April 2017 Exam

[zzalnera]

Without going into much detail, which books do you recall using for some of the look-up questions?
Basically just list the book name i suppose and it shouldn't be an issue.

For transportation I used Green Book, HSM, HCM, and MUTCD. Probably about a quarter of the questions were just pulling numbers off tables and diagrams.

 

[EhmayWuntee P.E.]

MUTCD, AASHTO GreenBook and Asphalt Handbook

Agreed I used those at least once each. I am sure a few questions could have used multiple books to get the same equation or definition though so people may recall using a different book to get the same answer, but a few questions I think almost had to or certainly made it a lot easier to have the specific book.

Some that I used are Lindeburg CERM, Goswami Civil Engr PE Breadth and Depth, Coduto Geotech Engr Principles and Practices, Coduto Yeung and Kitch Geotech Engr Principles and Practices, Das Principles of Geotech Engr, and the required OSHA reference. I took a lot of other books as a security blanket but these are the ones I recall actively helping me. Note that I took the geotech PM so that's why my books are geotech heavy. Also, I overlooked one of the bulleted items on the NCEES exam specs which says "Some problems may require knowledge of engineering economics," so it would have been good to take a book on that just to fall back on if necessary.

The OSHA reference must be a Geotech specific one? I don't recall it mentioned on the Transportation list, but seems it might not have hurt to have one as I don't know many OSHA rules. Does any of the other main books have an OSHA section I may have overlooked (CERM, Green Book, other AASHTO, etc)? I also got the general Goswami book and really liked it for both AM and PM, did you find it useful for Geotech PM? I like the way it is laid out and has decent examples.

For transportation I used Green Book, HSM, HCM, and MUTCD. Probably about a quarter of the questions were just pulling numbers off tables and diagrams.

I wish I could remember a few more of the questions that needed look-ups and check on them now as I know one or two I did not have time to find since it wasn't really listed in the index so either required you to have crazy tabs on every little subject or I guess at least find the right chapter and flip through it with 5+ minutes. What could have been guaranteed points if you knew where to look or had the excess time to hunt a few books became a guess for me on at least 2. This is where I was hoping/expecting to do a few more calculation questions on main topics and was ready to nail those, but instead got surprised by the amount of look-up questions that could be a test breaker for me.

 

[jdayrail]

I felt the morning session went relatively well.  However, the afternoon construction depth surprised me in terms of what was not covered and the inclusion of a couple of odd questions.   Oh well, it's time to wait.  Best of luck to everyone out there who are awaiting results.   By the way, my prep included EET's breadth and construction depth.  I am very pleased with the instruction and the reference materials they provided. 

 

[JeeperCreeper]

Without going into much detail, which books do you recall using for some of the look-up questions?Basically just list the book name i suppose and it shouldn't be an issue.

I really only remember using my School of PE binders in the AM and the Structural recommended references in the PM. I didn't use any of my practice exams, helpful guides, etc.

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[DoctorWho-PE]

Agreed I used those at least once each. I am sure a few questions could have used multiple books to get the same equation or definition though so people may recall using a different book to get the same answer, but a few questions I think almost had to or certainly made it a lot easier to have the specific book.

The OSHA reference must be a Geotech specific one? I don't recall it mentioned on the Transportation list, but seems it might not have hurt to have one as I don't know many OSHA rules. Does any of the other main books have an OSHA section I may have overlooked (CERM, Green Book, other AASHTO, etc)? I also got the general Goswami book and really liked it for both AM and PM, did you find it useful for Geotech PM? I like the way it is laid out and has decent examples.

I wish I could remember a few more of the questions that needed look-ups and check on them now as I know one or two I did not have time to find since it wasn't really listed in the index so either required you to have crazy tabs on every little subject or I guess at least find the right chapter and flip through it with 5+ minutes. What could have been guaranteed points if you knew where to look or had the excess time to hunt a few books became a guess for me on at least 2. This is where I was hoping/expecting to do a few more calculation questions on main topics and was ready to nail those, but instead got surprised by the amount of look-up questions that could be a test breaker for me.

OSHA is also a Structural Reference.  I had to print it, since we always use the online version at the office.

 

[Civil By Day]

I definitely felt the same about the afternoon construction. The questions that I consistently saw during practice exams and practice problems and review courses were nowhere to be found, seemingly replaced by some weirdly stated questions that I had a rather difficult time trying to solve. I had maybe gotten through around 25 problems before I really had to sit down with the rest and figure out what in the absolute eff they were asking for.

I used OSHA for a good amount of afternoon problems along with Goswami Civil All-In-One for a few, testmasters references for a few, and stupidly did not have SP-4, but wish I did. I tried to use my Nunnally Construction Methods reference for those odd questions, which apparently helped a few other people that I've seen, but I got no use from it. CERM would have also been a good reference to have, but I felt like Goswami was a pretty good substitution. If I'm in for Round 2 I will definitely have CERM and SP-4 with me. If anyone else would like to confirm if those references helped them on the construction portion that would be very good to know.

 

[jimmyjones]

The OSHA reference must be a Geotech specific one? I don't recall it mentioned on the Transportation list, but seems it might not have hurt to have one as I don't know many OSHA rules. Does any of the other main books have an OSHA section I may have overlooked (CERM, Green Book, other AASHTO, etc)? I also got the general Goswami book and really liked it for both AM and PM, did you find it useful for Geotech PM? I like the way it is laid out and has decent examples.

Yeah, I didn't check the Transportation exam specs but the OSHA reference is definitely on the geotech exam specs. Most of the OSHA reference covers ancillary topics not related to geotech, except for a section on excavations which, I think, is why it is a required geotech reference.

There was only very general coverage of OSHA in CERM if i recall. I think Goswami did a slightly better job. But no, I did not find anything in an alternate reference that would serve as a complete suitable alternative to the required OSHA reference.

Yeah, I think the Goswami book may have helped me hone in on a couple of things. I probably should have familiarized myself better with the book; I mostly focused on CERM, and fell back on Goswami, when necessary. In my limited use, though, I agree; I like the style of the Goswami book.

 

[SDB]

Yep - I struggled with this one and skipped it and ended up guessing. I submitted it to NCEES as I felt like it was not a good engineering economics question. 

I did the exact same thing...wasted time on it and ended up guessing.  It was the last question I answered on the test!