PE Exam April 2011, how did you feel

[XOXOXO]

I took the Civil/Structural. Thought the AM portion was mostly pretty easy. The PM portion I would rate as 'medium'. I did do the 'School of PE' and can say that I feel it prepared me very well for the AM portion (School of PE left alot to be desired for the structural PM though).
I'm curious about what is typical with most everybody else's employers...My employer will not pay for my exam fee nor did they pay for any exam study materials. But they did pay me for my time on Friday (I didn't have to use a vacation day). What about your employer? Did they pay for your exam? Pay you for your time on Friday? Pay for study materials?

I also took the "school of PE" course, and agree that the PM Structural review was borderline terrible. But the rest of the notes, and classes/workshops were excellent.

I also felt like both the AM and PM were relatively "easy" (I hate even typing that) compared with other exam administrations, and yes, a lot of code references showed up. I'm happy to say I brought all the code books, except AASHTO Bridge Spec...which I should have brought.

I got the day off with pay...and will get reimbursed for my review course upon passing the exam (oh please God, please please please let it be so this time).

 

[jillhill]

I took the Civil/Structural. Thought the AM portion was mostly pretty easy. The PM portion I would rate as 'medium'. I did do the 'School of PE' and can say that I feel it prepared me very well for the AM portion (School of PE left alot to be desired for the structural PM though).
I'm curious about what is typical with most everybody else's employers...My employer will not pay for my exam fee nor did they pay for any exam study materials. But they did pay me for my time on Friday (I didn't have to use a vacation day). What about your employer? Did they pay for your exam? Pay you for your time on Friday? Pay for study materials?

I also took the "school of PE" course, and agree that the PM Structural review was borderline terrible. But the rest of the notes, and classes/workshops were excellent.

I also felt like both the AM and PM were relatively "easy" (I hate even typing that) compared with other exam administrations, and yes, a lot of code references showed up. I'm happy to say I brought all the code books, except AASHTO Bridge Spec...which I should have brought.

I got the day off with pay...and will get reimbursed for my review course upon passing the exam (oh please God, please please please let it be so this time).

I took the Civil-Structural, and also took the school of pe. I was extremely disappointed with the Structural PM and moderatly disappointed with the AM class.

 

[rkelachim]

I also took the "school of PE" course, and agree that the PM Structural review was borderline terrible. But the rest of the notes, and classes/workshops were excellent.
I also felt like both the AM and PM were relatively "easy" (I hate even typing that) compared with other exam administrations, and yes, a lot of code references showed up. I'm happy to say I brought all the code books, except AASHTO Bridge Spec...which I should have brought.

I got the day off with pay...and will get reimbursed for my review course upon passing the exam (oh please God, please please please let it be so this time).

It's funny that there are alot of other 'School of PE'ers" in here! I was trying to be politically correct with my earlier assesment of the School of PE, but it seems we are all in agreement. The structural classes were just plain awful - too elementary in difficulty, poorly organized, spent too much time in class answering questions for a handful of students that didn't understand very simple concepts, too few opportunities to practice problems, class content that was never checked against NCEES exam specifications, and instructors that honestly were difficult to understand.

What made it more disapioniting/frustrating was the that the other School of PE classes were all very good (transportation, construction, water esources), and the geotechnical class was awesome!

 

[snickerd3]

hopefully you all send these very same comment to the school of pe so they can make use of the feedback

 

[XOXOXO]

I also took the "school of PE" course, and agree that the PM Structural review was borderline terrible. But the rest of the notes, and classes/workshops were excellent.
I also felt like both the AM and PM were relatively "easy" (I hate even typing that) compared with other exam administrations, and yes, a lot of code references showed up. I'm happy to say I brought all the code books, except AASHTO Bridge Spec...which I should have brought.

I got the day off with pay...and will get reimbursed for my review course upon passing the exam (oh please God, please please please let it be so this time).

It's funny that there are alot of other 'School of PE'ers" in here! I was trying to be politically correct with my earlier assesment of the School of PE, but it seems we are all in agreement. The structural classes were just plain awful - too elementary in difficulty, poorly organized, spent too much time in class answering questions for a handful of students that didn't understand very simple concepts, too few opportunities to practice problems, class content that was never checked against NCEES exam specifications, and instructors that honestly were difficult to understand.

What made it more disapioniting/frustrating was the that the other School of PE classes were all very good (transportation, construction, water esources), and the geotechnical class was awesome!

I totally agree about the Geotech section...really awesome. And Transpo and Construction sections were very thorough. I reviewed water resources myself, because I could care less about environmental topics etc. and just focused on pipe and open channel flow for AM (which turned out to be perfect for me).

I actually watched 20 minutes of the online Structural PM webclass, and just logged out.

 

[STEEL MAN]

everybody here went to proper review class, on my part NO, just PPI/NCEES/Kaplan and my university texts. AM was reasonable enough in terms of difficulty, PM was fine but some questions arent found on PCI handbook which took a while to look but the answers doesnt agree with the code. I noticed too much steel problems, no timber for Struct PM and couple of AASHTO, some ACI and masonry questions.

Good luck everyone.

 

[hamada128]

I also took the "school of PE" course, and agree that the PM Structural review was borderline terrible. But the rest of the notes, and classes/workshops were excellent.
I also felt like both the AM and PM were relatively "easy" (I hate even typing that) compared with other exam administrations, and yes, a lot of code references showed up. I'm happy to say I brought all the code books, except AASHTO Bridge Spec...which I should have brought.

I got the day off with pay...and will get reimbursed for my review course upon passing the exam (oh please God, please please please let it be so this time).

It's funny that there are alot of other 'School of PE'ers" in here! I was trying to be politically correct with my earlier assesment of the School of PE, but it seems we are all in agreement. The structural classes were just plain awful - too elementary in difficulty, poorly organized, spent too much time in class answering questions for a handful of students that didn't understand very simple concepts, too few opportunities to practice problems, class content that was never checked against NCEES exam specifications, and instructors that honestly were difficult to understand.

What made it more disapioniting/frustrating was the that the other School of PE classes were all very good (transportation, construction, water esources), and the geotechnical class was awesome!

I totally agree about the Geotech section...really awesome. And Transpo and Construction sections were very thorough. I reviewed water resources myself, because I could care less about environmental topics etc. and just focused on pipe and open channel flow for AM (which turned out to be perfect for me).

I actually watched 20 minutes of the online Structural PM webclass, and just logged out.

So it looks like we were all in the same class (Marriott Laguardia class)!

Was your Geotech instructor Amr Sallam?

 

[jenni179]

Took Civil/Water-ENV. Did anyone else take that depth? If so, how did you feel about it? Looks like I'm the first person to write about it here. I took the Oct exam and I thought the April exam was overall a better exam in terms of typical questions asked. I thought the morning was much easier than Oct but the afternoon was harder. There were some questions in the afternoon that I knew how to do but just couldn’t get. So frustrating. I was unsure on 12 questions in the morning and 13-15 in the afternoon. I probably got some of those correct but who knows how many. I wish I got at least 3-4 questions more correct but I know I did better overall than last time.

I know second time takers have a very low pass rate so here’s hoping I beat the odds. I didn’t take half of the test material in school and do very little of the Water/ENV in my job so this test was very challenging for me. I donated 10 months out of the last year for this exam and I’m honestly burnt out. If I don’t pass….AGAIN….. I’m going to wait until next April. NCEES is very bi-polar on what they like to ask and the level of difficultly. :brickwall:

 

[XOXOXO]

I also took the "school of PE" course, and agree that the PM Structural review was borderline terrible. But the rest of the notes, and classes/workshops were excellent.
I also felt like both the AM and PM were relatively "easy" (I hate even typing that) compared with other exam administrations, and yes, a lot of code references showed up. I'm happy to say I brought all the code books, except AASHTO Bridge Spec...which I should have brought.

I got the day off with pay...and will get reimbursed for my review course upon passing the exam (oh please God, please please please let it be so this time).

It's funny that there are alot of other 'School of PE'ers" in here! I was trying to be politically correct with my earlier assesment of the School of PE, but it seems we are all in agreement. The structural classes were just plain awful - too elementary in difficulty, poorly organized, spent too much time in class answering questions for a handful of students that didn't understand very simple concepts, too few opportunities to practice problems, class content that was never checked against NCEES exam specifications, and instructors that honestly were difficult to understand.

What made it more disapioniting/frustrating was the that the other School of PE classes were all very good (transportation, construction, water esources), and the geotechnical class was awesome!

I totally agree about the Geotech section...really awesome. And Transpo and Construction sections were very thorough. I reviewed water resources myself, because I could care less about environmental topics etc. and just focused on pipe and open channel flow for AM (which turned out to be perfect for me).

I actually watched 20 minutes of the online Structural PM webclass, and just logged out.

So it looks like we were all in the same class (Marriott Laguardia class)!

Was your Geotech instructor Amr Sallam?

Yes, Dr. Sallam was awesome! And handsome too

 

[hamada128]

I also took the "school of PE" course, and agree that the PM Structural review was borderline terrible. But the rest of the notes, and classes/workshops were excellent.
I also felt like both the AM and PM were relatively "easy" (I hate even typing that) compared with other exam administrations, and yes, a lot of code references showed up. I'm happy to say I brought all the code books, except AASHTO Bridge Spec...which I should have brought.

I got the day off with pay...and will get reimbursed for my review course upon passing the exam (oh please God, please please please let it be so this time).

It's funny that there are alot of other 'School of PE'ers" in here! I was trying to be politically correct with my earlier assesment of the School of PE, but it seems we are all in agreement. The structural classes were just plain awful - too elementary in difficulty, poorly organized, spent too much time in class answering questions for a handful of students that didn't understand very simple concepts, too few opportunities to practice problems, class content that was never checked against NCEES exam specifications, and instructors that honestly were difficult to understand.

What made it more disapioniting/frustrating was the that the other School of PE classes were all very good (transportation, construction, water esources), and the geotechnical class was awesome!

I totally agree about the Geotech section...really awesome. And Transpo and Construction sections were very thorough. I reviewed water resources myself, because I could care less about environmental topics etc. and just focused on pipe and open channel flow for AM (which turned out to be perfect for me).

I actually watched 20 minutes of the online Structural PM webclass, and just logged out.

So it looks like we were all in the same class (Marriott Laguardia class)!

Was your Geotech instructor Amr Sallam?

Yes, Dr. Sallam was awesome! And handsome too

You know, it is really a small world, Dr. Amr was my Geotech teacher 11 years ago back home in Alexandria University/Egypt and never thought he will be my Geotech instructor again after all those years.

 

[MFresh81]

1st time taker - Transportation Depth

AM - not too shabby, fairly easy.

PM - I found it harder, but relatively easy.

How many of you took the School of PE online? I thought the Structural lacked, overall. Everything else was great!

 

[Tam]

I agree with you - too many problems from steel, nothing from wood and couple of questions from masonry....I guess.

everybody here went to proper review class, on my part NO, just PPI/NCEES/Kaplan and my university texts. AM was reasonable enough in terms of difficulty, PM was fine but some questions arent found on PCI handbook which took a while to look but the answers doesnt agree with the code. I noticed too much steel problems, no timber for Struct PM and couple of AASHTO, some ACI and masonry questions.
Good luck everyone.

 

[STEEL MAN]

I agree with you - too many problems from steel, nothing from wood and couple of questions from masonry....I guess.

everybody here went to proper review class, on my part NO, just PPI/NCEES/Kaplan and my university texts. AM was reasonable enough in terms of difficulty, PM was fine but some questions arent found on PCI handbook which took a while to look but the answers doesnt agree with the code. I noticed too much steel problems, no timber for Struct PM and couple of AASHTO, some ACI and masonry questions.
Good luck everyone.

yeah, there was one problem in i couldnt get since i couldnt find it in the AISC and that pisses me off. Geotech stuff was also found in PM, it was more in depth geotech problem.

 

[Marie925]

Took Civil/Water-ENV. Did anyone else take that depth? If so, how did you feel about it? Looks like I'm the first person to write about it here. I took the Oct exam and I thought the April exam was overall a better exam in terms of typical questions asked. I thought the morning was much easier than Oct but the afternoon was harder. There were some questions in the afternoon that I knew how to do but just couldn’t get. So frustrating. I was unsure on 12 questions in the morning and 13-15 in the afternoon. I probably got some of those correct but who knows how many. I wish I got at least 3-4 questions more correct but I know I did better overall than last time.
I know second time takers have a very low pass rate so here’s hoping I beat the odds. I didn’t take half of the test material in school and do very little of the Water/ENV in my job so this test was very challenging for me. I donated 10 months out of the last year for this exam and I’m honestly burnt out. If I don’t pass….AGAIN….. I’m going to wait until next April. NCEES is very bi-polar on what they like to ask and the level of difficultly. :brickwall:

I took WR and evironmental. I am a first time test taker. I felt like the morning was hard and the afternoon was much easier. I was a biosystems engineering major. I did not have structural in college and I thought the morning was much more sturctural than I had expected. I am hoping my afternoon portion will make up for this.

If you don't mind me asking, why did you take WR/Enviro if 1 you didnt take these classes in college and 2 you don't do this in your work? What does your job involve?

Well good luck I hope you passed!! If not a break might be just what you need! I think you can get burnt out with that much studying!

 

[BPZ]

3rd time construction. Felt pretty good about the morning session; guessed on 5...not too sure about 2 or 3. Afternoon was frustrating. I was cruising for the first 7 then hit the wall. I still felt pretty good about my chances but as time passes I am questioning some of my answers....I know I missed a no brainer....it hit me while I was driving to work yesterday and I can't stop kicking myself. I still feel better about my chances this time compared to last....I believe I barely missed the cut last Oct.

 

[gisguy]

I took Civil/Water.

I think the exam is so easy. I prepared for 3 months. I studied in office during lunch breaks (40 minutes/day) in the past three months. I have a strong background in Civil. I have a BS degree in Civil Engineering and dual MS degrees in Transportation Engineering and Environmental Chemistry. I have been working as a Hydro/GIS engineer for seven years.

In the morning session, I am confident about 39 out of 40.

In the afternoon session, I am confident about 37 out of 40.

Overall I think I should get 95%-100% of the questions.

Before the exam, I did the 2011 NCEES sample book. I got 78 out of 80 questions.

The real exam is so close to the 2011 NCEES sample book. Everybody should buy this book!

Took Civil/Water-ENV. Did anyone else take that depth? If so, how did you feel about it? Looks like I'm the first person to write about it here. I took the Oct exam and I thought the April exam was overall a better exam in terms of typical questions asked. I thought the morning was much easier than Oct but the afternoon was harder. There were some questions in the afternoon that I knew how to do but just couldn’t get. So frustrating. I was unsure on 12 questions in the morning and 13-15 in the afternoon. I probably got some of those correct but who knows how many. I wish I got at least 3-4 questions more correct but I know I did better overall than last time.
I know second time takers have a very low pass rate so here’s hoping I beat the odds. I didn’t take half of the test material in school and do very little of the Water/ENV in my job so this test was very challenging for me. I donated 10 months out of the last year for this exam and I’m honestly burnt out. If I don’t pass….AGAIN….. I’m going to wait until next April. NCEES is very bi-polar on what they like to ask and the level of difficultly. :brickwall:

 

[Marie925]

I took Civil/Water.
I think the exam is so easy. I prepared for 3 months. I studied in office during lunch breaks (40 minutes/day) in the past three months. I have a strong background in Civil. I have a BS degree in Civil Engineering and dual MS degrees in Transportation Engineering and Environmental Chemistry. I have been working as a Hydro/GIS engineer for seven years.

In the morning session, I am confident about 39 out of 40.

In the afternoon session, I am confident about 37 out of 40.

Overall I think I should get 95%-100% of the questions.

Before the exam, I did the 2011 NCEES sample book. I got 78 out of 80 questions.

The real exam is so close to the 2011 NCEES sample book. Everybody should buy this book!

The NCEES 2011 book is helpful, but I would not say it is "so close". I thought the afternoon questions in the NCEES book were actually harder than the real exam, and I thought the morning ones were not representative of the true breakdown of subjects. Either way the book is a must have for studying.

 

[WWC]

I took Civil/Water.
I think the exam is so easy..................

Boy a little modest aren't we? I got all of them right. Too bad no one will ever know since they do not post scores when you pass.

 

[snickerd3]

I took Civil/Water.
I think the exam is so easy..................

Boy a little modest aren't we? I got all of them right. Too bad no one will ever know since they do not post scores when you pass.

unless you live in texas or virginia then they do

 

[gisguy]

I took Civil/Water.
I think the exam is so easy..................

Boy a little modest aren't we? I got all of them right. Too bad no one will ever know since they do not post scores when you pass.

I am not bragging. I really want to be modest, but the PE exam is a joke. 80 multiple choice questions and none of them requires more than three steps of calculation. There is not any need to take PE school or Testmaster classes. I only used three books during my exam: PE review manual, All-In-One and NCEES sample book.

I saw people took tons of books to the exam center. I think it's a waste of money and energy. All the questions can be solved using these three books.

This is only for Water Resources. Structural exam is another story.