Prep for PE Exam - A Simple Guide

[Darkness07]

Most people won't care, but just in case you do, I figured I'd post the strategy I used to prepare for the PE. If you can glean anything from this, please take it. If not, nothing lost. I'm not going to go over testing strategy, just a prep outline that worked very well for me.

My advice, if you're going to plan on doing this exam only once, put 100% into your effort the first time. Plan on 200+ hours of studying and a good chunk of $$$.

Results: By the end of this process I was extremely confident whereas at the beginning I had VERY LOW confidence. I took the practice test one week before the exam and scored 70/80 without going back to check on work. During the actual exam I finished in under 2 hours on both the AM and PM portions, leaving plenty of room for double-checking. During the actual exam I corrected 3 problems by going back and checking, so I expect that I scored in the 70+s/80 - a for sure pass. I walked out of the testing room feeling that I had completely NAILED IT!

STEP 1) Pick a date and PM depth. You can't start effectively without these two items in mind. The testing date should be at least 3 months out.

TIMELINE - ASAP

STEP 2) Gather all required references and tools ASAP. By ASAP, I mean as soon as you KNOW you'll need it. For example, for Civil Transportation I NEEDED to have at minimum:

• Civil Engineering Reference Manual (CERM)
• AASHTO Green Book
• AASHTO Roadside Design Guide
• Highway Capacity Manual
• MUTCD
• NCEES sample test for PM depth
• Calculator(s)

TIMELINE - ASAP

STEP 3) Sign up for the School of PE and sign up early. This review course was worth its weight in gold. Be aware that it will probably be an online course (most local courses are canceled later but they offer to let you take the online course for cheaper!). No amount of internet searching or CERM reading can give you the testing experience that the SoPE can. Which topics are required? Which can you skip over? The SoPE will tell you. Even better, I rarely even used the CERM because the SoPE notes are so complete.

TIMELINE - ASAP, but after STEP 1.

STEP 4) Familiarize yourself with the list of subjects on the NCEES website for your chosen depth. Print it out.

TIMELINE - ASAP

STEP 5) Review all of the topics in the CERM for ONLY the items listed as being on the test by NCEES. You should be reviewing all of the terms, learning locations within the CERM, and bringing all of these concepts back to the front of your brain. Work some problems. At the end of Step 5 you'll feel a lot more like when you just got out of college - that's the goal. If you finish early (before Step 6), start on the PM books.

TIMELINE - 3 to 4 Months Out

STEP 6) School of PE will start up and you'll be ready because you've reviewed the topics. Now that you've studied up, when the SoPE goes over something you won't stumble and it will be a true review. At the end of every class, spend the following week studying the material AGAIN and doing all of the problems that they give you AGAIN on your own. I used 3 hours every night during this intense portion. Now these subjects committed to memory. TAB EVERYTHING at this point. You should have lots and lots of tabs. When you have time, also squeeze in PM depth review.

TIMELINE - 6 Weeks Out

STEP 7) Take the NCEES practice test some time after you've reviewed everything. Score yourself honestly and read over everything which you stumbled on. Also read over everything one last time for speed Everything else you've nailed down by now.

TIMELINE - 1 Week Out

I wish someone would have told me this before I had started, so I'll tell you.

Oh, and use this forum. The members will help you a lot. If you have questions, ASK!

Thanks,

Darkness07

 

[surferfl7]

This is a really great post. I also took the Civil - Transpo Exam and passed on my first try and had a very similar timeline as you. I used the School of PE notes as my major study and reference guide and it worked out great. During the test I used the CERM only a couple of times because the School of PE notes were easier to follow and use. Good luck to everyone!

 

[matt267 PE]

Excellent write up. Thanks for taking the time to put it all in words.

 

[Wheretostart]

Good project management skills

 

[Predgw]

Nice write up. I would add plan on taking a few mock up exams. If you can, do the entire thing at once to simulate the exam day. I did at least 4 weekends like this, one weekend was back to back. 9 hours on Saturday and 9 hours on Sunday. 4 hours timed in the morning, 1 hour break, 4 hours for afternoon. Apparently we retain knowledge better under stress. These mock up exams helped me alot. For one, I had all ready sat through the 8 hour process, so I was not stressing over the unknown, secondly I remembered the concepts and solutions much better. I invested a bunch of time to make it one and done and was succesful.

I also elected to hammered geometry, friction problems, and water resources. I took transportation depth. I did all these problems on the exam off the top of my head with the exception of one water question that I verfied with my notes. That was helpful. Knowing that you are going to smoke these and actually look for them on the exam really helped. Others have given similiar advice.

 

[Darkness07]

Where did you obtain 4x mock up exams? This would be helpful. The only exam that I've seen that's very good is from the NCEES.

Thanks

 

[Predgw]

Mikes morning exam, 2 Goswami exam books, and another book with 4 morning exams.

 

[ptatohed]

This is one of the better write-ups I have seen, thanks Darkness.

 

[mustang462002]

How important is it to be able to do questions off the top of your head? I've studied about 150 hours and I still feel the need to relate questions to problems I've done in the past. I know the formula locations (geotech) but for some reason I can't exactly remember all the minute details. An example is remembering the pore pressure is for the full layer of clay in settlement not the middle. These types of things are driving me nuts.

Thanks

 

[surferfl7]

I took the transportation depth and only memorized a few equations for that subject, not really on purpose but because of using them over and over. Even then I still made it a habit to go to my references just to be 100% sure to have the equation correct and follow the correct steps. In my opinion you should still have plenty of time even if you have to lookup every equation since you should know exactly where it is and how to use it. If you are having trouble with not having enough time, create a one page cheat sheet with the equations used most and always have that open and in front of you. Hope this helps and good luck!

 

[DanHalen]

Good stuff mentioned in here. The School of PE's notes made a huge difference on the exam for me. The CERM was pretty useless for the exam but was helpful when I was studying. The best method I found to prepare for the exam was to work exam like problems. The following study guides are what I used and would definitely recommend to any future exam taker (use Six Minute Solutions and the NCEES sample exam for your depth).

All-In-One Civil Engineering PE Practice Exams: Breadth and Depth by Goswami (http://www.amazon.co...pd_bxgy_b_img_y)

Mike's PE Guide (http://www.amazon.co...=mikes civil pe)

Pass the Civil PE (http://www.amazon.co...ss the civil pe)

PE-Exam.com (http://ppi2pass.com/...il-pe-bpxc.html)

NCEES PE Civil Sample Questions and Solutions (http://www.amazon.co...ords=ncees 2008)

NCEES PE Civil: Water Resources and Environmental Sample Questions and Solutions (http://ppi2pass.com/...ons-ncpecw.html)

Six Minute Solutions: Water Resources/Environmental Engineering (http://ppi2pass.com/...lems-sxcwe.html)

Equation book I made

Be sure to use the "shag method" (http://engineerboard...?showtopic=3714) to tab your references and you will save a ton of time looking up equations, charts, and tables. I also suggest making an equation booklet for your afternoon topic.

 

[TJM]

The original post is spot on.

I will reiterate the recommendation for school of PE. I took their course preparing for the SE exam and would highly recommend them, they were very good about covering material that was the most relevant and the instructors were very knowledgeable about the exam itself. Truthfully, a review course is not needed to pass the exam, but if you have the resources, and really want to get it out of the way on your first attempt, I would recommend school of PE.

How important is it to be able to do questions off the top of your head?

For me.....not important at all! Being able to identify what is being asked and being able to quickly locate it in your resource material is much more critical than memorizing any equations.

 

[P-E]

For the Mechanical Exam, I studied primarily from the MERM and the practice problems. Beware of the six minute solutions (Fluids/Thermal). I used it as a practice test the week before the exam and failed it. I almost gave up at that point. I should have used the NCEES practice exam instead.

The best thing I did was take the week off before the exam to review my discipline for the afternoon section. In retrospect, I should have studied Fluids and Thermo last instead of following the order of the MERM's chapters. In fact, reverse order would have been better for the F/T Mechanical.

Passed because I nailed the morning section. Know your afternoon discipline!