There's no turning back now

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southernbelle

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There's no turning back now.  I've officially registered for the EET review course, paid the fee and started working problems like crazy.  I'm working problems from old NCEES sample tests, Lindberg, Goswami and 6 minute solutions and will make my own quick reference guide so hopefully that and more theory review will help me to prepare.  Good luck to anyone taking the PE in April 2016.

 
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There's no turning back now.  I've officially registered for the EET review course, paid the fee and started working problems like crazy.  I'm working problems from old NCEES sample tests, Lindberg, Goswami and 6 minute solutions and will make my own quick reference guide so hopefully that and more theory review will help me to prepare.  Good luck to anyone taking the PE in April 2016.
sb,

With everything you said, I have no doubt you'll pass.  Congrats in advance.  :)

 
Nasrul is the best WR/Env instructor I've ever come across. You will do fine.

 
Thanks guys, still pretty nervous and have been out of school a LONG time so if I start freaking out, please talk me down off the ledge.  :D
If you're taking EET WRE you've already made a big leap in the right direction. During class, ask tons of questions. After class, email the instructor with anything you don't understand. Also feel free to ask questions on this site. There are a lot of smart folks that like to help others out.

 
Thanks guys, still pretty nervous and have been out of school a LONG time so if I start freaking out, please talk me down off the ledge.  :D
It's been 21 years since I finished my undergrad and 17 since I finished my grad school. If I can do it; you can do it. Since you're older you have probably experienced being on the ledge more than the younger ones; so you can tackle it better even if you are not aware of it consciously. There were at least 5 problems in the afternoon session that I tackled with pure reasoning; without putting to use any of my exam prep or even references. You will be able to do the same. You have already taken the biggest step or deciding to sit for the exam. Not many people do that; especially many years after graduating. Pat yourself on the back and go for it!

 
I took EET WRE webinar.

If you're already signed up, you're set. I remember geeking out when I received material in the mail from EET. The binder is very organized. The material in each section is straight forward and goes straight into what you need to know for the exam. The professor will recommend books to buy in case you want a little more in depth understanding material. I got these books for less than $20 on amazon the day he recommended them (a few week later the price shot up to ~$30--fyi). Cheat sheets, reference tables/graphs, practice problems (LOTS of them), and practice exams are included in the depth binder. Good luck!

 
I think you are starting to study too early. I didn't really start hitting the books and working problems until 2.5 months out from the exam. I imagine if i kept up that pace for another few weeks I would have burned out.

 
I think you are starting to study too early. I didn't really start hitting the books and working problems until 2.5 months out from the exam. I imagine if i kept up that pace for another few weeks I would have burned out.
I studied every weekend and most weeknights for 6 months. I completely burned out by the end, and wound up failing. There may be some truth to this. 

 
I studied every weekend and most weeknights for 6 months. I completely burned out by the end, and wound up failing. There may be some truth to this. 
Overstudying is real and I think a lot of people are convinced working endless problems is the key to passing. While I agree that practice problems are the most important thing to do during studying, you can overdo it. You need to really understand the principles of engineering behind the problems. If you understand the principles then they can throw any variation of a problem at you and you will be able to work thru it; this is especially true with structures and being very good at free body diagrams. 

 
17 minutes ago, NYCProjectEngineer PE PMP said:

I think you are starting to study too early. I didn't really start hitting the books and working problems until 2.5 months out from the exam. I imagine if i kept up that pace for another few weeks I would have burned out.
I studied every weekend and most weeknights for 6 months. I completely burned out by the end, and wound up failing. There may be some truth to this. 

I studied for much, much, much, longer than 6 months. The key is to pace yourself. Don't go all out balls to the wall the whole time. It's like training for a road race. You need to start small and build up. Take a rest when needed. You want to "peak" at exam day.

 
I don't believe in starting too early or studying too much.  Decide on your total study hour goal (say 250-300 hours), the number of calendar weeks you have to study, and set a realistic schedule that works for you.  Starting early allows you to go slow and take breaks if needed, as m267 mentioned.     

 
4 minutes ago, jnuengr said:

I studied every weekend and most weeknights for 6 months. I completely burned out by the end, and wound up failing. There may be some truth to this. 
Overstudying is real and I think a lot of people are convinced working endless problems is the key to passing. While I agree that practice problems are the most important thing to do during studying, you can overdo it. You need to really understand the principles of engineering behind the problems. If you understand the principles then they can throw any variation of a problem at you and you will be able to work thru it; this is especially true with structures and being very good at free body diagrams. 
I think you can prevent burnout by adding in some variety to your study routine.

I read each chapter in the reference manual (MERM in my case) then did the companion problems for that chapter, in sequence. Not exactly breaking new ground here, but the reading-working problems cycle provided enough variety that I never felt burned out. Mind you it takes much longer to do it this way (I started in May), but I'd argue the concepts gelled better than if I had just hammered away at problems from the start as others have done. I think I might have gone insane working the same problems over and over again until I got them right. Sounds like torture.

 
If you're taking EET WRE you've already made a big leap in the right direction. During class, ask tons of questions. After class, email the instructor with anything you don't understand. Also feel free to ask questions on this site. There are a lot of smart folks that like to help others out.
THIS!! I'm also an advocate for EET WRE. If you take heed to what Nazrul recommends for studying and complete the assignments, you will be well on your way to becoming a PE. Good luck!

 
I agree with taking the EET WRE (depth).  I am a 3rd time test taker of the Civil PE exam with the WR and ENV depth. I have small kids at home and knew I'd have to work hard and at different hours of the day to pass. I just found out that I passed this week! I hadn't taken a review course before, but by the graces of this site found out about EET.    This was the best decision I could make in terms of preparing for and passing the PE.  Nazrul, Samir, and Amir, are the best instructors I have come across.  They prepare you so well for this test, but you have to put in the time, effort and work.  

On my previous attempts, I tried hard but felt that I came up short of passing because I wasn't studying all of the right material.  EET will help you to focus your efforts in the right direction, per the latest NCEES topics for the Civil AM and PM and they are expert instructors.  I know this has been said in previous threads, but EET really CARES about their students.  Anytime I was stumped on a problem, I could e-mail them late at night and get a prompt response.  When I was lagging in a certain topic for water resources, Nazrul was there to help me with that topic "one-on-one".  There are lots of homework problems, practices exams, and the simulated exam.  All of these problems helps build your confidence for exam day.  I honestly didn't use much at all outside of EET's binders.  It is because you really need a comprehensive binder that is organized to help you out when time is of the essence.  

If you can afford it, I highly recommend EET.  It is the best value on the market for a review course. I am so happy that I chose EET, and now I'm a professional engineer due to large part because of them.  I will say, though, you really HAVE to put the work in that they assign you to pass.  Take really good notes, listen to them, and most of all ask questions when you don't understand a concept because they really want to help you understand the concept, and enjoy your studying.  

 
Thank guys, still pretty nervous and have been out of school a LONG time so if I start freaking out, please talk me down off the ledg
no idea where that quote is coming from or why but ....

So glad to hear the success stories from EET students. This course really outperforms all others.

 
THIS!! I'm also an advocate for EET WRE. If you take heed to what Nazrul recommends for studying and complete the assignments, you will be well on your way to becoming a PE. Good luck!
Okay, I've registered for EET WRE. I'm wavering on registering for the Breadth class. I have already spent so much money on this **** exam! But another $600, if it ensures I will pass this time, well, it might be worth it.

I haven't registered because sitting through lectures sounds like kind of a waste of time. I mostly want to take the course for extra practice problems I don't already own. For those who have taken the EET Breadth course, does the binder provide a lot of problems? Are the lectures mostly passive listening? Or active problem-working?

Thanks in advance.

 
The EET Breadth course is well worth it, in my opinion.  I know for sure that I wouldn't have been able to answer some of the AM questions on the exam without the help of the EET Breadth.  The lectures have some background on theory, but mostly it is diving into the topic right away with questions.  For instance, Samir covered construction and transportation topics really well, and it seemed like within the first 10 minutes there would be an example problem for us to think and work out whether it be construction scheduling, formwork, site development, vertical curves, etc.  Amir covered structures and shallow foundation and his notes are very concise and easy-to-follow.  Structures was not a strong topic for me in school, but Amir made it really simple for me, and those (ironically) were the first questions I happened to answer first on the test with confidence.

Nazrul covers water resources (of course) and also soil mechanics (effective stress, permeability test, etc.) and Materials 1 (compaction, soil testing methods, etc.).  His notes are very organized, and he provides really useful formula sheets and summary equations at the beginning of the binder for his section.  Samir and Amir do as well for their sections.

I completely understand that it is a lot of money, but EET helped me with over 85% of the problems in the morning.  The key is to understand the concept, but once you do, you'll be really glad you go with EET.  The organization of their binders also goes in order with the exam questions to make it much easier to navigate during crunch time (when it really counts). 

I also think that EET provides you with the very best questions for preparation.  They are just one notch harder than what you'll see on the exam, but the preparation is perfect, because you have to understand the "big picture" to get some of the problems right.  Once you put the hard work in to the EET course, you'll take the NCEES exam and go "that seems easier than I thought!"

I hope that is helpful! 

 
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