APRIL 2019 RESULTS - PE CIVIL - STRUCTURAL

[Mo917]

Unfortunately failed, first attempt.  I got 34 AM & 14 PM so 48 total. My buddy took the same test, got 51 total and still failed. Both in VA. 

Took School of PE and it was very useful for the AM but useless for the PM. Talking to friends who took it last October, their PM questions was very well aligned with the school of pee notes. 

Any advice on study material or references to use for the afternoon? I had all the codes but still got a zero on the codes categories. 

 

[RKo]

First time taking it and I failed. AM 23/40 PM 17/40

I took around 3-5 practice exams AM and did pretty good and on the actual exam unlucky to get 23/40 (just my luck). 

I took testmasters and it helped with AM portion but concept questions were very difficult and testmasters did not help with that (maybe just a little bit 1-2 questions) 

Testmasters were useless in the PM portion. I only took 2 practice exam for PM and honestly was pretty difficult. Followed testmasters practice problems but structures was just too broad for it. 

Studied a lot for this exam but it was not enough. What is next now?

maybe take it in October again. Positive note is I used a lot of time watching videos from testmaster, now I can do nothing but practice problems, but I really need to focus on PM portion.

Anyone have any advice for me for my 2nd attempt? What practice books I can use or perhaps classes? What can help me w/ conceptual problems in the AM portion?  

 

[Str. Entrepreneur]

First time taking it and I failed. AM 23/40 PM 17/40

I took around 3-5 practice exams AM and did pretty good and on the actual exam unlucky to get 23/40 (just my luck). 

I took testmasters and it helped with AM portion but concept questions were very difficult and testmasters did not help with that (maybe just a little bit 1-2 questions) 

Testmasters were useless in the PM portion. I only took 2 practice exam for PM and honestly was pretty difficult. Followed testmasters practice problems but structures was just too broad for it. 

Studied a lot for this exam but it was not enough. What is next now?

maybe take it in October again. Positive note is I used a lot of time watching videos from testmaster, now I can do nothing but practice problems, but I really need to focus on PM portion.

Anyone have any advice for me for my 2nd attempt? What practice books I can use or perhaps classes? What can help me w/ conceptual problems in the AM portion?  

Best of luck next attempt. I highly recommend School of PE live on site classes. Your 23/40 for AM will turn into 35+. 

 

[jocey07]

Oh my gosh!!! I cant believe I PASSED!!!!

I would have not found out about the EET course if I had not visited this forum, so I can attribute some success to this!!!!

 

[phirra]

I write the following with full sincerity and wishing you well for your next attempt:

My analysis of your struggle in the exam is that you got caught in the NCEES trap and fell for the false positives on a number of problems. Many of the morning problems are designed to throw you on wrong line of thinking and reach the wrong answer included in the choices. 

My advice would be - which is what I did - is to budget your time such that you can review your work. To accomplish this, I took the first 5 min of the test to read every question and label in 1-3 difficulty. 1 would be a question you can answer without any reference, 2 would be one you’ll need to look it up but know more or less where to, and 3 would be something you’d have to study and answer. 

Then answer all the 1s, then 2s and finally the 3s.

This method boosts your confidence and prevents you from spending too much time on problems you’ll probably get wrong anyway even if you had an hour. Try this next time. 

Thank you for the suggestion. The strategy sounds good. I will probably employ it next time I take.

 I am still contemplating whether to take the test again. My intention to take it early in my career was to register in California, as it requires only 1 year experience with masters. So, taking it for the third time, and getting results in next December and  later taking the two other tests, wouldn't really affect my career that much. Instead I can wait till I have 3 years of experience and take it later which would more or less be of same duration. On the other hand, the sunken-cost approach would say that, as already most of the material is fresh in memory why not take it next time when prep time would be considerably less. 

On the hindsight I do agree I might have fell for NCEES traps and also I was thrown off-track when I saw the test as it was way more different and trickier than October. In a way, that gave me the confidence, thinking that since the test was difficult the cut-off would be low and with my preparation I should sail through. 

It is just hard to swallow the fact that you prepare 10x more than the last time and end up with exact same score. I know that I cant blame the people who set the test, it is just personal disappointment due to expectations.  

 

 

[WickedYetCivil]

Thank you for the suggestion. The strategy sounds good. I will probably employ it next time I take.

 I am still contemplating whether to take the test again. My intention to take it early in my career was to register in California, as it requires only 1 year experience with masters. So, taking it for the third time, and getting results in next December and  later taking the two other tests, wouldn't really affect my career that much. Instead I can wait till I have 3 years of experience and take it later which would more or less be of same duration. On the other hand, the sunken-cost approach would say that, as already most of the material is fresh in memory why not take it next time when prep time would be considerably less. 

On the hindsight I do agree I might have fell for NCEES traps and also I was thrown off-track when I saw the test as it was way more different and trickier than October. In a way, that gave me the confidence, thinking that since the test was difficult the cut-off would be low and with my preparation I should sail through. 

It is just hard to swallow the fact that you prepare 10x more than the last time and end up with exact same score. I know that I cant blame the people who set the test, it is just personal disappointment due to expectations.  

 

I would encourage to keep moving forward and sit in Oct. If you felt the Oct 2018 Exam wasn't as hard as the April 2019 exam and got the same score...I say you improved!

I waited a year to retake and went from a 42 to a 49 after taking EET structural depth class this time around. I might not have passed but I did improve. I'm sure I fell for some of those NCEES tricks but having that year gap (plus getting set back like 3 weeks from being sick) I didn't give myself enough time for the afternoon material. I still studied WAY more than I did the first time and I didn't take my fail this time very well. I still plan on sitting in Oct.

Don't give up! 

 

[WickedYetCivil]

Unfortunately failed, first attempt.  I got 34 AM & 14 PM so 48 total. My buddy took the same test, got 51 total and still failed. Both in VA. 

Took School of PE and it was very useful for the AM but useless for the PM. Talking to friends who took it last October, their PM questions was very well aligned with the school of pee notes. 

Any advice on study material or references to use for the afternoon? I had all the codes but still got a zero on the codes categories. 

I signed up for EET Depth this time around because I heard the notes were great and really helped people in the afternoon. It helped some but the binders have A LOT of material in them and maybe I didn't give myself enough time to truly know that binder inside and out. 

Going to try this thing a 3rd time in Oct. I just plan on working as many problems as possible and really knowing my references inside and out. SoPE was great for the morning tho!

 

[phirra]

I would encourage to keep moving forward and sit in Oct. If you felt the Oct 2018 Exam wasn't as hard as the April 2019 exam and got the same score...I say you improved!

I waited a year to retake and went from a 42 to a 49 after taking EET structural depth class this time around. I might not have passed but I did improve. I'm sure I fell for some of those NCEES tricks but having that year gap (plus getting set back like 3 weeks from being sick) I didn't give myself enough time for the afternoon material. I still studied WAY more than I did the first time and I didn't take my fail this time very well. I still plan on sitting in Oct.

Don't give up! 

Thank you for encouragement. I wish the same to you too. I can totally understand what being sick feels( that's what happened in October on the exam day).

It is not just physical but affects lot more things.

 I will see if I can ask my company to sponsor the EET course. My company is great that way that they bought all the books I asked for the test and have paid twice for the test. 

I would feel very bad to ask them again. So I will probably  will pay it out of my pocket.

Since I have been through the whole syllabus twice, I think lot of timed-practice test will help me more, but I am not putting off a course as an option yet.

So did you take On-demand or Webinar? How many practice tests they had? 

 

[WickedYetCivil]

Thank you for encouragement. I wish the same to you too. I can totally understand what being sick feels( that's what happened in October on the exam day).

It is not just physical but affects lot more things.

 I will see if I can ask my company to sponsor the EET course. My company is great that way that they bought all the books I asked for the test and have paid twice for the test. 

I would feel very bad to ask them again. So I will probably  will pay it out of my pocket.

Since I have been through the whole syllabus twice, I think lot of timed-practice test will help me more, but I am not putting off a course as an option yet.

So did you take On-demand or Webinar? How many practice tests they had? 

I took on demand because I am in central time zone and the classes are in pacific time zone. They have one practice test they provide, but soo many practice problems! Sadly I have not found many Structural afternoon practice tests besides for one PPI sells, the NCEES practice exam and then Civil Engineering Academy has one as well. 

My company covered SoPE the first time and helped with roughly half of my references and the cost of exam, so I took the hit for EET. 

Improving my timing is what I think will work best for me since I feel like I'm swimming in material at this point. Hope this helps!

 

[mrudolp1]

I took the exam in WV, and a co-worker of mine took it in PA and we both passed on our first attempts. We both used School of PE to study since it was recommended by 4 other co-workers here who all passed on their first attempts. Highly recommend SoPE to anybody who may need to sit for the exam again. The morning felt like a breeze, but the SoPE depth classes/problems felt like they didnt cover the afternoon portion of the exam well enough (although they must have been doing something right). 

 

[Jbreeden]

I passed this year. First attempt with the 8 hr test, tried the 16hr SE last year and failed. So by comparison this one felt like a breeze. I used PPI for both the SE study course and the PE study course. I thought the PPI study books were spot on and used them heavily throughout the test. I felt PPI PE structural depth prep was weak but since I studied for the SE last year I was covered. I studied 3-4 times a week at 3hr minimum sessions from first week in January. Saved problems and practice tests for last month of study. Did 36/26 62 total on NCEES practice test. Be very familiar with all codes!! Best of luck to those who didn’t pass this time, I am done for now unless I go for the SE again. We will see, I don’t like failing anything. 

 

[Glengineer]

So, is it not curious that the NCEES posting was like "Most results from the April 2019 pencil-and-paper PE exams have been released to NCEES member licensing boards. PE Structural exam results will be released as soon as they are finalized."

What was the hold up with the PE structural?? 

Or do they mean SE?  

They are referring to the SE, which takes longer to grade, due to the long form afternoon questions.  Attempted it last April, and aside from melting my brain by sitting for 16 hours of exams in one go, the wait for results after the PE folks got theirs, was excruciating!

 

[tru2YM]

Failed- AM 28, PM 20- Total 48

Worst thing is got the exact same score in October 2018 with 1/10 of preparation.

Feels like an evil joke. 

I feel your pain. I got the same result and the same sense of an evil joke.

 

[RKo]

for those who passed. Can anyone refer me to a good reference and practice problems book that help them alot in the PM portion?

 

[jocey07]

for those who passed. Can anyone refer me to a good reference and practice problems book that help them alot in the PM portion?

I had taken the School of P.E last time and failed.

 This time the difference was EET. I had signed up for their on demand class for both the AM and PM portions.

EET's structural depth is vast with a ton of problems. I tried to solve all their afternoon structural problems, some I couldn't because I had saved some for the end and never had time to get back  to it.

This time the structural test was hard and a little different, and I didn't think the EET class or any class could have helped prepare for it. But solving all of the EET problems,  gave me lot of confidence to face the test.

I highly recommend EET because that is what pushed me over the edge to a passing score. This was my fourth time. So don't give up hope. If I can do it, anyone can.

 

[phirra]

I feel your pain. I got the same result and the same sense of an evil joke.

Never had a breakup but I believe this is how it must feel.

Feels so hard to show up at work 

 

[phirra]

Oregon, pass. Prepared solo. Thought the AM questions were tricky and was short on time. Felt better about the PM. Good luck everyone!

I am from Oregon too .

What references did you use for the test. 

 

[OSU_Gamerr]

I am from Oregon too .

What references did you use for the test. 

I think I over-studied the morning session material. Looking back on it, I was preparing for the morning topics like I had to take the depth exam for each topic. I was rigorously going through the CERM studying for water/geo/soils/ SoM, and then drilling the Lindeburg practice problems. And the morning questions are not like that at all. I started to realize that with a month to go when I started taking practice exams, especially the NCEES practice exams, and getting a feel for the problems.

The afternoon material was easier for me to study. I'm a structural designer with work consisting of steel design, existing concrete structure analysis, and aluminum design (unrelated to the PE). I took timber design during college, which really helped prepare me for the wood questions. Totally lost on masonry....never took a class on it in college....tried my best to learn the topic and affiliated codes.....but I knew I didn't stand much of a chance lol.  So I didn't have to review these topics a whole lot, I just drilled the depth practice exams (probably ended taking 4-5 depth practice exams; ~200 problems) to get used to problems and jumping around the different codes. And similar to the morning session, most of the actual problems were much easier than the practice problems on the actual test.

Main Study Materials:

Lindeburg: CERM, Practice Problems, Practice Exams

NCEES: PE Civil Engineer Structural Practice Exam, FE Reference Handbook

Six Minute Solutions: Transportation, Geotech, Structural

I highly recommend the six minute solutions for depth studying, those questions were pretty close to what were in the actual thing. The lindeburg stuff was way tougher and more in depth then what was on the actual test, so i guess it was good practice....but it kinda wears one down. Think I'd recommend a review course or something for the morning session, I think that would have been helpful looking back on it....cus as I mention above I ended up going way too deep into the breadth topics.

Hope this helps, best of luck in October! You got this!!

 

[phirra]

I think I over-studied the morning session material. Looking back on it, I was preparing for the morning topics like I had to take the depth exam for each topic. I was rigorously going through the CERM studying for water/geo/soils/ SoM, and then drilling the Lindeburg practice problems. And the morning questions are not like that at all. I started to realize that with a month to go when I started taking practice exams, especially the NCEES practice exams, and getting a feel for the problems.

The afternoon material was easier for me to study. I'm a structural designer with work consisting of steel design, existing concrete structure analysis, and aluminum design (unrelated to the PE). I took timber design during college, which really helped prepare me for the wood questions. Totally lost on masonry....never took a class on it in college....tried my best to learn the topic and affiliated codes.....but I knew I didn't stand much of a chance lol.  So I didn't have to review these topics a whole lot, I just drilled the depth practice exams (probably ended taking 4-5 depth practice exams; ~200 problems) to get used to problems and jumping around the different codes. And similar to the morning session, most of the actual problems were much easier than the practice problems on the actual test.

Main Study Materials:

Lindeburg: CERM, Practice Problems, Practice Exams

NCEES: PE Civil Engineer Structural Practice Exam, FE Reference Handbook

Six Minute Solutions: Transportation, Geotech, Structural

I highly recommend the six minute solutions for depth studying, those questions were pretty close to what were in the actual thing. The lindeburg stuff was way tougher and more in depth then what was on the actual test, so i guess it was good practice....but it kinda wears one down. Think I'd recommend a review course or something for the morning session, I think that would have been helpful looking back on it....cus as I mention above I ended up going way too deep into the breadth topics.

Hope this helps, best of luck in October! You got this!!

In my work I dont tend to use lot of codes except Steel Manual and lot of FEM analysis.

I did read through 6 minute solutions for structures and had read SERM in & out at least twice. Went through most codes, solved 2 practice test. 

I was close in passing October with way less preparation than in April with lot more preparation. I certainly dont know how to explain it to myself. 

I still wonder, how did you have 4-5 practice test for Structural Depth?? 

 

[keepinitCIVIL]

FAIL 26/20 (46 TOTAL)