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3 Weeks Studying - 8 hours a day

PostPosted: Mon Jul 24, 2017 9:55 am
by bmensonides
I was just wondering if this is ample time to study for the CSE?

I'll be studying for 3 weeks straight at 8 hours a day prior to having my baby.

Re: 3 Weeks Studying - 8 hours a day

PostPosted: Mon Jul 24, 2017 12:35 pm
by chrisschumm
i studied for 3 weeks, maybe 4 hours before/ after work and passed... but i have 10 years of arch office experience, i feel that was why i passed... I felt it was a true test of knowledge and was pretty impressed with the content.

Re: 3 Weeks Studying - 8 hours a day

PostPosted: Mon Jul 24, 2017 5:41 pm
by gbalaka
There's no magic formula to satisfy an "ample" amount of time.

At the end of the day, it comes down the the actual exam that you get.

I studied plenty....knew all the information going in and got a WTF exam.....

Not trying to discourage you, but it really depends on what type of an exam you get.....

Re: 3 Weeks Studying - 8 hours a day

PostPosted: Fri Jul 28, 2017 8:17 am
by sfarchi21
I have a 6 month old, and got my notice to test one month before baby was due. I wish I had pushed to take the exam before baby, because even if I hadn't passed, I'm just now getting my head back in the game. Instead of taking the exam for the second time, I'm just sitting for my first try now. Sure, some people get back to things right away, but you never know what you're gonna get when it comes to babies & birth! Best of luck!

Re: 3 Weeks Studying - 8 hours a day

PostPosted: Tue Aug 08, 2017 3:32 pm
by bmensonides
sfarchi21 wrote:I have a 6 month old, and got my notice to test one month before baby was due. I wish I had pushed to take the exam before baby, because even if I hadn't passed, I'm just now getting my head back in the game. Instead of taking the exam for the second time, I'm just sitting for my first try now. Sure, some people get back to things right away, but you never know what you're gonna get when it comes to babies & birth! Best of luck!


Yes same here even less than a month before my baby is due is when they gave me the green light! Baby is due in the next 2 weeks and I'm gonna try to take it by next week. :? Thanks for the advice!

Re: 3 Weeks Studying - 8 hours a day

PostPosted: Wed Aug 16, 2017 5:26 am
by bmensonides
bmensonides wrote:
sfarchi21 wrote:I have a 6 month old, and got my notice to test one month before baby was due. I wish I had pushed to take the exam before baby, because even if I hadn't passed, I'm just now getting my head back in the game. Instead of taking the exam for the second time, I'm just sitting for my first try now. Sure, some people get back to things right away, but you never know what you're gonna get when it comes to babies & birth! Best of luck!


Yes same here even less than a month before my baby is due is when they gave me the green light! Baby is due in the next 2 weeks and I'm gonna try to take it by next week. :? Thanks for the advice!


Well needless to say I took the exam and didn't pass. I missed it by 4% which is not bad I guess considering I only studied for it hard core for 2 weeks about 4 hours a day and was 39 weeks pregnant! I have a much better understanding now of how the questions are formatted. Each choice on the questions does seem like it's the "right" answer so reading them thoroughly yet quickly is a must. I had 1 project scenario with 30 questions and that was the first part of the exam and then 100 questions for the categories part of the exam. I only studied the David Doucette TWE and didn't click on the links provided which I should have. I wish the testing format enabled you to cross out other choices like in the AREs and the minutes countdown also had seconds in them. Well I'll be taking this exam again in the next 6 months and will study about 3 months, 1-2 hours a day, for it as everyone has been suggesting on the forum. Good luck to you my friend!

Re: 3 Weeks Studying - 8 hours a day

PostPosted: Fri Sep 29, 2017 1:44 pm
by jimsarr
I agree, wish I had clicked on more of the links in Doucettes study guide. I studied pretty hard for three straight weeks (min 3-4 hours per day) going through his study guide and all the practice tests - but I failed by 6% (assuming 70% is the goal, it didn't say what I needed to pass). Clearly something was missing from my studying. I agree it seemed like every answer was right, forcing you to really concentrate on which was most correct. I thought the wording of some questions was poor, they kept referring to projects that weren't explained, and seemingly referenced the project scenario multiple times in the 100 question portion.

Pro-tip: they give you the project scenario packet before your time actually starts. I should have read through it before starting my time. I thought the project scenario was much tougher than the 100 questions portion, and therefore I didn't have enough time to review before time ran out. I can't even recommend things to study more than others, it came down to choosing the best combinations of answers they give you even though they all made sense.

Re: 3 Weeks Studying - 8 hours a day

PostPosted: Wed Oct 04, 2017 9:25 am
by gbalaka
jimsarr wrote:I agree, wish I had clicked on more of the links in Doucettes study guide. I studied pretty hard for three straight weeks (min 3-4 hours per day) going through his study guide and all the practice tests - but I failed by 6% (assuming 70% is the goal, it didn't say what I needed to pass). Clearly something was missing from my studying. I agree it seemed like every answer was right, forcing you to really concentrate on which was most correct. I thought the wording of some questions was poor, they kept referring to projects that weren't explained, and seemingly referenced the project scenario multiple times in the 100 question portion.

Pro-tip: they give you the project scenario packet before your time actually starts. I should have read through it before starting my time. I thought the project scenario was much tougher than the 100 questions portion, and therefore I didn't have enough time to review before time ran out. I can't even recommend things to study more than others, it came down to choosing the best combinations of answers they give you even though they all made sense.


I took the exam back in June and scored a 67%......I studied my ass off for 3 months and walked into the exam very prepared. Looking back, there's really no study material out there that would have adequately prepared me for that exam. As you said, all the answers looked correct to me and it was hard to cross out wrong answers. The study guides speak in "general" terms and then you get the exam and it's asking for specifics. At that point, all the specifics looked logical to me.

I really don't know how to study differently for the retake. At this point, i'll just take it again in January and see what happens. It was certainly helpful to see the format of the exam, so at least I now know what to expect next time.

What's your strategy for the retake?

Re: 3 Weeks Studying - 8 hours a day

PostPosted: Sun Oct 15, 2017 7:54 am
by 198kevin
Honestly I'm pretty bummed TWE is one of the main guides out there. I used his material for CDS and was completely unprepared, emphasis should be placed on the word study GUIDE, because it's definitely not that comprehensive. I'm using his guide as a take-off point and bringing in old notes and verifying with reference material. Ordered the Woo as well. I just really don't trust the TWE after my experience with the ARE.

Re: 3 Weeks Studying - 8 hours a day

PostPosted: Thu Nov 16, 2017 1:29 am
by knots
Regarding the pro-tip above, you are not allowed to open and review the project scenario packet before your time starts. I, too, ran out of time for the project scenario portion (the second of which was much tougher than the first.) I decided to inquire if I could review the project scenario booklet before, in view of a retake, but was told that I would be disqualified.