Transportation is THE EASIEST Depth Section - "One and Done!"

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cnata001

cnata001

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So, I have previously worked for a firm with Site/Civil, Geotechnical and Environmental Engineers who ALL (10+ Engineers that I know of none of which had any transportation experience) took Transportation for the "One and Done". It is very well known throughout the community that this is the easiest depth to take. Passing examinees mention the one reference book required (AASHTO Green Book) and the most limited amount of sub-topics compared to other sections.

I was also going to do the same thing until I spoke with a successful and knowledgeable structural engineer friend about my decision. The way he spun it to me was that if I were to take Construction Depth, which is my area of practice, it would make me a better engineer forever. I would learn things and get exposed to references/concepts that I was not previously aware of, essentially improving my stock. So, I took the challenge of working harder to take my depth instead of going for the transportation and am VERY HAPPY that I did!

I walked out of the exam very confident and am now just F5'ing for the official results.

***Excuse me if the topic may seem like an attack at transpo's, just trying to spark up a conversation here!***

 
I know that feeling of confidence. Last October I had that same feeling and that was after the pm session kicked my @$$. Mainly because I knew I had aced the am session.

As for transpo being the easiest pm session, I don't know that to be certain because I'm sure there are specific design type problems which unless you are experienced with them you may not know even how to attempt them. That said, from the topics listed in the NCEES syllabus and the types of practice problems I could see how a non transpo examinee could possibly pass the exam, but mainly with a land development background. Strictly because the transpo topics include hydrology, geotech, in addition to the transpo questions. I still think that sticking to your area of specialty is best though.

 
I don't know anyone that passed the transportation exam with one book......

 
I have about 10 books for the Transpo PM .... I'm an LD guy, not a transportation guy, so maybe I need the extra books :popcorn:

 
I should clarify my statement. I agree with the above comments. For sure more than one book is necessary. I was simply stating that a LD guy might have a better chance at passing the transpo section than the WR section. Especially if you don't a strong background in WQ, EE or some of the other topics other than stormwater managment (which is the hardest design field)

 
When I started preparing for the PE exam I was looking for the path of least resistance and heard Transportation was easy so I thought about doing that. After talking with some people on this board I learned it's best to take the depth section that you actually work in. My job deals with designing water and sewer mains, pump stations, and treatment processes for water and wastewater treatment plants. I went with WR/Env and glad I did. I echo what your structural friend told you.

 
cnata001 said:
So, I have previously worked for a firm with Site/Civil, Geotechnical and Environmental Engineers who ALL (10+ Engineers that I know of none of which had any transportation experience) took Transportation for the "One and Done". It is very well known throughout the community that this is the easiest depth to take. Passing examinees mention the one reference book required (AASHTO Green Book) and the most limited amount of sub-topics compared to other sections.

I was also going to do the same thing until I spoke with a successful and knowledgeable structural engineer friend about my decision. The way he spun it to me was that if I were to take Construction Depth, which is my area of practice, it would make me a better engineer forever. I would learn things and get exposed to references/concepts that I was not previously aware of, essentially improving my stock. So, I took the challenge of working harder to take my depth instead of going for the transportation and am VERY HAPPY that I did!

I walked out of the exam very confident and am now just F5'ing for the official results.

***Excuse me if the topic may seem like an attack at transpo's, just trying to spark up a conversation here!***
Click to expand...


I'm confused with the intent of this thread. I don't know of any data that supports your thread title claiming that Transpo Depth takers are more likely to pass first time.

"It is very well known throughout the community that this is the easiest depth to take." What community is this? The transportation community? Have you asked the water community which depth module is the easiest? What answer do you think you'd get if you ask the Structural community?

Passing examinees mention the one reference book required (AASHTO Green Book)..." Yeah, that "one"....... and the other "ones" - the MUTCD, the HCM, the RDG, the HSM, the......

"...most limited amount of sub-topics compared to other sections." What information are you basing this on? Have you compared the Transpo depth NCEES syllabus to the others? I do not see anything to support this claim. http://ncees.org/exams/pe-exam/ In fact, it looks like Construction has 7 PM topics and Transpo has 10.

"So, I took the challenge of working harder to take my depth instead of going for the transportation and am VERY HAPPY that I did!" Congrats on passing the "harder" exam!

"***Excuse me if the topic may seem like an attack at transpo's, just trying to spark up a conversation here!***" A conversation about what????

 
civilized_naah said:
Ooh! HOT POTATO-HEAD!
Click to expand...


lol. Sorry, didn't mean to sound like a total jerk (just a partial one. ;) ). But I have heard this claim before and it is offending to those who took and passed the Transpo depth (by working hard). And I would defend any other depth module the same way. :)

 
Quick!!! Someone get ptatohed some bacon before turns into french fries.

In all seriousness, all exams are equally hard. I've talked with enough people to get some insight on the difficulty for all five afternoon topics. They're all a PITA. The general consensus is that the structural exam is the hardest. A few professors from my university said to stay away from the structures depth. Since I'm not a structures guy that was the easy one to eliminate. The message here is that none of the exams are easy. If you take the exam and it's easy consider yourself lucky. Luck is a big part of whether you pass or not. If there was one exam that was easier than all the others that's what everyone would take and it would have near a 100% pass rate. You can look at the passing % on NCEES's website and see for yourself we civil's range from about 60% - 70% pass rate. That is for first time test takers and the pass rate drops significantly for repeat test takers.

 
NJmike PE said:
I should clarify my statement. I agree with the above comments. For sure more than one book is necessary. I was simply stating that a LD guy might have a better chance at passing the transpo section than the WR section. Especially if you don't a strong background in WQ, EE or some of the other topics other than stormwater managment (which is the hardest design field)
Click to expand...




98.9% of what I do in a given day is stormwater design. Everyone at my work was like .... "dude you'll sleep through WR, take that" ... I don't think I could touch the WR depth. I don't know anything about WQ/ENV water mains, etc ....

The old transpo depth put some weight into culverts, so I thought that was strength for me. The outline has gone almost away from them now though.

For me anyway, transpo seems to be the easiest for me "to learn" because it is more physical in nature, as opposed to theoretics? If that makes sense.

So yeah!!!!

Transpo Depth Section Football Rulleezzzzz!!!!11111

 
uhhh... I don't really have anything meaningful to add but we covered roads in the environmental field... I had to design a road, balance the cut and fill, ensure that the turning radii could handle trucks etc etc etc for my LOGGING class... not sure where I was going with that, just wanted to share

 

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