Everything You Ever Wanted to Know about the Exam

[vijayakumark]

1) Which Exam you took.

Civil/Transportation Afternoon

2) Exam location

Cleveland, OH

3) References taken

CERM - 8th Edition

all Six-minutes except structures

Prinicipal and practice solutions - 8 edition,

NCEES solution for PE Exam

4) References actually used

All of the Above

5) Reference you wish you had

None

6) Expectations vs. actual impressions of the exam

Exam was pretty easy

7) Advice for future examinees

Don't forget to buy six-minutes. that made the difference for me.

8) Anything else you feel important

Read your reference material, dont forget to use the first page in CERM for unit conversion.

ALL the best for future examinee.

 

[PhillyEngr]

1) Which Exam you took.

Civil/Geotech

2) Exam location

Newark, DE

3) References taken

CERM - 10th Ed

CERM -10th Ed INDEX

Geotech Six-minutes

Prinicipal and practice solutions - 8 edition

NCEES solution for PE Exam

Review Course Study Material (I took it a year before, but did not sit for the exam)

Lindeburg Alphabetical Unit Conversion Book

4) References actually used

All of the Above

5) Reference you wish you had

NAV Manual

A binder of Solved Problems (I used my notes big time!)

Civil/Env Engineering Dictionary

6) Expectations vs. actual impressions of the exam

Exam was relatively easy, but lack of practice in Foundations/Geotech and zero practice in Transportation and WR cost me the passing grade.

7) Advice for future examinees (and myself)

Practice Practice Practice..

8) Anything else you feel important

-Nail down the Core Depth (Geotech in my case) as a priority.

-Study wisely for the rest with focus on WR, STR, TRANS and ENV practice problems to yield the highest results.

-Cover additional topics/reading material to fill in the study schedule.

Best of luck to all (to myself).

 

[squishles10]

bump bump bump bump bump bump

:w00t: :w00t:

Happy Halloween too!

:asthanos:

This is my favorite thread and since you all are just finished with your test, I think you need to refresh it! :thankyou:

And I will lay off the smileys and go back to work...

 

[ajay]

Hi All,

It was amazing to see that no topic is yet created for sharing our experience of Oct 2007 exam.

So, here I am sharing mine. First I would like to thank this board members for sharing past experience and sharing so much info. :thankyou:



References that I used for Morning Civil PE exam:

1.) CERM

2.) "Traffic Engineering" by Roess, Prassas and McShane.

3.) AASHTO Green Book.

4.) Other references that I had but not actually used were: Practice Problems for the Civil Engineering PE exam (Linderburg), Six Minutes Solutions for Transpo, GeoTech, and Water Resources. Surveying by Kavanagh and Bird (nice book for basic surveying). I also had a binder of notes, testmaster problems that were posted here in this board. Three text books that I got from my co-worker who recently graduated from ASU were: "Environmental Engineering Science" by Nazaroff, Alvarez-Cohen, "Engineering Fluid Mechanics" by "Crowe, Elger, and Roberson", "Traffic and Highway Engineering" by Garber and Hoel.



References that I used for Transpo PM exam:

1.) CERM (undoubtedly used most)

2.) HCM 2000 (I used it for all traffic questions, specially capacity type questions).

3.) "Traffic Engineering" by Roess, Prassas and McShane. (This is the book I am most familiar with for Transpo/Traffic). Since, I was well versed with this book as part of my undergrad course, so, studied and used it more than HCM. But, I used to check with HCM also even when I am refering this book for solving a problem, just in case to be sure.)

4.) AASHTO Green Book. (Also, used a lot)

5.) Roadside Design Guide (Used for couple of easy look-up type questions).

6.) ITE Traffic Engineering Handbook (I think I used it for only one question).

6.) Other references that I carried with me in Transpo PM, but, dint actually used it were: Practice Problems for the Civil Engineering PE exam (Linderburg), Six Minutes Solutions for Transpo, GeoTech, and Water Resources. Surveying by Kavanagh and Bird (nice book for basic surveying). I also had a binder of notes, testmaster problems that were posted here in this board.

10940623:

Time that I had for preparation:

I did not start very well in advance. During last weeks, I went daily for studying at ASU library, as, I relaized it was practially impossible for me to concentrate at home. At ASU, I studied around 150 hours during last 4 weeks of exam. Before that I would assume I had devoted not more than 100 hours at home. But, I had to pretty much revise everything that I studied during those early 100 hours at home. I think I did pretty well in exam. So, though it may seem lesser hours for many people, but, It worked for me so far.

:brickwall: Strategy for the exam:

As I did not study much, and I was appearing for the CA seismic and surveying exams too, I pretty much focused on PE exam only, and decided I will clear other two exams next time. I calculated how many questions will approximately from which section. As, my focus is Traffic Engineering, my strategy was to solve Traffic, Transportation, Water Resources, GeoTech, Environmental, Structures, and Miscellaneous in that order. Though, I placed too much importance on time management during the exam, i.e. to skip the problem that is taking more exam, and come back to it later on. I could finish the afternoon exam in 3 hours, i guess.

Thats all from my side. arty-smiley-048: Waiting for the exam results now and enjoying my life again.

 

[Guest]

bump bump bump bump bump
:w00t: :w00t:

Happy Halloween too!

:asthanos:

This is my favorite thread and since you all are just finished with your test, I think you need to refresh it! :thankyou:

And I will lay off the smileys and go back to work...

Winner for most creative, improvised use of emoticons for the purposes of soliciting GOOD information!

:bananalama:

JR

 

[Suns Den]

to say it in simple words taking all three exams in CA was like hell.

 

[squishles10]

to say it in simple words taking all three exams in CA was like hell.

Great. Thanks. :brickwall:

 

[squishles10]

This is still my favorite thread. Since I finally get to contribute, here goes-

1) Which Exam you took.

Civil/WR-Env

2) Exam location

Will Rogers Memorial Center, Fort Worth, TX. It was cold. Several people complained. Bathrooms were right in the room, so security wasn't a big deal- that was nice. Plenty of parking, but if you got there too late, it was a haul. We stayed at the Hyatt nearby- I saw lots of CERMs at checkin. There's a hotel right by the Center but trains go by every 30 minutes honking- I'd avoid that one. BRING FOOD! Nothing nearby really.

3) References taken

CERM, NCEES practice exam, Metcalf and Eddy Wasterwater 3rd edition, Engineering Hydrology by Ponce, Geotechnical Engineering by Das, Open Channel Hydraulics by Chow, Applied Hydrology by Chow, Water Reuse Metcalf and Eddy, Surveying Principles Cuomo, TR-55, 10 States Standards, Construction Management Fundamentals by Schexnayder.

4) References actually used

Everything except 10 States Standards and Applied Hydrology. The ones I took that I thought I would never use I used almost as much as the others (Water Reuse).

5) Reference you wish you had

A copy of the answer sheet. Other than that, I didn't need anything else. Maybe another environmental book, but I doubt in the end it would have helped.

6) Expectations vs. actual impressions of the exam

The AM was very easy. I assumed it would be more difficult. The PM I had no idea what to expect because of the format change. The topics I studied for in Environmental were not exactly what I saw, even though I went off the NCEES list pretty closely. I feel that a few topics were heavily slanted towards.

7) Advice for future examinees

The most important thing I took was a SILENT TIMER. You click a button every time you finish a question and it recalculates how much time you have left per question. You have to leave it off the desk but I would have panicked without it.

Watch your units! Even if you think you know what they are in an equation, check. I took 2 milk crates full of stuff and it was adequate for my depth. I wouldn't have taken less.

8) Anything else you feel important

Extra calculators, extra clothing, food, and caffeine are all great. I brought earplugs, but listening to myself breathing was more distracting than pages flipping so I ditched them after 5 minutes.

 

[Andros]

Exam: Civil PE - WR & ENV

I concur with n2h20!!!!!

Location: Nineteenth St. Baptist Church, WASHINGTON, DC

Books/References Taken:CERM 10th Ed., Cerm Practice Questions, Lindeburg Sample Exam, Testmasters notes w/equations, personal notes, all six min solutions, NCEES practice exam, Wastewater Eng by Metcalf & Eddy, AWWA, Hydrology & Hydraulic systems by Gupta, Mcgraw-Hill Series in Water Resources and Environmental Engineering(1985), Fundamentals of Geotech by Das, Lyndeberg unit conversions, HP33s - calculator

Books/References Used: CERM, Testmasters & personal notes, Wastewater Eng by Metcalf & Eddy, and Fundamentals of Geotech by Das, Lyndeberg Unit conversions. And If I really knew the subject matter I did not need a book to answer the question.

Books/References that Would Have Been Useful: I think I took the right references to the exam. It is not possible to have everything. I found most qualitative answers in Metcalf & Eddy, Watch your units!!!!Cerm was sufficient for all disciplines in the morning type questions....

Expectation vs. Actual Impressions of Exam: All an all, I thought the exam was ok, The morning was comfortable if you studied all areas....and the afternoon was a little more difficult but still doable, the level of complexity of the questions was much less than what I expected. The six minute solutions & Testmasters class went into much deeper level of detail/complexity than what is actually on the exam. Did I pass I would like to say yes, but this to can be unpredictable as all this waiting continues to make one ponder!!!Keeping my fingers cross and praying!!!!

For approximately three or four months afterwork every evening I studied/read and did questions for about three hours Monday to Friday and Sat and Sunday i spent approximately a minimum of six hours studying....if i missed hours in the week i made up on weekends and holidays...I kept a record of my study time for each discipline, I purchased book markers early so that while i study i color coded the areas and marked important points. GO THROUGH CERM THOROUGHLY!!!at the front of the book there is a listing as to the chapters to pay attention too....go through each one and do example questions and sample questions in the back or in practice manual. Understand everything and know where to find information and remember where to look!!!!!During the exam you will not have time to search but rather turn to exact area and solve problem because you did it before!!!!!Know your Cerm like you should know your bible and where to find bible verses(smile).

Mistake I made before, I only study my discipline and glimpse over the other Areas, don't do THIS!!!!Study the chapters called out in CERM because as simple as the questions may seem the low hanging fruits you will get wrong because you don't know the subject matter!!!!Remember this exam is teaching you where to get information if you need it...and how to use it.

Testing Facility Comments: The exam site was ok. Limited Parking so you have to get there early about 6:15am to get a parking closer to the door, no cost for parking....two people to a table so there was not a lot of room for references. No where to get something to eat so bring foods and drinks......bathroom upstairs in church hall on 16th street be prepared to go upstairs if you use the bathroom often.....

Hotel: No hotel at the exam site, probably have to google nearest hotel. I did not stay in one.

My biggest advice HP33s good for solving equations quickly, Watch Units!, practice and study in all areas(Structural, Transportation, Geotechnical, Construction, Environmental & Water Resources)!!!afterall it is CIVIL EXAM, Pray and Keep the FAith!

 

[starkman]

I'll give it a try:

1) Which Exam you took.

Civil-Construction

2) Exam location

Peoria, IL

3) References taken

CERM, Kaplan, All construction design standards, surveying fundamentals by kavanaugh, and all construction books listed as references to answers in the NCEES sample exam solutions (a total of 8 or so)

4) References actually used

Just about everything but surveying. I didnt get any use out of Kaplan however, CERM is much, much better.

5) Reference you wish you had

ACI 318-05...which surprise! has been added to October's design standard list.

6) Expectations vs. actual impressions of the exam

I studied alot, and thus thought the AM was easy. The PM, being the first time the depth was given, was a bit of a crapshoot. There were some random questions, but I think most of the problems will be addressed by adding the ACI standard. The PM was much harder overall though.

7) Advice for future examinees

Study up for the morning, thats the easy section. if you nail that, you have more leeway if the afternoon goes bad, since it is much harder. I think a normal minimum passing score (just my opinion of course) is around 30-35 right in morning, 20-25 right on the afternoon, as long as you get to that magic number.

8) Anything else you feel important

keeping cool. if you panic, game over. stick to the subject you studied (never switch), flip through and find a couple of easy ones to start, and just go at it. oh...and when the test is over and you are sure you failed, remember most everyone else feels the same way.

 

[MC_Engineer]

I took the Civil PE (Geotech PM) exam April 2008 in Reno Nevada. It was my first time taking the exam and I passed. However, coming into and out of the exam there were several things that I would have done very differently.

First, I recommend you take a moment to place your individual scenario into one of the following categories:

1) You are a fresh-faced college grad taking the exam early.

2) You are an engineer of some experience who has worked in a number of disciplines without having specialized in any one.

3) You are an engineer of some experience who has specialized in a discipline that is covered by an exam depth module.

If you are category 3 then I estimate that you will make short work of this test (I will elaborate more on this later). If you are 1 or 2 then, my friend, you have your work cut out for you. For the record, I was a 2 when I prepared for and took the PE.

Regarding the AM vs. PM, Mr. Lindeburg's CERM led me to believe that the bulk of my preparation should be spent covering a breadth of topics. This is wrong. The AM portion is fluff, a fact everyone seemed to know except for me. Most people finish the breadth section with over an hour left on the clock. I feel that I could have spent only a week and a half or so on each major breadth discipline and still scored a perfect on the AM section.

For AM preparation, I recommend first printing out the NCEES list of Topics Covered for the Breadth portion, then immediately go into solving the 6 minute solutions problems for each topic. Don't worry too much about theory or all the different little hints/tricks in the depth portion of the 6 Min Solutions. The breadth problems on the exam will be mostly straight-forward with only a few curve-balls that you will probably be able to spot. If you understand how to solve each type of problem on the NCEES list you have successfully prepared yourself for AM

The PM is what you need to study for. The PM is MURDER and will be the hurdle that shatters your self-confidence until the exam results arrive months later. My recommendation for you 3s is to hold fast to your specialized discipline. Print out the list of NCEES topics covered for your specialized discipline and delve delve delve into them. Theory, problems, 6 minute solutions, lengthy essay type problems anything you can find. You will not regret OVER-PREPARING for the depth module!!!

The same goes double for you 1s and 2s. I recommend that you run through your breadth studying first then take some time to ponder your options for depth. Some depth modules require lots of reference manuals, do you have access to those? If not, you may want to consider Water or Geotech. Personally, I regret taking the geotech depth module, I think water would have been a better choice. The geotech topics are all very complex and your breadth preparation doesn't touch on most of them. Water depth topics are covered well by the breadth topics and then environmental gets added which is not so difficult.

No matter what you decide, collect references. If you are fortunate enough to have a university within driving distance, find out how to become a community borrower then ransack the engineering library for books covering depth topics. The CERM is all you really need for breadth, but you should have a book with a chapter or at least several pages covering each topic on the depth list. I rolled a suitcase into the exam with over a dozen books that I had checked out or purchased on line. Every single one of them got opened during the exam. Every single one of them yielded an important answer/clue.

Here's a list of the references I took in (remember, I took the Geotech depth module):

CERM 7th (Old and did not include much construction)

CERM Quick Ref 2nd

DAS Fund of Geotech 2nd

Len Webster Enviro/Civil Dictionary

Penguin Civil Dictionary

AASHTO Policy on Geometric Design (Green Book) 1990 [Actually I didn't use this one]

LRFD Vol. 1 & 2 2nd

Construction Jobsite Management 2nd (Thomson; Mincks & Johnston)

AGC Construction Planning & Scheduling 1994

Fundamentals of Construction Estimating 2nd (Thomson, David Pratt)

Geotechnical Materials In Construction 1996 (Rollings & Rollings)

Groundwater Lowering In Construction 2001 (Cashman)

Handbook of Temporary Structures In Construction 1984 (Ratay)

Fundamentals of Earthquake Resistant Construction 1993 (Krinitzsky)

Engineering Principles of Ground Modification 1990 (Hausmann)

Geotechnical Engineering of Embankment Dams 1992 (Fell, MacGregor)

Practical Dam Analysis 1999 (Herzog)

Geotechnical earthquake engineering / Steven L. Kramer 1996

Metcalf & Eddy

Seismic Design of Bldg. & Structures

A book that has not been opened prior to the exam is less useful than one you have been working out of. At the very least, scan the table of contents and index for the topics listed by NCEES then tab those chapters/pages. With the study method outlined above though, you should have time to actually read through and gain some understanding of the theory behind the topics.

One thing that I'm still not sure of is crib sheets. I created crib sheets for each of the breadth disciplines. It took a lot of time and I did not refer to them during the exam but perhaps the process of creating them helped me review and cement some of the concepts? Hard to say if doing this really helped. Tabbing the crud out of your CERM is not very helpful. The index is quite good and you will be relying on that, not your tabs. Something else that is helpful is noting the location of each topic on the NCEES topic list then highlighting it's line in the index.

One thing I am sure of is the NCEES practice exam. There were several exam problems in both the breadth and depth modules that were taken almost verbatim from the practice exam!

The bottom line: This is a board certification. This is you proving that you are a responsible, well-trained, professional engineer and someone who cares deeply about what you are doing. If you think you can approach this test with an attitude that this is just another test you have to pass then can forget about you are not ready for professional liscensure. My attitude towards this test and engineering changed radically during the process of preparing to take this exam. I hope you have a similarly transformative experience if you are not already there ...