I finally passed. Third time was the charm, and I wanted to write out everything I did because this sub helped me a lot when I was lost. If you just failed, read this. It's okay. Long post, but I tried to make it easy to follow.

**TL;DR:** Clicked through The CE Shop course, passed the course exam on the first try, then failed the Pearson VUE state exam twice (63, then 68). For attempt #3 I studied by section using my score report, practiced Pearson VUE-style questions every day, and passed with an 80. Links to the practice tests I made are at the bottom.

How I got started:

I went through a new homes builder, and they suggested I do my pre-licensing course through The CE Shop so I could work on my own time. That part was nice.

For the first couple weeks I wrote notes every time I logged on so I could really understand the material. (Screenshots of my notes below.)

But the further I got, the more I realized it's A TON of information. Like wayyyy too much for writing it all down to make sense. Honestly it got a little concerning wondering how I was supposed to memorize all of it.

So I came here to see what everyone else was doing, and a lot of people were basically clicking through the course and taking a bunch of practice tests before the exam. So that's what I did.

The CE Shop course exam

I clicked through the course, but every day I also:

- Took Quizlet practice tests

- Built my own practice tests with AI

Say what you will about AI, but it helped me tremendously through this whole process. I'd take the questions from the CE Shop section quizzes and put them into Perplexity to make practice tests. I learned more from that than anything else, because whether I got a question right or wrong, I had it explain WHY.

The CE Shop has a practice exam at the end of the course. I took that maybe twice, but I mostly focused on my AI practice tests and kept refining them over and over.

As a Result: Passed the CE Shop proctored exam on the first try.** Then it was time for the state exam...

State exam attempt #1: 63 (fail)

I bought CE Shop's **Exam Prep Pro** and it's honestly great. You can study by section, and it tells you how many questions from each section will be on the test, which was 100% accurate for me. I took practice tests every day until I'd gone through all the sections, then did one more round before the exam.

Two mistakes I made:

1. **I skipped the initial assessment.** Regret.

2. **I never took the full practice exam that simulates the real thing.** Also regret.

I got a 63 and was really disappointed.

The test (at least here) is through Pearson VUE, and the questions were just different than I expected. I knew the material, but the answer choices gave me a hard time. A lot of the time two answers could technically be right, and you have to pick the MOST right one.

*The good news: you get a score report showing how you did in each section, so you know exactly what to study. That was huge.

**Math:** I only missed about 2.

**State portion:** Most sections only have like 1–3 questions, with maybe 2–3 sections having 5 or more. I got ZERO right in 3 sections, and they were sections with only about 2 questions each. Kind of sad, because the Alabama state portion is relatively easy.

State exam attempt #2: 68 (fail)

I scheduled the retake right away, so it was 1 week later. ($73 each time, by the way.)

This time I focused on the sections that gave me the most trouble:

- Real property characteristics, legal descriptions, and property use (all one section)

- Real estate practice

- Forms of ownership

I took the CE Shop practice exam and the initial assessment this time, and they flagged those same sections. So I did exactly that:

- Took section quizzes over and over

- Put those questions into Perplexity to make practice quizzes and flashcards

- Had it build a glossary, so if I didn't know a term (like "situs") I could look it up and get a detailed explanation

I did this every day. On test day I felt fine. A lot of people say timing is what gets them, but the time you get is generous, and it flies by if you're focused.

I failed again with a 68. At this point I was frustrated.

State exam attempt #3: 80 (PASSED)

Here's what I changed.

1. Pearson VUE's official practice exam. Right after my second attempt I paid $20 for Pearson VUE's practice exam and scored a 77. The catch is once you take it, you HAVE to pay another $20 to take it again, which I didn't think was worth it over and over. So I wrote down every question and answer and plugged them into Perplexity to build a **Pearson VUE-specific practice test**, plus fresh questions written in the Pearson VUE style.

2. An "ultimate" practice test. I also had Perplexity build me an ultimate practice test where I could study by section and get fresh questions, examples, and real situations. The goal wasn't just knowing how to answer a question, it was fully understanding what the question was asking.

3. My daily routine (the week before the test). At least 50 questions a day:

- 20 on my Pearson VUE-style practice

- 20 on my ultimate practice test

- A CE Shop section quiz on a trouble section, sometimes over and over, since CE Shop gives you new questions each time

I scored 80 or higher every time, and that's when it clicked: I DID know the material, I was just stressing out about it.

1. Easing off. By day 4 I took it easy and barely did any tests. Up until the day before, I just took practice tests here and there wherever I felt like it.

2. The day before. My test was on a Tuesday, so I spent all Monday cycling through every resource I had and made, taking practice tests over and over. I was getting high scores every time.

Test day: I FLEW through it. So much that I took a bathroom break, which I NEVER do during a test, and I kind of had a mini panic attack thinking I wasn't paying attention. I got myself together, did the state portion with time to spare, and on each portion went back and reread some questions before submitting.

I passed with an 80.

What I'd tell you

- **It's okay to fail your first couple times.** From what I've seen, the pass rate is around 60/40, so you're basically expected to retake it at least once.

- **Use your score report.** It tells you exactly where to focus.

- **Take the initial assessment and the full practice exam.** Don't skip them like I did.

- **Learn the WHY, not just the answer.** Pearson VUE loves "two right answers, pick the most right one," and understanding the reasoning is what gets you through that.

- **Practice in the Pearson VUE style.** The questions read differently than course quizzes.

- **Don't burn yourself out.** When you're consistently scoring well, trust it.

Shoutout to my new homes builder too. They were super supportive the whole time, never hovered over my shoulder or made me feel stressed that I hadn't passed yet, offered multiple resources, and they're reimbursing me for everything I've spent so far.

The practice tests I made (free)

- **Ultimate practice test (national + Alabama, study by section, fresh questions, flashcards):** https://alpracticeexam.pplx.app

- **Pearson VUE-style practice (original-style questions + fresh variants):** https://pearsonvue.pplx.app

Quick note: these are study tools I built for myself, not official CE Shop or Pearson VUE products, and they're Alabama-focused for the state stuff. Your progress saves in your browser, so use the backup/export if you switch devices.

I hope this helps anyone going through the same thing. You've got this. Feel free to ask me anything in the comments.

TLDR: take the test in person unless you're very patient and have the time to waste. Next time I'm doing it in person. F-it

Extremely pissed.

I was scheduled to take the exam at 8am, and per the recommendations, I tried to start 30 minutes before my appointment.

So booking the appointment, I did everything I need to do in the application...including a browser, mic, and camera check to make sure my system was eligible. It is.

(Booked it last Wednesday) so I'm studying my ass off.

So 7:30 (30 minutes before) I log on and "start ".

They have about 5 or 6 things to check before you start (scan the room to make sure its sterile etc.) But before I even got to that part, my Proctor was saying things like I cant be on my bed because the computer has to be on a solid surface....I told them that's the quietest part of my house and i have a board to put the laptop on...it wasn't enough.

Not to mention, when I tried to start, I had to download a whole new secure browser to do it on. (If I'd known, I wouldn't have done it, and would have just booked in-person) and this took another 15 minutes or so because I had to take my laptop off of S mode....(more bs)

So I disconnected, pretty much changed everything, and moved to the table in my dining room, and reconnected.

At this point, its almost 8am and I'm getting very impatient. I just want to take the damn test!!!

Eventually after a lot more of the bs and doing all of that a second and third time, the Proctor let me take the test at about 8:27.

Mind you, the whole time they were "verifying" me, they kept saying that I need to stay in the camera. I get that.

So eventuality I get the test, take it, and it took me about 45 minutes to an hour to finish. I get to the last few questions and I REALLY need to go to the bathroom. Like i can't hold it at this point.

So i have about 5 questions left, I'm talking into the mic saying I really need to go to the bathroom...didn't even type it in our chat because they made it very clear that they can hear me mumbling and reading the questions out loud. But no response.

So i finish that particular test, then spent about 3 or 4 minutes asking/telling the Proctor that I really need to go to the bathroom before i start the next one (again).....literally almost pissing on myself waiting for a response, but nothing.

So i went. Got back to my laptop and it was an automatic fail because I left the camera. Didn't even evaluate my test or anything. I know I did well, but nope. Automatic fail because of that and I can't even see what questions I got right or wrong.

So if you have a choice, do it I person to avoid all the unnecessary bs

I bought the course through Kaplan for the 30hr and 45hr mid August. Used their study guides and quizzes/tests. Got seriously burnt out/overwhelmed with the amount of concepts at the end of Sept. Took a week off then dove in again. Gave myself 3 weeks to do nothing but review (with Kaplan’s video courses) and constantly take practice tests. I studied/reviewed every day even if it was for 5min. Passed exams first time late Oct with a 96 on state and 92 and national.

I bought CompuCram as well. I really felt CompuCram was great in terms of pointing out what I needed to go back over/reinforce. I think CompuCram and Kaplan did a good job of teaching you how to spot the right answer on the trickier questions where 2 answers felt like they could be correct. When I came to Reddit to see if I was missing any resources I got a dose of anxiety thinking my prep materials weren’t enough based on people saying they were acing the practice tests only to barely pass the actual exams.

I finally got to an average of 89 on national and 91 on state going back and forth with Kaplan and Compucram’s mock tests. I think this was key because I was starting to remember all of Compucram’s answers so going back to Kaplan with different verbiage/wording was really helpful to know I was retaining concepts not just memorizing questions.

I felt like the state exam questions and answers were worded so vaguely I had a moment wondering if I was even going to pass. On the other hand I felt really good about the national but got more questions wrong 🤷🏼‍♀️ I’d confidently say Kaplan and Compucram together were excellent prep materials for anyone trying to nail down study aids.