New Members

[ktulu]

With the influx of new members in the last few weeks, I thought it would be beneficial to others here on EB if you would talk a little about any review course that you took to prepare for the FE/PE exams. I know there have been some good opinions on courses in the past, but new ones would always help.

Thanks in advance,

ktulu

 

[WR/ENV_Instructor]

With the influx of new members in the last few weeks, I thought it would be beneficial to others here on EB if you would talk a little about any review course that you took to prepare for the FE/PE exams. I know there have been some good opinions on courses in the past, but new ones would always help.
Thanks in advance,

ktulu

As I just posted in the WR/Env section, I took the School of PE review course last Spring. I never took a Trans or Env course in my life and was nervous about these areas and the PE exam. I passed Civil WR first attempt. That's not to say that you still don't need to put in independent study time - all review courses cover the basics and it's up to you to fill in the holes where you are fuzzy. The reason I to School of Pe versus Testmasters was simply I liked the course schedule - 5 weekends. I didn't have the opportunity to miss work.

 

[fhredd90]

I took Testmasters EE Review course in Houston, TX before Oct 2007 exam. The course help focus my studying on the important topics. I thought that I would take computers for p.m. but after the course I took power. I passed the first time taking the PE.

 

[Techie_Junkie_PE_LEED_AP]

The MGI EE PE Readiness course is, in opinion, great. I assume the other MGI course are also.

I raved about the course before. My reasons: I graduated 14 years ago, took the EIT/FE 12 years ago and have been working in building construction in the field. Due to personal circumstance (and the fact that I thought I'd be taking the PE more than once), I started studying late last January for the April 07 exam.

I studied for about 2.5 months and passed 1st try, so naturally I was thrilled with the course. I've only seen one or two people say they didn't think it was great. The course comes with a mentor, however the mentor is practically worthless. All he did was grade my sample exams and send the solutions, and answered a FEW questions via e-mail. The e-mail help is almost worthless for something like engineering.

I used it as a study guide and used my other texts and references as I studied the chpaters and took the mini-exams, and also brought the 3 thick course manuals into the exam for reference.

All in all, it was worth the $400.

Also, for EE check out the IEEE PE Video Review tapes/dvds. They are pricey (and based on the longer old format) but excellent.

And, for EE Power check out the Mike Holt Electrical Power and NEC dvds. These are also expensive but can be rented at www.smartflix.com for $10/week.

 

[engr_tam]

I took a course offered at the local Penn State branch campus. There are two guys teaching it and they were really great. We went over the NCEES sample problems (all of them for Mechanical), and they gave us some tips about solving problems and let us know where to find additional information on some of the subjects. We even took a 'mock' exam (1 hr. long w/ 10 questions) to somewhat simulate test conditions and show us how short 6 min per problem really is. We used the MERM and it's practice problem book too. The course ran from October to just the beginning of April, once a week for 3 hrs. The 3 hrs. each week seemed to fly by fast because these guys (P.E.s themselves, of course) kept us engaged in solving problems quickly and were excellent about answering our questions if we didn't understand the concept or the steps they were taking to solve that particular problem.

There are also two guys from work that teach a similar class for those studying for the FE/EIT exam, also located at the local Penn State branch campus.

The best part - my company reimburses the cost of the course and the study materials, even the MERM, which I get to keep!

I love my job! :thumbs:

 

[LionCE]

Took a review course at Penn State Harrisburg for the Civil PE. They covered everything from soup to nuts and had a different instructor for each section (Trans, Water Resource, Enviromental, Geo, Structures). Course met one night a week from the end of August until the beginning of April with time off for the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays. Very good course, I would highly recommend it. Helped me pass first time out of the box.