Questions about Goswami Practice Exam

[Mama said PE is the devil]

Hello everyone,

First let me say that I just took one of Goswami's morning session practice exams (2016 version) and I am feeling a bit humbled. After taking the practice exam I have some general questions as follows:

1) What transportation topics are on the breadth exam? I just completed the EET breadth course and I feel great with horizontal/vertical curves and basic traffic concepts (flow, density, speed, AADT, etc.). However, I was not prepared for questions about the resistance of cars/tires up an incline, side friction, safe design speeds, super elevations, etc. Can anyone speak to whether these topics have shown up on the breadth exam? It doesn't seem like they should based on the NCEES description of the breadth, but I want to make sure.

2) Has anyone seen a question about the triaxial test appear on the breadth? Does anyone have a reference to some easy to follow formulas for this test? I tried looking at CERM and my geotech book by Das, but neither source had a very clear and concise breakdown of what formulas to use. 

3) How much engineering economics is expected in the project planning section of the breadth? In the practice exam there was a question about MARR (minimum acceptable rate of return) and I had no idea how to solve the problem. Will the engineering economics section from the FE cover this section?

4) From those with experience taking the PE exam, for structural problems does the exam always specify whether provided loads, moments, etc are factored or unfactored? Is the typical convention to assume that everything is unfactored unless otherwise noted?

5) During the PE exam are you only allowed to write in the test book? From what I understand you can't have any loose paper, but it seems a little ridiculous to not have access to scratch paper. I suppose sticking a bunch of blank paper in a binder and writing on it during the exam would be frowned upon. 

Thanks

 

[ptatohed]

Hello everyone,

First let me say that I just took one of Goswami's morning session practice exams (2016 version) and I am feeling a bit humbled. After taking the practice exam I have some general questions as follows:

1) What transportation topics are on the breadth exam? I just completed the EET breadth course and I feel great with horizontal/vertical curves and basic traffic concepts (flow, density, speed, AADT, etc.). However, I was not prepared for questions about the resistance of cars/tires up an incline, side friction, safe design speeds, super elevations, etc. Can anyone speak to whether these topics have shown up on the breadth exam? It doesn't seem like they should based on the NCEES description of the breadth, but I want to make sure.

2) Has anyone seen a question about the triaxial test appear on the breadth? Does anyone have a reference to some easy to follow formulas for this test? I tried looking at CERM and my geotech book by Das, but neither source had a very clear and concise breakdown of what formulas to use. 

3) How much engineering economics is expected in the project planning section of the breadth? In the practice exam there was a question about MARR (minimum acceptable rate of return) and I had no idea how to solve the problem. Will the engineering economics section from the FE cover this section?

4) From those with experience taking the PE exam, for structural problems does the exam always specify whether provided loads, moments, etc are factored or unfactored? Is the typical convention to assume that everything is unfactored unless otherwise noted?

5) During the PE exam are you only allowed to write in the test book? From what I understand you can't have any loose paper, but it seems a little ridiculous to not have access to scratch paper. I suppose sticking a bunch of blank paper in a binder and writing on it during the exam would be frowned upon. 

Thanks

Hi MsPEitd.  I'll let those that have taken the exam more recently than I have answer most of your questions, but I'll try to answer a few.  

1.  Stick with the NCEES syllabus, you'll be fine.  

5.  You can only write in your test booklet and on your scantron.  This will be enough, I promise.  They leave blank space in the booklet for working problems.  

Good luck.   

 

[youngmotivatedengineer]

My suggestion would be to follow the NCEES guidelines.  It is almost impossible to get a straight accurate answer for your questions. Questions change every test, so just because a topic wasn't covered on the past 2-3 exams does nor mean it won't pop up on the October exam. Secondly, past test takers are not allowed to talk about the exam questions. So answering if certain topics are covered on the exam could be breach of contract for the test taker.

 

[nickknightt]

Yes, adhere as close as possible to the exam specifications, unless you have loads of time and an insatiable quest for learning . The previous exam specifications only had horizontal and vertical curves and traffic volume (traffic mix, flow, speed), no friction and super elevation topics. Similarly, prior exam spec had engineering economics for WRE depth, not breadth.

You can't get loose paper into the exam hall AND can't write or even mark on any of your reference materials or pages ( read the exam instructions). The ONLY place you can write is on your exam booklet, which as indicated above, has more than sufficient blank space underneath each problem (especially for breadth).

 

[DoctorWho-PE]

You can't get loose paper into the exam hall AND can't write or even mark on any of your reference materials or pages ( read the exam instructions). The ONLY place you can write is on your exam booklet, which as indicated above, has more than sufficient blank space underneath each problem (especially for breadth).

Unless you write huge.  In which case, write smaller. 

 

[nickknightt]

Always an engineer that covers all possibilities  . I didn't find breadth problems to consume more than 3-4 steps/lines, if that. Unless you write 2 inches high, running out of space is not a possibility. For WRE depth, for me there were maybe 3-4 problems that ran close on space, but plenty of space available on other problems that could be borrowed.

 

[DoctorWho-PE]

Structural Depth I had a few that I got tight on space.  But other than that, I had enough space.