PE Exam Preparation 1

[pepe1234]

There seems to be a great deal of PE Exam preparation material avaialble now days. ASCE, PPI, Kaplan, NCEES, and others all publish exam preparation material. Some of it is very expensive, i.e. the ASCE CD-ROM materials.

From any of the recent PE exam takers in the forum, where there any specific review materials that you felt were particularily helpful for the exam? Kaplan seems to put together a fairly comprehensive package at a good price, but would anyone reccomend using the Kaplan materials?

How much time would some of the recent test-takers reccomend putting into study prior to taking the PE examination?

Thanks for your input!

 

[bimr]

Have you tried the public library? Most libraries now have inter-library searches and lending. You can even obtain text books from colleges and universities.

Here is the search form from the library in my area. It has the Lindeburg PE exam book listed and it is available for free rental:

http://swan.mls.lib.il.us/search/X?SEARCH=lindeburg&SORT=D&searchscope=1

You can also buy and sell used books on bookfinder.com if you want to go that route.

 

[jartgo]

I second the library, as bimr stated above. During my studying, I actually joined the library of the school I graduated from. It was $50 for a year of borrowing privileges, I have continued to support the library as I've found it's an excellent resource.

http://www.abebooks.com

is a good source for used books also.

Every person is in their own situation with respect to preparing for this test, but I tend to discourage people from buying a "study package"

I would recommend the Lindeburg Engineering Reference Manual for the discipline you're considering taking, the "Six Minute Solutions" for the discipline you're interested in taking, the NCEES practice exam book, that was plenty for me. Lindeburg also has a book of practice problems but you might be able to get that from the library if you think it'll help.

 

[rday]

I would second the Lindburg reference manual.

The NCEES practice problems books are typical of the test format and good for reference as well.

Study time is a personal issue and depends on what you do at work and how wide a range of stuff you work on. I work in a small office and see a wide range of design work.

I spent very little time, compared to others I spoke to, working problems before the exam. Mostly I tabbed my referneces and prepared some notes. All in all maybe 25 hours. I had quite a bit of stuff just from day to day work.

Select your depth module and prepare for that module.

 

[COEngineeer]

What afternoon are you going to take?

Never, but never question engineer's judgement

 

[pepe1234]

As far as the afternoon exam...I am still undecided. I work as a structural, but my firm does pretty simple, routine building structures - No complicated buildings where I work.

I've heard the structural afternoon test is pretty intense, so I guess I'm a little intimidated by that.

 

[francesca]

I agree about the Lindeburg CERM - there is an alternate that covers the same material but is not as well laid-out. I used that, the NCEES sample exam (much harder than the actual exam) and the PPI Exam Cafe. Between taking notes from the CERM for every section covered in the PM test I was taking and solving every question for that discipline in Exam Cafe I was very thoroughly prepared and able to complete the AM in 2 hours, giving me a long recovery before the PM.

 

[damengr11]

I took the PE about a year and a half ago. The CERM is worth its weight in gold. That's the main book that you'll use on the test. I also purchased the practice test published by the same guy who makes CERM. I found that test helpful as there were many similar problems on the actual PE test, although the practice test was a little bit harder. I also found the NCEES practice test to be very helpful.

I purchased the "six minute solutions" and didn't use that at all.

 

[HgTX]

CERM was great and I wish I'd had the time to work through all the problems; I would have been bulletproof in the AM section. (I did well anyway, but I like bulletproof.)

Part of what freaked me out about the NCEES practice test, at least the edition I had, was that later questions relied on earlier answer. I was terrified that it would be like that on the real test, and that getting one answer wrong would take down three others.

If you're not doing structural in the PM, I still recommend the ppi2pass CD-ROMs, though they're pricey--and even if you are doing structural in the PM, they're great review for the morning section. (Fortunately for me, my employer bought mine for me.)

Hg

Eng-Tips policies: faq731-376

 

[pepe1234]

So, if I am understanding correctly, the CERM manual that many have mentioned is only covering the AM breadth section of the PE exam? Will I need additional study material beyond the CERM for the afternoon depth section?

 

[francesca]

No, the CERM covers breadth and depth sections for all disciplines. You may still need additional references; for instance, the AASHTO Green Book for the Transportation depth section, etc.

 

[HgTX]

CERM is nowhere near enough for structural. It's close to enough, along with some standard references (such as the Green Book), for the other fields. You could probably do ok on water resources, environmental, and geotech with just the CERM.

Hg

Eng-Tips policies: faq731-376

 

[bushel3]

I just took the PE Geotech exam in fall 07 and passed.

As the other people said, the CERM is worth its weight in gold, but only for the morning session. The morning questions are easy. The CERM has a great index, and briefly covers almost everything, so you can look up many answers especially in areas you know very little about. I used my text books from college to do the afternoon part. The go much more in depth and are written by experts in one specific area. The afternoon Q's are much harder, so Lindberg wasn't as helpful during the test.

I would highly recommend the for the test CERM, and one or two practice problem books. I used the ones from ppi, one was "practice problems" and the other was "practice exam". I only worked the ones from my area of expertise, geotech. As I worked the problems, I marked where I found the answers in my two fav. geotech text books. After I worked all the problems in my area I stopped studying. I didn't bother studying for more than a couple hours the other areas. During the test the CERM got me 6 or 7 correct in the "other" areas.

 

[msucog]

here's the manuals i used. i only carried 5 books in with me and passed first time (took geotech). the last 6 or 7 folks at my office to take the test in the past 2 years passed and were using the same materials from ppi. some studied for months while some studied a few hours. there's lot of different manuals and packages you can get but i got the reference manual, sample examination, practice problems, and one other that i can't remember. i suggest also taking an overall general civil reference manual that you've used for a while that might be able to answer general questions. (i'm not going to lie, i thought i was at the wrong place or at a convention when i saw folks "rolling" boxes and boxes of books in to the convention center. it sort of spooked me since i'd never heard people mention this. apparently, some disciplines need all the references or maybe some just do better with all that. that doesn't work for me since i'd end up wasting too much time looking through every book. i do better with the bare essentials although i did regret not taking my manual of civil engineering to help answer the oddball questions that weren't to be found in the references i had.)

http://ppi2pass.com/ppi/PPIShop_ct_CIVIL&idx=7

good luck!