# Completely unbiased review of PPI later today



## thedawg (May 25, 2017)

I will writing up an unbiased review of PPI later today so stay tuned for other users on this platform.


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## MikeS (Oct 1, 2017)

Where'd you go?  Did the PPI police kidnap you and lock you in a dungeon?


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## Dexman PE PMP (Oct 1, 2017)

:Chris:


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## ptatohed (Oct 2, 2017)

Later today, I am going to reveal the exact coordinates of where I buried my treasure.  Stay tuned.


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## John QPE (Oct 5, 2017)

The suspense is killing me


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## ptatohed (Oct 8, 2017)

:waiting:


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## PowerStroke79_PE (Oct 9, 2017)

Lol, in a nut shell, ill give you my opinion. The guy is winging it during the lessons, the professor that is, and errors all over the power points. I stopped attending this weekend, ill catch the videos during the week when i can forward all the parts when hes flipping pages making my speakers peak. Pretty dissapointed, but it is what it is. Ill do the PPI books anyways just to ply it safe. For the second time that is.


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## Ramnares P.E. (Oct 9, 2017)

@PPI may want to take notice.


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## youngmotivatedengineer (Oct 9, 2017)

Hemi79 said:


> Lol, in a nut shell, ill give you my opinion. The guy is winging it during the lessons, the professor that is, and errors all over the power points. I stopped attending this weekend, ill catch the videos during the week when i can forward all the parts when hes flipping pages making my speakers peak. Pretty dissapointed, but it is what it is. Ill do the PPI books anyways just to ply it safe. For the second time that is.


..ouch...so glad I went with EET where the only issues I had were connection issues due to firewall settings and required AdobeConnect plugins. Sounds like this would just be adding more stress, and not make me trust what is being presented if there are so many errors and he is not confident in the material.


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## PowerStroke79_PE (Oct 9, 2017)

youngmotivatedengineer said:


> ..ouch...so glad I went with EET where the only issues I had were connection issues due to firewall settings and required AdobeConnect plugins. Sounds like this would just be adding more stress, and not make me trust what is being presented if there are so many errors and he is not confident in the material.


Well, saying a little more about that. It is obvious the instructor is qualified, but that being said, it is also evident he is not prepared to give the lesson. He is reviewing problems as he encounters the power points, while he figures the problems out well and has suggestions, it is frustrating to be there waiting for him to pin point what the objective of the example is. He openly said, "i'm not an expert in structural engineering..." which really worried me, but this being the P.E. depth exam practice I can see that you don't have to be an "expert" in structural subjects. After all, lateral analysis and design for the P.E. exam does not go far into depth. I took EET previously and was very happy with it. I didn't register for the depth with them because I wanted to experience PPI. I am doing both problem sets for PPI and EET just to be on the safe side. But in terms in asking questions and getting help, material presentation and organization, EET hands down. I don't mean to disrespect. I have not finished the PPI course to judge fully, but I can say i have no interest to sit in front of the lesson for 3 to 4 hours, I would rather just do practice problems and post questions on the forums if something is confusing.


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## PowerStroke79_PE (Oct 14, 2017)

The professor was late to start the class today. He types "man, overslep a little". LOL. Come on man.... Im positive this guy know his shit, why not be organized and get us the lesson we paid for. Respectfully, this is bull shit @PPI And flipping pages over and over again and saying hes trying to understand the difference between the adjustment factors (wood class), is something that's done before the lesson is given.


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## youngmotivatedengineer (Oct 14, 2017)

Never took this class, but from yoyr review it sounds like PPI is preparing the presentation and the teacher is not reviewing the presentation until he's actually presenting it.


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## leggo PE (Oct 16, 2017)

Wow, @Hemi79! I took PPI's class a year ago, and while it didn't suit me well, I don't recall experiencing anything like what you're describing here.


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## PowerStroke79_PE (Oct 16, 2017)

leggo PE said:


> Wow, @Hemi79! I took PPI's class a year ago, and while it didn't suit me this well, I don't recall experiencing anything like you're describing here.


Yeah I wouldn't think its common. I just think I had bad luck. Honestly I'm just doing the PPI Books and EET. I sent him an email on some questions from the PPI Six Minute Problems and its been more than 3 days and still no answer. Ultimately its just unprofessional. I'm surprised no one on the ppi forums posted anything. On the other hand no many post at all.  I stopped attending the class and just skip through the videos after they are posted online.


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## Ramnares P.E. (Oct 17, 2017)

Where did @PPI disappear to?  Sounds like there is useful feedback and legitimate concerns to be dealt with.


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## matt267 PE (Oct 17, 2017)

Hemi79 said:


> ppi forums


Is there such a thing?


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## PowerStroke79_PE (Oct 17, 2017)

matt267 PE said:


> Is there such a thing?


Well for anyone who signs up for the class, there is a forum to post questions so that the class and professor can ineract and it facilitates  everything. I got a couple answers from other students, but the instructor never came on the forum. My real problem is him not answering my emails. And of course not having a lesson plan.


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## matt267 PE (Oct 17, 2017)

Did you try spamming it?


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## PowerStroke79_PE (Oct 17, 2017)

matt267 PE said:


> Did you try spamming it?


Sorry to ask, but im confused by this question. What is “spamming it”?


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## matt267 PE (Oct 17, 2017)

Hemi79 said:


> Sorry to ask, but im confused by this question. What is “spamming it”?


Here's an example: http://engineerboards.com/topic/28391-april-2017-15k-spam-a-thon/

I hope to see you in the next spam thread while you wait for you exam results.


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## Dexman PE PMP (Oct 17, 2017)

Quick EB history lesson: eb.com is a result of the ppi forums being really bad. They used to have an open public forum section where PE examinees could go to discuss exam prep, but the mods there were real dickheads and would shut down the "other" threads (like the Lunch thread). So RG and a few other OG members created eb.com.  A few years later, the PPI forums were shut down. Now they're a sponsor here. 

I met several of the EB.com guys there after I took the exam back in '08 while I was waiting on results and they told me about here.


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## EB NCEES REP (Oct 17, 2017)

Really all of these exam prep courses are making money off of your lack of confidence to simply study yourself, using the NCEES Sample Exams of course.


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## PowerStroke79_PE (Oct 17, 2017)

EB NCEES REP said:


> Really all of these exam prep courses are making money off of your lack of confidence to simply study yourself, using the NCEES Sample Exams of course.


Wheres the Like button!!!


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## ptatohed (Oct 17, 2017)

Dexman PE PMP said:


> Quick EB history lesson: eb.com is a result of the ppi forums being really bad. They used to have an open public forum section where PE examinees could go to discuss exam prep, but the mods there were real dickheads and would shut down the "other" threads (like the Lunch thread). So RG and a few other OG members created eb.com.  A few years later, the PPI forums were shut down. Now they're a sponsor here.
> 
> I met several of the EB.com guys there after I took the exam back in '08 while I was waiting on results and they told me about here.


I remember the PPI forums.  While they did have a "controlled speech" feel to them, it was kinda cool to be able to communicate with Mr. Lindeburg himself! 



EB NCEES REP said:


> Really all of these exam prep courses are making money off of your lack of confidence to simply study yourself, using the NCEES Sample Exams of course.


I don't think this is fair.  While I, personally, was a "self-studier" and I would recommend each examinee consider giving self-studying a go, I think everyone is different, has a unique situation, learns/reviews in different ways, etc. - so it is not fair to say self studying is for everyone and examinees only take review courses because they lack confidence.  And to suggest that one should not only self-study but to suggest they should study only using NCEES Sample Exams is, well, not very realistic.


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## Dexman PE PMP (Oct 17, 2017)

The PPI forums were OK so long as you ONLY talked about the exam and Lindburg's products. I mentioned the Lunch thread because that was one of the "deciding factors" to start EB.com.  JR and others would constantly start new threads asking what everyone did for their lunch break between the AM and PM sessions, only to have it locked/deleted.


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## youngmotivatedengineer (Oct 18, 2017)

EB NCEES REP said:


> Really all of these exam prep courses are making money off of your lack of confidence to simply study yourself, using the NCEES Sample Exams of course.


I highly disagree with this. It is hard to effectively fully prepare by self studying and doing NCEES practice exam. Exam shows a handful of questions,  actual exam may have completly different questions. While topics may be similar,  question could be asked a different way  requiring a different process to solve the problem.  

Classes can also give you insights to common types of problems and let you know what you should and shouldn't worry about. For example, someone weak in structures may freak out and over study structural design or steel design, when in reality there are not many in-depth questions into that area unless you are taking structural depth or the CA structural exam. The teachers in the classes will let you know to worry about A,B,C but D,E,F is topics related to depth portion. 

EET class also taught me alot about little tricks and standard practice/ procedures that someone not fully trained in a topic may not know. For someone not involved with major construction, you may not understand the difference between BCY,LCY,CCY soil capacities.  The review guides cover this but the books are so big it's hard to know what items are important and which is just extra fluff that is only a depth related topic.


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## ruggercsc (Oct 18, 2017)

EB NCEES REP said:


> Really all of these exam prep courses are making money off of your lack of confidence to simply study yourself, using the NCEES Sample Exams of course.


While I respect your opinion, in my situation the review course was well worth my investment.


As an older test taker (I was 50 when I took the exam), I had simply not been exposed to some material in over 25 years.  It came back after taking the review course and working numerous problems.

The review course focuses on material most likely to be on the exam.  IMHO, the CERM problems are a lot more difficult than the exam questions on the particular exam I took and the depth section I took.

The review course provides a very organized set of notes that you become familiar with while going through the course work.

The review course provides sample problems that are similar to questions you will see on the exam.

 The review course narrows down the code sections of the recommended references and focuses your studying to what you will most likely see on the exam. 

For me the exam covered the following:


Material I had never been exposed to.

Material I had not seen since I graduated.

Material I had used previously in my career, but had not used in awhile.

Material I use daily and was very familiar with.

The review course definitely helped with the 1. and 2. above.  If anything, the review course helped narrow down the material most likely to be on the exam. 
While it may be a waste fo money to some, it definitely helps others.


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## youngmotivatedengineer (Oct 18, 2017)

To add to the bottom of ruggercsc's comment, for most engineers we will most likely never use half the stuff that we learned while studying for the exam once we get our license.


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## matt267 PE (Oct 18, 2017)

youngmotivatedengineer said:


> To add to the bottom of ruggercsc's comment, for most engineers we will most likely never use half the stuff that we learned while studying for the exam once we get our license.


I already forgot most of it.


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## User1 (Oct 18, 2017)

matt267 PE said:


> I already forgot most of it.


What have you forgotten? I don't remember.


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## Jbone27 PE (Oct 18, 2017)

EB NCEES REP said:


> Really all of these exam prep courses are making money off of your lack of confidence to simply study yourself, using the NCEES Sample Exams of course.


Don't be jelly. NCEES is getting more than their share of the $$ with those test fees. 

The NCEES practice exams are a far cry from representative of the entire exam.


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