# PE Exam-all at once



## darius (Sep 14, 2011)

Hi everyone,

Just wondering if anyone passed all three exams at once (PE general, CA surveying CA seismic)

This is for California

Is it possible???...and if it is how did you prepare for all of them and how long for each.

I am taking structural depth in the afternoon.

Any advise or idea will be welcome

Good luck


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## ptatohed (Sep 14, 2011)

It's possible. I've met people who have done it. While it was my goal when I was 25, I abandoned the idea at 35 now that I have a wife, kid, full time job, house(s), etc. My hat goes off to those who can do all three at once. I am taking the one at a time approach with my 3rd test (Seismic) coming up next month. I will say that choosing Structures as your 8-hour depth should help you with CA-Seismic. Just like choosing Transpo helps with CA-Surveying (or vice versa). You can do all three at once if you are able to dedicate the study time. Conservatively, you'll need 250-300 hours for the 8 hour and 150-200 hours each for Survey and Seismic. That's about 25-30 hours a week for 6 months! Good luck.


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## Tim_Nelson (Sep 14, 2011)

I did. I read through nearly the entire CERM about a year before my exams. I started studying about 8 months before the exams and continuously ramped up my studies until exam day. I didn’t record the exact number of hours I studied or anything.

Since I planned on passing all three exams first time, I wanted to focus more energy on studying for the exam I felt weakest on. For me, I was weakest on seismic. Therefore, when I finished the general civil exam early on Friday, I left about an hour early to rest and review for the seismic exam, which took place the following morning.

Confidence is key. And confidence comes by studying hard and knowing the material inside out. I didn’t take an exam review class. I bought the CERM and a few other books, but I also studied a lot from my college notes. It is possible, friend. You can do it!


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## sac_engineer (Sep 15, 2011)

I also passed all 3 at once. I think everyone's intention is to pass them all when they first take the exams, otherwise, why else would you take the exams? However, I know too many people that focus on shortcuts rather than studying the material. There is some strategy in test-taking since you have 6 minutes per question on the PE exam, and 3 minutes for the seismic and surveying exams, but it really comes down to your own analysis skills and critical thinking abilities to succeed in the exam. Those skills are only gained through studying, nothing else.

Looking back, I believed I over-studied and spent way more time preparing for the exams than I needed to, but it paid off. The only review class I took was for seismic (Hiner) and that was well worth the cost. I recommend going through the struggle and learn as much as possible through independent study than to rely on too many review classes because no one can learn the material during the exam or just by sitting in review classes.

Good luck!


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## ptatohed (Sep 15, 2011)

Good job Tim and sac for passing all three at once. Very impressive. :clap:



sac_engineer said:


> I think everyone's intention is to pass them all when they first take the exams, otherwise, why else would you take the exams? ...


Well, my hope may have been to pass more than one exam at a time but my intention was to study for and pass one exam, each exam cycle, for three cycles. But, even though I only studied for one exam, since I pay $275 either way, you better believe I am going to sit for the other exam(s) too.


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