Which Discipline for afternoon test on PE-Civil is easier to pass?

I am trying to figure out for the study materials for PE. Which discipline shall I study for the afternoon test in Civil Engineering subjects?

I just want to pass the PE and get done with it.

Thanks in advance.

easiest subject: the one you work in.

geo

If you tell us what you for work, we could probably give you a better answer.

when I know if I passed, I will try to answer your question.

^^^

Will this question be on the exam?

I work in the wood truss industry which is a very niche type of engineering. As one could guess, there isn't likely to be a bunch of wood questions on the exam for structural, and I felt it was too much to try to relearn steel and concrete. Instead, I studied up for the transportation exam and feel that I did well on the Oct exam. I hope that it's not a false confidence, but a guy can be optimistic, right? If I end up having to retake it, I'll do transportation again. For whatever direction you decide to go, buy the 6 minute solutions and be able to work all 100 problems for the afternoon session you plan to take. These manuals are great for getting the depth of knowledge required for the PE test (I felt the Exam questions were quite a bit easier than the 6 min. solutions). Lindeburg's questions are ridiculous hard and do not really represent what you can expect on the exam.

I don't really specialize in any single area but I figured Transportation would be the easiest to learn. And it was.

There are a lot of rumors that transportation is the easiest PM module. However, I would agree with others and say that it's most likely going to be the discipline you work in.

Dexman PE said:

easiest subject: the one you work in.

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totally untrue if youre in Structural, there is too many in structures, an engineer might be working only in steel structures on, the exam covers from analysis to different types of structures from wood, concrete, steel etc.

the best answer to this is case to case basis, you might evaluate yourself, your strengths and weakness to materials you have this will determine where you stand. Good luck.

I haven't taken every civil depth, but I suspect that they are each equally hard.

Decide what you think you know the most about without any study. This is probably the area you work in.

I thought the depth exam was pretty much just harder morning questions with just enough "low hanging fruit" to give you time for the harder stuff. Just about each of the 5 civil areas was covered to some degree in the afternoon.....at least I thought so.

TrussGuy85 said:

I work in the wood truss industry which is a very niche type of engineering. As one could guess, there isn't likely to be a bunch of wood questions on the exam for structural, and I felt it was too much to try to relearn steel and concrete. Instead, I studied up for the transportation exam and feel that I did well on the Oct exam. I hope that it's not a false confidence, but a guy can be optimistic, right? If I end up having to retake it, I'll do transportation again. For whatever direction you decide to go, buy the 6 minute solutions and be able to work all 100 problems for the afternoon session you plan to take. These manuals are great for getting the depth of knowledge required for the PE test (I felt the Exam questions were quite a bit easier than the 6 min. solutions). Lindeburg's questions are ridiculous hard and do not really represent what you can expect on the exam.

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We've got a couple of guys here who are real pros when it comes to rigid wood members. I suggest you contact them.

STEEL MAN said:

Dexman PE said:

easiest subject: the one you work in.

Click to expand...

totally untrue if youre in Structural, there is too many in structures, an engineer might be working only in steel structures on, the exam covers from analysis to different types of structures from wood, concrete, steel etc.

the best answer to this is case to case basis, you might evaluate yourself, your strengths and weakness to materials you have this will determine where you stand. Good luck.

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I don't disagree that it's a "case by case" thing, but I personally wouldn't recommend that a structural guy go out and learn transportation if they've never worked in that industry. Every discipline has their own "insider secrets" and code books that make little sense to engineers who work in something different.

VTEnviro said:

We've got a couple of guys here who are real pros when it comes to rigid wood members. I suggest you contact them.

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That module sounds hard.

prk said:

I am trying to figure out for the study materials for PE. Which discipline shall I study for the afternoon test in Civil Engineering subjects?

I just want to pass the PE and get done with it.

Thanks in advance.

Click to expand...

Good question. I'm signing up for the Civil PE exam for shits and gigs (already a PE so don't really need it). I can't decide which depth section to take since I'm equally qualifed (or unqualified if you look at it that way) for all of them. Too many choices: Water Resources/Environmental, Geotechnical, Structural, Transportation, or Construction. Should I just roll a dice? I wish it was like it used to be... that you got to make up your mind on exam day. Does anyone know if it is possible to switch after submitting you application?

I never really understood why someone would ask strangers which depth module they should select for their PE exam. This is not an answer for anyone else but you to decide. It's an important personal decision. However, with that said, I'll still try to answer the question….

Ideally (as already mentioned), it would be the subject most closely related to the field in which you have the most experience.

If, for some reason, that won't work, how about the subject in which you performed the best in, in college (although I don't recall any Construction classes in my college curriculum)?

If that doesn't work, how about the subject that interests you the most? The more interested you are, the more likely you are to be successful in your studying.

If you haven't already, pick up a CERM (or similar) and scan the topics/text of the 5 depth module choices and look at the corresponding sample questions. Do you feel more comfortable with one topic over the others?

If, after all that, you still are 100% open to any of the 5 PM topics, perhaps consider other factors:

Do you know someone who passed taking PM topic X who you can ask questions and borrow study material from?

If money is a big concern, then perhaps you might want to consider Geotech or Water Resources since the codes and standards for Construction, Transportation and Structures can add up to $ hundreds.

Lastly, if you are taking the PE exam in California, then I strongly recommend that you consider selecting Transportation or Structures as your depth module. I say this because there is a good amount of overlap between Transpo and the CA Survey as well as Structures and the CA Seismic. For instance, when I started studying for the 8-hour (Transpo depth), I had a nice jumpstart on basically all of the Transpo AM subject matter and a good chunk of the Transpo PM because I had already studied geometric design for the CA Survey exam.

Good luck.

OK, it’s frickin 6:30 pm on Thanksgiving Eve and I am still at work typing this on the PE forum, what’s wrong with me? I’m out of here. Happy Turkey Day everyone.

palvarez83 said:

prk said:

I am trying to figure out for the study materials for PE. Which discipline shall I study for the afternoon test in Civil Engineering subjects?

I just want to pass the PE and get done with it.

Thanks in advance.

Click to expand...

Good question. I'm signing up for the Civil PE exam for shits and gigs (already a PE so don't really need it). I can't decide which depth section to take since I'm equally qualifed (or unqualified if you look at it that way) for all of them. Too many choices: Water Resources/Environmental, Geotechnical, Structural, Transportation, or Construction. Should I just roll a dice? I wish it was like it used to be... that you got to make up your mind on exam day. Does anyone know if it is possible to switch after submitting you application?

Click to expand...

No offense, but why would you take the PE exam again if you already are a PE? Why not just buy the NCEES sample books and work the problems?

Can someone take a different PE exam without having to go through a state board approval process? I would like to know because if I passed the Civil exam this last October, it would be enticing to consider a PE in a different discipline....like mining.

treyjay said:

palvarez83 said:

prk said:

I am trying to figure out for the study materials for PE. Which discipline shall I study for the afternoon test in Civil Engineering subjects?

I just want to pass the PE and get done with it.

Thanks in advance.

Click to expand...

Good question. I'm signing up for the Civil PE exam for shits and gigs (already a PE so don't really need it). I can't decide which depth section to take since I'm equally qualifed (or unqualified if you look at it that way) for all of them. Too many choices: Water Resources/Environmental, Geotechnical, Structural, Transportation, or Construction. Should I just roll a dice? I wish it was like it used to be... that you got to make up your mind on exam day. Does anyone know if it is possible to switch after submitting you application?

Click to expand...

No offense, but why would you take the PE exam again if you already are a PE? Why not just buy the NCEES sample books and work the problems?

Can someone take a different PE exam without having to go through a state board approval process? I would like to know because if I passed the Civil exam this last October, it would be enticing to consider a PE in a different discipline....like mining.

Click to expand...

I'm already a PE in mechanical and electrical. I just want to complete the trifecta....with Civil. There are many reasons for this. At the top of my list is because I want to learn it and for me it is a lot easier to get motivated to learn if I'm working towards a measurable goal (passing the exam) in a given deadline (exam day). If I didn't sign up for it, I would come home and rather than cracking a book I would drink a beer and watch TV. Secondly, in California, a PE isn't a PE like in some other states. You can't just practice what ever discipline (with some exceptions). Thirdly, someday I want to start my own consulting practice. Having those credentials would come in pretty handy.

No you can't take the exam without going through the board approval process. That is unless you forge you admission letter in which case you might get accused of "cheating" or theft of NCEES information...ect.

Out of curiosty, what type of job do you have that has allowed you to gain the requisite experience in Civil, Mechanical and Electrical? I'm assuming if you actually have two or four years (whatever the requirement is) Civil experience then you have experience doing something related to Civil engineering so why wouldn't you pick that section of the test?

I do a little bit of everything. Water distribution piping & pumps...that qualifies me for water (also when I took the mechanical engineering exam there is lots of overlap). My job involves lots of construction management and planning so that would qualify me for that section. Also build cmu buildings and solar canopy support structures so there's the structural part. We deal lots with site preparation, earthwork, excavations, underground piping, so there's the Geo (albeit limited). I don't do much of transportation, but again I'm a mechanical engineer so those dynamics equations are almost second nature to me.... as you can see I'm torn, though I'm leaning towards construction.