architectural Engineering PE April 10

Looking for feedback / discussion on how people think they faired on the April 10 Architectural Engineering PE exam.

Also what industry you are currenlty working in, and how many times you have taken the exam.

This was my first attempt at the exam, I chose this exam over Civil because I have worked primarily in Building construction as opposed to Civil type work.

I am not in design strictly and much of the the question although familiar I have not seen since college. I have been working for a large CM firm in the field for 10 years and a few years back switched to a consulting firm that deals mostly with engineering / construction claims.

I feel like the morming session went ok with about 3-5 complete guesses and the rest of the question I was able to work out or look up a solution for (right or wrong I came up with an answer that matched one if the available choices.)

Afternoon session was more difficult for me and i think i guessed on about 8-10 questions. I felt as if I had enough time to look over each question and was as rushed as I thought I would be.

On another note, the exam i took seemed to be very heavily weighted in Electrical and i was in the NEC manual over and over again. After that i think there were a good amount of structural questions, followed by Mechanical design.

just looking to get some discussion going for anyone who took the exam.

I thought I did really well on the exam and I was guessing I got around 55-60 correct answers. There were a couple of questions that I thought could have picked between 2 of the answers depending on how you interpret the question.

I got my results the other day and I failed the exam. From the percentages in the diagnostic report I figured it got only 43 questions correct which I was very shocked from the results (and disappointed).

This was my second time taking the exam, however they did just change the exam specifications. Admittedly, the first time I took it in '09 I only studied for about a month and from the diagnostic report I calculated 43/80. This year I started studying as soon as the new study guide came out (in late January for an April test), plus I bought the EE-Power, Structural 1, and Mechanical-HVAC study guides to help review. I studied harder and longer and got the same score.

I have already started studying for the '11 exam and have bought additional books that I thought might help me.

I wish you the best of luck on your results! I am curious to see the pass rates for this exam when they release it.

To answer one of your questions I work in Electrical design at an MEP firm. My degree in college was Aerospace Engineering so I felt I had enough background in the basics that this was the tests for me instead of EE-Power.

To answer one of your questions I work in Electrical design at an MEP firm. My degree in college was Aerospace Engineering so I felt I had enough background in the basics that this was the tests for me instead of EE-Power.

Thanks for the book information. I will definitely be getting that book. I forgot to mention in my first post that I also have a few years of experience in Mechanical/Plumbing before I decided to make the switch to Electrical. So I do have real world Mechanical experience, but not Structural experience.

My scores in each field are as follows:

Building Systems Integration: 10/14

Electrical: 13/20

Mechanical: 10/20

Structural: 9/20

Project Management and Const. Admin: 1/6

I really felt confident about Mechanical giving my experience and background and thought I got about 16-18 correct so I was surprised I only got 10 correct. I can't really argue about Structural and that is about the score I thought I would get. I thought I did better in the Proj. Mgt. & Const. Admin area as well.

Thanks for the diagnostics report post, it is interesting to see the breakdown and how many you got correct.

not sure what one needs to pass but the target i thing would be 70% or 56 questions correct. I am surprised about the PM/ Const Admin # but I do remember there being a couple of questions on that section which I found at least 2 answers to be viable. I am not a big structural guy as well haven't done much since concrete and steel classes in college 15 years ago.

I think what helped me was this old school Civil PE reference guide that i borrowed from an older engineer at my company. It was the Lindenburg Civil Review Manual (third Edition 1981) It has sections on each of the broad structural subjects (footings, foundations, statics, Soils, concrete, steel) other civil subjects which you don't need but each section has brief overview with sample problems / solutions that are much easier than reading through an entire footing design textbook etc. I mention the date and edition b/c you can probably pick an older one up for pennies compared to the latest edition and the materials were still current for the exam. I also borrowed a concrete and steel textbook which i used alot in the exam for specific questions.

I would also acquire a small ref guide called the pocket ref by Thomas Glover. It has quick to find information on R-values, motor specs, wood beam design, steel properties, rebar sizes, and many formulas by subject that i had tabbed up prior to the exam.

well still waiting for my results, I will post back with how I did and good luck studying!

I'm so glad I found this post. I have begun studying for the April 2011 exam and its a bit overwhelming. This is the first response I've seen from someone who has actually taken the exam and its great feedback.

gte621n, have you considered trying a "virtual study group" for the exam? I'd be interested since we are both planning to take it next year. Please keep me posted....

LEEDengineer said:

I'm so glad I found this post. I have begun studying for the April 2011 exam and its a bit overwhelming. This is the first response I've seen from someone who has actually taken the exam and its great feedback.
gte621n, have you considered trying a "virtual study group" for the exam? I'd be interested since we are both planning to take it next year. Please keep me posted....

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well if are starting now for the 2011 exam you are way ahead of where I was as far as studying. I think i started in late february but didn't kick it up to panic studying until 3 weeks prior. I started with the latest sample exam - just going through the questions and seeing where my baseline was, doing 10-15 at a time in one sitting then going back over the problem solutions in detail. the problem i found with the study manual is the solutions are not detailed at all and many times skip over several steps in getting to the answer. I was often wondering where the equations they applied were coming from and spent alot of time hunting for the equation / code section they were coming up with.

the AE exam is just not like the civil exam where the test has been around for years and there are numerous study guides and review courses available which guide you thru passing the exam. Hopefully i will not need to join your study group but in the event i failed I would definitely be interested in that sort of thing.

keep it going and let me know of any more questions.

NCEES has posted the AE pass results for April allready

75% first timers

47% second timers

I had considered taking the AE PE exam, but ended up deciding on the ME PE exam instead. There is a thread with some good information here if you're interested. It is located within the "Shoot the Breeze" section under "Hall of Fame" threads, you'll see why when you read through... There is some good info from someone who passed the exam though, so its worth a read if you're considering taking the Architectural Engineering exam.

Bman said:

I had considered taking the AE PE exam, but ended up deciding on the ME PE exam instead. There is a thread with some good information here if you're interested. It is located within the "Shoot the Breeze" section under "Hall of Fame" threads, you'll see why when you read through... There is some good info from someone who passed the exam though, so its worth a read if you're considering taking the Architectural Engineering exam.

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wow that thread took on a life of its own...no wonder its in the HOF now!

some good stuff up front though

Yup. That's all there is to say about that...

I am definetly interested in a study group. I have read those past posts and either had the books for the April 2010 exam or have gotten the books for the April 2011 exam. I agree that the solutions manual for PE Architectural Exam is not detailed enough, especially if one area is not your main work experience background. I too spent much time trying to figure out the intermediate steps.

My weakest area is Structural so I will be concentrating a lot on that in my studying.

I was surprised on the pass rate results, one thing it doesn't tell you is how many people took the exam.

gte621n said:

I am definetly interested in a study group. I have read those past posts and either had the books for the April 2010 exam or have gotten the books for the April 2011 exam. I agree that the solutions manual for PE Architectural Exam is not detailed enough, especially if one area is not your main work experience background. I too spent much time trying to figure out the intermediate steps.
My weakest area is Structural so I will be concentrating a lot on that in my studying.

I was surprised on the pass rate results, one thing it doesn't tell you is how many people took the exam.

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I have approached the structural engineers in my company for help in solving the problems and better understanding everything behind the question. I found that a lot of my coworkers are more than willing to help in exchange for a lunch/drink

I'd be more than happy to email you pdf's of some of the problem work-throughs as we go through them and I'd definitely appreciate any advice you come up with as you study and recall things that worked or didn't work in the past. I'm 5 years out of school but I spent 2 of those years in non-design, project management roles. About 6 months ago I went back to design and decided to start looking into the PE.

Currently I've been taking at least 1 day a week where I block off half a day to study and work problems, I try to do a few problems each day at a minimum and I have been reading/scanning through some of the books and codes when I have time. I plan to kick it up a notch next month when things at work aren't as hectic, but I am always looking for more suggestions. It seems that most people say "just keep working the problems from the books and practice exams" but I worry that isn't enough... I also hear so many things about IL (the state I plan to test in) and the rules for the exam room and books that are allowed. A lot of my books are digital printed copies and I've heard they may only allow hard, original bound books.

LEEDengineer said:

gte621n said:

I am definetly interested in a study group. I have read those past posts and either had the books for the April 2010 exam or have gotten the books for the April 2011 exam. I agree that the solutions manual for PE Architectural Exam is not detailed enough, especially if one area is not your main work experience background. I too spent much time trying to figure out the intermediate steps.

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I also hear so many things about IL (the state I plan to test in) and the rules for the exam room and books that are allowed. A lot of my books are digital printed copies and I've heard they may only allow hard, original bound books.

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I know that i had a lot of printed material and in PA and the rules were clear as long as they are bound (3 ring or other) you could bring them into the exam with you. I will go back through my stuff and get a good list of what reference manuals you absolutely need for the exam.

The list of reference material from ASCE/AEI is so comprehensive you don't need everything on it, and you could drop a small fortune trying to acquire every book on the master list. I found myself in about 5-7 books really heavy during the exam the rest I brought (about 10-12 additional books) i didn't really use at all.

I also sat down prior to the PE exam with a Structural engineer to go over the structural portion of the Arch PE Study guide and would definetly suggest doing that as well. I feel confident that I understand the questions and solutions in the manual. I can share those if you'd like but I'd suggest meeting with the people in your company first and have them explain it one on one.

As far as what you can bring in to the exam, you should email the Illinois board to see what is permitted. I emailed the Ohio board prior to the exam and they said you can bring in anything aslong as it is bound in a notebook. I even brought that email with me just to make sure they didn't try to change their mind at the exam site. But every state is different.

For the structural portion of the exam I have bought the PE Structural 1 exam solution manual from NCEES, the 6-minute Structural solution book. I also bought the Architecture Review Exam - Structural study guide and the book "Simplified Engineering for Architects and Builders" based on various posts in found on the internet that other people said was helpful to them. I plan on reading that first, then do the study guides. The only problem is that I bought the 2010 version which won't be available until November.

My plan this summer is to go through the NEC and IBC and then move on to Electrical and then Mechanical.

I have gone through the AE Practice exam so many times I feel I can recite it so if you have questions on the solutions and the intermediate steps please feel free to ask.

There is one error in the study guide that I found, there is a question in the study guide about the maximum allowed area for a sprinkler system. The answer is correct, but the section in the code is from the previous version of the code. I can look up the new section if you are interested.

I did email Illinois to confirm and planned to have a printed copy of the email with me. They said printed books/codes/standards are ok as long as the books are 3-ring bound in their entirety with a cover indicating the book clearly.

I am currently reading the Plumbing data Books and looking at a lot of the examples in there. Next up is the IPC and more problems from the Mechanical and Electrical Equipment for Buildings text book.

archeng1 - I would definitely love to hear about the books that you found most useful. That is a very long list and I have been able to find some of the books but not all.

Did anyone take courses? I have considered signing up for a few single sessions in the ME or EE prep courses....

LEEDengineer said:

archeng1 - I would definitely love to hear about the books that you found most useful. That is a very long list and I have been able to find some of the books but not all.

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well here is a list of what i used most in the Exam (from what i can remember)

NEC Handbook (I have 2002)

Mechanical and Electrical Equipment for Buildings (11th Edit, Wiley)

Civil Engineering Review Manual (3rd Edition - Lindenburg)

ASCE 7 (2005 Minimum Design Loads for Building)

ACI 318 (pretty much all you need from the list of ACI manuals)

Internation Building Code (IBC - I have 2003)

AISC (Steel Construction manual - i borrowed an older edition 9th edition)

Pocket Ref (thomas Glover) used on 3-4 problems and lookup of tables

NFPA 13 (used or 3-4 problems)

Concrete design text book with reference to ACI

Steel design text book

I also had a bunch of key electrical / mechanical / fan law / pump law equations that i wrote out in note format in a 3 ring binder which i collected as i reviewd the sample exam. This was tedious and took more effort as i worked the solutions, but well worth it b/c I was able to have quick reference formulas by subject in one place with a brief description or example - like how to calc PF or Q heat loss or lumen method)

a few of the probles were right from the sample exam and a couple didn't even change any numbers so definitely bring the exam with solutions.

I didn't purchase any of the ASHRAE books or Plumbing books and i don't recall it hurting me too much. The exam questions are pretty broad so the quick reference equation type stuff is all you really need and brush up on sample problems.

hope this helps

I passed the arch eng exam in ct April. I'm glad to help out with anyone studying for 2011. I am in Development and construction without a lot of hardcore design experience. I liked the ARE exam review manual for structural topics and believe it or not electricians exam ref manuals helped me a lot on electrical basics and nec issues

I found difficulty using the pe ref manuals for civil, mech, electrical I found them very complex, diff to understand, and too in depth for the arch eng exam

I must have done something right b/c i found out today PASSED the April exam!

feels great - good luck to all who are going to sit next April

give me a shout if you have any more questions

and keep at it - you can do it!!!!

archeng1 said:

I must have done something right b/c i found out today PASSED the April exam!feels great - good luck to all who are going to sit next April

give me a shout if you have any more questions

and keep at it - you can do it!!!!

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CONGRATS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

arty-smiley-048:

That is awesome! Hopefully, I'll be saying the same thing next year

So, do you have any books you used that you are willing to sell/loan/part with?? Please inbox me if so, I'm still collecting some of the books...