I loved the Civil PE Surveying Review (www.CPESR.com) online course. It had three timed exams which was exactly what I needed to be able to better manage my time and sharping my brain. I had studied some other good materials but I would I get rusty with certain formulas or topics. CPESR timed exams keeps your brain fresh because each individual exam covers all the topics of the test schedule and shuffles the questions and answers so you are not unintentionally memorizing. Practicing these tests helped embed formulas in my head and sped up my hand/calculator skills. Time is the biggest enemy on this test and CPESR helps you manage it. Your knowledge of the subject won't matter much if you can't finish the test. I learned that the hard way.
CPESR Surving Course
- Thread starter Awni
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I was underwhellmed with this class. I did pass the test this time using the course (I failed last time) but I am not sure if it was the class or another 3 months of studying that made the difference. I took a seismic class that I paid $500 for this included almost 100 hours of video material and hundreds (maybe over a thousand) of questions. For $400 this class was not even close to worth the money. I don't know what else is out there, but I would look at others before commiting to this class.
I thought this class was fantastic and worth every penny. I have never taken any survey classes (I don't have a BS), and had zero surveying experience. So going into this wasn't a "refresher" for me. I was diving into a subject I knew nothing about at all. I had some other books but was totally lost. So at the last minute before the exam I found and bought this course. So glad I did! I spent about 25 hours ripping through their course and exams and passed on the first try (They recommend going through them more than once but I didn't have time). I thought the 10 +/- hrs of video lecture, quizzes and practice exams were VERY high quality and they did a great job explaining this complicated subject. The presenter speaks perfect English, and the videos have a much higher production quality to them than any of the others I've seen - made them much easier to sit through. It's a "quality over quantity" situation in my opinion - they don't need 100 hrs of video and a 1000 questions to get you up to speed. I guess if you want to go through all that you can, but I just wanted to conquer this exam as efficiently as I could. They also give you a small, well organized reference manual that was the only reference I needed on the exam.
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Awni and Travis151, congratulation on passing the Surveying Exam and for your candid reviews. We really appreciate it.
Water7878, congratulation on passing the Surveying Exam using our course! Here at CPESR, we do our best to provide students with the best possible review, which is why we are perplexed by your post.
We have spent thousands of hours putting together a program built for speed and efficiency so students don’t have to guess what is important and what is not important. Surveying and Seismic are completely different tests that require different approaches. With Seismic, students must be taught all the formulas and where to apply them. This requires hours and hours of instruction time. I can assure you there is no survey review course out there that has 100 hours of instruction because it would be a complete waste.
Instead, we take a different approach which includes efficient high-quality videos, hundreds of relative practice problems, and three realistic computer-based practice tests. No other review has these tests. And in terms of cost, $399 is the lowest price you will find for any survey review course anywhere.
Visit our website to find more testimonials from actual verifiable students.
Again congratulation to Awni, Travis, and Water7878 on passing the Surveying Exam using our course and good luck to you in all your future endeavors.
www.civilpesurveyingreview.com
Water7878, congratulation on passing the Surveying Exam using our course! Here at CPESR, we do our best to provide students with the best possible review, which is why we are perplexed by your post.
We have spent thousands of hours putting together a program built for speed and efficiency so students don’t have to guess what is important and what is not important. Surveying and Seismic are completely different tests that require different approaches. With Seismic, students must be taught all the formulas and where to apply them. This requires hours and hours of instruction time. I can assure you there is no survey review course out there that has 100 hours of instruction because it would be a complete waste.
Instead, we take a different approach which includes efficient high-quality videos, hundreds of relative practice problems, and three realistic computer-based practice tests. No other review has these tests. And in terms of cost, $399 is the lowest price you will find for any survey review course anywhere.
Visit our website to find more testimonials from actual verifiable students.
Again congratulation to Awni, Travis, and Water7878 on passing the Surveying Exam using our course and good luck to you in all your future endeavors.
www.civilpesurveyingreview.com
ptatohed
Licenced to Spell
It's a class to teach you the act of standing on a survboard and riding the ocean wave in. It's a California thing.
ld-025:elsieshepherd
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Just curious, why did you feel underwhelmed? Were the questions not like the ones you would see in the exam or are the lectures boring?
Thanks
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Superlaker24
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I see the course only provides 10 hours. Are all the topics covered in the time? I seen other courses with more hours.
I took this over a year ago and this is what I would have liked:
1. The page numbers in the book did not match the video. This may have been updated since
2. I would have liked a course book and an equation booklet separate. the course book showed not only have info, but all the problems done in the class worked out as well as homework problems at the end of each chapter. This was what I thought was missing (more homework, and worked out example problems. at least the ones gone over in class should have been in the book.
That is pretty much it, I am glad I took the class, but I feel that this class didn't provide much benefit that i wouldn't have gained studying myself. They did teach me how to use the II-89 for DMS calcs. This was probably the most important piece of info that I gout out of the class.
CPESR's 4 timed computer-based practice exams were my key to passing the exam. Kirk's exams were very similar in style to the actual exam. Because the exam is so fast-paced, it's imperative that one practice ahead of time. Kirk's exams gave me a feel for how the actual exam would be, and helped me prepare for it's fast-paced nature. Since I don't do surveying on the job, I took Kirk's exams 3 or 4 times each, each time seeing improvement. I reported my results to Kirk and he encouraged me and helped me in my weak areas. I must have emailed him at least 20 times, each email with multiple questions, and he responded to each email thoroughly and timely. That was such a key to building my confidence and knowledge. I am so grateful for this class. Also I liked that each practice exam got progressively harder; starting off easiest is a great way to build confidence. I also was able to implement the strategy of skipping the hard questions right from the gate, and focusing instead on the easy calcs and qualitative questions.
Does the course go over the different topics? i have no surveying background. What does the course provide besides the book? Is he ten hours sufficient for the topics?
jijir83
Expert in everything useless
Hopefully for the benefit of future test takers, I'm adding my review after signing up for this course and passing the survey exam in Fall 2016.
I must start though by saying that I don't think this course is for everyone. After failing the first time, I knew that I wouldn't do better without simulation exams. I can't say if taking a course without the (Computer Based Tests) CBTs would have yield the same result but I passed with this course which offered them. Here's my 1 data point for your analysis.
In any event, I borrowed a popular Survey review book and purchased a different one. They're the same. I studied with one in Spring 2016. Everything made sense. I learned a few things when it comes to calculations/computations and leveling which I knew nothing about. The rest was very easy and straight forward mainly because (no bragging), I'm pretty damn good at geometry and trip. Even won prizes back in the day.
When I took the test, it was a different beast. There were loads of equipment questions (down to the level of adjusting nobs on a specific tool) and loads of legal questions and a number of lengthy questions at the start and middle of the test strictly placed there to suck up your time. And the rest was easy. I wasn't ready for any of that. By the time I was out of time, I had 15 questions I was trying to click through to choose an answer and realize they were mad easy and all at the end. I figured if I were to take that test again, I needed a test strategy and needed to improve speed through actual simulation.
I signed up for CPESR. I didn't learn anything new (maybe 1 or 2 things) but I learned to practice a variety of questions at the end of each chapter. Essentially, their end of chapter quizzes, unlike the books, mix other chapters questions in there to keep you reminded of previous topics. I went through the 8 lessons over the course of 6 weeks or so. In the meantime, I got a number of material from someone on this board that I used to go over topics when I didn't feel like being on the computer. At the end of those 6 weeks, I started practicing the CBTs. I did each one of them at least twice. The course's author was really good at keeping in touch and was quick with answering questions when I had them. The course platform went through an upgrade and some things were not matching up.
I went into the test having practiced 4 CBTs at least twice (at least 20 hours) and took with me the review book they provided. Just like the first time, the test was easy but I learned to skip questions that were obvious time suckers. Still, I spend more than 2.5 minutes on each question. And honestly, I wasn't wasting time figuring things out. The whole time I was punching numbers in my calculator and barely breathing. The entire test, I needed 2 pages from my review manual for one conversion and to confirm something else. The majority of the test only required sin and cos, addition and subtraction. But there were so many steps to many problems and the answer options wouldn't put you in the ballpark without completing the actual calculation. By the time I had 20 minutes left, I had 15 questions I had not even looked at. I'll admit, I was so pissed that I had tears all over the damn desk. I felt like punching someone/something right there. I made sure to pick an answer for everything before time ran out. I walked out just as upset as I was the first time and didn't think I'd pass on my own merit.
How I passed, I don't know. The passing curve most likely has something to do with it. But, I think practicing those CBTs helped a whole lot with gaining speed. Using the CPESR videos helped with recognizing pitfalls. And, the practice quizzes and taking the CBTs multiple times helped with improving accuracy. I probably didn't answer more questions that last time but I probably answered them more accurately to make a difference this time.
Now that I've said all of that... I don't think this course is for everyone. If you already have a good survey background, have reviewed before but didn't pass or are really good with geo/trigonometry or a combination of those, then it's the right thing to do to self-study. If not, you might be better off with one of the other 2 offerings even if they don't have CBT components. If I had to rate this course 1 to 5 stars, I'd give it 4.5 as it delivered on my needs given my specific background. It is however very light, in my opinion, if it's going to be your first exposure to this topic and you don't have good math foundation.
I hope this helps someone down the road.
Cheers!
I must start though by saying that I don't think this course is for everyone. After failing the first time, I knew that I wouldn't do better without simulation exams. I can't say if taking a course without the (Computer Based Tests) CBTs would have yield the same result but I passed with this course which offered them. Here's my 1 data point for your analysis.
In any event, I borrowed a popular Survey review book and purchased a different one. They're the same. I studied with one in Spring 2016. Everything made sense. I learned a few things when it comes to calculations/computations and leveling which I knew nothing about. The rest was very easy and straight forward mainly because (no bragging), I'm pretty damn good at geometry and trip. Even won prizes back in the day.
When I took the test, it was a different beast. There were loads of equipment questions (down to the level of adjusting nobs on a specific tool) and loads of legal questions and a number of lengthy questions at the start and middle of the test strictly placed there to suck up your time. And the rest was easy. I wasn't ready for any of that. By the time I was out of time, I had 15 questions I was trying to click through to choose an answer and realize they were mad easy and all at the end. I figured if I were to take that test again, I needed a test strategy and needed to improve speed through actual simulation.
I signed up for CPESR. I didn't learn anything new (maybe 1 or 2 things) but I learned to practice a variety of questions at the end of each chapter. Essentially, their end of chapter quizzes, unlike the books, mix other chapters questions in there to keep you reminded of previous topics. I went through the 8 lessons over the course of 6 weeks or so. In the meantime, I got a number of material from someone on this board that I used to go over topics when I didn't feel like being on the computer. At the end of those 6 weeks, I started practicing the CBTs. I did each one of them at least twice. The course's author was really good at keeping in touch and was quick with answering questions when I had them. The course platform went through an upgrade and some things were not matching up.
I went into the test having practiced 4 CBTs at least twice (at least 20 hours) and took with me the review book they provided. Just like the first time, the test was easy but I learned to skip questions that were obvious time suckers. Still, I spend more than 2.5 minutes on each question. And honestly, I wasn't wasting time figuring things out. The whole time I was punching numbers in my calculator and barely breathing. The entire test, I needed 2 pages from my review manual for one conversion and to confirm something else. The majority of the test only required sin and cos, addition and subtraction. But there were so many steps to many problems and the answer options wouldn't put you in the ballpark without completing the actual calculation. By the time I had 20 minutes left, I had 15 questions I had not even looked at. I'll admit, I was so pissed that I had tears all over the damn desk. I felt like punching someone/something right there. I made sure to pick an answer for everything before time ran out. I walked out just as upset as I was the first time and didn't think I'd pass on my own merit.
How I passed, I don't know. The passing curve most likely has something to do with it. But, I think practicing those CBTs helped a whole lot with gaining speed. Using the CPESR videos helped with recognizing pitfalls. And, the practice quizzes and taking the CBTs multiple times helped with improving accuracy. I probably didn't answer more questions that last time but I probably answered them more accurately to make a difference this time.
Now that I've said all of that... I don't think this course is for everyone. If you already have a good survey background, have reviewed before but didn't pass or are really good with geo/trigonometry or a combination of those, then it's the right thing to do to self-study. If not, you might be better off with one of the other 2 offerings even if they don't have CBT components. If I had to rate this course 1 to 5 stars, I'd give it 4.5 as it delivered on my needs given my specific background. It is however very light, in my opinion, if it's going to be your first exposure to this topic and you don't have good math foundation.
I hope this helps someone down the road.
Cheers!
