How to study for second time taking PE?

Jessica · Jul 10, 2018

I failed my first attempt taking Construction in April. I thought I did great in morning and was worried about PM. I was surprised when noticed I messed up AM (22) and did better in PM (28).

Im planning to take SoPe class and do all AM materials that I can find.

I truly appreciate any recommendations.

leggo PE · Jul 11, 2018

It may sound simplistic, but not knowing much about how you studied for your first attempt, I'd say do as many practice problems as you can. Also, be sure not to ignore studying the PM sections as well, just because you did better in the PM section of the exam.

Come up with a study plan, and execute it to the best of your abilities!

CivilGuy00 · Jul 11, 2018

I don't know how SoPE is for construction depth, but I haven't heard very good things about it for other depths. I took EET for WRE so again not sure how Construction is for it but I thought it was very well put together and I believe it was what helped me pass. I am sure you can find some reviews on both for Construction. I agree with leggo though. Practice problems all the way. Gives you the most exposure to what could be on it. Good luck! You got this. It took me three times so don't get discouraged!

youngmotivatedengineer · Jul 11, 2018

EET was awesome for construction depth and also helped with the am portion as there is overlap between AM and Construction depth. When you sign up with EET Construction, you actually get access to their am review of the overlap topics.

From what I've heard about SoPE, it's more of a refresher course as opposed to an in-depth teaching course. So they may assume that you already know certain items, or the basic concepts associated with the problems. Before signing up for a course make sure you know exactly what you are getting and how the course is organized.

PPI offers a course also, but from reviews I've read on this site, the professors this last round were very unorganized, and 1 was even late for 1 of the courses. Also check the schedule to see if the selected course works for you. EET does construction mainly Monday and Wednesday nights. I think SoPE does theirs on Saturdays.

Definitely make sure you do lots of sample problems and freshen up on your geometry /trig basic equations. You'll be amazed at home many problems seem extra hard but can easily be solved using basic geometry, law of sines/cosines, and the basic trig functions (sin, cos, tan).

If you need, NCEES has a survey reference manual if you login to your account. They cover these geometry topics and can also help with the survey topics on exam.

bwin12 · Jul 12, 2018

SoPE Construction depth was extremely helpful, along with the AM Sessions. I think you will be all set if you take the class and do practice problems.

I am not understanding the hate (via hearsay) for SoPE. The class was ideal for me, maybe it doesn't work for others. We did 1 week for each discipline (Transportation was rolled into Water Res), then 2 weeks of your depth of choice, 4 days a week, 4 hours a night (there are other scheduling options available). Maybe I found it ideal because they spent a decent amount of time teaching how to take the test, what more than likely will or will not be on the test and shortcuts for typical questions. The single biggest asset from the class was the SoPE binder I took into the test, at least half of my answers referenced that binder only.

Bottom line, don't listen to me or anyone else on which course is good, better or best. Pick the one that works best for your schedule/situation and get the most out of it. Everyone learns differently and needs something different out of the review and nobody can review/comment on a class objectively whether they passed or failed.

Jessica · Jul 17, 2018

CivilGuy00 said:
I don't know how SoPE is for construction depth, but I haven't heard very good things about it for other depths. I took EET for WRE so again not sure how Construction is for it but I thought it was very well put together and I believe it was what helped me pass. I am sure you can find some reviews on both for Construction. I agree with leggo though. Practice problems all the way. Gives you the most exposure to what could be on it. Good luck! You got this. It took me three times so don't get discouraged!

Thank you so much!