April 2008 P.E. Exam

[mikecivil]

how was the exam and how has the construction part of the exam?

 

[mikecivil]

how was the exam and how was the construction part of the exam?

 

[riz]

I took the Trans. in the afternoon,

Construction in the morning was not bad, General, (I did take an online course for it, I would do the same without the course too).

actually for morning session all you need is Civil Engineering Review Manual (base on the this exam)

Another tip get (NCEES Pe samle exam ) it does help

Good luck , prepare well you will pass it . I know I will

 

[civil-nj]

I took WR/Env. in the afternoon and didn't have a problem with the Construction AM problems. Before the exam, I did some construction-type practice problems from the 6 Min. Solutions Transportation book, but there were only a few of those. I didn't do any Construction-specific prep beyond that and am pretty sure I got most, if not all, of those problems correct.

Overall, I think the 6 Min. Solutions practice problems I did were harder than the exam itself (all topics, not just construction), so I was happy with my level of preparation and would definitely recommend going that route. Hopefully they will come out with a 6 Min. Solutions Construction book soon.

 

[ktulu]

^^ so how was the new WR/Env. depth module???

 

[civil-nj]

Not as bad as I thought it would be! I breezed through the hydraulics, hydrology, and biology problems (pleasant surprise), and didn't run into trouble until the wastewater section. I found those more difficult, but I think I managed to get some of those right. I thought the number of problems on each topic was pretty well distributed, and I didn't feel blindsided by anything. I liked that the problems were generally grouped by topic, which helped me work more efficiently (i.e. I could keep the same references handy for each topic).

I was tight on time for both the AM and PM sections, but I think that's just a reflection of me as a test taker - I like to use every second I've got.

Since this was my first time taking the exam, I can't comment on whether the problems were harder/easier than previous stand-alone WR or Env. modules. Maybe someone else can chime in here?

 

[Vishal]

did they stay true for transportation in AM... that, there will be geometric design type problems only and no HCM, MUTCD (that is traffic related)??

Edit: if answering this question is against NCEES policy then please refrain from doing so.

 

[inspirit00]

did they stay true for transportation in AM... that, there will be geometric design type problems only and no HCM, MUTCD (that is traffic related)??
Edit: if answering this question is against NCEES policy then please refrain from doing so.

Yeah, all the AM and PM problems followed the NCEES Transportation Module description.

 

[Tido]

I think it is more easier than I expected. Felt even easier than the NCEES old sample itself. I was worried about the time given the fact that I just finished 17 of the 20 NCEES sample on time but the real thing was way different. I finished both with one hour left to redo, and check, and recheck.

If I take some advise that worked great for me was for the first time ( I actually didn't do it during practice) I went after the easy ones first. In the morning surprisingly I started at Q40 and worked my way back to number 1. Since the last 8 questions were WRE/ENV I finished them way too fast and probably that gave me the confidence. So, I can't say this enough: start with easy ones and work your way through. I was very surprised and didn't believe when some posters said they had enough time left. Also I spend good amount of time in preparing ENV sections by doing the ENV depth of the old NCEES, and a separate full ENV NCEES sample and another sample test that has three full time exam for ENV PE. My logic was the ENV part of the Civil PE can not be tougher than the ENV PE exam so I nailed that one. So to my surprise the old NCEES ENV depth is harder than this one. Do I make sense.

I think I passed (I counted at least 30 on both sections and that should be the winning number) even though you can't be sure untill you get the letter and the pressure of first time taking and my colleagues all knowing that I took the exam inclding my boss put a lot of prossure on me and I am glad I overprepared. Hopefully, this is will be the last.

Here are my suggestion to future test takers

1) It is true that you can pass this exam with just CERM (for the afternoon I didn't even see that untill half way) but to have a quite mind just carry as much reference you think you would need. There are some look up questions. If you don't know it before you would during the exam.

2) Just relax non of the questions will be harder than the one you solved during prep.

3) I went through difficult to easy while preparing, building confidence on the way one sample exam at a time: stated with PE sample , then six minutes, then the OLD NCEES (all depth and morning), NCEES ENV PE sample (this is for ENV PE, not Civil PE), another ENV sample exam (three modules), finally the new NCEES sample exam (when I reach here the exam was just one week). If you missed question don't just look up the exam. Go behind and see the concept such that you won't miss that again..

4) Just relax

Good luck to everybody! Now the waiting begins...Officially!

 

[squishles10]

If I take some advise that worked great for me was for the first time ( I actually didn't do it during practice) I went after the easy ones first. In the morning surprisingly I started at Q40 and worked my way back to number 1.

I started at the end too. My last column to do was the middle one, ie structures. I tried to finish an entire topic so I didn't have to juggle books, but that didn't end up happening. One hydrology question in particular I didn't get til the end, which someone in my job should have gotten immediately. But I got it. (And when I did, my head said, "You idiot, it was so freaking obvious!!!")

 

[4william]

I took the construction depth. I am not a wiz, I just study hard. This was my first try at the PE. I felt pretty good overall about the construction depth. I think if you have all the references you were in good shape. However, I am hoping for a low cut score for the construction depth. Does anyone have any idea of what the cut score could be? I know it is usually around 55 or 56 for the other depths.

 

[4william]

I took the construction depth. I am not a wiz, I just study hard. This was my first try at the PE. I felt pretty good overall about the construction depth. I think if you have all the references you were in good shape. However, I am hoping for a low cut score for the construction depth. Does anyone have any idea of what the cut score could be? I know it is usually around 55 or 56 for the other depths.

 

[FL_Civil]

i took the WR/ENV depth and found it very reasonable. i had time to review my calcs, check my answer sheet (found one i mis-bubbled) and even glance at some other sections. i think i prepped with really hard review problems so i came out more confident than i expected.

 

[csb]

I did the Construction depth and it wasn't too painful at all.

 

[Mike_NC]

I am taking the Civil-Construction in Spring '09

Any specifics I should concentrate on for the Environ/WR AM section?

Like most Construction/Structural, my experience in and out of college w/ this stuff is VERY limited..

Any help would be appreciated!

 

[csb]

I'd say really hit the practice problems...it's hard to say what specifics would be on any exam, so make sure you know your pipes just as well as you know your open channel stuff. Same goes for Environmental...

That doesn't really help you much. It's all part of the PE exam fun...you study it all in the hopes of knowing 80 questions.

 

[Casey]

I am taking the Civil-Construction in Spring '09
Any specifics I should concentrate on for the Environ/WR AM section?

Like most Construction/Structural, my experience in and out of college w/ this stuff is VERY limited..

Any help would be appreciated!

I'm no magic genie with powers to see into the future, but if I had to guess what would on the exam for the WR AM section I would have to go with what is written on page three of the following document.

Casey's best guess as to what will be on the WR portion of the AM section.

[SIZE=8pt]The above is not to be construed at professional engineering advice. I am not liable for any problems that may arise from the information provided in this post.[/SIZE]

 

[squishles10]

There was NO environmental in the morning- check the NCEES page if you don't believe me. It was all hydrology and hydraulics. If you are familiar with a hydrograph, basic runoff equations (Rational Method is probably enough), Manning's equation, and open channel, you'll probably get 8 of them. With open channel know what will happen to the parameters if you change one, ie if the slope increases, what happens to velocity, flow, etc. Oh and hydraulic jumps- don't know why they ask about those but understand how the flow goes from super- to subcritical and what causes that and that should be good.

I don't remember any out of nowhere AM questions- there were a few in the afternoon that I picked "C" on.

 

[Guest]

There was NO environmental in the morning- check the NCEES page if you don't believe me.

That is kinda sad ... my discipline is being re-specified out of existence! :bawling:

JR

 

[Casey]

That is kinda sad ... my discipline is being re-specified out of existence! :bawling:
JR

I'm sorry, but poo-water just isn't popular with the kids these days.