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kidroach

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I'm planning to take the Civil - Structural PE Exam this October, and I have been studying like crazy (been studying since May / June this year).  It will be my first time taking the exam and despite having read through this forum on people's experiences with the exam, I still don't know what to expect.

I started by reading through the CERM to prepare myself for the AM section, and I feel like I have a pretty good sense of the morning session and did pretty well on the practice exams.  I've also been going through the PM practice exams and with less than 1-month left, I'd like to get feedback on specific exam resources that I should practice on.  These are the practice exam materials I plan to use / have been using:

  • 2014 NCEES Exam (AM & PM):
    These are the first ones I did back in July and were fairly easy... I got a pretty good score and did pretty well (30 ish?) on the AM despite taking about 2.5 hours to complete.
  • 2014 Lindeburg Practice Exam (AM & PM):
    These are pretty great, not easy but I can understand most of the references. Didn't time myself to do them though as I would just fail if I do that.
  • 2012 Goswami Practice Exam (AM & 2x PM):
     lot of people commented that these are the most reflective of the actual exam.  I timed myself on the AM and they took the full 4-hours, but I did 30-ish I think. The first PM exam was brutal so I didn't time myself (I think I still need some studying on my PM).  Planning to time myself for the second PM exam this coming weekend though
  • 2014 Subasic Structural 6 Mins Sols (20x Structural AM, 80x Structural PM):
    Holy crap! These are tough questions! She goes into VERY small details on each problems!!!  I learned a ton from these problems, but there's NO WAY that they take 6 mins.  I thought I was familiar with ACI, AISC and ASCE already but I couldn't remember ACI having details on footing rebar distribution, shear wall rebar limits, etc.  It seems that she has a background in Masonry, so the masonry questions are also very tough.  I learned a lot about wood connections too.  I have been going through these problems for 2 weeks and about 75% complete now... I was going through them last weekend, and only managed to complete about 15 questions through the weekend (a good 10 to 15-hour study session)
  • 2014 Giancaspro Structural Depth Practice Exam (2x PM):
    Starting on this right after the Goswami practice exam to gauge myself
Once I"m done with the Giancaspro, I am pretty much out of materials to study though!! Any other references / practice problems that anyone here could recommend doing within the 1-month that we have?

I thought about going through the study sessions, but I thought I'll try it out this first time and if I fail - I'll bite the bullet and pay for the expensive study sessions...

I also intend to bring the materials prescribed by NCEES (IBC, ASCE, ACI, AISC, Masonry and NDS Wood), and the Civil Engineering Reference Manual + the Structural Engineering Reference Manual.  I was planning to skip AASHTO, PCI and OSHA, but rethinking my decision on the OSHA one...

 
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I ended up taking a look at the OSHA regulations and found them available here: https://www.govinfo.gov/app/collection/cfr/2016/title29/subtitleB/chapterXVII

The Civil - Structural list from NCEES only listed the following:

  • 1910 subpart A (General), D (Walking-Working Surfaces), and F (Powered Platforms, Manlifts, and Vehicle-Mounted Work Platforms)
  • 1926 subpart E (PPE and Life Saving Equipment), M (Fall Protection), Q (Concrete and Masonry Construction), and R (Steel Erection).
I thought the CERM covered CC (Cranes), and P (Excavations) too, at the very least.  Do you guys advice that I print these materials or is it strictly based on the NCEES list?  I guess I don't mind bringing more papers just that it will get more confusing

 
Bring OSHA, it may be a look up question that you wish you had printed.

If you don't have access to it pm me and I'll forward you what I have.

I agree AAHSTO and PCI were 1-2 questions max.

 
I just printed the relevant sections of OSHA, and I ended up printing the Cranes & Excavation sections simply because they are covered in the Construction portion of CERM.

Also, my AISC is the black book (13th) edition, and I understand the biggest change from this is the end connection / bolt shear capacity that has been "increased" by about 16.7%.  I was reading around, and they changed the connection factor from 0.75 in AISC 13th to 0.9 in AISC 14th which resulted in the increase in Fnv in Table J3.2.  I am debating on whether to buy the new version of AISC just to be safe?

 
Hello. Feel free to DM me if  you would like to exchange some studying or practice exam materials.

 
Hey guys, I just wanna say good luck to all. If you need any study material such as School of PE, EET or other resources for Civil PE Structural, please drop me a message and let me know. 

Good luck!!

 

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