Retaking Seismic and Surveying Exams in October: Tips?

[ajm]

I'm not terribly surprised, but I failed both of these exams on my first try this April, probably partially because I focused so much on the 8-hour.

I seemed to do fine on the calculation questions on both exams, but definition and procedural questions seemed to be my downfall. I felt that way coming out of the exams, and my diagnostics seem to reinforce that.

My plan going forward for the October exams are:

Surveying:

• Actually read and spend time with Professional Engineer Act and Subdivision Act
  
• Purchase and work Boniface Civil Surveying Sample Exams
  
• Re-work 120 Solved Problems
  
• Get faster at solving problems
  

Are there any books that you would really say do a good job of covering the non-calculation type questions on the exams? I went to my local library prior to the exam in April and got the Moffit & Bossler Surveying book, but I didn't find that it helped me very much...of course I probably didn't spend enough time with it.

Seismic:

• Purchase and watch/study Hiner's online webinars, go through all the problems in the workbook and answer them (again)
  
• Get more familiar with looking up values and definitions/rules in ASCE 7 and IBC
  
• Get faster at solving problems
  

Hiner seems to be the go to for Seismic prep. Anything else that I should really not skip out on to help prepare for this exam?

 

[ptatohed]

I like your ideas for Survey. Don't forget to read/work problems form Survey Principals (Cuomo) too. You don't need to spend too much time on the Subdivision Map Act.

I think you should consider EET for Seismic. Dr. Ibrahim is an excellent teacher, he has a great book, and now he offers CBT simulation exams.

http://engineerboards.com/index.php?showtopic=22144

Good luck.

PS Did you pass the 8-hr?

 

[JMT]

I think you should consider EET for Seismic. Dr. Ibrahim is an excellent teacher, he has a great book, and now he offers CBT simulation exams.

http://engineerboards.com/index.php?showtopic=22144

I second Mr Potato Head's recommendation, Dr. Ibrahim is a great instructor, he breaks everything down to the simplest form and teaches you everything you will need for the exam. I would not have passed the California Seismic exam without his course, manual and CBT practice exams.

 

[ajm]

Fortunately I did pass the 8-hour, so it wasn't a total waste this first time around.

I'll check out the Cuomo book, thanks.

I will certainly get those CBT exams if nothing else. The test format itself (computer instead of paper) was one of the things that caused me a lot of problems as well.

The reason why I was leaning towards Hiner is that I already have his workbook and have gone through and done a lot of the problems, so there's some familiarity there. I will check out the Ibrahim course as well, particularly since the same dollar amount covers all the lectures, materials, and software for his course as it does for just the videos for Hiner.

 

[palvarez83]

Hiner posts some of his lesson on youtube. That will be helpful.

Some of the problems are so detailed that you can't copy them quickly. Contrary to doing normal work calculations, practice writing down only the minimum of what you need such as values you look up in ASCE 7 and CBC/IBC and write down only the formulas with actual values you will crunch on the calculator. Try to skip steps in your head while you practice so you don't have to write every formula down. This will kill you when it comes to time. You only have 2 min, 44 sec per problem on average.

Bring a protractor for surveying. It is one of the few things they allow in the exam room. If you don't know the answer of a question, simply guess and answer and "mark" the question. If you have time you can review the ones you "marked" at the end. However, if you are racing to guess on the last few as the timer locks you out, you will be grateful you've actually have an answer selected for all of them instead of incompletes. Remember this is no penalty for guessing.

Lastly, make sure you eat a light meal and don't drink too much liquids. Make sure you take a leak and drop a deuce just before you get into the exam room (preferably at the prometric center). The issue is they take you through this thorough screening before you get into the exam room which can take 3-5 min. You have to go through this screening even if you go potty and your time doesn't stop!

Make sure you have the latest codes from ACSE 7-10 and IBC 2012/CBC 2013 for Seismic. Too many people have asked can you get away with the old codes. The definite answer is no! Particularly the values you look up for ELF. They are different. I would invest in the code master seismic design laminated sheets. They are good summaries.

 

[bstab]

I 100% agree with ptatohed, The Cuomo book was all I used to prep for the Surveying exam. Work all the problems multiple times, you will need to thoroughly understand trig without having to think about it.

I used Hiner for 2 test rounds self studying and failed. I switched over to Dr. I workbook (also self-study) and his associated CBT questions for the April 2014 test because of the code change. Both workbooks are extremely well written and comparable but one thing that i was truly impressed with Dr I is that he went out of the way to help me. He emailed me a few times over the course of my study's and explained things that i had questions with. He initiated an online meeting with me to go over some of the major changes in the code and helped me wrap my mind around the concepts. I had a child in January and Ahmed was the one who kept me on track with my study's with emails that said things like" you should be on Chapter 6 by now..." little things like that kept my motivation up after studying for almost a year and a half and being easily preoccupied with my new child. Dr I even sent me an email congratulating me after I received notice that i had passed the exam. I am obviously not a structures guy in any way, be diligent and when you think you have solved all of the problems that you can, solve 100 more and do them faster.

Good luck!

 

[sandman85]

If speed is your problem for the surveying exam, I recommend CPESR http://www.civilpesurveyingreview.com. They have three timed computer-based questions similar to the real thing. I used them a couple times ago and passed.

 

[ajm]

palvarez83: I was on track with most of this advice already--made sure to use the facilities beforehand, had the most recent codes, etc. The not copying things down was something I didn't really practice enough prior to the exam. And unfortunately since I hadn't practiced it well enough, I was sort of clumsy during the exam itself.

I will also make sure to grab a protractor. I didn't think to bring one with me before, but it did seem like it could have been helpful during the test.

bstab: Alright, looks like you and the other folks in the thread have convinced me to give the EET/Dr. Ibrahim prep course a go. Seems like between that and whatever re-reading and re-solving of problems I do with the Hiner book, I should be pretty prepared.

sandman85: Thank you for the link. I think for now I will probably just focus on the reading of the Cuomo book and working the problems I mentioned before with the method mentioned by palvarez83 (writing down as little as possible).

Thanks for all the help so far, guys.