Just passed the 2015 October PE 8 hours in CA with Construction Module on my first try, I wanna share some of my experience and hopefully it gonna work for yall.
On the morning session, I have a feeling that some of the problems are kind of different style to what I did when preparing. I am not saying they are difficult to solve, most of the problems didn’t have complicated calculations, more preferable on definition understanding. But the essential part is you have to know the keyword of the question and locate them in CERM in minutes. You don’t need review the CERM page by page but at least being familiar with what’s included in each chapter and session. I highly recommended Civil Breath Reference Manual by Dr. Shahin A. Mansous, that’s the one I opened most frequently during the exam, most of the basic and typical definition and formula are included, they are more organized and easily read. It’s a good book for review at starting point, the sample problems are not that difficult but they could help to better understand the definition on your initial review stage. Whenever I complete one chapter on Mansour’s book, I would go through the same chapter on CERM and All in One PE by Indranil, to figure out the common content and difference.
Actually I felt more confidence and comfortable on the afternoon session, most of the problems are very typical and similar types to what I have done when preparing. Still recommend Mansour’s Construction Module book for afternoon session. To be frank, it deserves every penny I paid for that. The content in this book is very concise and provides an obvious chapter outline based on the review list provided by NCEES, also an excellent tool book in your exam.
Actually I use Mansour’ Breath Reference and Construction Module as main tool books for both morning and afternoon sessions, and get the additional supplement knowledge from CERM and ALL in One for morning session; Formwork 374 is extreme important for afternoon session, it goona provide you detailed explanations on form pressure, bracing procedure and quality inspection issue. It took me almost 6 week to complete the first round review and during this period I only did sample problems in reference book. When it comes to my second round, I started doing practice problems with time counting. Whenever I met a new definition or calculation formula, I would go back to Mansur’s, CERM or All in one to locate and familiarize the knowledge. The more practice you did, the more breath knowledge you know, more chances you would meet same type problems in real exam. And remember to bring all code listed on your afternoon module from NCEES, you should never expect it won’t be used in real exam.
Below is the list of the reference book I used for preparation. Except Six solution and Practice Problems for Civil Engineering PE Exam by Lindeburg, I did all the others in another six weeks before exam. Once you get enough practice problems, you definitely would know which are typically basic problem types because they are frequently appeared in each practices. Hope my experience could help your guys gals to prepare the exam and be free to contact if you got any doubt.
1）CONSTRUCTION DEPTH PRACTICE EXAM － Beth Lin 5 Star recommended, very helpful and typical for construction
http://www.ebay.com/itm/-/281887788804?
2) Construction Depth Reference Manual for the Civil PE Exam - Thomas Korman 3 Star, not that useful as I expected
http://www.ebay.com/itm/-/281887793194?
3) Pass the Civil Professional Engineering (P. E. ) Exam Guide Book – Tenaya 5 stars for morning practice, very typical
http://www.ebay.com/itm/-/281887796174?
4) Practice Exams for the Civil PE Examination : Two Practice Exams- INDRANIL GOSWAMI 4 stars for morning practice
http://www.ebay.com/itm/-/281887797692?
5) Construction Depth Practice Exam and Assessment Guide - Mark DeSantis 5 stars for construction, similar style to NCEES
http://www.ebay.com/itm/-/281887799309?
6) PE Civil Engineering : Construction Practice Exam –NCEES 2014 must-buy
http://www.ebay.com/itm/-/281887800659?
7) PE Civil Engineering : Construction Practice Exam –NCEES 2010 must-buy
http://www.ebay.com/itm/-/281887810521?
8) Six-Minute Solutions for Civil PE Exam Construction Problems by Elaine Huang 3 stars, too difficult and time-consuming, problems old style
http://www.ebay.com/itm/-/281887811561?
9) Practice Problems for Civil Engineering PE Exam - Michael R. Lindeburg 3 stars, problems too complicated, focus too much on calculation
http://www.ebay.com/itm/-/281887814449?
I also did the practice problems from All-in-one and Mansour's practice book, both of them become little difficult than real exam, but very helpful source especially the All-in-one. I did not make binders to categorize all problems did, because in real exam, you won't have too much time to recall and locate where the problem previously did and its too tie-consuming. Tab these these typical formulas and tables when review, it would save your time a lot.
On the morning session, I have a feeling that some of the problems are kind of different style to what I did when preparing. I am not saying they are difficult to solve, most of the problems didn’t have complicated calculations, more preferable on definition understanding. But the essential part is you have to know the keyword of the question and locate them in CERM in minutes. You don’t need review the CERM page by page but at least being familiar with what’s included in each chapter and session. I highly recommended Civil Breath Reference Manual by Dr. Shahin A. Mansous, that’s the one I opened most frequently during the exam, most of the basic and typical definition and formula are included, they are more organized and easily read. It’s a good book for review at starting point, the sample problems are not that difficult but they could help to better understand the definition on your initial review stage. Whenever I complete one chapter on Mansour’s book, I would go through the same chapter on CERM and All in One PE by Indranil, to figure out the common content and difference.
Actually I felt more confidence and comfortable on the afternoon session, most of the problems are very typical and similar types to what I have done when preparing. Still recommend Mansour’s Construction Module book for afternoon session. To be frank, it deserves every penny I paid for that. The content in this book is very concise and provides an obvious chapter outline based on the review list provided by NCEES, also an excellent tool book in your exam.
Actually I use Mansour’ Breath Reference and Construction Module as main tool books for both morning and afternoon sessions, and get the additional supplement knowledge from CERM and ALL in One for morning session; Formwork 374 is extreme important for afternoon session, it goona provide you detailed explanations on form pressure, bracing procedure and quality inspection issue. It took me almost 6 week to complete the first round review and during this period I only did sample problems in reference book. When it comes to my second round, I started doing practice problems with time counting. Whenever I met a new definition or calculation formula, I would go back to Mansur’s, CERM or All in one to locate and familiarize the knowledge. The more practice you did, the more breath knowledge you know, more chances you would meet same type problems in real exam. And remember to bring all code listed on your afternoon module from NCEES, you should never expect it won’t be used in real exam.
Below is the list of the reference book I used for preparation. Except Six solution and Practice Problems for Civil Engineering PE Exam by Lindeburg, I did all the others in another six weeks before exam. Once you get enough practice problems, you definitely would know which are typically basic problem types because they are frequently appeared in each practices. Hope my experience could help your guys gals to prepare the exam and be free to contact if you got any doubt.
1）CONSTRUCTION DEPTH PRACTICE EXAM － Beth Lin 5 Star recommended, very helpful and typical for construction
http://www.ebay.com/itm/-/281887788804?
2) Construction Depth Reference Manual for the Civil PE Exam - Thomas Korman 3 Star, not that useful as I expected
http://www.ebay.com/itm/-/281887793194?
3) Pass the Civil Professional Engineering (P. E. ) Exam Guide Book – Tenaya 5 stars for morning practice, very typical
http://www.ebay.com/itm/-/281887796174?
4) Practice Exams for the Civil PE Examination : Two Practice Exams- INDRANIL GOSWAMI 4 stars for morning practice
http://www.ebay.com/itm/-/281887797692?
5) Construction Depth Practice Exam and Assessment Guide - Mark DeSantis 5 stars for construction, similar style to NCEES
http://www.ebay.com/itm/-/281887799309?
6) PE Civil Engineering : Construction Practice Exam –NCEES 2014 must-buy
http://www.ebay.com/itm/-/281887800659?
7) PE Civil Engineering : Construction Practice Exam –NCEES 2010 must-buy
http://www.ebay.com/itm/-/281887810521?
8) Six-Minute Solutions for Civil PE Exam Construction Problems by Elaine Huang 3 stars, too difficult and time-consuming, problems old style
http://www.ebay.com/itm/-/281887811561?
9) Practice Problems for Civil Engineering PE Exam - Michael R. Lindeburg 3 stars, problems too complicated, focus too much on calculation
http://www.ebay.com/itm/-/281887814449?
I also did the practice problems from All-in-one and Mansour's practice book, both of them become little difficult than real exam, but very helpful source especially the All-in-one. I did not make binders to categorize all problems did, because in real exam, you won't have too much time to recall and locate where the problem previously did and its too tie-consuming. Tab these these typical formulas and tables when review, it would save your time a lot.
