# SE Afternoon concrete and steel problems



## babyface (Jul 8, 2021)

How shall I prepare the PM for the concrete and steel problems? Anyone can recommend books?


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## Shannonsider_2016 (Jul 8, 2021)

I don't have any books to recommend but if you are interested in taking a course - I would highly recommend AEI. I took both exams for the first time in April, and felt very well prepared just following the online lectures/ class binders (passed vertical, failed lateral by a couple AM questions). I didn't need any additional resources outside of the class binders and codes. Good luck with the study.


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## Be-n (Jul 9, 2021)

Agreed. I got both PPI books and AEI class with the binder for the vertical exam.
I also got NCEES SE exam book. NCEES exam was definitely not as difficult as the real exam.
AEI practice exam was closer to the difficulty of real exam. I used PPI books for extra practice to reinforce some topics that I didn’t feel very confident about after covering them in AEI class. I probably overstudied for AM vertical portion since I did not do a single guess in AM and prepared just right for PM. That’s how I felt about the exam, but passing result means I’ll never know my actual score . Maybe I passed just by 1 point.
I doubt you can prepare properly just by doing some textbook problems. You really need a guide like AEI to walk you though all possible topics in just 100 days.


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## babyface (Jul 9, 2021)

Be-n said:


> Agreed. I got both PPI books and AEI class with the binder for the vertical exam.
> I also got NCEES SE exam book. NCEES exam was definitely not as difficult as the real exam.
> AEI practice exam was closer to the difficulty of real exam. I used PPI books for extra practice to reinforce some topics that I didn’t feel very confident about after covering them in AEI class. I probably overstudied for AM vertical portion since I did not do a single guess in AM and prepared just right for PM. That’s how I felt about the exam, but passing result means I’ll never know my actual score . Maybe I passed just by 1 point.
> I doubt you can prepare properly just by doing some textbook problems. You really need a guide like AEI to walk you though all possible topics in just 100 days.


Hi Be-n, can you be more specific about the PPI books?


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## Be-n (Jul 9, 2021)

babyface said:


> Hi Be-n, can you be more specific about the PPI books?


I had the whole package they sell for their SE class. I also had a list of homework problems they recommend for their class. I practiced some of PPI HW assignments in topics I did feel very confident about after AEI class. It is not because AEI class was not good enough. It was because I was just pretty bad in those topics to begin with. 
I don’t think PPI has updated their books yet for the newer codes. So, I’m not sure how much sense it makes now to buy their entire package now.


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## Engineerbabu (Aug 1, 2021)

babyface said:


> How shall I prepare the PM for the concrete and steel problems? Anyone can recommend books?


AISC Design guide, ACI design guide, SEAOC Manual, and AISC 341 design examples along with AEI will be just enough for PM.


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