PE Civil CBT Exam

[Felix77]

Hi everyone!

I am interested in taking the PE Civil exam and I know it recently went CBT/closed book and I have a few questions for those who have taken it. Which depth would you recommend to take (which is easiest, most useful, etc. based on your experience)? Also, how should I start studying and which materials or courses are most useful? Would you recommend a course over self study? Also, more generally, how was taking the exam closed book, what was your experience like? Any info or advice at all is greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

 

[PassPE]

Hello Felix, we recommend self pace study using our PE Civil CBT Course. We have the highest passing rate in the industry and more over our books are top rated and used by other vendors as well. Highest value for your money because we are best value priced course in the industry.

 

[AbeJones]

I passed it 2 weeks ago.
For me, the Civil Construction was the most beneficial since I have been working in the pipeline construction industry since graduation.
but looking at the pass rates, I don't think it is considered to be easy. (currently showing 53%)

I studied for 9 weeks. I did the SoPE online weekend bundle. and also used the CERM and 6 minute solutions books. NCEES practice exam, and School of PE practice Portal Pro. and YouTube for lots of civil engineering academy videos.

My advice is do as many practice exam problems as you can... and do them all again.
I did the Mechanical FE and Civil PE, so I felt the online courses were best for me since I had to learn soils, geo-tech, concrete design, and transportation from scratch.

I had 41 questions in the morning . crane questions, gravity wall "tipping", a couple of pump questions. open channel water questions. and several horizontal and vertical curves.

39 questions in the afternoon.

Several OSHA 1926 questions related to shoring, soil type, and scaffolds. many questions steered you to OSHA, but to solve them you needed to go to a different code book for the information like "Douglas Fir" strengths for sizing the reinforcement. Engineering econ with rent vs buy was covered. Several situational questions where I could have written an essay arguing for more than one correct answer, but I focused on what was "most likely" the correct answer from the test writer's point of view. a couple problems on maximum shoring pressure for concrete based on time and temperature and speed of vertical pours using equations found in the code books. You need to be familiar with the tables. As I mentioned, the exam asked on multiple occasions for answers “according to OSHA 1926 standards” but actually require other codes to solve based on material being used.

Thinking about test day, I packed a protein bar and bottled water. Took a short break in the morning and another in the afternoon , got one bite and one drink each time.

For your 50 minute break, pretend it’s 35. The time to check in and out of Pearson counts towards the 50 minutes. I packed a turkey sandwich and a diet soda in a small cooler for the 50 minute break. It was nice to get fresh air walking to the car and back at the lunch break. For the afternoon, I flagged the questions that I would need to dig through the codes. Then I could work multiple problems that used the same code together at the end. Seemed efficient for me.

Good luck, You’ve Got This!!!

 

[engineerological]

I have 5 years counted for my PhD degree. However, for the other 12 months of experience, can I put "Consultant" for the job title as qualified experience while not working for a specific employer? I am a professor and have mainly worked at my current institution after graduation.

 

[Felix77]

I passed it 2 weeks ago.
For me, the Civil Construction was the most beneficial since I have been working in the pipeline construction industry since graduation.
but looking at the pass rates, I don't think it is considered to be easy. (currently showing 53%)

I studied for 9 weeks. I did the SoPE online weekend bundle. and also used the CERM and 6 minute solutions books. NCEES practice exam, and School of PE practice Portal Pro. and YouTube for lots of civil engineering academy videos.

My advice is do as many practice exam problems as you can... and do them all again.
I did the Mechanical FE and Civil PE, so I felt the online courses were best for me since I had to learn soils, geo-tech, concrete design, and transportation from scratch.

I had 41 questions in the morning . crane questions, gravity wall "tipping", a couple of pump questions. open channel water questions. and several horizontal and vertical curves.

39 questions in the afternoon.

Several OSHA 1926 questions related to shoring, soil type, and scaffolds. many questions steered you to OSHA, but to solve them you needed to go to a different code book for the information like "Douglas Fir" strengths for sizing the reinforcement. Engineering econ with rent vs buy was covered. Several situational questions where I could have written an essay arguing for more than one correct answer, but I focused on what was "most likely" the correct answer from the test writer's point of view. a couple problems on maximum shoring pressure for concrete based on time and temperature and speed of vertical pours using equations found in the code books. You need to be familiar with the tables. As I mentioned, the exam asked on multiple occasions for answers “according to OSHA 1926 standards” but actually require other codes to solve based on material being used.

Thinking about test day, I packed a protein bar and bottled water. Took a short break in the morning and another in the afternoon , got one bite and one drink each time.

For your 50 minute break, pretend it’s 35. The time to check in and out of Pearson counts towards the 50 minutes. I packed a turkey sandwich and a diet soda in a small cooler for the 50 minute break. It was nice to get fresh air walking to the car and back at the lunch break. For the afternoon, I flagged the questions that I would need to dig through the codes. Then I could work multiple problems that used the same code together at the end. Seemed efficient for me.

Good luck, You’ve Got This!!!

Thank you Abe, this is excellent information!!