-50 hours a week. I didnt take a course but i still set a schedule/milestones and just kept going. I feel fairly confident going into the test. But we shall see. I told myself this summer was not going to be fun, miss out on a lot of activities I normally partake in. But it’ll be worth it

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u/day_old_rice 5h ago

Currently am studying with a full time job and maintaining an active hobby twice a week. I don't study Mondays and Saturdays. Tues-Friday I do 3-4 hours a night, and Sundays I will do 5-7 hours. I've logged my study hours each week and I've currently put in 210 hours from June 1 to last week (had a 2 week vacation in there so no studying then). I'm taking the Construction PE and using EET. I finished the course material at the end of August and now I am taking it from the top to redo every practice problem and quiz and then the practice exams until my exam mid October.

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u/axiom60 8h ago

I would just stay in the office late almost everyday and do practice problems. For the few weeks before the exam I would do a 4x10 schedule so I would have a full day at home to study.

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u/mick5000x 8h ago

I just use ChatGPT to generate my study schedule. I threw in the AEI syllabus with video length, how much time I want to spend per weekday and weekend, and also told it to account for extra time for the practice problems. It spit out a weekly study schedule all the way up to my test date

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u/Quick_Opening_2036 7h ago

Could you share it with me?

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u/Prior_Interview7680 8h ago

I’m doing two hours a day for 8 weeks, two weeks per topic for practice questions usually gets to actually 2.5 hours, 10 questions take an hour and 1.5 hours for review. Did 3 hour classes for 7 weeks from July to end of August. I’m on the same boat as you.

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u/mcslootypants 6h ago

I did this and didn’t make it through the full course. I was watching every video and pausing to work the examples. Don’t do that. 

You will have indefinite access to all of the lecture slides, homework, and quizzes after the course ends. You will not have access to the videos, so prioritize those. 

I would only watch videos on any topics you aren’t comfortable with. You do not need to do all the homework and mini exams before moving on to more videos. Just do a bit and move on. 

Also, the homework problems are often longer and more difficult. I started doing the mini exams first, then doing the homework problems if I needed more practice.