Congrats to all those who took the 2024 exam. I truly enjoy reading your comments.
Any comments you make can help future test-takers. And of course suggestions for blog/Guidebook/Companion improvements are always welcome and appreciated.
Please remember the blog rule: specific prior PE Exam questions cannot be discussed. General topics, resource suggestions, and testing techniques only please. Try not to discuss specific problems from prior exams, such as comments like: "...several of the drilling questions with probability...” it too specific as per the test-writers. Thanks, folk!
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This was my second time taking the test. The first time was in 2022, ten months after graduating college with a Petroleum Engineering degree and I was very close to passing with a week and a half of self study prior to the exam. No wonder why it didn't go my way.
ReplyDeleteI was bound to retake the exam a year later in 2023 and having fallen into the same habits I thought that if I just put in a few more days, maybe two and a half weeks I would manage; however I was diagnosed with stage 4 and metastatic lung cancer. My first chemo was scheduled for the day of the exam, so I cancelled, and in a weird way cancer spared me from not passing again.
I was cleared of cancer in August 1st, but kept on doing daily radiation treatments until the last week of September. I registered for the 2024 exam on August 2nd and studied prior to and after each treatment. I didn't have the money for School of PE, SPE's prep course or Bing's prep course. Instead, I did all of the practice tests on this blog making sure to solve them using the reference material provided in the test (it is possible!). In addition I used the conceptual problems to gauge my understanding of the material and chose what I needed to review in depth.
Through the journey of prepping for the 2024 exam, I learned many new things and the ones I already knew seemed to make better sense.
I'd say that Dammeyer's "Petroleum Engineering Guidebook: Designed for the Professional Engineer" is the best $55 I've ever spent in a technical guide or book and would highly recommend it, even to those not prepping for the exam.
I also used a practice test purchased from NCEES, and Olumayowa Famodimu's book to help me brush up on conceptual understanding and on where to focus more study time. Famodimu's book was very helpful and so was he, as he would periodically check in with advice and to see if there was anything he could do to help in the process.
In total, I'd say I spent $225 in prep materials (Dammeyer's reference guide, Dammeyer's practice tests, the NCEES practice test (print), Ghalambor's reference guide (pdf), pens and paper): this total does not include Famodimu's book (which I would still recommend).
I did not spent much in prep materials but I ended up with a debt to friends and family, which I don't know that I'll ever be able to pay.
I ended up using everything I’ve learned to PASS THE EXAM, things that I’ve seen in books, the classroom, the field and even conversations at the bar.
My biggest advice to anyone planning to take the exam in 2025 is, put in the time, it is not easy … Passing this exam is the hardest thing I’ve done to date!!!
The first time I only went over my college notes but the second time I used all the study materials noted in this post.
Hi all, I just passes the PE (Petroleum) exam in first attempt. Sharing a few things that helped me:
ReplyDelete1) A did the NCEES sample practice exam multiple times to make sure I TOTALLY understand the concept asked in the question and also further reviewed the concepts covered in the sample problems on internet. Many questions in the exam were similar to practice exam, so I highly recommend this.
2) I bought Olumayowa Famodimu book for $425. it was too expensive and I regret spending that much, it wasnt worth it. He also texted me a lot, which I thought was unprofessional.
3) I reviewed the topic list provided by NCEES and googled each of those topics and read about them online and also searched YouTube videos on important topics like well control, separator design, well trajectory, log interpretation, etc. (My weak areas were drilling and facilities).
3) i also thoroughly went through the SPE reference book to see what the different tables are, different equations, and googled the equations to learn more about the topic (I googled a LOT). Knowing what tables and equations are provided in the reference book makes it easier to find topics during the exam.
4) other helpful resources that u can get from library (instead of buying) are Petroleum Handbook, drilling by Adam Bourgoyne, and Craft and Hawkins book. One strategy could be to solve the example problems in these books to get practice.
5) Make sure to practice real gas equations.
7) During the exam i skipped to the topics which I was strongest in first (reservoir in my case) then came back to other topics. I also went through my answers twice in the end to make sure I didn't do silly mistakes.
6) I studied for about 2 weeks before the exam (not that I am recommending cramming at the last moment , but thats just what I did).
I wish the exam was held more often than once a year. That puts a lot of pressure to pass or else we will have to wait one full year to retake. May be we can start a petition to change that hehe 😉
I agree with most of these comments. The use of this blog, Youtube, Petrowiki, NCEES material and running through the SPE guidebook all helped me pass on my first attempt as well. However, I will say that I believe that Olumayowa's book was the best way to prepare for the conceptual questions. The thing I thought was useful about his book was the fact that all questions had an explanation along with useful references in the case you wanted to research further. I believe that using Olumayowa's book for conceptual review along with understanding the calculation problems contained in this blog were the two main factors to help me pass on my first attempt. - Jake C.
DeleteThis was my second time taking the exam and unfortunately I did not pass. I spent way more time studying this go around only to do worse in literally every category from my first attempt in 2023. This is absolutely devastating because walking out of the exam I felt confident that I passed. My study materials were Bings class problems which I took his last year doing the class and the 2009 sample exam as well as the problems in the NCEES practice exam. I wish I could provide more for potential test takers but I'm not the person to recommend anything because I can't get it done. If I make a third attempt I will spend more time on practice problems in here and maybe purchase the Olumayowa guide however I'd have second thoughts on doing that as a previous poster mentioned it might not be worth the cost.
ReplyDeleteThis was my first time taking the exam. I took the time to study for the exam (6 months). I did not pass the exam. My main study material in order of relevance from what was asked on the exam was: NCEES practice exam, the question bank explained in this blog, Olumayowa's question bank, and the SPE PE exam review.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I believe there are not many resources out there for the new exam, so I ran out of material after 3 months studying. I might have felt too confident as I started early, so I relaxed right before the exam itself. I was answering most of the questions correct right before the exam, perhaps it was due to me having the reviewed them almost twice. The exam itself was more alike to the questions in the practice exam; some of the economics question more more alike FE questions rather than the PE questions available. The questions in this blog were very good source and most of them can be solved with the SPE reference guide. The Olumayowa question bank had good questions, but definitely not worth $400+. The SPE PE exam review was a waste of money, it is outdated and focuses only on references for what was the old version of the exam. Though I failed so I did something wrong.
I felt good after the exam and was surprised with the result. Again, I might have felt overconfident at the end of my study. I will present the exam next year once again, and I am hoping to find more resources out there, possibly reviewing more material such as the Petroleum Handbook, Bourgoyne's drilling book and such. Definitely mastering the questions on the practice exam. There is a guy trying to fill in the spot left by Bing's class, but not sure if he will be increasing its content for next year.
Congratulations to those who passed, it is definitely not an easy exam. Hopefully we are able to find more resources out there next year.
Same on the confidence.... Leaving the exam I felt that passing for me was a high probability. As it turns out I actually did worse than my first attempt where I put considerably less time into studying. The fact that NCEES won't tell you your exact score is beyond aggravating.
DeleteThis was my 3rd time taking the exam. First time I took the exam I didn't study more than a week and almost passed it. Second time, I studied a little less than 2 months thinking I should be good to go. I did substantially worse. This 3rd time, I studied relentlessly for about 5 months in an attempt to get this exam passed. No dice again. This was a little discouraging since I felt fairly confident going into the exam. I studied the NCEES practice exam, Dammeyer's 2018 and 2021 problem books, The SPE practice exam, Olumayowa question bank, and touched a few of the Bing's questions that I had time for. I'm not exactly sure how to prep at this point other than petrowiki random material. Seems like as a whole the industry could benefit for better prep courses or a test that reflects the available resources. I will scour the internet for more study material and try again next year.
ReplyDelete