First and last post here on ARE coach, took the CSE last weekend in Queens and passed!
I used the whole enchilada and the reference material on CABs website. i did buy passxflash in a moment of anxiety about a week before the test--i didn't use these at all though. i spent about 4 weeks listening to the audio guides every morning on my way to work, 3 weeks reading through the study guide and the source material, and 2 weeks before the test using OMCES and reviewing the study guide and all the source material a second time. both the audio guide and OMCES really helped the material sink in for me.
the proctors at the queens test center were obviously understaffed and told all the test takes this several times, but overall the test center is fine. i finished both parts of the exam with time to review my answers. about 50% of the questions I could not answer with complete certainty, but i was able to narrow down the options to 2 for most of these. I didn't find the exam that much more difficult than the 4.0 AREs. The most difficult part in studying was covering the wide breadth of material! But the enchilada does a good job at focusing your efforts to the areas needed.
It took me 16 months to get through the AREs and CSE--and it feels so nice to be done! good luck to everyone preparing for CSE, keep on keepin on!