I will be taking the PE for the first time this October and have a few questions for previous test takers on the format and type of questions asked in the exam...
I've heard the NCEES sample problems are most similar to what is on the exam. True? Also, the sample exam problem types seem to follow the order of the outline specifications. Does the exam follow the same?
I finally passed on the third try this past April 2011. You are correct that the NCEES sample problems are most similar to the exam problems. I had the latest edition and a couple of the problems were so similar that all I had to do was change the numbers and recalculate.
I'm not sure if the NCEES or exam problems follow the outline, but on all three exams I took, the questions were grouped together. I took the civil exam and for the AM portion, you always get 8 questions for each of the 5 sub-disciplines. It always started with 8 construction, then 8 geotech, 8 structural, 8 transportation, and 8 WR.
If you work through all of the 6-minute solutions and NCEES problems and then check the outline to make sure you covered every area, you should be fine. I finally did this the third time around and it prepared me well. The exam is all about solving problems so that's where your focus should be.
