April 2021 Post Exam Wait Period - Welcome to the Suck

[civilrobot PE etc etc]

Problems, problems, problems, problems. I didn't do nearly enough the first two tries. Do as many problems as you can. I had taken SOPE the first two tries but decided to take EET (I think it's a different name now?) for the third attempt to strengthen some of my weaknesses. That, combined with the practice problems, pushed me over the edge.

Study environment was a biggie too. The first two tries, I studied on the couch while my husband watched TV. For the third attempt, I was much more rigorous - studied at the table with classical music to focus, etc.

Finally, I extended my prep time. I started studying a couple of weeks after my honeymoon in April 2018 until about 2 or 3 days before October 2018 exam. It never feels like enough time

@structurenole2015 listen to @txjennah PE . i followed this exact advice and passed. i'm not super brilliant or a great test taker and this worked for me. discipline and practice are your saving graces.

 

[rafsan06]

When I deal with new to me structural PEs, I always look up their license number and when it was first received in their primary state. This is the only way (besides LinkedIn) I can judge how experience someone is if I have not heard about him or her before.

well, I can say the same about structural. I don’t think undergrad degree provides sufficient structural engineering background either.
I think to successfully start a structural engineering carrier, one needs to be either in a very good company that invests in training of new engineers, or be pretty talented and hard working, or get masters in structural.
Also, some structural folks work in very limited field of engineering, such as designing concrete or CFS only, which also makes passing the exam a bit more difficult.

I do not have that much idea about courses in the US. My Undergrad is from Bangladesh. For our undergrad we had to do 164 credit hours total, which is almost 40 hours more than what I heard they do in the US. Covered Water, Environmental, Structural, Geotech topics. I have not seen anything in these Depths that was not in my undergrad syllabus. Sure I do not know all the application of all the fields, but the concepts were covered. Everything I learned in Construction is after coming to the US and doing my masters and on my job. I understand the experience could be totally different for people here. I used to hate that we did not had open credit, meaning every semester was pre designed with courses and everyone had to take them. There were no optional.. But now I am glad it was like that. So, even if I hate some areas; I have done courses on them and that helped me a lot bot my FE and PE. Here in the us you have total freedom of what you are taking as a course. To me it does not make sense, as the University is give the kid the freedom to choose what classes he want's to take. who does not have the slightest clue what is important or anything about real world.....

 

[RBHeadge PE]

So for the Civil PE CBT version starting in 2022, you won't be able to bring any references in with you?? It'll be like the FE where they supplied the only reference manual you will need? Seems way different than the P&P exam is, and more than just switching to computer testing. If this is how it's going to go, I'm doomed if I fail again in Oct.

Yes.
Yes.
Yes, it's a big departure in how things were done previously.
I highly doubt that. The pass rates for the CBT are generally higher than the P&P exams.

 

[RBHeadge PE]

I emailed NCEES last week about wanting them to update the practice exams (you know, the ones from 2014) and she also mentioned that the specs for the PE Civil exams will NOT change when it goes to cpmputer based, but there there will be the online reference, and we won't be able to bring in outside reference material.

Similar to the PE reference books already used for CBT exams: Log into MyNCEES, your source for all NCEES services

The bolded is NCEES speak for 'the questions/content aren't changing much'

This seems like it would make the exam more difficult, somehow. Did she mention updating the 2014 practice exams?

See commentary above.
I'm not sure if having a consolidated reference source, with a ctrl-f searchable function makes it more difficult or easier. And recall that the reference material is provided months ahead of time so the examinee can use it when studying for the exam.

ETA: maybe not more difficult since they technically shouldn't be allowed to ask questions pertaining to material not found in their own supplied reference manual, correct?

If they prepared the reference correctly and cross checked the reference correctly, then the examinee will have the required raw information (codes, tables, equations, etc) required to answer the problems. They'll still have to rely on skill and experience to answer questions. OTOH the exam committee will (read: should) also remove any questions that could be answered by the reference with a simple ctrl-f search.

 

[chelseadawn]

I do not have that much idea about courses in the US. My Undergrad is from Bangladesh. For our undergrad we had to do 164 credit hours total, which is almost 40 hours more than what I heard they do in the US. Covered Water, Environmental, Structural, Geotech topics. I have not seen anything in these Depths that was not in my undergrad syllabus. Sure I do not know all the application of all the fields, but the concepts were covered. Everything I learned in Construction is after coming to the US and doing my masters and on my job. I understand the experience could be totally different for people here. I used to hate that we did not had open credit, meaning every semester was pre designed with courses and everyone had to take them. There were no optional.. But now I am glad it was like that. So, even if I hate some areas; I have done courses on them and that helped me a lot bot my FE and PE. Here in the us you have total freedom of what you are taking as a course. To me it does not make sense, as the University is give the kid the freedom to choose what classes he want's to take. who does not have the slightest clue what is important or anything about real world.....

Canada is very similar. I didn't know this until I had my credentials evaluation but I had essentially 5 extra engineering courses, 1 general education, and 1 math course extra than required. I have to assume those extra courses helped broaden my knowledge for the breadth at they very least.

 

[steel]

This seems like it would make the exam more difficult, somehow. Did she mention updating the 2014 practice exams?

ETA: maybe not more difficult since they technically shouldn't be allowed to ask questions pertaining to material not found in their own supplied reference manual, correct?

She did say they planned to update some practice exams this summer.

 

[steel]

The bolded is NCEES speak for 'the questions/content aren't changing much'

Okay, true. I went back to her email to me and she said "The specs will not change in 2022. There will be 80 questions."

That's NCEES speak for "same number of questions so I'm going to tell you the specs won't change when in reality it's more like LOL GOOD LUCK."

 

[RBHeadge PE]

I'm seeing reports that some more, but not all, people can see if they passed and were issued a license via the Georgia https://secure.sos.state.ga.us/mylicense/Login.aspx?process=ren

This is just a friendly reminder that in the past, not everyone who passed in Georgia were able to find themselves via license lookup prior to the NCEES release. I'm not considering this a full release yet.

 

[AZ_ladybrain]

Can those of you that passed the exam comment on what the best practice problems/exams were? I'm looking to possibly purchase some and I am utterly overwhelmed with the results that just popped up in my Amazon search.

 

[txjennah PE]

Can those of you that passed the exam comment on what the best practice problems/exams were? I'm looking to possibly purchase some and I am utterly overwhelmed with the results that just popped up in my Amazon search.

It's been three years since I passed, but I will say that I avoided the Lindeburg Practice Exam book for my successful attempt. I didn't feel the problems were representative of what was on the exam, at least for my discipline (Environmental). Not sure if there are Schneiter books for each discipline, but I used practice books from that author, along with NCEES practice exams.

 

[Tiger15]

Is there anyone who can tell me about compensation discussions for someone who has many years of engineering experience but is just receiving a license? I've been doing this since 2007 and am very good at what I do - I should be by now right! However, I passed the FE two years ago and just passed the PE. I'm just wondering if my experience will be primarily considered or if I'll be considered a newbie. I assume more of the latter and will find out soon. Just looking for some feedback on discussions from someone who has gone through it in the private sector.

I can't speak to your current employer, but I've never put the date I passed the PE on a resume. Just sayin'.

When I deal with new to me structural PEs, I always look up their license number and when it was first received in their primary state. This is the only way (besides LinkedIn) I can judge how experience someone is if I have not heard about him or her before.

I don't know if it's different in Civil. But in my experience (Mech Eng), when you got your PE license has zero relevance to how long you've been doing the work or how good you are at it. You might have 20 years experience and just got your PE, or you might have gotten your PE with only 4. The experience is the important thing that indicates your knowledge and value, not when you were licensed.

 

[Tiger15]

This seems like it would make the exam more difficult, somehow. Did she mention updating the 2014 practice exams?

ETA: maybe not more difficult since they technically shouldn't be allowed to ask questions pertaining to material not found in their own supplied reference manual, correct?

This was a huge debate when Mech Eng switched to CBT. The way the NCEES spec is written, they are allowed to ask you anything regardless of what is contained in the official CBT reference.
But in practice it seems that any problem that has to be solved mathematically will have the necessary info in the provided reference. They do sometimes ask conceptual questions that aren't in the reference. You just have to know those.

This is based on 1 year of feedback, so your mileage may vary.

 

[civilrobot PE etc etc]

Can those of you that passed the exam comment on what the best practice problems/exams were? I'm looking to possibly purchase some and I am utterly overwhelmed with the results that just popped up in my Amazon search.

Here's my list:

Civil PE Practice - Civil Engineering PE Practice Exams - 2 Breadth Exams
Practice Exam for the Civil PE Examination (Goswami)
Six Minute Solutions
SoPE Practice Problems
EET Practice Problems
EET Simulated Exams (mid term and full simulated exam

 

[MadamPirate PE]

It's been three years since I passed, but I will say that I avoided the Lindeburg Practice Exam book for my successful attempt. I didn't feel the problems were representative of what was on the exam, at least for my discipline (Environmental). Not sure if there are Schneiter books for each discipline, but I used practice books from that author, along with NCEES practice exams.

I feel like the Lindeburg books are FANTASTIC for the FE, but garbage for the PE.

 

[NJHHEngineer P.E.]

Can those of you that passed the exam comment on what the best practice problems/exams were? I'm looking to possibly purchase some and I am utterly overwhelmed with the results that just popped up in my Amazon search.

Linbergh's problems make a great door stop. But not so much for exam prep. They're far more intense than what you'll see and do not differentiate between a breadth and depth topic. If you can solve them...good for you and you'll probably be ok for the exam.

NCEES Practice Exam
EET Practice Problems
Goswami's Practice Problems (only did a handful)
Six minutes (if you can spare about 20)

Don't get so caught up in just number crunching. You need to make sure you have a good understanding of the concepts and theory as well.

 

[Tiger15]

It's been three years since I passed, but I will say that I avoided the Lindeburg Practice Exam book for my successful attempt. I didn't feel the problems were representative of what was on the exam, at least for my discipline (Environmental). Not sure if there are Schneiter books for each discipline, but I used practice books from that author, along with NCEES practice exams.

I feel like the Lindeburg books are FANTASTIC for the FE, but garbage for the PE.

For Mech Eng the Lindeburg MERM is great for theory, but the problems are all WAY TOO HARD. They are like 15-20 minute problems and not representative of what's on the PE exam. But I use my MERM as a reference regularly.

 

[AMP2319]

Just some advice for people looking to get some practice problems - if you go to scribd.com they have tons of material. You can sign up for the free trial and download as many references and practice problems as you can before the trial ends and it turns to a paid subscription. This is how I found a lot of study material for free!

 

[Roarbark]

So as best I can gather between here and reddit: The following States are confirmed waiting:

• New Jersey
• Georgia
• Minnesota
• Colorado
• Montana
• Alaska

No word either way from:

• Maine
• DC
• South Dakota
• Hawaii

My guess is that all but Hawaii in the list have released and we just don't know about it yet. @justin-hawaii , @Roarbark have you heard anything?

Don't think I know anyone who took it this round. Nothing to add, sorry!
I should have some contacts for next round's testing

 

[eltayeb707]

View attachment 22691

Look at the Passing Rate.... Construction and Structure took a hard hit....

For structural, the overall passing rate is 48% ( taking repeat takers into account) , meaning one out of two April's examinees didn't pass, even worse for construction!

 

[WaterGuyHH]

NCEES/Georgia has officially released the results. Praise the Lord.