April 2009 Repeat PE Test Examinees

I received my test results and wanted to start a thread to 1) Hopefully interact with others that failed so I don't feel like the only moron on the planet and 2) discuss other ways to study so this doesn't happen again in April. I did not do the on-line NCEES practice tests or buy their problems and answers, would this be helpful? I have every PPI book and they were great, but still found some problems that I could not find the answer to in these reference manuals. Are there others that would be helpful? Also, any other discussion is welcome, including those that got a 69% and did not pass.

BPE07 said:

I received my test results and wanted to start a thread to 1) Hopefully interact with others that failed so I don't feel like the only moron on the planet and 2) discuss other ways to study so this doesn't happen again in April. I did not do the on-line NCEES practice tests or buy their problems and answers, would this be helpful? I have every PPI book and they were great, but still found some problems that I could not find the answer to in these reference manuals. Are there others that would be helpful? Also, any other discussion is welcome, including those that got a 69% and did not pass.

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BPE sorry that you couldn't make it this time. I am not sure what topic you chose for the afternoon part, I took civil transportation in October 08 exam and my strategy was as follows: took a live review course, worked all morning six minutes problems for all topics and worked afternoon questions for Transportation only. I signed up for examcafe from ppi for last one month and worked many problems from there. Texas AM University has lots of video courses may help you too. I also had all the books recommended by NCEES. It takes about 300-400 hours to prepare for the exam.... which also depends on all other factors.

Well, good luck to you for April 09.

Octber2008 said:

BPE sorry that you couldn't make it this time. I am not sure what topic you chose for the afternoon part, I took civil transportation in October 08 exam and my strategy was as follows: took a live review course, worked all morning six minutes problems for all topics and worked afternoon questions for Transportation only. I signed up for examcafe from ppi for last one month and worked many problems from there. Texas AM University has lots of video courses may help you too. I also had all the books recommended by NCEES. It takes about 300-400 hours to prepare for the exam.... which also depends on all other factors.
Well, good luck to you for April 09.

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i would say just get the 6 minute solutions. but dont waste your time on the structural 6 min. solutions, those were a waste and were not indicitave of the exam at all. all the other 6 min. solns were just like the exam. that was my strategy and it worked. i disagree with the 300-400 hr. estimate...i did about 120-140 hrs and i thought that was overkill.

BPE07 said:

I received my test results and wanted to start a thread to 1) Hopefully interact with others that failed so I don't feel like the only moron on the planet and 2) discuss other ways to study so this doesn't happen again in April. I did not do the on-line NCEES practice tests or buy their problems and answers, would this be helpful? I have every PPI book and they were great, but still found some problems that I could not find the answer to in these reference manuals. Are there others that would be helpful? Also, any other discussion is welcome, including those that got a 69% and did not pass.

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Hi There,

Don't feel like you're alone, it's a tough exam for most people. I took it 3 times before I passed. Here's how it went for me:

First time - I took a 6 week review course on Saturdays, and looked through all the notes. I didn't really do a lot of practice problems (we were in the process of moving so study time just wasn't available). I knew I'd be unprepared, but I took the test and looked at it as a slightly expensive practice exam. I was 80% sure I failed, and I did I was weak in all topics, slightly stronger in my area (Water), but I took the diagnostic info and decided I'd focus on the weakest areas to try to improve my score.

Second time - NCEES changed the exam format to include Construction and also merged Water/Enviro Depth, so I spent a ton of time on Construction/Enviro problems because I didn't think I had enough background to do well in those areas. I decided to join a study group (two actually). We met twice a week for 3-4 hours, averaged 4 problems per session. We also worked a practice exam as a group, and we did another as a timed test (I aced the water section, failed the rest). Almost all our time was spent on the depth section. On my own I worked some practice problems, mainly from the NCEES sample exam and some from the CERM book. It felt like I studied alot, though it didn't feel like a huge sacfrifice. Plus I spent an inordinate amount of time organizing references and problems so I could look them up quickly. I felt like I did a LOT better, and felt great about the exam when I was done. Still failed though This time, I had aced the water section in the morning, and was still weak in structural, transpo, geotech, plus I had some really weak scores in the afternoon on certain topics.

Third time - I skipped the study group, but had some lunch sessions with PE's in my office who helped explain some key concepts in the areas that I was particularly lacking comprehension(structures/geotech). Those really helped my basic knowledge and made working problems easier (I'd been avoiding practice problems in those areas because I couldn't get over the hurdle of not "getting" the fundamentals). I spent 50% of my time on practice problems in the 5 morning disciplines and 50% on the afternoon areas that I had weak scores. I made a binder to store all my work. I did a TON of practice problems, making sure that not only did I have the right answers, but that I got" the concepts. I realized I made tons of careless mistakes when I tried to rush through things, like unit conversion errors, using perimeter instead of wetted perimeter (doh), etc. Catching mistakes became my main focus, because I knew that was the easiest thing to fix to improve my exam score. I made a list of repeat mistakes/errors I made and put it on the wall where I studied. Every mistake I caught was a possible point closer to passing. By the time I took the exam, I was subconciously checking for those errors without looking at the list. I studied from July to October, with a 2 week vacation to Europe right at the end of September. Just before that vacation, I was coming home from work at 6pm, studying until 11pm, plus 8-10 hrs on the weekend. After the vacation I went back to that same routine. I memorized a lot of basic equations because looking them up wasted a lot of time on the last exam attempt. While studying, I felt like a shut-in, and I was determined not to suffer through another exam cycle. I felt like complete crap after I finished the exam, it was like a study hangover. Then I got the letter 2 months later saying I'd passed

I think the most important things I learned taking the PE this last time were:

1. Don't think about how many hours to study total, for me thinking about that was overwhelming. Just start a routine and stick to it, whether its 2 hours a day for 4 months, or 4 hours a day for 2 months...it does take a lot of time to prepare, but it's the quality of that time that counts. If you're just sitting there trying to get through another study session because you have to, it won't help if you aren't learning something.

2. Don't do problems that are 10 times harder than PE problems, it's just wasting your mental energy and your study time. I wasted a lot of time on these long 10-15 step practice problems and never used them again. Buy the NCEES Sample Exam or 6 min solutions and also work similar problems at that level tha tyou can dig up/find.

3. Do focus on catching mistakes, checking units, reading the question completely. When you make a mistake write down a reminder to fix/look for that mistake next time to prevent it. On the top of my list it said, "Do you want your PE? Then DON't do this:"

4. Do make sure you can answer the question in more than one way, maybe by reversing what you're solving for, to show that you can function outside the "study vacuum". Doing this can give you twice or three times the practice with just a handfull of problems.

5. Do read the CERM book as you work problems. I couldn't read it cover to cover in one sitting, so I read it as it became applicable to what I was studying. If you are doing a question and realize you need Chapter 30, read the whole Chapter as part of working that problem, you'll get through the book and you'll get practice problems done at the same time.

6. Do take breaks. Studying all the time will burn you out before the exam. Make sure you can step away from the books, come back and still remember what you learned/practiced/etc.

7. Do have two book piles: 1) One is the most critical items you'll use for 98% of the exam (CERM, notes, practice work, etc.) 2) the other is a bunch of random books, or "security blankets" you'll probably not need but might like to have just in case. The second pile should include one book for every morning topic that goes more into depth than the CERM, plus an engineering dictionary. These may be handy for obscure "wild card" questions, but don't spend time reading through these in great detail, or tabbing them (that's what the index is for!).

Thanks to all for the great advise, I really appreciate all the input!

One thing that really helped me was to create a 3-ring notebook of all the problems I had completed. Look at the exam format (breadth and depth) and make sure that you have an example for each topic listed; maybe one notebook for the morning and one for the afternoon. This really helps to see answers worked out in your handwriting and method. It’s a lot easier than looking up problems in 6 Min Solns or PPI publications and trying to fill in the blanks when they skip steps that might not be apparent to you when you are stressing to find answers.

I missed the PE by 3%. the construction breadth killed me. so if any one would recommend which books should I use to pass just the construction breadth?

I think it would be helpful to creat a list of reference items that we have and compare it to what others have used to pass. Nothing is worse than going through your books and not finding the topic of the question. Any insight into how to best go about this?

I took Civil-water resources, and to prep I took a class (school of Pe since some collegues recommended it) since i knew i never took half of material on the test such as transport and structural (i am environmental undergrad and grad). That way i didnt even bother studying too much of that material, just reviewed few hours after class what i learned and the rest focused on my concentration. I mostly used CERM and the class materials to study. The class allowed me to just learn the key items from the concentrations i was unaware of, and not be overwhelmed by all of the material. I passed after first time.

BPE07 said:

I received my test results and wanted to start a thread to 1) Hopefully interact with others that failed so I don't feel like the only moron on the planet ...

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I know how you feel. I failed PE 3 times. Passed on the 4th. There are others here who passed on 4th and at least one I know who passed on 5th. It is a very hard exam. If it was easy, ... well, you know.

My best advice is to dedicate yourself to passing the exam for the next 3 months AND work a lot of problems.

Good luck. I'm cheering for you. :multiplespotting:

Well I took the prep course and went over some codes. I'm Structural so I had quite a few codes. In prep course, we had material provided by the school and we went over CERM. That was all that I needed to pass. I think you need to focus on the AM section more than you think. The problems in AM are relatively easy and require less effort to prepare for and to solve (At least for Structural PM). I spent almost 80% of my time on AM.

Organize, tag everything and color code it. Most of the people have all the information they need to pass, its just that they can't find it in time. A tagged CERM should be your best friend during the exam, specially in AM.

And if you can (I thought this was a good idea but I didn;t do it), write down cross references in your books. If a topic is on Page 120 on CERM and on page 24 of class notes, write down these references on both books. This way if you find your topic in one book, you know where the additional information is.

And the most important thing - RELAX. My thinking when I went for October exam was, what is the worst that could happen? I'll come back in April. Your performance will improve significantly if you go to exam with a relaxed mind.