Surveying

[lara123]

I failed surveying again! For the 3rd time. I do great on calculations but I fail the rest of the topics. What books do you guys recommend that would help me on the other topics?....

Thanks

 

[Sapper PE LS]

Hey! You are the perfect person to help us grow the new sister site to engineerboards... Surveyorboards.com.

So, anyway, let me get this straight. You failed the PS exam? FS exam? State specific surveying exam? California Survey exam? I'm curious because your answer will help people understand and give you the most useful information.

 

[rdv128]

I failed the exam the first time but passed the second time after taking civilpesurveyingreview.com online class. It is a short online prep class that doesn't cover everything in detail but definitely helps to increase your speed in solving problems and explains the basics in sufficient detail to pass. The quizzes and practice tests are similar in difficulty to the actual exam. The course comes with a brief reference book that helps for the exam. There are blank pages in the book for notes. It was the only reference I took into the exam.

 

[lara123]

Sapper I failed the state specific surveying exam for Civil engineers. I will check out your new site thank you...

rdv128 did you have any previous surveying experience?

 

[Sapper PE LS]

I don't know California civil survey exam specifically, but I will say that one thing that helped me get ready for the FS and PS was to read the state specific surveying regulations and rules. Even though on the FS and PS they don't focus on state specific items, there is usually a fair amount of stuff in there such as definitions and procedures or whatever that the understanding helps on the other tests.

This seems like a relevant strategy for you since you indicated that you did well on the calculations but not the other topics.

 

[rdv128]

Sapper I failed the state specific surveying exam for Civil engineers. I will check out your new site thank you...

rdv128 did you have any previous surveying experience?

I didn't have any previous surveying experience, nothing in school or work, but I did take a different surveying exam prep course prior to my first exam attempt. It covered a lot of additional material not on the exam (which was a waste of time for preparing for the exam) and didn't provide sufficent practice problems. I felt confident after the course but during my first try at the exam I realized I hadn't done enough problems to solve them fast enough. The online class I took provided a good introduction on approaching the exam, shortcuts to solving problems faster and it helped me understand the areas which I didn't quite grasp well enough. And the online simulated practice exams really made a difference.

 

[tsweaney]

Hi,

Last time I took the PE, I focused on seismic and passed (but I did take the surveying exam to get a feel for how it would be). I took a surveying training and was super prepared and was passing practice exams with high scores, and the exams were representative of what the test was the last time I took it, so I thought I had this one done. This time around I focused on surveying, and I failed. wah!! Anyhow, the surveying exam seemed to have a format change from the last time I took it. there were more complex figures, which took more time to solve than the exam I took last year and the practice exams I was passing with flying colors... I passed 3 out of 5 sections, but I still didn't pass the overall exam - I ran out of time, and although I knew how to solve them I had to guess on a bunch towards the end b/c I ran out of time.

Did anyone else notice a format change or did I just have bad luck in getting a test with more complex figures?? I heard a few other people encountered the same thing.

I am curious to know what the cut score was for surveying. If anyone knows, I would love to know...

 

[tsweaney]

Hi,

Last time I took the PE, I focused on seismic and passed (but I did take the surveying exam to get a feel for how it would be). I took a surveying training and was super prepared and was passing practice exams with high scores, and the exams were representative of what the test was the last time I took it, so I thought I had this one done. This time around I focused on surveying, and I failed. wah!! Anyhow, the surveying exam seemed to have a format change from the last time I took it. there were more complex figures, which took more time to solve than the exam I took last year and the practice exams I was passing with flying colors... I passed 3 out of 5 sections, but I still didn't pass the overall exam - I ran out of time, and although I knew how to solve them I had to guess on a bunch towards the end b/c I ran out of time.

Did anyone else notice a format change or did I just have bad luck in getting a test with more complex figures?? I heard a few other people encountered the same thing.

I am curious to know what the cut score was for surveying. If anyone knows, I would love to know...

p.s. Dr. mansour's training is very good for surveying preparation - [email protected]