EET-SE Review

[Aspring_engineer]

Hi - For anyone who is considering refresher for the PE/SE exam, I would like to recommend EET PE/SE refresher course - I had taken the course this summer for vertical and it turned out to be one of the best refresher that I have attended. Classes were for almost 6-8 hours Sunday (10-12 weeks). The classes are pretty much oriented towards the exam syllabus supplemented with excellent notes and problems. There are office hours once every week and questions/concerns were readily answered. In additon, a simulated exam is conducted few weeks before and the exam results are discussed - pointing out few key points etc. The instructors were very responsive to my questions and knowledgeable. I received support right till the day of the exam. I am not in any way affiliated with EET. 

 

[user 32699]

I realize this post is for vertical, but has anyone taken the lateral section? 

If so, was it a good course for seismic and wind design beyond just preparing for the SE? I'm leaning toward just studying alone for the lateral portion, but would be willing to consider course that is also a good training for design in general. Obviously, there is inevitable overlap between studying and learning, just interested to know if this would be a good course for someone who may not even be interested in the exam, particularly for bridge design. 

 

[dussbucs]

I took the EET SE Lateral online demand course this past fall.  I had taken and failed the SE Lateral (Bridges) multiple times over the past few years, primarily due to the AM multiple choice questions which I was never able to achieve an acceptable level.  I almost always got "Acceptable" on all 3 of the PM bridge essay questions.

I have taken a couple of different review courses and I found EET to be the best option.  I used School of PE in the past, which helped me past the SE Vertical (Bridges) on my 1st attempt.  I took School of PE again for the Lateral and found that only the instruction for the bridge PM essays was worthwhile.  I also tried Kaplan's online demand course for Lateral and did not find the instruction to be very helpful.  There was limited application to exam problems and too much background discussion.

Just to give some background on my experience with the EET SE Lateral online demand course: I signed up rather late and did not start studying until September 18th for the October 29th exam.  However, I worked through all of the online tutorials nearly every night and spent my entire weekends studying up until the exam.  My focus was on topics related to buildings for the AM portion, which I struggled with in the past.  The instruction was extremely helpful and there are many homework problems to go with it.  I would advise anyone who is interested in this class to take advantage of its wealth of information and practical exam problems.  As stated in one of the posts above, the exam simulation is extremely helpful.  No other course I have taken previously offers this level of training.  Both instructors are extremely knowledgeable and very approachable for 1 on 1 tutoring in the evenings to answer questions.  Although I did not focus too much on the bridge PM essays since I had always done well in the past, the course material is also extremely valuable.

I found out on December 12th that I passed the SE Lateral (Bridges) to close out that chapter.  Again, I highly recommend EET for the SE review courses and I am confident that this applies to any of their other topics (Civil PE, CA Seismic PE, FE, etc.).

 

[user 32699]

I found out on December 12th that I passed the SE Lateral (Bridges) to close out that chapter. 

Congratulations on passing and thanks for the input! 

 

[Mithrandir918]

I took the EET SE Lateral online demand course this past fall.  I had taken and failed the SE Lateral (Bridges) multiple times over the past few years, primarily due to the AM multiple choice questions which I was never able to achieve an acceptable level.  I almost always got "Acceptable" on all 3 of the PM bridge essay questions.

I have taken a couple of different review courses and I found EET to be the best option.  I used School of PE in the past, which helped me past the SE Vertical (Bridges) on my 1st attempt.  I took School of PE again for the Lateral and found that only the instruction for the bridge PM essays was worthwhile.  I also tried Kaplan's online demand course for Lateral and did not find the instruction to be very helpful.  There was limited application to exam problems and too much background discussion.

Just to give some background on my experience with the EET SE Lateral online demand course: I signed up rather late and did not start studying until September 18th for the October 29th exam.  However, I worked through all of the online tutorials nearly every night and spent my entire weekends studying up until the exam.  My focus was on topics related to buildings for the AM portion, which I struggled with in the past.  The instruction was extremely helpful and there are many homework problems to go with it.  I would advise anyone who is interested in this class to take advantage of its wealth of information and practical exam problems.  As stated in one of the posts above, the exam simulation is extremely helpful.  No other course I have taken previously offers this level of training.  Both instructors are extremely knowledgeable and very approachable for 1 on 1 tutoring in the evenings to answer questions.  Although I did not focus too much on the bridge PM essays since I had always done well in the past, the course material is also extremely valuable.

I found out on December 12th that I passed the SE Lateral (Bridges) to close out that chapter.  Again, I highly recommend EET for the SE review courses and I am confident that this applies to any of their other topics (Civil PE, CA Seismic PE, FE, etc.).

Their website does not show that this course is offered right now, and seems to be little information on it.  Where Can I find more info about this?

 

[user 32699]

The website seems to be down, but the early registration ended on Thursday and the webinar course starts 1/7. Website for when it is up http://www.eetusa.com/classes/se/lateral  

 

[Mithrandir918]

The website seems to be down, but the early registration ended on Thursday and the webinar course starts 1/7. Website for when it is up http://www.eetusa.com/classes/se/lateral  

What is the price tag on the lateral course?

 

[Mithrandir918]

I took the EET SE Lateral online demand course this past fall.  I had taken and failed the SE Lateral (Bridges) multiple times over the past few years, primarily due to the AM multiple choice questions which I was never able to achieve an acceptable level.  I almost always got "Acceptable" on all 3 of the PM bridge essay questions.

I have taken a couple of different review courses and I found EET to be the best option.  I used School of PE in the past, which helped me past the SE Vertical (Bridges) on my 1st attempt.  I took School of PE again for the Lateral and found that only the instruction for the bridge PM essays was worthwhile.  I also tried Kaplan's online demand course for Lateral and did not find the instruction to be very helpful.  There was limited application to exam problems and too much background discussion.

Just to give some background on my experience with the EET SE Lateral online demand course: I signed up rather late and did not start studying until September 18th for the October 29th exam.  However, I worked through all of the online tutorials nearly every night and spent my entire weekends studying up until the exam.  My focus was on topics related to buildings for the AM portion, which I struggled with in the past.  The instruction was extremely helpful and there are many homework problems to go with it.  I would advise anyone who is interested in this class to take advantage of its wealth of information and practical exam problems.  As stated in one of the posts above, the exam simulation is extremely helpful.  No other course I have taken previously offers this level of training.  Both instructors are extremely knowledgeable and very approachable for 1 on 1 tutoring in the evenings to answer questions.  Although I did not focus too much on the bridge PM essays since I had always done well in the past, the course material is also extremely valuable.

I found out on December 12th that I passed the SE Lateral (Bridges) to close out that chapter.  Again, I highly recommend EET for the SE review courses and I am confident that this applies to any of their other topics (Civil PE, CA Seismic PE, FE, etc.).

I am in the exact same boat you were in with the AM section.  I really need to just crunch a lot of practice problems this time i think and am looking for a course that would help schedule my study time and give homework or recommended practice problems.  I am probably every book you can purchase for this test but would like to see another take on it.  I took the PPI course before but found that the homework was much much to lengthy and was to in deep which is the old philosophy that if you do harder problems then you can do easier (test like) problems which I have found is certainly not the case.  The AM portion is all about speed and code competency.  For us bridge guys the PPI course does not seem to be the adequate option.

 

[crammer]

What is the price tag on the lateral course?

Its $1100 for lateral but I believe they ship the materials to you before the class starts so no need to print.

 

[TehMightyEngineer]

For us bridge guys the PPI course does not seem to be the adequate option.

Duly noted; I'll definitely pass this on to the PPI powers that be.

 

[dussbucs]

Yep, that's the site.  I paid the full $1,100 price tag since I signed up very late in the game.  I believe the live webinars were already in the 8th or 9th week by the time I started studying.  They will ship the printed course materials very promptly.  I signed up on a Sunday and received them on like Wednesday, and I'm all the way on the east coast (PA).  With the on demand option (which I took), you also have the option to attend the live webinars at no extra charge.  So if you're up for (and have the time) to watch some webinars more than once, I see that as a good scenario.

I agree with the assessment that it is all about speed and efficiency.  You will get very valuable information from the EET Lateral course that summarizes a lot of key topics for the AM exam.

Also, I learned from my last (and final) attempt that you need to "play the game" to win.  It's not about trying to get 40/40 correct.  It's about solving the easy problems first (the ones you can solve in literally no time), then moving your way up the ladder in terms of difficulty, and finally making educated guesses when you know you either don't have time for a full solution or it's a highly difficult problem outside of your strong topic areas.  When you encounter problems that blow your mind.....move on and don't look back.  Come back to it in the end.  You can easily spin your wheels making yourself think you can solve something that you will either get wrong anyway or flat out just don't know how to solve.  I know this has happened to me in the past and it destroys the amount of time you have to solve other easier problems.  All problems are weighted equally.  I know that sounds obvious, but it's easy to forget come exam day.

Play the game.  Beat this thing.

 

[tj_PE]

Do you know if they do early bird registration for each component? Like, the vertical component isn't until July, so would they do early bird reg in a few months for that? I am not going to test in april but might next october. just trying to think ahead. 

 

[dussbucs]

Do you know if they do early bird registration for each component? Like, the vertical component isn't until July, so would they do early bird reg in a few months for that? I am not going to test in april but might next october. just trying to think ahead. 

I'm not sure how frequent they do the early registration discount.  Here are some FAQ's that may shed some light:  http://www.eetusa.com/faq

If not, I say just shoot them an email:  http://www.eetusa.com/contact-us

 

[dussbucs]

Do you know if they do early bird registration for each component? Like, the vertical component isn't until July, so would they do early bird reg in a few months for that? I am not going to test in april but might next october. just trying to think ahead. 

I like the new screen name

 

[tj_PE]

I like the new screen name

thanks i think i'll keep it for a year or so  

 

[Lukus]

Do you know if they do early bird registration for each component? Like, the vertical component isn't until July, so would they do early bird reg in a few months for that? I am not going to test in april but might next october. just trying to think ahead. 

Keep an eye on the code changes.  The only change heading into April 2017 will be AASHTO 7th.  However, many on the forum believe more changes are likely for the October 2017 test.  If you are considering "On-Demand" review courses, keep any code changes in mind.  The switch to AASHTO 7th is minor with the exception of a few things (e.g. Section 5 Concrete changed based on ACI 318-14 updates), but other code changes in the future might significantly affect class notes.

 

[mjborg]

I took the EET SE Lateral online demand course this past fall.  I had taken and failed the SE Lateral (Bridges) multiple times over the past few years, primarily due to the AM multiple choice questions which I was never able to achieve an acceptable level.  I almost always got "Acceptable" on all 3 of the PM bridge essay questions.

I have taken a couple of different review courses and I found EET to be the best option.  I used School of PE in the past, which helped me past the SE Vertical (Bridges) on my 1st attempt.  I took School of PE again for the Lateral and found that only the instruction for the bridge PM essays was worthwhile.  I also tried Kaplan's online demand course for Lateral and did not find the instruction to be very helpful.  There was limited application to exam problems and too much background discussion.

Just to give some background on my experience with the EET SE Lateral online demand course: I signed up rather late and did not start studying until September 18th for the October 29th exam.  However, I worked through all of the online tutorials nearly every night and spent my entire weekends studying up until the exam.  My focus was on topics related to buildings for the AM portion, which I struggled with in the past.  The instruction was extremely helpful and there are many homework problems to go with it.  I would advise anyone who is interested in this class to take advantage of its wealth of information and practical exam problems.  As stated in one of the posts above, the exam simulation is extremely helpful.  No other course I have taken previously offers this level of training.  Both instructors are extremely knowledgeable and very approachable for 1 on 1 tutoring in the evenings to answer questions.  Although I did not focus too much on the bridge PM essays since I had always done well in the past, the course material is also extremely valuable.

I found out on December 12th that I passed the SE Lateral (Bridges) to close out that chapter.  Again, I highly recommend EET for the SE review courses and I am confident that this applies to any of their other topics (Civil PE, CA Seismic PE, FE, etc.).

I had the same experience with the EET SE Lateral online course.  I am so glad I took it!

Congrats to everyone who passed this time!

 

[Mangano]

I am definitely going to take the EET for both sections of the SE.  I can only assume that they'll be getting better each year.  Is there any advantage to breaking the exams up, or does everyone think that one should dive into both in one round?  My stance is that in 2.5 years, I will be very prepared for both in one weekend, but I want to hear some opinions on the alternative.

 

[user 32699]

I agree that PPI is light for lateral in general and very light for bridge engineers. The slides mostly are the Structural Engineering Reference Manual, so offer some additional explanation for sure, but a thorough self study of that book could save some expense. The course slides have numerous errors, few examples, and don't offer much new (as of spring 15). 

I'm giving EET lateral a try this session. 

The question of how many exams at once is a tough one. Of course, if you can study hard for 6 months and pass it all, then it is over. If you go for the one-at-a-time approach and fail each one even just once, the process gets quite extended. Personally, having decided to focus on the 8hr PE, then the CA PE exams, then Vertical SE, took a break and wrote a few papers, and now on to Lateral SE, I can recommend the approach of breaking things up and focusing on just one exam (or surveying and seismic together for CA). Work and life both get busy and sometimes it's not possible to stick to a study plan that has 20 hours per weekend. 100-150 hours of focused study is much easier to realistically schedule and stick to in a 6 month timeline than 200-300. Trying to study more than 6 months ahead runs the risk of forgetting what you've learned before the test, especially if your day job doesn't align with the skills needed on the test.  

 

[TehMightyEngineer]

I agree that PPI is light for lateral in general and very light for bridge engineers. The slides mostly are the Structural Engineering Reference Manual, so offer some additional explanation for sure, but a thorough self study of that book could save some expense. The course slides have numerous errors, few examples, and don't offer much new (as of spring 15). 

Since you took that course (which was the first time the course was offered) we've revised the bridge lectures and added a new lateral lecture and expanded a few others. Pretty much all the slide errors have been fixed. However, the criticism that we're lacking in examples during lectures and that the slides are mostly from the SERM is still a valid criticism. Working towards fixing that.

Of course, if you can study hard for 6 months and pass it all, then it is over. If you go for the one-at-a-time approach and fail each one even just once, the process gets quite extended.

I'll second the strategy of taking it over an extended time; it can really wear on you when you have to study for the SE exam for 1 or 2 (or more...) years. However, after talking with a lot of people here about how best to tackle the exam the majority agree that this way does appear to be the least stressful and more practical method despite the long timeline involved.