Construction Depth Pass?

[Civil By Day]

Just trying to gauge how many people took the Construction depth of the PE and passed. Also, what was your process? How did you approach the exam? What techniques could you give? I am desperate for any and all input as I want to knock this thing out of the park in October. Failing has absolutely gutted me and I refuse to take this lying down. I want to use all the tools in my toolbox, but I've already gone through testmasters, worked a ton of problems, studied and relearned like a mad man and want to do what works next time, because this obviously didn't.

 

[WE WERE THE MULVANEYS]

I'm sick in the stomach about this I studied about 500 hrs. Took dr. Tom's civil classroom construction course. This sucks I did very well in desantis, pass the civil Pe practice exams and the Ncees exams, seems like engineers at NCEES are trying to hard to make questions sound different for each exam, they end up mis wording and not providing enough info. This test should have more standardized questions and language. This exam is designed to trick you contrary to what everyone says

 

[heyimsnuffles]

The exam is 100% designed to trick you

 

[ISpitHotFire PE]

The exam is 100% designed to trick you

It is. If a question seems easy you probably missed part of it.

Best advice I got was this post:



Followed it almost exactly and passed. I don't think there is a better blueprint for success out there.

 

[Civil By Day]

It is. If a question seems easy you probably missed part of it.

Best advice I got was this post:



Followed it almost exactly and passed. I don't think there is a better blueprint for success out there.

holy jeez, yep, i'm making this my new bible for the next 5 and a half months. I'll start buying all the books I don't have now and go from there. Thanks so much for sharing this!

 

[youngmotivatedengineer]

Since we are starting to rested now, I suggest starting with a review of all the code references and flagging what may seem important ( tables, figures etc). I had most of the codes with me ( didn't have Osha(several other guides I had included OSHA topics ) or the SP-4 guidelines, but I don't think I really used them codes much during the exam). There may have been some easier questions if I was more familiar with what was in these codes and being able to find the info quickly.

 

[RynoB]

I definitely used the OSHA manual on 2 problems and the SP-4 on 2 more. These are a must have for the exam. It's not enough to just have them you really have to review them a couple times and tab sections so you know where to find the information. 

 

[youngmotivatedengineer]

I didn't have the OSHA manual with me and I'm really glad it did not come down to failING because I didn't have the manual for the easy look up question. 

 

[GBS PE]

Ocotber 2016 - passed Civil - Construction on the first go. I posted this little passage last fall but figure I will re-post here for new visitors. 

I used EET On Demand for the breadth and the depth. I cannot say enough about EET. I fully credit them with my passing score. I highly recommend it. Send them your fee and be done with the test in one shot. Between their course (About 90 hours or so) and problem solving outside of the course, I studied for 239 hours. I studied for 1.5-2 hours every week day and 3-4 hours every weekend day from July 4th weekend until exam day. I logged every study session in a small notebook to keep track. I took a week of vacation in August and didn't study on my vacation. I also took Labor Day weekend off from studying. Additionally there were a handful of random days mixed in where I did no studying for one reason or another. In the final weeks leading up to the exam I did a few full four-hour practice exams to gauge my performance. I used the following practice exam books during studying:

CERM practice problems - the least useful practice problems

Every Goswami Civil Breadth and Construction book available at the time. Very helpful.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1539098494/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o09_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1  Goswami

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1517351707/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1  Goswami

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1494234858/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o06_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1  Goswami

Desantis Construction Practice Problems. Very helpful. I found the problems to be pretty reflective of what we'd encounter in the exam.

Six Minute Solutions for Civil Construction. This one was surprisingly useful. It gave a different viewpoint than Goswami or Desantis.

I brought my two 3" binders from the EET course. I also took a few 1.5" binders of solved problems and never looked at them. It was cheap insurance that I ended up not needing. I took every recommended reference manual from NCEES exam specification. There were some that I did not use. I took also "Construction Planning and Methods" by Peurifoy et al. This text saved me one or two times. I also brought my favorite Soil and Foundations text from college. I would not have brought more or less books with me. They were expensive but it was an insurance policy at the time and now I have a nice library of reference manuals.

One thing I should have done is at least one entire 8 hour practice exam before the big day. I did plenty of four hour days. With two little kids it was tough to block out 8 hours on a Saturday or Sunday to do a full exam. My wife was great, totally supportive, but let's face it, 8 hours straight on the weekend is rotten. So I did many (8) four hour exams but never twice in a day. In the exam I found that a big part of the test is the stamina to rapidly solve diverse problems for 8 hours straight. I had only done it for four figuring, well, I put my head down at work for 10 hours every day. But the exam is different. It's like your long run when training for a marathon. You have to get close to covering the distance to give yourself the stamina and confidence to reach the finish. I should have done that. 

 

[themandan40]

I just received passing results for my first time try on Construction. While working 45-50 hours a week and getting my Master's degree in Building Construction. Wife and 3 kids. 34 years old - but graduated in 2012 with my C.E. degree.

I took the School of PE (SoPE) breadth and depth review course. I did the on-demand program as it was the only one that fit my schedule with work and travel.

I had all of the recommended NCEES references and the CERM and all SoPE notes broken into topic binders (Water/Traffic/Structure/Geotech/Econ/Construction AM/Construction PM) and 6-minute solutions for Construction. I also had purchased the PPI Construction Depth Reference Manual and CERM Practice Problems - neither of which I ever used.

I took multiple exams beginning with 4 - hour AM exams (NCEES, PPI, and Rajapakse) Then I transitioned to 8 hour full exams (PPI and NCEES) I left the NCEES exam as the last one I took because I assumed that it was the most representative of the actual exam (not sure if this is an accurate assumption). I did find that some of the exams had almost identical questions on them. While watching the videos, I would pause the video, tab my notes, work on the problems before the instructor worked through them, etc.

Most of my studies were done on Friday afternoons and all day Saturday and Sunday (5-7 hours on Friday and 10-12 hours on each weekend day). I started studying in January. I took the entire week of the exam off to relax and compile notes and lightly review my material. I finished all of the SoPE on-demand videos about 2 weeks before the exam but had already been taking practice exams before this point. I worked through 6-minute solutions with my stop watch. All of my practice exams were timed and I stuck to the time as best as I could. I even did 1 practice exam at my office, on a Saturday, after packing up all of my material and carting it in there, just like I would on the exam.

All of my material fit into 2 milk crates but I took 3 crates with a 2-wheeled dolly. I had water/snacks/ear plugs/2x calculators. I also took all of my practice exams, but ended up not using them for anything. 

My best guess is that I have 350-400 hours studying in the exam.

 

[cuatona1]

Hi,

I was looking to see if anyone on here has a copy of 6-Minute solutions for the Construction Depth that you're willing to sell? Thanks.

 

[PEFLCE]

cuatona1:

I have the 6-minute solutions construction depth (Elaine Huang) and the construction depth practice exams (Beth Lin Hartmann, 2ed). They are brand new, I was not able to do these problems due to time. Both are very good resources. Let me know if you are still interested to give an offer. Thanks.

 

[cuatona1]

Does anyone here have a good resource for equipment productivity problems?  Or Construction PM problems in general I have NCEES, Desantis, and Goseami.

 

[ISpitHotFire PE]

Does anyone here have a good resource for equipment productivity problems?  Or Construction PM problems in general I have NCEES, Desantis, and Goseami.

Those three are great resources. Maybe see if a co-worker has an old NCEES sample or look into School of PE or EET notes.

 

[cuatona1]

Those three are great resources. Maybe see if a co-worker has an old NCEES sample or look into School of PE or EET notes.

Thank you sir! I have school of PE notes. Was looking for EET notes but they only send out hard copies.

 

[cuatona1]

Ocotber 2016 - passed Civil - Construction on the first go. I posted this little passage last fall but figure I will re-post here for new visitors. 

I used EET On Demand for the breadth and the depth. I cannot say enough about EET. I fully credit them with my passing score. I highly recommend it. Send them your fee and be done with the test in one shot. Between their course (About 90 hours or so) and problem solving outside of the course, I studied for 239 hours. I studied for 1.5-2 hours every week day and 3-4 hours every weekend day from July 4th weekend until exam day. I logged every study session in a small notebook to keep track. I took a week of vacation in August and didn't study on my vacation. I also took Labor Day weekend off from studying. Additionally there were a handful of random days mixed in where I did no studying for one reason or another. In the final weeks leading up to the exam I did a few full four-hour practice exams to gauge my performance. I used the following practice exam books during studying:

CERM practice problems - the least useful practice problems

Every Goswami Civil Breadth and Construction book available at the time. Very helpful.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1539098494/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o09_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1  Goswami

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1517351707/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1  Goswami

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1494234858/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o06_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1  Goswami

Desantis Construction Practice Problems. Very helpful. I found the problems to be pretty reflective of what we'd encounter in the exam.

Six Minute Solutions for Civil Construction. This one was surprisingly useful. It gave a different viewpoint than Goswami or Desantis.

I brought my two 3" binders from the EET course. I also took a few 1.5" binders of solved problems and never looked at them. It was cheap insurance that I ended up not needing. I took every recommended reference manual from NCEES exam specification. There were some that I did not use. I took also "Construction Planning and Methods" by Peurifoy et al. This text saved me one or two times. I also brought my favorite Soil and Foundations text from college. I would not have brought more or less books with me. They were expensive but it was an insurance policy at the time and now I have a nice library of reference manuals.

One thing I should have done is at least one entire 8 hour practice exam before the big day. I did plenty of four hour days. With two little kids it was tough to block out 8 hours on a Saturday or Sunday to do a full exam. My wife was great, totally supportive, but let's face it, 8 hours straight on the weekend is rotten. So I did many (8) four hour exams but never twice in a day. In the exam I found that a big part of the test is the stamina to rapidly solve diverse problems for 8 hours straight. I had only done it for four figuring, well, I put my head down at work for 10 hours every day. But the exam is different. It's like your long run when training for a marathon. You have to get close to covering the distance to give yourself the stamina and confidence to reach the finish. I should have done that. 

GBS,

Do you still have some of these sources I'd be interested in making an offer especially for "Construction Planning and Methods" et al. Let me know thanks.

 

[GBS PE]

Hey Cuatona,

I would sell the Peurifoy text to you. It is the 7th edition, FYI. I think there is an 8th edition out but I doubt much changed.

I would also sell my practice exam books to you if you'd like. They have marks in them all over the place but otherwise good shape.

Send me a private message if you would like to talk price etc.

Best,
GBS

 

[JunZ]

I passed the Construction on my first try with EET review class, and my actual background was in Facility/structural design. 

1. you shall do all the questions 3 times at least.

2. You shall keep a copy of OSHA manual or you miss the freebie. 

3. you shall get SP-4 .