hi everyone,
I passed the AE exam in April and it was definitely challenging trying to study for the exam given the limited study prep material.
I have an Architectural Engineering degree but really never worked directly in design, most of my experience is in the field of Construction Management. I found the exam wasn't too bad as far as being familiar with all the questions and having ample time to answer everything except for those few guesses.
I posted in another forum what I used most in the exam as far as reference materials about a year ago so if you search the forum for AE study you will find the thread, it has good information of how other prepared for the exam. I basically studied by going through the 2nd edition of the practice guide and finding my week points then putting more emphasis on those. I would suggest going through the study guide in detail and writing out all the solutions knowing them inside and out. (there are ever a few questions right from the book, word for word) I also found helpful and old CERM manual that one of the older engineers in my firm gave me, it was dated from 1982 but i found the structural review topics really helpful and the problems were relevant to the type on the exam. I would also suggest absolutely having the NEC Handbook if you can get the full version (I had the 2002 which is sufficient) then I had a great referenece that covers alot of the material on the examwhich I had from college, it is called Mechanical and Electrical Equipment for Buildings (just a great overall reference and practical - came in handy in the exam for looking stuff up) I also used a concrete and steel textbook i borrowed off of another engineer (get one that references the ACI and LRFD) These are much easier that paging through the Steel and concrete manuals for the people like me that aren't strong in structures. I also went to the web site engineeringtoolbox to pickup short refreshers on specific topics and get right to the necessary formulas. I printed and organized them by topic then put them in a 3 ring binder (i think most states allow this type of binding just not loose papers - so check with your requirements by state) I learned of the 6 minute solutions after the exam so i wasnt able to have those but i think they would have helped alot.
I ended bringing about 20-25 books into the exam but really only used 5-6 of them.
if anyone has any other quesitons drop me a note or i will check back to this post.
and good luck studying if I can do you all can too!
What "6 minute solutions" are you referring too? I haven't found one for Architectural. I saw your post in the other forum. It was extremely useful. I just finished going through the sample questions and feeling comfortable......I hope.....been out of school since 2001 and haven't taken an exam in 9 years. I have an AET degree from the University of Cincinnati and have found my old reference materials very useful. I purchased an updated Mechanical and Electrical Equipment for Buildings and I'm trying to skim through it again before taking the test.
What steel book did you use? We were taught straight from the LRFD and briefly touched on ASD. I was going to purchase "Steel Structures Design: ASD/LRFD" by Alan Williams from Amazon.com as it was pretty new and references the newer additions of the steel manuals.
I'm not sure about the 6-minute books (I suppose you could pull one from each discipline but that's surely excessive prepping). I just finished my exam, and can say the recommended references published in the practice exam and available on AEI's website, are pretty spot on. The ASTM Steel manual (mine is 13th ed. - black hardbound cover) was certainly helpful during the test, and doubles as a swingable blunt object if you are attacked by zombies on the way to the testing site.
I'm sitting on my hands till I get my letter, but if everything goes well and I pass, I promise to give a full writeup of what/how I studied, what I brought and how I prepared mentally... but I don't want to count my chickens before they hatch!
