Civil PE - Structural 1

[MegaStructures]

Has anyone here recently taken the structural PE and could recommend practice tests/books.

I have:

PEprepared Practice Tests (Breadth & Depth)
NCEES Practice Tests (Breadth & Depth)
EET course binders

I'm looking for some more practice material if anyone has any recommendations, or even better, PDF's.

“The most successful people in life are the ones who ask questions. They’re always learning. They’re always growing. They’re always pushing.” Robert Kiyosaki

 

[STrctPono]

It's been a few years but I got really good information/use out of the PPI publication "Structural Engineering Reference Manual" written by Alan Williams. It's a bit pricey at $175 and not without its errors but I really found it useful.

Link

 

[ProgrammingPE]

I second the "Structural Engineering Reference Manual". That was the primary source that I used to guide all of my studying. Make sure you fully understand each section in that book and can solve the problems efficiently. When you go through it, add tabs in all of your design standards so you can go straight to any referenced tables.

Structural Engineering Software:

http://www.structuralcentral.com

Structural Engineering Videos:

http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOj2mXXf3ZbZtgxTc6BtkGg

 

[phamENG]

The ASCE practice course worked for me a few years ago. It wasn't perfect, and some of the courses were taught by professors who sometimes slipped back into theory more than practical applications, but come test day I was well prepared. The material is all PDFs, so you have to print and bind it yourself. That was a bit of a pain.

Don't let the cost of a good prep course deter you. In my market, a PE can be worth a significant salary bump - 15% to 20% in some cases. If investing $2k to get an annual raise of $10k+ is not worth it to you, you need to take a few econ courses before you try to get your PE.

 

[MegaStructures]

Thanks guys.

I’m taking the EET prep course for breadth and depth. I wasn’t planning on getting another reference manual, since EET provides binders, but would be willing to if needed.

I’m really looking for more practice problems to supplement the course. I’ve looked at PPI2Pass’s “hub” that claims to have 750 practice problems. I may try that.

“The most successful people in life are the ones who ask questions. They’re always learning. They’re always growing. They’re always pushing.” Robert Kiyosaki

 

[kissymoose]

Get a reference that has an index. The ability to encounter something new on the test and look it up an in index quickly was invaluable to me.

* I just remembered that come 2022, this doesn't matter. The civil PE exam will become computer based and you will no longer be allowed to bring materials in with you. You should still be able to "ctrl-f" the provided electronic reference to find everything, including unknown terms.

 

[AaronMcD]

^
Does that mean I will be unable to give away my CERM?
OP if you want a CERM (2014 version I think) for study I have one I need to get rid of. Message me if you want it.

IIRC I got a few practice tests and just went through those. Got me familiar with where to find stuff I need, what I need to brush up on or outright learn, and what wasn't worth my time to study. I didn't bother studying CMU - too much time/value. For stuff I didn't know, I learned enough to answer the practice questions which was usually enough of a primer to get through the test. Tabbed the reference manual to find sections quickly.

http://www.hellodwell.design

 

[dik]

Civil Engineering Reference Manual

Rather than think climate change and the corona virus as science, think of it as the wrath of God. Feel any better?

-Dik

 

[LuK13]

Mega,

I used the PPI hub to study for the civil - structural exam. My study was comprised of reviewing the material in the CERM and then taking the quizzes in the PPI hub to check for understanding. Then I sprinkled in some of the practice tests available through PPI. I did the NCEES practice exam last. PPI recommended doing the NCEES exam like a week before the test and then relaxing, but work was busy so I ended up doing the NCEES exam the day before... Didn't spring for any of the live or recorded review courses.

Passed the civil - structural exam first try, and in retrospect the PPI hub was very helpful. In general the PPI questions are much harder and more detailed than the exam. If you can get through them you will be well prepared for the test. I was somewhat panicked leading up to the exam based on some of the PPI questions. Then I took the NCEES practice test which was easier and it calmed me down. Then I sat for the exam and the questions that I knew felt easy even in comparison to even the NCEES practice exam. Breezing through the questions I knew left me a lot of time to work through some of the questions I only had an idea on.

I use to work with an ME that told me "If you cant solve a PE exam question on a napkin, you are probably overthinking it". I found that advice held true for most of the exam.

tl;dr I found the PPI hub to be a very cost effective study aid and recommend it.

Aaron,

Why would you give away your CERM? I have kept mine and use it as a reference at my day job. Also have a number of coworkers with older versions on their bookshelves. There is too much information that is well organized in the CERM for me to give it up. Makes for a great primer if a topic I don't see regularly comes up. Plus it has now joined the TI calculator I bought for the FE exam as one of my cherished possessions in my office.

 

[AaronMcD]

LuK13
I haven't used it since passing the exam - it's buried with a pile of old textbooks I also never use. I tend to hold onto old things "just in case" (or for sentimental reasons - see my childhood legos), but that's not really the logical thing to do.

I try and keep hard copies to a minimum - I haven't used much except a computer and calculator for work in years except for a few sheets of scrap paper to do some simple calcs (and stamp before covid). I did recently open my foundations book to brush up on some geotech stuff though.

My wife and I are taking an indefinite trip around the country in a van I'm almost done building into a camper, so everything we own in our sparse one bedroom apartment either fits in the van, or gets given away, sold, or put in storage.

I'd hate to throw that binder in the recycle bin

http://www.hellodwell.design