Civil PE study partner for N. Alabama?

I am looking for Civil PE study partner for N. Alabama. I just missed the Spring2016 filing deadline, as I am new to the States. I so am looking forward to keep up my studying momentum for the Oct2016 exam. Anyone in the local area interested?  Regards, Mikael

Don't limit yourself to the local area. My study partner was from halfway across the country.

We connected through this board, and just texted and emailed back and forth.

Mikael said:

I am looking for Civil PE study partner for N. Alabama. I just missed the Spring2016 filing deadline, as I am new to the States. I so am looking forward to keep up my studying momentum for the Oct2016 exam. Anyone in the local area interested?  Regards, Mikael

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I wouldn't get too serious about studying for a couple of months, say around May, personally.  You might get burned out if you try to go all-in on studying for eight straight months!

Thank you, both.  I appreciate both your views.  I am old fashioned and been out of school for awhile; so liked the face-to-face interaction of studying together (but now that I see that may not be an option, I will consider an on-line study partner?).  Yes, I concur that studying for 9 mths would drive me too crazy.  I will just nibble around the edges in my free time, until I have to go hard-duty studying in June-ish, but hopefully that will be enough (?). 

That sounds like a good plan.  You could fight off the exam anticipation jitters by making sure you have all your references tabbed out effectively, maybe even skimming them to get familiar with them if it's been a while or if they're new to you.  I'd recommend reading ACI SP-4 cover to cover if you have the time.  I also spent a few months before I really started studying collecting every practice problem I could find/buy/download and collating and binding them in the same order as the exam syllabus.  It made it easier to refer back to them later during the exam.  Many of the problems I worked on the exam were carbon copies of practice problems I had in my binder, so being able to find them quickly was really helpful.  Even if it's nothing more than a security blanket, a well organized binder of practice problems will definitely help your confidence.

I do have a current copy of ACI SP-4 and have only glanced at it, but now will make the time to read it at a leisurely pace (and do the example problems in the back) and then have the knowledge as "background".  My question is: why is the SP-4 so important in your opinion? Any other books or references that I should do the same with (especially since I have several months).  Regards.

I think, of all the references suggested for the Construction exam, the ACI SP-4 is the one best suited for casual reading.  I learned a lot while reading it and referred back to it constantly during the exam.  Concepts like shoring and reshoring can be a bit confusing at first if you've never had to use them in the field (which I hadn't) and are explained well in the book, having been broken down with examples and pictures.  Most of the other references are very technical and difficult to learn from unless you already have practice problems that refer to them, in my opinion.

I like it.  Casual reading......  After looking at Chap 6, I see what you are saying about shoring/reshoring -- letting the concept and images soak in.  My guess is that one have to be in a big city with lots of high rises to actually be able to use/plan or regularly see a shoring/reshoring operation.