PE Exam Prep
PE Exam Prep
(OP)
I am preparing to take the PE this coming spring. If I could get some advice from a few people that have recently taken the exam I would appreciate it. I am taking the breadth exam in the morning, and the structural in the afternoon. I have just purchased the Civil Engineering Reference Manual. A couple questions I have are:
1.The NCEES has the design standards that are used for the exam on their website. Do I need a copy of the Transportation & Construction design standards for the morning exam? Or will the reference manual be sufficient?
2.I plan on taking a foundations text book and a structural analysis text book into the exam. Are there any other books or references that are of great help that I should purchase?
Thanks in advance.
1.The NCEES has the design standards that are used for the exam on their website. Do I need a copy of the Transportation & Construction design standards for the morning exam? Or will the reference manual be sufficient?
2.I plan on taking a foundations text book and a structural analysis text book into the exam. Are there any other books or references that are of great help that I should purchase?
Thanks in advance.





RE: PE Exam Prep
RE: PE Exam Prep
www.engineerboards.com
-Dustin
Professional Engineer
Certified SolidWorks Professional
Certified COSMOSWorks Designer Specialist
Certified SolidWorks Advanced Sheet Metal Specialist
RE: PE Exam Prep
neffers
RE: PE Exam Prep
1. I did not buy copies of the Transportation and Construction references. There was a problem in the morning that I could have solved with a Transportation reference, but the other problems were not that bad and could be solved with the Civil Reference Manual (CERM).
2. For the morning session, I know I used the CERM most of time, and I would recommend you print out the CERM index and place it in a 3-ring binder. Also, there were very specific afternoon questions that required the IBC 2006 or ASCE 7-05, for what it is worth.
Someone that took the exam in April at the site I was at only brought two books, the CERM and an enviro book. Granted, he was taking the Civil test with a different afternoon session, but half way through the afternoon, he slammed his book down and turned in his exam. He appeared to be very frustrated and I am thinking he should have brought more references.
Good luck to everyone taking the Exam!!
JWB
RE: PE Exam Prep
I brought everything on the NCEES reference list beside the AASHTO stuff. I think there was only one question where it was probably just a lookup from a chart in AASHTO. I don't think it's worth the $200 or whatever they want for that manual, since I don't do transportation at work.
Here's the list: h
I'd say the PCI manual isn't that critical either.
RE: PE Exam Prep
RE: PE Exam Prep
The nice thing about the PPI review manuals is that they are intended to be used in the exam. Your textbooks are intended to teach you the material.
-Dustin
Professional Engineer
Certified SolidWorks Professional
Certified COSMOSWorks Designer Specialist
Certified SolidWorks Advanced Sheet Metal Specialist
RE: PE Exam Prep
RE: PE Exam Prep
You should not need any specific code to complete the morning session. You will need the bulk of the references to pass the afternoon structural depth module.
I was sucessful without the AASHTO book, that book with all the addenda is about 9" thick anyway. Not worth it in my opinion, unless you use it and are familiar with it.
For review, I would recomended getting the NCEES sample exam for both the civil and the current structural exams. The problems are representative of the exam format.
RE: PE Exam Prep
JWB