October 2021 Construction Exam - School of PE

[rodr]

Who all is signed up for the School of PE Civil Construction course for the Oct 2021 exam? I'd like to make this a message board for all of us who have signed up. Anyone who has already passed the exam, what books should we purchase/rent to help us on the exam? I'm interested in meeting classmates and hearing any pro tips!

 

[NJHHEngineer P.E.]

For the construction exam...get everything on the NCEES recommended reference list that you can get your hands on. I passed October 2020.


https://ncees.org/wp-content/uploads/Civ-Con-April-2016_combined_with-codes-2.pdf

I think you could get away without the CMWB, but that's just my opinion. If you can get it, I don't think it will hurt. I had every other item listed, along with my EET binders, CERM and a handful of old college textbooks which never left my bag.

Remember, these are references. You do NOT need to memorize them, nor read them like a book. Just familiarize yourself with where topics are found and how to find things quickly.

Here's my take on them, based on my exam experience:

ASCE37-14 - Did not use, but I did have it with me just in case.

CMWB - Did not buy per recommendations in EET course. This topic is a very minor one and did not even show up on my exam. Decided I would wing these questions. EET covered the topic briefly and I was confident enough to roll with that.

AISC - Must have. There were a couple "gimme" questions straight out of the manual. Simple look up problems. Plus, the beam equations and diagrams are a help for any statics/structural questions

AISC MNL-15 - MUST HAVE. The depth portion was very heavy out of this manual. Rather simple, mostly look ups but there were a few questions that were definitely not answerable if you did not have this.

ACI347R - Do not buy. It is an Appendix in ACI SP4

ACI SP-4 - Must have. Although, I really didn't use it much on the exam except for a couple questions (maybe). But the main topic covered in here is Shoring/Reshoring. I'm pretty sure those are extremely common exam questions and an little bit of an uncommon topic (my first exposure to this was studying for the exam).

OSHA - Must have. Any questions from here are more than likely simple look up/freebies. Get a hard copy and tab all the sections.

MUTCD Pt 6. - Free online. Just print it out and bind it.

CERM - Must have. Tab it. Quick skims of topics covered in your review class. Did not really use it on exam day exam except to just double check some of my answers/first impressions. It's a good reference to have as it covers EVERY possible topic you'll see. There's bound to be a question out of left field somewhere. This saved my butt a couple times.

NCEES Practice Exam - Get it and take it. I thought it was easier than the exam itself, but it's the best representation you'll have of the style and the way the exam is worded. I think I took it 3 times. Once in the beginning as a gauge (did miserable), once in the middle (improved) and then once the week before (killed it).

SCRIBD.COM - sign up for a free trial (i think it's 30 days??) and download anything you can find. There's some practice exams/problems on there.

Try to get as many practice problems as you can, but remember, the exam is not all plug and chug equations. While you're studying, make sure you understand the theory and the concepts behind it all as well. My exam, and I heard the April 2021 exam, were very heavy in the conceptual questions. These are the real test of a competent engineer. Anyone can plug numbers into an equation if you give it to them. Make sure you understand WHY you're doing what you're doing.

EB was awesome for me in my wait and there's tons of helpful people on the board. Feel free to ask and I'm sure someone can get you an answer. I'm by no means an "expert" engineer, but if you have any questions feel free to DM me and I'll do what I can to help.

 

[Platypus Engineer]

AISC - buy the digital edition and print it out if it is still allowed. The beam equations are then on 8.5 x 11 paper. the hard cover AISC Steel Manual is a non standard size(5 x8). Beam equations are three to a page, I Found the hardcover too hard to read equations.

Another option for beam equations is wood design manual, they are two to a page there.
This site has a pretty good practice exam on it: Civil PE Exam Study Material Online | Learn Civil Engineering, has a free download of beam equations from wood design manual, look in free resources tab.

ACI347R/SP4 - There is at least one (maybe two) examples of a shoring/reshoring example. I worked through these multiple times to get a good idea of how to work these problems. The examples are far too long to be included as a test problem but are good practice. Also, any practice exam, I redid the shoring question multiple times.

For the breadth, depending on your experience with transportation, I would make sure to know how to do curve problems. I guessed at the solution to volume question, got it right.

 

[liveelayne3]

I would have to agree with NJHH Engineer. I just took the April 2021 exam and passed and yes, there were a BUNCH of conceptual questions! This wasn't my first time taking it but I waited a few years before trying again and noticed that what was taught between the School of PE and EET from previous years were different than what was focused on this time around. I used the CERM a lot more than I did previously and there were a lot of "look up" type questions. I didn't get the Masonry book and honestly don't remember if there was anything on the exam about it. EET didn't really recommend purchasing it as there were a lot of errors within the book.

I did a number of practice exams - many outdated, but I did purchase the most recent NCEES exam. It didn't seem to help me much with the April 2021 exam. Although, the key here is to do as many practice problems as possible. There may not have been a lot of plug and chug type problems, but the solutions in the practice problems helped with the conceptual parts when they explain the solution. If you need references, I am selling mine in the "yard sale" section.

Good luck!!!