CPESR vs Mahallati Surveying Review Coarse

[Tokka]

I was going to take EET Surveying class, but based on a lot of recommendation its better to avoid it as it is not on to the standard of the Seismic and National Exam classes.

So now I have narrowed it down to Kirk Torossian CPESR and Reza Mahallati classes. Does anyone know if CPESR has finally updated there class to the January 2018 Test Plan? I know Reza Mahallati class has updated to the new Test Plan and is actually cheaper at $250 if you take the Dec 2018 On Demand coarse.

I believe the only advantage CPESR has is that its a quick class (12 hours vs 28  hours) and CPESR provides 4 CBT's when Reza provides 1 PDF exam. 

Any insight will be greatly appreciated.

 

[vip-eng]

@engineeringforfun would help you with that, per his recommendation, he passes the Surveying exam using Rezza book and EET practices exams. I have Rezza book and I have bought EET online course so far so good, their practice exam is excellent and mimics the actual exam pretty good, they provide 4 quizzes and 4 practice exams. I heard the CPESR is excellent but their binder is useless, I love EET binder, it's big and covers everything. 

 

[Tokka]

@vip-eng Is the EET coarse On-Demand class actually updated to the new January 2018 Test Plan or are they still doing the "DO NOT WATCH - OUTDATED" thing?

 

[vip-eng]

@vip-eng Is the EET coarse On-Demand class actually updated to the new January 2018 Test Plan or are they still doing the "DO NOT WATCH - OUTDATED" thing?

Per their website yes, it covers the New California Engineering Surveying Exam Test Plan updated in January 2018. Some of the recordings have (Do Not Study) note, most of the recordings were from 2017 and there are 4 are from 2018.  

 

[SierraDucks]

I found the Reza Course to be nearly useless, aside from the practice problems and practice test. If you attend the lecture, I highly recommend doing the problem sets BEFORE the class, and following along to ensure you understand the problems a second time. Reza isn't that great at explaining the material, but if you understand the problems beforehand, it will help with  comprehending his lectures.  Then do the problems a SECOND time, before doing the practice exam.

From what I hear, the CPESR course is the most refined, and the EET practice exams are the most useful. Mansour seems to get a lot of critique in poor quality. 

 

[vip-eng]

I found the Reza Course to be nearly useless, aside from the practice problems and practice test. If you attend the lecture, I highly recommend doing the problem sets BEFORE the class, and following along to ensure you understand the problems a second time. Reza isn't that great at explaining the material, but if you understand the problems beforehand, it will help with  comprehending his lectures.  Then do the problems a SECOND time, before doing the practice exam.

From what I hear, the CPESR course is the most refined, and the EET practice exams are the most useful. Mansour seems to get a lot of critique in poor quality. 




4

Couldn't agree more ... Here a preview of CPERS survey



course 

 

[Baby Hamster]

On my first attempt I used PPI and the manual from CPESR (I did not have any other CPESR materials). I did not pass by a long shot.

On my second attempt I bought the Reza workbook and studied that thing pretty hard. I ended up leaving the exam feeling super confident, I was pretty confident on 40-45 problems and only had like 5 problems I did not know how to do, the rest I was able to make good guesses. I ended up passing.

 

[vip-eng]

On my first attempt I used PPI and the manual from CPESR (I did not have any other CPESR materials). I did not pass by a long shot.

On my second attempt I bought the Reza workbook and studied that thing pretty hard. I ended up leaving the exam feeling super confident, I was pretty confident on 40-45 problems and only had like 5 problems I did not know how to do, the rest I was able to make good guesses. I ended up passing.

Agreed! The survey exam is mainly trigonometry. 

 

[Not a PE]

I used the Mahallati book and went into the test feeling prepared, but I left feeling like I didn't read the right material. Luckily, I still passed, but I'm not sure I would recommend it like I would EET for seismic.

 

[vip-eng]

I found the Reza Course to be nearly useless, aside from the practice problems and practice test. If you attend the lecture, I highly recommend doing the problem sets BEFORE the class, and following along to ensure you understand the problems a second time. Reza isn't that great at explaining the material, but if you understand the problems beforehand, it will help with  comprehending his lectures.  Then do the problems a SECOND time, before doing the practice exam.

From what I hear, the CPESR course is the most refined, and the EET practice exams are the most useful. Mansour seems to get a lot of critique in poor quality. 

Out of curiosity, how many quizes & Practice exams come with Reza course? Other than the ones in his workbook. 

 

[Baby Hamster]

Out of curiosity, how many quizes & Practice exams come with Reza course? Other than the ones in his workbook. 

There's 4 quizzes and 1 mini exam that comes with the workbook. All of them should be included inside the workbook. There are also practice problems to do after each of his chapters (also inside his workbook).

In terms of quizzes/practice exams outside of the workbook, there isn't really any. They are all in the workbook itself.

 

[vip-eng]

There's 4 quizzes and 1 mini exam that comes with the workbook. All of them should be included inside the workbook. There are also practice problems to do after each of his chapters (also inside his workbook).

In terms of quizzes/practice exams outside of the workbook, there isn't really any. They are all in the workbook itself.

Thanks! Yes, I have the workbook but i was wondering if he offers any additional practice exams in his course.

 

[vip-eng]

Would you say that EET Survey practice exams are better and mimic the actual exam better than CPESR practice exams? I have EET, but I am wondering if you recommend purchasing the CPESR course just for their practice exam. Thanks. @engineeringforfun

 

[ExhibitGuy]

Maybe outdated now, but here's a blog post I wrote on CPESR's class when I took it a couple of years ago.

http://uncivilengineer.net/2017/10/29/cpesr-surveying-course-review/

 

[vip-eng]

Maybe outdated now, but here's a blog post I wrote on CPESR's class when I took it a couple of years ago.

http://uncivilengineer.net/2017/10/29/cpesr-surveying-course-review/

Thank you, I have read your blog before. If I were to buy the course is only for their practice exams, but again your blog dated 2017 and I don't know if they did update the practice exams to match the 2018 test plan. From your own experience would you say that the 4 CBT practice exams resemble the actual exam pretty well? 

 

[ExhibitGuy]

Thank you, I have read your blog before. If I were to buy the course is only for their practice exams, but again your blog dated 2017 and I don't know if they did update the practice exams to match the 2018 test plan. From your own experience would you say that the 4 CBT practice exams resemble the actual exam pretty well? 

No problem! They had four exams with different degrees of difficulty (Easy, Normal, Hard, Very Hard), and I would say the Normal and Hard ones were closest to the actual test, but my overall I felt overprepared. I did take each of the practice exams 2-3 times so that may explain why. 

But yeah, I would definitely check with the professor to see if he's not only updated the course but the exams as well for the 2018 test plan.

 

[engineeringforfun]

Would you say that EET Survey practice exams are better and mimic the actual exam better than CPESR practice exams? I have EET, but I am wondering if you recommend purchasing the CPESR course just for their practice exam. Thanks. @engineeringforfun

Looking back on it now, i'd say EET and CPESR are comparable. The only thing i'd say is that the 4th test for CPESR (the hardest one) is probably the most representative as far as difficulty of the exam and managing actual time. 

 

[Orca2552_PE]

What about Reza's workbook by itself? Is it any good if not accompanied by his lectures, videos, etc? How many practice tests does his workbook have?
It's currently $139. Worth it?

 

[vip-eng]

What about Reza's workbook by itself? Is it any good if not accompanied by his lectures, videos, etc? How many practice tests does his workbook have?
It's currently $139. Worth it?

Yes it totally worth it.. For me as far as workbooks go Dr. Mansour and Reza have the 2 best workbooks in the market... Reza is way better than Mansour as far as problems go the workbook represents a comprehensive range of questions and covers the test plan 2018, but the explanation of the lectures is terrible because is it minimal each lectures is only 4-5 pages than practice problem i.e: you get a look up question in his practice problems but you have no idea based upon what he based the answer on- these kinda of stuff you find it in Mansour’s book, meanwhile way Mansour is better than Reza as far as lectures explain go. Reza workbook includes 3 quizes (10) questions and 1 mini practice exam.  Mansour book is based on the “Surveying Theroy and Practice - Seventh Edition” the book that the board lists as one of the surveying references for the exam on their website and I have it. So if you have a fairly decent survey background, and you aren’t looking to buy a course I would recommend to buy these two books as they complement esch other.

 

[Orca2552_PE]

Yes it totally worth it.. For me as far as workbooks go Dr. Mansour and Reza have the 2 best workbooks in the market... Reza is way better than Mansour as far as problems go the workbook represents a comprehensive range of questions and covers the test plan 2018, but the explanation of the lectures is terrible because is it minimal each lectures is only 4-5 pages than practice problem i.e: you get a look up question in his practice problems but you have no idea based upon what he based the answer on- these kinda of stuff you find it in Mansour’s book, meanwhile way Mansour is better than Reza as far as lectures explain go. Reza workbook includes 3 quizes (10) questions and 1 mini practice exam.  Mansour book is based on the “Surveying Theroy and Practice - Seventh Edition” the book that the board lists as one of the surveying references for the exam on their website and I have it. So if you have a fairly decent survey background, and you aren’t looking to buy a course I would recommend to buy these two books as they complement esch other.

So when you say 3 quizzes of 10 questions each, are these from across all topics? Is this all he has apart from the mini exam? Does he not have a chapter-wise breakdown of problems?