Reminder for those who failed

[Sloth_1989]

Here is my diagnostic. I would appreciate  If someone can offer some insights on planning for April 2020

 

[Beach_Vince]

Passed on my second attempt, keep it mind you don't get brownie points for passing on your first try or 10th try, all that matters is that you pass once 

 

[AruT]

I also belong to group of people who failed (once or more). I failed twice. I have always been someone who was known for getting good grades - since I was a child. I did great in all other major exams of my life so the failure was hard on my soul. I was questioning my existence - Am I a bad engineer because I failed, twice? Who am I if I am not a good engineer? (Sounds dramatic but it is really how I felt )

I don't know how but somehow something in me kept me going. I took a 5 weeks vacation (trip to home in India) in January before my third attempt this April. I think this break helped tremendously. When I came back after break,  I was able to focus on studying the materials without being distracted and de-motivated by thinking how horrible this exam is & how it is ruining my life!  

So, those who failed - KEEP AT IT. This is a brutal exam - but it is just an exam. You will pass it and this horrible phase of your life will pass too!

All the best!

 

[Ar.sa.]

Yes, time management is critical and there's a reason everyone harps on that.  I'm a bad test-taker (some people insist that just means I'm dumb lol) and establishing a strategy helped a ton.  Mark each question 1-3 or 1-4 with 1 being the easiest.  After you go through and solve all the 1s, go back to the beginning and start on the 2s, etc.  If it's been several minutes on a problem and you're not making much progress, move on. 

As far as references, I probably overdid it.  I took all required codes (ACI, ASCI, ASCE, Masonry, NDS, PCI, AASHTO).  ACI and AISC are the most critical in my opinion... ASCE is also pretty important.  I also used the CERM and two OSHA books (didn't even open them this last time). 

The reason the school of PE notes are so helpful is that important topics in each subject are already organized well.  I went further by tabbing out the SOPE practice problems with things like "determine area of steel" for a concrete beam or "seismic base shear calculation" so I could find them more quickly. 

In past attempts I mainly used the CERM index for a lot of breadth topics.  I found that the SOPE notes actually had more helpful information when I finally ended up passing.

Last thing... the most important part of structures (or passing the structures depth) in my opinion is analysis of structures (calculating reactions and moments).  That has always been my strongest area and if you're comfortable solving for those values in a structure without having to look at a reference you will be in pretty good shape.  In particular I utilize the beam tables in AISC (also located in CERM) more than anything else.  So much can be solved using those formulas that would otherwise take much longer. 

Sorry this was so long.  I'm pretty passionate about helping other people realize they can do it, because I've been there.  It sucks big time but you WILL get there eventually if you stick with it.

Hi Dmeebs,

Would you be able to share the CERM 15th edit. index pdf ? my email address is [email protected]

Thanks a lot

 

[biffnater]

View attachment 15512Here 

Looks like #1,6,8 on your list could be easily improved.  The Ultimate civil PE by civil engineering acadamy really helped clear up these sections for me.  You must of just missed it by 1 question.  Texas passed me with 73, so I barely passed maybe by 1 or 2 questions myself.

 

[Sloth_1989]

Looks like #1,6,8 on your list could be easily improved.  The Ultimate civil PE by civil engineering acadamy really helped clear up these sections for me.  You must of just missed it by 1 question.  Texas passed me with 73, so I barely passed maybe by 1 or 2 questions myself.View attachment 16474

Congratulations on passing!  . For the April 2020 exam I am focusing on my weak areas. But you are right. #1,6 and 8 can be improved easily

 

[Road Guy]

The engineering economics questions are low hanging fruit - but it looks like they only have 1 question per exam now so maybe that is not worth studying to much?  

For Geometrics do they just mean AASHTO stuff?  Did you have the latest green book with you? Usually those are look up questions?

On the soil mechanics, I thought those were a pain "back when I took it" but it was enough to warrant some more study time to get through the morning..

What are the project planning topics related to? (Sorry old timer question)
 

 

[Jesse25302]

The engineering economics questions are low hanging fruit - but it looks like they only have 1 question per exam now so maybe that is not worth studying to much?  

For Geometrics do they just mean AASHTO stuff?  Did you have the latest green book with you? Usually those are look up questions?

On the soil mechanics, I thought those were a pain "back when I took it" but it was enough to warrant some more study time to get through the morning..

What are the project planning topics related to? (Sorry old timer question)
 

I wouldn't bother with the one Engineering Economics question that they pose. If you're good at that sort of thing, then by all means. I wouldn't advise anyone to waste valuable study time on it.

When they refer to Geometrics, they're mostly talking about horizontal and vertical curve design. They are actual design questions and not just look-up questions. The Green Book will list permissible design parameters and equations, but there are no examples and it won't help you much on design. The Green Book assumes you know what to do with the information already. Take the Green Book, but for worked examples, you're better off taking a copy of a Transportation textbook or a study guide that specifically covers Geometric Design questions. I used EET's reference material from their review classes and they were very good sources. 

Project Planning covered topics like project scheduling, costs and quantity estimates. There were questions concerning CPM's. Here's a link to a PDF to an exam guideline on the NCEES website. This is for the standard AM session and Transportation PM session. They have one of these guidelines for every discipline.

https://ncees.org/wp-content/uploads/Civ-Tran-October-2016_combined_with-2020-codes.rev_.pdf