Registered for EET Structural Depth, now what?

[Rasha]

This is my third time taking on this exam <cries in a corner>. I was going to take it in April and got crazy busy at work so I decided to push it till October. I just registered for the EET Structural Depth based on recommendations I got on this forum.

SO based on everyone's successful experience of passing the PE Civil exam, what are ALL the possible books/reference manuals that I need to go in the exam to freaking pass it?

My first attempt I relied only on School of PE (2 months study period)

My second attempt I self studied and used PE Course material provided by my company (6 weeks study period because I was moving states last year and life was hectic)

THIRD TIME IS A CHARM RIGHT? So I want to start this weekend, be organized and prepared, and get this over with.

 

[tj_PE]

Good luck! In my experience, EET (SE vertical) review was fantastic as were the resources they provided. How have you done on the breadth portions? Do you feel that your unsuccessful attempts were time related or knowledge related? Practice the problems the way you would solve them during the exam. 

To answer your question, I have only ever taken the codes provided in the NCEES list and any/all practice problems. Practice, practice practice!

 

[Manimani]

Took the EET Depth/Breadth in January for preparation in April 2019.

EET Breadth helped me answer 32-33 questions with confidence. 2-3 used CERM rest were educated guesses.

EET Depth Probably only helped answers 10-15 at best tbh. I learned alot in the depth but unfortunately the exam in April was unique.

 

[Rasha]

Both tries shows weakness in both areas. Second try I was a little better in the depth portion

Thanks!

 

[Rasha]

Took the EET Depth/Breadth in January for preparation in April 2019.

EET Breadth helped me answer 32-33 questions with confidence. 2-3 used CERM rest were educated guesses.

EET Depth Probably only helped answers 10-15 at best tbh. I learned alot in the depth but unfortunately the exam in April was unique.

Do you happen to remember what the PM questions covered? What makes them unique? now I am scared 

 

[Orca2552_PE]

The structural depth portion of the PE is certainly challenging. I did not register for EET myself but was able to get some access to a few of their questions from my coworker. I would say EET will try and cover as much ground as possible to make you familiar with everything. Enough so that you don't get stumped with a question or don't know how to start the problem. The rest is just practicing as many problems as you can possibly get your hands on. This will improve confidence on hard problems, better your familiarity, and in the course of your prep, help you identify weak areas. That said, you will always have a small number of "what the hell is going on" questions. The ability to crack those depends on your knowledge of that topic, and a little bit of luck. 

Everyone has good things to say about EET prep, so you're in good hands. The other thing I would encourage you to do is to get intimately familiar with the codes (ASCE, TMS, IBC, ACI, AISC, etc.) because there's always a few gift questions. Good luck!

 

[Stardust]

Hey I was just wondering how you did, didn't know you pushed it to Oct! Might be a good decision since from what I have heard the PM was crazy hard this April.

The more problems you practice, the less surprises you will likely see in the exam. Hopefully that will be enough to pass

 

[phirra]

The structural depth portion of the PE is certainly challenging. I did not register for EET myself but was able to get some access to a few of their questions from my coworker. I would say EET will try and cover as much ground as possible to make you familiar with everything. Enough so that you don't get stumped with a question or don't know how to start the problem. The rest is just practicing as many problems as you can possibly get your hands on. This will improve confidence on hard problems, better your familiarity, and in the course of your prep, help you identify weak areas. That said, you will always have a small number of "what the hell is going on" questions. The ability to crack those depends on your knowledge of that topic, and a little bit of luck. 

Everyone has good things to say about EET prep, so you're in good hands. The other thing I would encourage you to do is to get intimately familiar with the codes (ASCE, TMS, IBC, ACI, AISC, etc.) because there's always a few gift questions. Good luck!

How is EET Structural Depth compared to knowing your war around SERM. 

I knew in and out of SERM, went through 6 mintue solution, did NCEES and one more practice test. Had some other text books that I referred   and still failed ( second time). Is EET any different, or they have more problems to practice etc.

I dont know what to point for my failure, as in my preparation was not up to the mark or I just had bad luck on test day, or this April test was very different than October. 

If you have both of them,EET and SERM , I would appreciate you comparing them.

 

[Orca2552_PE]

How is EET Structural Depth compared to knowing your war around SERM. 

I knew in and out of SERM, went through 6 mintue solution, did NCEES and one more practice test. Had some other text books that I referred   and still failed ( second time). Is EET any different, or they have more problems to practice etc.

I dont know what to point for my failure, as in my preparation was not up to the mark or I just had bad luck on test day, or this April test was very different than October. 

If you have both of them,EET and SERM , I would appreciate you comparing them.

I have the SERM too. That was basically all I used the first time I took the PE. The problem with the SERM I think is that it is more geared towards the essay problems in the SE exam. It takes you through the entire design of a structural element (beam, column, slab, etc.) and of each type (wood. concrete, CMU, Steel), sometimes even in way too much detail that is a bit much for the PE exam. Besides the SERM has received some critique for not following the PE NCEES specification closely (why would it? It clearly states it is geared towards the SE exam) although it inherently carries some of the concepts needed for the PE exam. 

For EET on the other hand, like I said, I was able to get some practice problems only. I did not enroll for their classes. I think the first and most significant difference could be the presence of an instructor. I have heard they're pretty dedicated to answering individual questions and the 1:1 attention is pretty good. Secondly, the problems come in practice sets segregated by "Knowledge Areas" specified on the NCEES website for the PE exam. What this does is it helps you recognize your weak areas pretty good and you can spend time on it. It also helps you identify strong areas and further fine tune it. I've heard homework, assignments, etc. keep you on track and periodically test concepts that are of importance. 

Finally it all depends on what works for you best. If you think an instructor can hammer a concept in your brain better than you can by just reading it, EET might be the answer. Irrespective, I think solving problems is the ultimate key. And tons of them. I remember in April 2018 I was very involved in understanding concepts from the SERM, so much so that I spent very little time solving test-like problems. That mistake was corrected in my prep for Oct 2018. Got my hands on EET and spent 4 months just doing problems. 1.5 months of AM and 2.5 months of PM problems. My diagnostic from the first time helped a lot too. Worked on the weak areas first and then brushed over the stronger ones. All in all the SERM isn't completely useless. I just followed it like a bible and that was the wrong thing to do. 

 

[phirra]

I have the SERM too. That was basically all I used the first time I took the PE. The problem with the SERM I think is that it is more geared towards the essay problems in the SE exam. It takes you through the entire design of a structural element (beam, column, slab, etc.) and of each type (wood. concrete, CMU, Steel), sometimes even in way too much detail that is a bit much for the PE exam. Besides the SERM has received some critique for not following the PE NCEES specification closely (why would it? It clearly states it is geared towards the SE exam) although it inherently carries some of the concepts needed for the PE exam. 

For EET on the other hand, like I said, I was able to get some practice problems only. I did not enroll for their classes. I think the first and most significant difference could be the presence of an instructor. I have heard they're pretty dedicated to answering individual questions and the 1:1 attention is pretty good. Secondly, the problems come in practice sets segregated by "Knowledge Areas" specified on the NCEES website for the PE exam. What this does is it helps you recognize your weak areas pretty good and you can spend time on it. It also helps you identify strong areas and further fine tune it. I've heard homework, assignments, etc. keep you on track and periodically test concepts that are of importance. 

Finally it all depends on what works for you best. If you think an instructor can hammer a concept in your brain better than you can by just reading it, EET might be the answer. Irrespective, I think solving problems is the ultimate key. And tons of them. I remember in April 2018 I was very involved in understanding concepts from the SERM, so much so that I spent very little time solving test-like problems. That mistake was corrected in my prep for Oct 2018. Got my hands on EET and spent 4 months just doing problems. 1.5 months of AM and 2.5 months of PM problems. My diagnostic from the first time helped a lot too. Worked on the weak areas first and then brushed over the stronger ones. All in all the SERM isn't completely useless. I just followed it like a bible and that was the wrong thing to do. 

Wow. I appreciate your detailed explanation.

I wish my diagnostics helped me. 

The sections I did really good with 20 days of preparation in October 2018, I did very badly with 3 months of preparation in April 2019.( Exact same score in two exams)

I did improve in areas that I lacked last time.

This April test was very un-PE type. Came very close to passing but not close enough.

With my style of studying I think I would go for On-demand classes. I have always been a self study kind of guy.