How I Passed Civil PE - Transpo Depth

[matt267 PE]

 

[ptatohed]

What state are you in Athar? Does your state require you to document 4 years of experience before you can get your license? I thought even the early test states still required experience, they just allow you to obtain your experience after passing the exam.

 

[Atharaenea]

I'm in Kentucky, but yeah we need to document 3 or 4 years of experience, depending on education. So I'm not getting my license yet, just taking the test. I just want to get it out of the way now, plus I think it'll make me more employable since it's assurance to my employer that I'm qualified for my license once I get the experience.

 

[Joe Dirt PE]

That is different from many states.

Also of importance from the FAQ: "Passing this exam is not a guarantee of licensure."

 

[nightwing]

The exam is a nation-wide exam. The same exam in OH, CA, PA, etc ...The only drawback to the Cali thing is the time zones. The classes are scheduled for PST, so you'll be starting mid-morning and ending early evening, but it really wasn't a big deal for me. When you take the practice exam at the end of the class, you may want to take it on your time zone, just to get your brain working at the correct time. I did this, and I am glad I did.They do a lot (especially when you get into the depth portion) of weeknight bonus classes/problem solving sessions. This is where the time zone thing can be a little more cumbersome, but just deal with it. It's only for a few weeks. Regardless, all the lectures are recorded and available all the time, in case you fall asleep before a Tuesday night session starts (I did this one night).

I have no transportation experience and was interested in taking the transportation depth. I am from California and was planning to take all three exams in April. Do you think four to six months is sufficient time to study for all three exams? Is it it difficult to learn the transportation depth?

 

[ptatohed]

The exam is a nation-wide exam. The same exam in OH, CA, PA, etc ...The only drawback to the Cali thing is the time zones. The classes are scheduled for PST, so you'll be starting mid-morning and ending early evening, but it really wasn't a big deal for me. When you take the practice exam at the end of the class, you may want to take it on your time zone, just to get your brain working at the correct time. I did this, and I am glad I did.They do a lot (especially when you get into the depth portion) of weeknight bonus classes/problem solving sessions. This is where the time zone thing can be a little more cumbersome, but just deal with it. It's only for a few weeks. Regardless, all the lectures are recorded and available all the time, in case you fall asleep before a Tuesday night session starts (I did this one night).

I have no transportation experience and was interested in taking the transportation depth. I am from California and was planning to take all three exams in April. Do you think four to six months is sufficient time to study for all three exams? Is it it difficult to learn the transportation depth?

You have asked the same questions multiple times in multiple threads and you have received multiple answers from multiple people. I'll answer you for the half dozen'th time:

4-6 months isn't really relevant, we don't know your study schedule. You should be asking about total cumulative study hours, not elapsed months. Knowing that, you should conservatively figure on 300 +/- 50 hours for the NCEES 8hr, and 200 +/- 50 hours for each of the CA Seismic and CA Survey. On the low end, that is about 550 hours. That's about an average of 3 hours per day for 180 days. Only you know if you can keep a schedule like that. As for "Is it difficult to learn the transportation depth?" the answer is no. While I think you should select Structural (I think you mentioned you have a Masters in Structural?), you keep asking about Transportation for some reason. So select Transpo and start studying.

 

[Superlaker24]

• This is very important. The very first step. Do not skip this step. Enroll in the EET review course. Enroll in the AM and the PM. Do not proceed to the other steps until you do this. If you want to make this process as painless as possible, do not skip this step. Very important. Don't bother looking at other courses. This is the one you want to take. The course is less than $1K, and they take PayPal. Open a Paypal credit account with no interest for 6 months and pay it off over the 6 months if you need to. Better yet, have your work pay for it. This is a small investment in your future. My AM class had 28 students, and my PM 11. Emails or phone calls were answered immediately or returned within 2 hours. You just can not beat the advantage you will have on exam day after taking the EET review. I honestly don't think it is fair. 90% of the exam came directly out of their class notes.
  
• Find a study partner. If you're like me, and have no one close taking the exam, find a partner here on EB.com or through your EET class. Get phone numbers and emails, and use them. Daily. Ask each other questions. No matter how basic or trivial. This was invaluable. Our EET class setup a google group, so the entire class could bounce stuff off each other all week. I highly recommend you doing this with your EET class as well.
  
• Green Book, MUTCD, HCM ... these will be your lifeline over the next couple months. Try to get a hold of these early on, before your EET course begins. Especially if you are not a pure Transportation guy/gal. Get familiar with the NCEES outline, and where these topics fall in these references. If you have any questions before your course begins, ask them here.
  
• HSM - your guess is as good as mine. I had it and didn't use it. I tried to use it, but it is massive. I still to this day can't find the answer to the problem that "may" be from this text. Maybe this topic gets refined a little more over the next couple exams.
  
• Paving books - Just go from your EET notes, don't buy them unless you have extra cash. I never opened them.
  
• CERM - I used it for 1 question in the AM. That's it. I would probably have this regardless.
  
• All In One - One AM problem came straight out of this text, so yeah .... I'm glad I had it.
  
• I had Dr Freibold (sp?) Civil and WRE Dictionary with me, but I did not use it.
  
• Concrete Pipe Design Manual - This is a free download, print it and bind it. So many useful tables, charts, nomos .... you don't want to be calculating pipe area and hydraulic radius, you just want it from the table. All your culvert nomos and Mannings nomos are in here. Plus it's free, and you're an engineer, you should already have this.
  
• Principles and Highway Engineering and Traffic Analysis - Mannering and Washburn .... I bought this after a glowing review from a previous test taker. I strongly advise against this book. It is not written with the PE in mind, and is way too theoretical for what you need to be studying. Not to mention, there are no answers given for the end of chapter problems. You're never going to know if you did the problem right or not.
  
• NCEES Practice Exams - Yes, you need these. Get the old ones, get the new ones .... get them all. Refer to these problems when you're having a bad day. When you just cant grasp a concept or your struggling late at night and you feel you'll never pass. That is when you do a few of these problems. Before you ask .... YES! The exam really is as easy as the problems in this book.
  
• 6MS - These are a little harder than the exam but you need these.
  
• Time - I'll say I have 600+ hours going back a year, but you certainly don't need that. I must have spent 50 hours just highlighting and tabbing the CERM, going through what a co-worker had tabbed and highlighted in hers from her exam. See above, I only used this once. I had about 100 hours in EET class, and a solid 10-15 every week at work, spread out across lunch breaks or early mornings. I was over prepared. But that's not a bad thing, is it?
  
• UPDATED: I forgot to comment on the Mansour book. I had this, and used it a lot before the EET class began. I didn't use it much after. If you are going to try to attempt this on your own (see #1), this book would probably be a good source to have. It has most of the Green Book tables summarized, provides good explanations and practice problems to work. If you are going to take the EET class, I wouldn't bother.
  

Lastly, don't give up on yourself! You can do this.

My degree is in Land Planning, I do not have an engineering degree. I have never done anything with structures or soils. I work in Land Development and do pretty much only stormwater management and erosion and sediment control. I've designed miles of road, but have no experience with the HCM and those traffic engineering concepts. I have 3 little kids at home and 2 dogs. If I can do this, you can too. Just commit to it. Tell yourself 1 and done. But most importantly, see Rule #1 above.

Best of luck!

I am interested in the EET Course and was wondering what references and codes they provide. I only took one transportation class and it has been a few years since I was in school. 

Does the EET course review the basic topics for the transportation depth? Do they go over the different references and codes? 

How are the EET homework problems? Are they similar to the exam problems?

What at is the difference between the Live Webinar and On-Demand Webinar?

 

[ptatohed]

I am interested in the EET Course and was wondering what references and codes they provide. I only took one transportation class and it has been a few years since I was in school. 

Does the EET course review the basic topics for the transportation depth? Do they go over the different references and codes? 

How are the EET homework problems? Are they similar to the exam problems?

What at is the difference between the Live Webinar and On-Demand Webinar?

Sl24,

I would contact Dr. Ahmed Ibrahim, he is such a cool guy and will tell you everything you want to know about the EET course before you make the decision to sign up. 

Again, double check with Dr. I. but I'll try to answer your questions from what I know (my friends took the course):

The EET course will cover most if not all of the material for the Transpo Depth.

Their homework probs are accurate, relevant. and helpful in your exam prep.

I believe the EET course will include many excerpts from the required codes which could help reduce the number of separate codes you need to buy.

Live webinar means you "attend" (remotely via computer) live class with other students with live teacher instruction.  The benefit is you can ask questions and receive live answers and participate and benefit from live discussion.  It also "forces" you to be there at a set time on a set day so, being more structured, it may be helpful to keep you on your study track.  Also, the "comradery" of participating in the class with other examinees around you might help you.       

The on-demand means you watch previously recorded live classes from your computer any time.  The benefit there is you can watch at time that is convenient for you, pause, skip, etc.  However, I think purchasing the live webinar also includes access to the on-demand recordings.

Good luck! 

 

[matt267 PE]

@Superlaker24, if you've only taken 1 tanspo class and have no experience in water resources, why are you interested in those two PE exams? Wouldn't it be better to take the PE exam that is most relevant to your education/experience?

Edit:

Also, there are MANY threads here on EET. Try searching the site and you might find what you're looking for. Try not to "hijack" threads. 

 

[Superlaker24]

@Superlaker24, if you've only taken 1 tanspo class and have no experience in water resources, why are you interested in those two PE exams? Wouldn't it be better to take the PE exam that is most relevant to your education/experience?

Edit:

Also, there are MANY threads here on EET. Try searching the site and you might find what you're looking for. Try not to "hijack" threads. 

I have not worked in one particular field that I can take for the depth. After looking over the posts on the board I see that Transportation and Water Resources are the two most easiest exams to prepare for compared to structural or geotechnical.

I apologize if my posts may have came in wrong, but the only reason I post in this thread was due John QPE writing he had a great experience with EET and they helped and he was able to pass without experience in Transportation.

I am trying to look a depth that can help me pass and am interested in EET. 

 

[smahurin]

I've only taken the civil/structural, but I would imagine that all of the Civil PE exams are comparable in difficulty, at least that's what NCEES is trying to accomplish.  I hear people mention all the time that "THEIR" PE exam was harder than others, or others who took a specific civil pe because it was reportedly easier.  Don't believe any of it.  They should all be reasonable comparable in difficulty, so take whichever exam you feel the most comfortable taking.