# What is the best book/s to prepare for the SE building PM portion?



## Reed D (Dec 24, 2021)

I am wondering if anyone is aware of a book/s that has building depth problems similar to the ones from the exam. I am struggling passing the vertical PM portion of the exam. I am doing good in the AM but apparently needs more practice for the PM. 
Thank you


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## Reverse Polish (Dec 27, 2021)

Reed D said:


> I am wondering if anyone is aware of a book/s that has building depth problems similar to the ones from the exam. I am struggling passing the vertical PM portion of the exam. I am doing good in the AM but apparently needs more practice for the PM.
> Thank you



Not knowing what you've used to prepare thus far, definitely pick up the NCEES practice exam and Joseph Schuster's book of practice exams. In my experience, the NCEES practice exam was a bit easier than the real thing, but Mr. Schuster's practice exams were closer in degree of difficulty. 

Beyond these two sources, there isn't much practice material available for the constructed response problems. I ended up working these same problems over and over until I understood every aspect of the solutions inside-out. You might also want to see if you can obtain older copies of these books (based on older versions of the codes) just to have additional problems to work. 

Best of success to you!


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## Reed D (Dec 27, 2021)

Reverse Polish said:


> Not knowing what you've used to prepare thus far, definitely pick up the NCEES practice exam and Joseph Schuster's book of practice exams. In my experience, the NCEES practice exam was a bit easier than the real thing, but Mr. Schuster's practice exams were closer in degree of difficulty.
> 
> Beyond these two sources, there isn't much practice material available for the constructed response problems. I ended up working these same problems over and over until I understood every aspect of the solutions inside-out. You might also want to see if you can obtain older copies of these books (based on older versions of the codes) just to have additional problems to work.
> 
> Best of success to you!


This is helpful. Thank you


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## ibbo (Dec 29, 2021)

I took the SE in 2011 so the codes are different but I found the book linked below to be very helpful with old test questions regarding concepts and the level of difficulty in problem solving. There is an updated (but not current) version by Dave Fanella. The problems in the book below were harder than anything I saw on the SE, and took longer than the time recommended to solve, but still are useful to see what older SEs had to contend with.

Structural Engineering: License Review Problems & Solutions: Williams, Alan: 9781427751591: Amazon.com: Books


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