Study Strategy For 8-hour Plus Seismic/Surveying (April 2015)

[CivEnv]

I'm taking PE for the first time in April 2015 - 8-hour (Water Resources and Environment depth), as well as the seismic and surveying. I started studying for the 8-hour about a month ago (5-10 hours a week) and am ramping up now, hopefully getting to 10-15 hours/week from here on out. I was originally planning to use the following study schedule, but now think that I may be spreading myself too thin:

• Oct - Jan: 8-hour studying on my own using PPI books/practice problems and PPI/NCEES practice tests
  
• Feb - Hiner Seismic Course
  
• March - Reza Mahallati Surveying Course
  
• April - Final 8-hour/seismic/surveying studying and TESTS!
  

I recently was advised to just focus on the 8-hour the first time around, and then go back next year for seismic and surveying. Of course it would be wonderful to pass all 3 the first time around, but I'm worried that if I try to fit in everything then maybe I wouldn't pass anything!

What studying strategies worked for you? Any recommendations are appreciated!

Also, is there anyone else in the Bay Area studying for the Civil that would like to team up?

 

[ptatohed]

I'm taking PE for the first time in April 2015 - 8-hour (Water Resources and Environment depth), as well as the seismic and surveying. I started studying for the 8-hour about a month ago (5-10 hours a week) and am ramping up now, hopefully getting to 10-15 hours/week from here on out. I was originally planning to use the following study schedule, but now think that I may be spreading myself too thin:

• Oct - Jan: 8-hour studying on my own using PPI books/practice problems and PPI/NCEES practice tests
  
• Feb - Hiner Seismic Course
  
• March - Reza Mahallati Surveying Course
  
• April - Final 8-hour/seismic/surveying studying and TESTS!
  

I recently was advised to just focus on the 8-hour the first time around, and then go back next year for seismic and surveying. Of course it would be wonderful to pass all 3 the first time around, but I'm worried that if I try to fit in everything then maybe I wouldn't pass anything!

What studying strategies worked for you? Any recommendations are appreciated!

Also, is there anyone else in the Bay Area studying for the Civil that would like to team up?

CE, on average it takes a CA examinee 3 tries to pass the three tests. With a full time job and a family, I set a realistic goal of passing one exam, each administration, which worked for me. Oct '10, April '11, Oct '11.

Also, you might consider EET for seismic. http://www.eet-california.com/seismic_class_info

Good luck.

 

[CivEnv]

Thanks so much for your feedback, PT!

 

[OffRoadEngineer]

I highly recommend a strategy of focusing on one exam at a time. Time your sample tests to get a feel for the pace of the test, and really try to understand the concept behind each of the problems you do.

Hiner's book and videos helped me on the Seismic. The timed practice exams and videos on http://www.civilpesurveyingreview.com/ helped me with surveying.

And Eric Thomas' videos on youtube and at http://etinspires.com/ really helped with my motivation.

 

[CivEnv]

Thanks for the words of wisdom and resource links, OffRoad!

 

[ajm]

I don't think you necessarily have to try them one at a time, but I would recommend focusing only on the 8-hour for the first exam period and then on the two CA exams the next exam period.

I tried to do all three in April. I really spent so much time studying and preparing for the 8-hour exam that there wasn't much left for the CA exams. As a result, I only passed the 8-hour and just retook the others in the past couple of weeks.

The surveying, depending on your experience or undergrad coursework in the subject, may be easy enough to pass with minimal studying. However, you probably need to spend just as much time on the Seismic exam as you do on the 8-hour unless you're already a structural engineer who is working on the material routinely.

Aside from that advice, as far as studying goes:

In terms of the 8-hour, the most valuable piece of material when it comes to preparing (I think) are the NCEES problem sets. They only have one version available for sale at a time, I believe, but you can likely track down older sets via ebay or elsewhere online. You can also try to track down the references used to write/solve the exam and try some problems for those, but I wouldn't go out and buy 10 textbooks for this purpose. I really only used three things on my exam day (Water/Env): Civil Engineering Reference Manual, NCEES Problem Sets, and my own equation and figure sheets that I had made for quick reference. I brought a couple other things like some wastewater books, but they sat on the floor the whole time.

Surveying, I used Cuomo's book on Surveying and the Boniface 120 Solved Problems and Surveying Sample Exam books in preparing. I think these are okay to use. The surveying exam seems to be as much about just being able to do Trigonometry and Geometry as it is about knowing any intense Surveying concepts. Though I guess you could say Trigonometry and Geometry sort of are what a lot of Surveying is.

For the Seismic stuff, I also highly recommend the EET course put on by Ahmed Ibrahim. He's very, very dedicated to the course and the students taking the class. He not only spends hours on the lectures, but makes himself available for one-on-one consultation via phone, email, and web-chat pretty much any time. I took his class this time around (stupidly tried to pass without any class the first time) and I feel very, very confident about my effort on the exam as a result of his class.

 

[Andy Lin]

"6-minute solutions" (by ppi) was pretty helpful for me for studying the 8-hour portion. The questions in there were more difficult than the actual exam so I actually felt pretty good during the exam.

By the way, I wrote a detail guide about how to study for the 8-hour portion; you might find it helpful: link here (I didn't cover seismic and surveying though).

Good luck studying!

 

[subsandtowers]

CivEnv,

My study schedule is almost the same as yours. I also have the same goal of passing all three in one try.

Since, I believe Surveying is my weakest point (never have taken college courses or have done any work with it) right now, I am going through the Cuomo book and 120 solved problems. I want to get as familiar with surveying as possible before the end of December, and then take Mallahati's course in March that way I will have seen the surveying material twice before the exam.

Then I plan on taking the ppi 8 hour course and study my structural depth along the way. Finally, I will take EET's seismic review. I think this should be sound strategy since I do structural/seismic stuff on a daily basis.

Let me know how your studying is going. I live in San Ramon BTW.

 

[CivEnv]

ajm - I really appreciate your advice. I think I'm convinced that trying to hit all three this time around is not going to work, so I'll plan on doing the 8-hour, and come back around for the others next year.

SEHQ (Andy) - Great article, thanks for the link! I had mapped out the test using the old specs, and then this month they came out with the new ones, so I'm back to square one on that!

Subsandtowers - I would definitely be interested in working together on studying. I'll send you a message.

 

[daxx1313]

When I passed the 8-hr last October I took the School of PE online course. It pretty much was the reason why I passed. I used the materials to study and spent quite a bit of time going through them and hundreds of problems. I couldn't count how many hours, problems, or pages of work I did to pass. The only way I could measure it was by the number of pens I went through end-to-end. I went through 5 pens completely. Think of it as a distance similar to a light-year. I used the same strategy for the seismic and survey exams this go around. Went through 4 pens this time on both but mainly focused on seismic. Hopefully I'll get the results back soon and I won't need to count pens anymore.

 

[Sapper PE LS]

Here's another.

 

[ptatohed]

Here's another.

Another what??

 

[matt267 PE]

Another one bites the dust.

 

[EnvEngrCA]

I studied for surveying for only three days after taking a course and did not pass. I focused 99.9% of my energy on the 8 hour exam and passed. However, I did not find the surveying exam to be too difficult after the Mansour course. The lack of practice however, led me to not be able to complete the test in the allotted time.

My results showed I was deficient in two areas: calculations and standards of practice. The calculations section is 33% of the test, so that is where I failed. I am retaking the test in April and plan to do every problem I can find to ensure I can complete the exam in 2.5 hours. Best of luck to everyone else taking the CA tests in April!

 

[nightwing]

What are some good study plans for the Seismic and Surveying parts when you are taking the 8 hour exam?

How much should you focus on the Seismic and Surveying during studying? Should you study like 40 % (80 hours) for the Seismic and Surveying? What reference material to use? Is spending 60% ( 120 hours) on the 8 hour exam okay?

 

[ptatohed]

What are some good study plans for the Seismic and Surveying parts when you are taking the 8 hour exam?

How much should you focus on the Seismic and Surveying during studying? Should you study like 40 % (80 hours) for the Seismic and Surveying? What reference material to use? Is spending 60% ( 120 hours) on the 8 hour exam okay?

It takes about 250 - 350 hours of study time for the 8hr, and 150 - 250 each for the CA Seis/Surv. Do you plan to take a review class or self-study?

 

[nightwing]

What are some good study plans for the Seismic and Surveying parts when you are taking the 8 hour exam?How much should you focus on the Seismic and Surveying during studying? Should you study like 40 % (80 hours) for the Seismic and Surveying? What reference material to use? Is spending 60% ( 120 hours) on the 8 hour exam okay?

It takes about 250 - 350 hours of study time for the 8hr, and 150 - 250 each for the CA Seis/Surv. Do you plan to take a review class or self-study?

Are there review courses that cover everything in one course such as the 8 hour exam, seismic, and surveying? If I self study what reference material and schedule should I use?

 

[ptatohed]

What are some good study plans for the Seismic and Surveying parts when you are taking the 8 hour exam?How much should you focus on the Seismic and Surveying during studying? Should you study like 40 % (80 hours) for the Seismic and Surveying? What reference material to use? Is spending 60% ( 120 hours) on the 8 hour exam okay?

It takes about 250 - 350 hours of study time for the 8hr, and 150 - 250 each for the CA Seis/Surv. Do you plan to take a review class or self-study?

Are there review courses that cover everything in one course such as the 8 hour exam, seismic, and surveying? If I self study what reference material and schedule should I use?

Topic like this have been addressed countless times on this website. I'd recommend doing tons of research and then ask whatever leftover questions you might have, after the research. With some research, I think you'll get 90% of your answers.

 

[nightwing]

What are some good study plans for the Seismic and Surveying parts when you are taking the 8 hour exam?How much should you focus on the Seismic and Surveying during studying? Should you study like 40 % (80 hours) for the Seismic and Surveying? What reference material to use? Is spending 60% ( 120 hours) on the 8 hour exam okay?

It takes about 250 - 350 hours of study time for the 8hr, and 150 - 250 each for the CA Seis/Surv. Do you plan to take a review class or self-study?

Are there review courses that cover everything in one course such as the 8 hour exam, seismic, and surveying? If I self study what reference material and schedule should I use?

Topic like this have been addressed countless times on this website. I'd recommend doing tons of research and then ask whatever leftover questions you might have, after the research. With some research, I think you'll get 90% of your answers.

I plan to take a course but the course will start in August. I want to study before the course. What is a good study plan for taking all three tests? How should I study for seismic and surveying?

 

[ptatohed]

What are some good study plans for the Seismic and Surveying parts when you are taking the 8 hour exam?How much should you focus on the Seismic and Surveying during studying? Should you study like 40 % (80 hours) for the Seismic and Surveying? What reference material to use? Is spending 60% ( 120 hours) on the 8 hour exam okay?

It takes about 250 - 350 hours of study time for the 8hr, and 150 - 250 each for the CA Seis/Surv. Do you plan to take a review class or self-study?

Are there review courses that cover everything in one course such as the 8 hour exam, seismic, and surveying? If I self study what reference material and schedule should I use?

Topic like this have been addressed countless times on this website. I'd recommend doing tons of research and then ask whatever leftover questions you might have, after the research. With some research, I think you'll get 90% of your answers.

I plan to take a course but the course will start in August. I want to study before the course. What is a good study plan for taking all three tests? How should I study for seismic and surveying?

Study for and take/pass one exam at a time if you are not in a rush.

Find out what books your class will be using and try to acquire the books ahead of time and start going through them.

What depth have you selected? Have you obtained your depth's NCEES references?