Morning Section CERM

[ArcherCat]

Does anyone know of a list of someone has compiled for all the sections in the CERM that should be read/gone over prior to testing.

I have started to go through by looking and the test plan but for some of the morning sections, like construction and structural, I am unsure I need to read-highlight-take notes for all the sections in those chapters. There is just too much information to read every chapter, but I also dont want to miss anything.

Thanks!

 

[emeschew]

My advice would be to follow the NCEES topic outline. As broad as some of those topics are, I would not skip or short-cut anything.

Even though the CERM is pretty large, I would suggest going through all of the topics (even if it's just skimming on the basic stuff) just to refresh yourself on things you may have forgotten, especially since you never know what NCEES will ask on the test. I would not suggest going through "Background Support", it would be a waste of time in my opinion because you won't be tested on that stuff.

What depth are you taking? That will affect how much time you put into each topic. I thought the CERM structural material is pretty good especially for the AM exam, and like I said, follow the NCEES outline - don't skip anything. They won't ask you to design welded members or reinforced concrete beams on the AM exam, but they will on the PM exam.

The construction material in the CERM falls short IMHO. I have the 11th edition and all it touches is construction earthwork, staking and layout, building and materials testing (minimal at best), and construction and jobsite safety (again minimal at best). There is also a management section that contains economic analysis, which I thought is pretty good but I took the construction depth and bought an engineering economics book that I thought was better when all was said and done. The CERM also "covers" budgets and scheduling. For AM study, I think the scheduling section is OK. Budgets and estimating fall way short though. There are different estimating methods that I'm sure a lot of people on this board can get into if you'd like, but the CERM does not cover this and those methods are utilized on both the AM and PM construction exams. Additionally, there are other books out there that cover construction topics into the detail needed for the exam that the CERM does not get into. Temporary structures is another topic missed in the CERM; although for the AM, the structures sections should suffice. I guess in my summary for construction, I would suggest investing in some other references regardless if you're studying for AM or PM. It seems like a lot of people underestimate how broad the topic is, even on the AM section.

Like you said, you don't want to miss anything - so I would go through all of NCEES topics and all of the CERM sections that apply. Probably not exactly what you wanted to hear, but once you've gone through the CERM and studied the topics, I think you should be acquainted with it enough to be able to flip to a specific section or page in the CERM without even looking at a tab or index during practice exams, sample problems, actual exam etc... - that's not to say you won't need tabs, my point is you should be as familiar as possible with the CERM.

Hope this helps, if you have any questions with different construction references, I'd be happy to list what I used.

 

[desantmf]

ArcherCat,

It really does depend on what depth module you are taking because the each depth sections "other topics" are other modules depth portions. Also even when you look at the NCEES topic outline it is not clear which topic is what. So not a easy task, and I don't know of anywhere someone has broken down which section is what. It is a good idea though.

I definitely recommend you NOT review the whole book, it is way too time consuming and boring. Also it does not provide enough practice problems in order to really learn the topics. The CERM should just be a book to reference and tab for the test and not a study manual. There are a lot of good courses out there to help you study, not all cost $1500 either.

 

[ArcherCat]

I signed up to take a breadth class, it doesn't start until feb, but I am going to hold off on studying any depth until I take the class. A 'little' bit of money is going to save me a lot of time in this respect.

I did find this: post number 12 http://engineerboards.com/?showtopic=16316 if anyone is interested. Its very basic though.

 

[BigWorm]

Starting from the CERM is a bad idea or at least it was for me. I tried and wasted a lot of time fighting to learn from that book. It's not so much a teaching tool as it is a huge reference manual for something that may or may not pop up. It's really good to have but it's not a study guide.

Try www.learncivilengineering.com and www.reviewcivilpe.com

Follow the links they provide and it will get you started on the right foot.

 

[ArcherCat]

Starting from the CERM is a bad idea or at least it was for me. I tried and wasted a lot of time fighting to learn from that book. It's not so much a teaching tool as it is a huge reference manual for something that may or may not pop up. It's really good to have but it's not a study guide.

Try www.learncivilengineering.com and www.reviewcivilpe.com

Follow the links they provide and it will get you started on the right foot.

I will definitely check these two out. Thank you for the information.

 

[jarrowsm]

I signed up to take a breadth class, it doesn't start until feb, but I am going to hold off on studying any depth until I take the class. A 'little' bit of money is going to save me a lot of time in this respect.

I did find this: post number 12 http://engineerboards.com/?showtopic=16316 if anyone is interested. Its very basic though.

You should have plenty of time starting your review in February, but I just wanted to point out that your depth area is 60% of the exam (8 morning questions, 40 afternoon). Remember, you should be shooting for an absolute minimum raw score somewhere between 65 and 70% to pass confidently. Anyway, some people have the philosophy that "the depth is my comfort zone, so I'll spend most of my review time on the morning." But, I think its important to recognize that becoming very strong in your depth area sets you up to score extremely well.

My personal strategy was to spend the bulk of my individual study time on my depth area and rely on a review class to prepare me for the morning. That being said, the majority of time outside of class before the exam was spent doing practice problems.

 

[PeonPE]

There are three types of media for studying out there:

1) Those that teach material, (e.g. Kaplan Civil PE Review, School of PE Classes)

2) Compendiums of information, (e.g. CERM, Afternoon References, Gosswami All-In-One)

3) Example Problems & Solutions, (e.g. PPI Exam Cafe, NCEES Practice Exam)

All three are correlated. Your "endgame" with all studying and review is to accomplish one thing: do problems quickly and accurately. You can only do problems quickly and accurately if:

A) You are familiar with the subject matter (e.g. hydraulic jump is...)

B) You know exactly where to go in your reference material for a specific subject (e.g. know about what page the Moody Diagram is on without needing the index)

C) Get your brain trained in "Problem Solving Mode" (e.g. you are familiar with your calculator, you can recall doing a similar problem before)

I agree with you that you don't "read" the CERM in the same way you would read a novel. Instead, you should tab, highlight and otherwise mark your CERM as you do problems so you can quickly go back to the tables, charts, equations, appendices and examples you need when you take your timed practice exams and ultimately, the PE Exam itself. So don't sweat "which sections of the CERM to focus on." As you go through a few hundred hours of example problems, your review of the CERM will take care of itself.