Took SOPE and not pass

[PECG]

Good Morning everyone, 

I am new to the forum and set to take the PE Construction Exam in April 2018. I have about three weeks left of studying and I am drilling as many problems as I can and taking information from the engineer boards. (Great Stuff!) I was wondering if anyone was willing to share their experience of taking the School of PE refresher course and still coming up short after an exam attempt. I personally know a couple of folks who have taken SOPE and not passed but they mostly said that they did not put in the additional work to be successful on the exam. Just a few questions for those folks: - What did you think of the exam in the first attempt? - Did you have a good understanding of the concepts of both morning & afternoon? -What are you doing differently in your next attempt? -Was School of PE helpful for you in the morning and afternoon? & anything additional you feel is critical to know for a first timer.

I am not judging by any means as I am truly curious of the different "study attack methods" I should take with the three weeks I have left. Construction comments are the most helpful, but I'm willing to entertain input from other disciplines. Thanks

 

[School of PE]

Good morning!

If you have any questions for us feel free to let us know! The national pass rate of the construction depth is 60% while the School of PE pass rate is 88% so we do believe that our course is very helpful for the morning and afternoon portions of the test.  Our Live Online class has already started but we do offer an Ondemand option. If you do have any questions, for us, you can reach us at 614-873-7475 or email us at [email protected].

Good luck on your exam! 

 

[CairnNY]

I have not taken the exam yet so I can't speak to what will work or not, but I am in your class so I thought I would chime in with my thoughts.... I think that people who did the SOPE refresher and failed the exam probably did not work practice problems on their own outside of the course, and that is why they may have fallen short. This week is our last week of class and then we will have about two weeks of our own study time before the exam. My plan is to spend the next two weeks doing the workshop problems from the SOPE course on my own and finding out where my weaknesses are. 

Another thing I did was I bought the NCEES practice exam book, and everything that is in both the SOPE refresher and the practice exam book I tabbed and starred because there is probably a good chance that those problems will be on the exam.

One last strategy I plan on using is the strategy discussed by Mr. Stankewicz regarding going through once and labeling problems based on difficulty and doing the easy problems on the first pass. I think if I can go through one time and get ±10 very confidently and quickly in the first 30-45 minutes, then I will be in good shape. I am bringing the SOPE binders and if I have printed up and tabbed the crap out of them and I feel like I can get a ton of problems just by looking back at those notes and worked problems.

I also don't give much thought to the whole 6 minute a problem idea that people stress about...there are some problems that you can get in one minute or less so if you get those first, you will have more than 6 minutes per problem. (Plus I have never heard anyone say that a 60/80 is a failing score so if you aim to do 30 well in each session you could arguably have 10 minutes per problem and guess C for the remaining ten problems.)

Good luck! Are you really burnt out from the classes and studying?I have become totally useless in all other aspects of life lol...

 

[cuatona1]

I took SOPE and did not pass. I felt very prepared for morning session, but the afternoon was completely different . But, I guess it depends on your depth. I took Civil Construction. There were things I saw on the exam that I feel weren’t covered well in the Depth portion. And the delivery of the instructor wasn’t the best. It seemed as he was reading from a script and you often could hear his frustration. The second time around, I took EET for the Construction Depth and all I have to say is wow! EET classes you can actually see the instructor like Skype. Samir is a great instructor, and took the time to explain things and encouraged input from everybody if there was an easier way to do something he encouraged people to share. I emailed him frequently if I didn’t understand a topic fully and he responded within hours. He also taught us how to use the reference materials and find where everything was. For example wind load on vertical wall forms, SOPE, provided a statics problem approach using sine and cosine...Samir showed us formulas on SP- and it was plug and chug. Equipment productivity the same thing SOPE taught a long way using a general format of volume and cycle time and unit conversions. EET showed the same approach but then also gave you the formulas for excavator, grader, dozer equipment productivity. Mix design, hands down EET went through it inside and out and gave different approaches and how they could ask the question. Shore/Reshore...made sense when Samir presented it. FYI, for shore/reshore the key is to look at the what the slab is doing. The shores and reshore do the same job the only difference is it’s deadload the shore and reshore prevent the slab from deflecting. If you remove a shore or reshore slab deflects then the slab carries load, how much load it carries is the total load above divided by the number of slabs the shore and reshore extend. I can go on and on but I just want to say Thank you, Samir!! You helped me pass!!!

 

[youngmotivatedengineer]

Make sure you spend some time reviewing basic geometry and trigonometry concepts. You will be amazed at how many problems seem tricky but can be solved using these basic formulas.  This include crane clearences, roadway offsets, anchor depths and much more.  

Hard to tell from original post if you took SoPE or just looking for people who did. The title alone can tell alot about a course and if it will be good. SoPE is a refresher course and may assume you know certain things and not go in vast detail on all topics. Other courses offer a full in-depth review and they teach the subject material in detail. Another thing is to get an understanding of the presenters for the course. Do they know the subject material and can answer questions or are they reading script and have to rely on the script/notes for all the information they present. 

 

[Kubota]

Hello fellow SOPE students. I am also in your class! 

Would be interested in seeing what others have to say about this. 

What are your guys thoughts on the recommended references? Are you bringing all of them? All the ACI's, the ASCE, ect....

The ACI MNL - 15 is quite expensive and hard to find. I'm wondering your guys thoughts on bringing the SOPE recommended references. 

 

[ruggercsc]

Hello fellow SOPE students. I am also in your class! 

Would be interested in seeing what others have to say about this. 

What are your guys thoughts on the recommended references? Are you bringing all of them? All the ACI's, the ASCE, ect....

The ACI MNL - 15 is quite expensive and hard to find. I'm wondering your guys thoughts on bringing the SOPE recommended references. 

Bring all the recommended resources.  If you poll those that passed they would almost unanimously say to bring all recommended resources because you will need them.  You would hate to miss out on a couple of simple code lookup questions because you were missing a couple of the recommended resources.

BTW, I found ACL MNL-15 on Amazon when I update our resource/code book library about two months ago. 

I have not taken the exam yet so I can't speak to what will work or not, but I am in your class so I thought I would chime in with my thoughts.... I think that people who did the SOPE refresher and failed the exam probably did not work practice problems on their own outside of the course, and that is why they may have fallen short. This week is our last week of class and then we will have about two weeks of our own study time before the exam. My plan is to spend the next two weeks doing the workshop problems from the SOPE course on my own and finding out where my weaknesses are. 

Another thing I did was I bought the NCEES practice exam book, and everything that is in both the SOPE refresher and the practice exam book I tabbed and starred because there is probably a good chance that those problems will be on the exam.

One last strategy I plan on using is the strategy discussed by Mr. Stankewicz regarding going through once and labeling problems based on difficulty and doing the easy problems on the first pass. I think if I can go through one time and get ±10 very confidently and quickly in the first 30-45 minutes, then I will be in good shape. I am bringing the SOPE binders and if I have printed up and tabbed the crap out of them and I feel like I can get a ton of problems just by looking back at those notes and worked problems.

I also don't give much thought to the whole 6 minute a problem idea that people stress about...there are some problems that you can get in one minute or less so if you get those first, you will have more than 6 minutes per problem. (Plus I have never heard anyone say that a 60/80 is a failing score so if you aim to do 30 well in each session you could arguably have 10 minutes per problem and guess C for the remaining ten problems.)

Good luck! Are you really burnt out from the classes and studying?I have become totally useless in all other aspects of life lol...

SOPE, EET, or any other review course helps you focus on material most likely on the exam, but you are correct that you have to put time in outside of these classes working on problems. 

Your strategy is very similar to mine, so you should be in good shape.  Just keep working on the problems. 

 

[CairnNY]

Hello fellow SOPE students. I am also in your class! 

Would be interested in seeing what others have to say about this. 

What are your guys thoughts on the recommended references? Are you bringing all of them? All the ACI's, the ASCE, ect....

The ACI MNL - 15 is quite expensive and hard to find. I'm wondering your guys thoughts on bringing the SOPE recommended references. 

I would definitely buy the ACI MNL - 15. I know it sucks to spend the money on it, but I figure I will be able to sell it used after I pass so I should be able to recover most of my funds....

 

[PowerStroke79_PE]

I would definitely buy the ACI MNL - 15. I know it sucks to spend the money on it, but I figure I will be able to sell it used after I pass so I should be able to recover most of my funds....

A member can buy 2 manuals. Try to find someone who is a member and can order it for you. Im sure if you tell them its for the PE exam they will help you out. 

 

[PECG]

I have not taken the exam yet so I can't speak to what will work or not, but I am in your class so I thought I would chime in with my thoughts.... I think that people who did the SOPE refresher and failed the exam probably did not work practice problems on their own outside of the course, and that is why they may have fallen short. This week is our last week of class and then we will have about two weeks of our own study time before the exam. My plan is to spend the next two weeks doing the workshop problems from the SOPE course on my own and finding out where my weaknesses are. 

Another thing I did was I bought the NCEES practice exam book, and everything that is in both the SOPE refresher and the practice exam book I tabbed and starred because there is probably a good chance that those problems will be on the exam.

One last strategy I plan on using is the strategy discussed by Mr. Stankewicz regarding going through once and labeling problems based on difficulty and doing the easy problems on the first pass. I think if I can go through one time and get ±10 very confidently and quickly in the first 30-45 minutes, then I will be in good shape. I am bringing the SOPE binders and if I have printed up and tabbed the crap out of them and I feel like I can get a ton of problems just by looking back at those notes and worked problems.

I also don't give much thought to the whole 6 minute a problem idea that people stress about...there are some problems that you can get in one minute or less so if you get those first, you will have more than 6 minutes per problem. (Plus I have never heard anyone say that a 60/80 is a failing score so if you aim to do 30 well in each session you could arguably have 10 minutes per problem and guess C for the remaining ten problems.)

Good luck! Are you really burnt out from the classes and studying?I have become totally useless in all other aspects of life lol...

Thanks for the feedback. I'm am taking very similar steps that you are. I am getting burnt out slightly. Having a family while studying for this exam is a monster. Hope my fam still likes me after this. Haha. Much respect to the family education/certification go getters out there. Do you have any additional practice problems you'd be willing to share? 

 

[PECG]

Make sure you spend some time reviewing basic geometry and trigonometry concepts. You will be amazed at how many problems seem tricky but can be solved using these basic formulas.  This include crane clearences, roadway offsets, anchor depths and much more.  

Hard to tell from original post if you took SoPE or just looking for people who did. The title alone can tell alot about a course and if it will be good. SoPE is a refresher course and may assume you know certain things and not go in vast detail on all topics. Other courses offer a full in-depth review and they teach the subject material in detail. Another thing is to get an understanding of the presenters for the course. Do they know the subject material and can answer questions or are they reading script and have to rely on the script/notes for all the information they present. 

Thanks for the feeback! SOPE was great! I am just running into a few people who took the construction and SOPE and failed - thus, my paranoia. Do you have any suggestions for additional practice problems similar to the exam other than the practice exam?

 

[PECG]

Hello fellow SOPE students. I am also in your class! 

Would be interested in seeing what others have to say about this. 

What are your guys thoughts on the recommended references? Are you bringing all of them? All the ACI's, the ASCE, ect....

The ACI MNL - 15 is quite expensive and hard to find. I'm wondering your guys thoughts on bringing the SOPE recommended references. 

I am bringing every reference plus the FE reference manual and old engineering econ book from college. I'm sort of worried about the Steel Manual as I have the 13th edition and Mr. Stank referenced some material from the latest edition of the steel manual. 

 

[youngmotivatedengineer]

Steel manual should not be an issue as there are no steel design problems on the exam.  I had my green ASD manual from 2003 and I don't I opened it on either of my 2 attempts. I couldn't find a chapter index of the new one, but I think they only reference chapters that are more informational and probably found elsewhere as well 

 

[WE WERE THE MULVANEYS]

I used the latest steel manual on the last exam, only because I already had it, I would not recommend buying it for the construction exam. I would invest in acquiring as many different construction exams as possible by different authors. Lindberg's in my opinion is least helpful as it is much too involved more than you need. Goswami, Monsour, Desantis , Oakeson are very good authors.

 

[PECG]

Steel manual should not be an issue as there are no steel design problems on the exam.  I had my green ASD manual from 2003 and I don't I opened it on either of my 2 attempts. I couldn't find a chapter index of the new one, but I think they only reference chapters that are more informational and probably found elsewhere as well 

Gotcha. Did you go through the refresher course for both attempts? 

 

[PECG]

I used the latest steel manual on the last exam, only because I already had it, I would not recommend buying it for the construction exam. I would invest in acquiring as many different construction exams as possible by different authors. Lindberg's in my opinion is least helpful as it is much too involved more than you need. Goswami, Monsour, Desantis , Oakeson are very good authors.

I have Desantis and I see the Goswami references online. I may have to get theirs. Can you send some links for Oakeson and Monsour? 

 

[WE WERE THE MULVANEYS]

The second attempt I did EET which was excellent.

 

[cuatona1]

How’s everyone feeling after the exam?!

 

[tehparadox]

Feeling like crap now.  I keep rethinking I messed up on simple questions and realized a messed up on a couple of easy ones.  

 

[leggo PE]

Feeling like crap now.  I keep rethinking I messed up on simple questions and realized a messed up on a couple of easy ones.  

You should go check out this thread, if you haven't already: