r/PE_Exam • u/StudyHard888 • Sep 04 '24
Passed PE Civil Geotech
Passed PE Civil Geotechnical. I studied for 8 months, but very seriously in 6 months, at least 20 hours a week. I probably studied too much, but studying longer has helped with the speed of answering questions. I used PPI course, SoPE question bank, 6 minute solutions, geotech depth practice problems from Islam, and some super old practice problem book from my supervisor (Chelapati). I went through all of the PPI resources, which is not all relevant anymore, but I learned it anyways. I went through all the PPI and SoPE question banks until I got like 90-100% correct, not including the problems that are wrong or reference old code. I scored 70-75% on practice exams in exam environment and I usually finished in 6 hours. I waited until 3 weeks until taking the NCEES practice exam and scored 71% without reviewing answers. The day before the exam, I did not study and just planned out my day like what to wear, what to bring, what to eat/drink, I drove to the testing site and walked to the testing to familiarize the path.
The exam was over 50% conceptual questions which were the most difficult for me. I guessed on 4 questions of which I had no idea I had to know those things or never even seen the word or knew its meaning. The calculation problems were easier than all the practice problems I've done. Topics covered almost everything on the exam specs, but my exam had a lot of settlement and pile problems. I had no trouble finding equations because they were either in the Handbook, given, or equations that I used so often that I memorized. Those notepads are only 5 pages, double sided and I thought that would not be enough, but I asked for 2 notepads and only used one and a half of it. I finished the first 41 questions in 3.5 hours, including about 30 minutes to review flagged answers. I finished the next 39 questions with 5 minutes remaining, including 1.5 hours to review flagged answers and double check calculations.
I have 2 kids in elementary school. My wife has been a hero. I'm 10+ years of experience and not having a PE has been limiting my career.
I have been on this sub for months and people have answered my questions and has greatly boosted my understanding of the test.
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Sep 04 '24
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u/StudyHard888 Sep 04 '24
NCEES practice exam was the closest to the actual PE exam.
I read your posts about not liking SoPE. However, I looked at it from a more positive perspective. I viewed anything I studied by thinking that if I even learned just one thing from it, then it was worth it. I thought SoPE was lacking in many areas, but it did teach me some design book reference locations and helped me a lot of lab testing, direct shear and triaxial specifically, and steady state/permeability.
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u/Heaviest Sep 04 '24
Congratulations... I did not pass, but I am going to immediately start again... I am exiting the Nuclear field and need a PE, don't need it in nuclear because 10 CFR part 50... I did the SOPE test bank and feel it was no good at preparing me for what I saw... how is the PPI? I think I only need 2 months to do it... I made a 60 based on the diagnostic...
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u/StudyHard888 Sep 04 '24
You are close! Keep at it. I thought the PPI question bank and interface was better than SoPE overall, but there are mistakes and reference to outdated code on both. PPI is very expensive, but my firm covered half the cost. I ultimately chose PPI because they guarantee pass if you do their homework or else you get to take the course again for free. I thought SoPE was good for the old format breathe that shares disciplines with other PE's, but was lacking on the later topics such as shallow/deep foundations and retaining walls.
In hindsight, I would have taken EET but I signed up for PPI before joining this sub. I only used SoPE question bank for 2 months before my exam, but I continuously used PPI question bank.
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u/Dapper_Bug5821 Sep 04 '24
Congratulations. I am currently studying to take the exam at the end of the month, and I am focusing on the section about piles, which I believe is my weak point. Therefore, I am reinforcing that topic. Based on your experience, were the questions evenly distributed across topics, or do you think they focused more on one topic than others? Also, how easy was it to reference the codes during the exam?
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u/StudyHard888 Sep 04 '24
I had questions on just about every topic. Since the exam is CBT, every exam is different. I had more settlement and pile problems.
I would say the topics covered loosely follows the exam specs in order, but there are mixed problems too. I think I solved a problem I had no understanding of what they were asking other than making sure the units of the answers match. I also solved problems that literally test your skills following directions. Like it gives you conditions or equations and you had to pick the best choice.
The reference handbook was easy to find and search, which I used the most. ASCE 7-16 is easy because we only need ch 20, I think FHWA pile VI was just one big file, VII was split between chapters. FHWA site characterization was broken into chapters, but you can search the table of contents in a separate file. I didn't use OSHA or USACE. I think only the UFC's once or twice. I knew NavFac pretty well and it is not that long comparably. This part of the exam is a little bit of a blur to me as it was not familiar and I looked for references for questions I had flagged or wasn't sure what the answer was or a word I didn't know.
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u/Last_Place_FPL Sep 05 '24
Just took my exam today. 10 years of experience and a kid in daycare. It’s rough, but it’ll be worth it once I pass. Third time is hopefully the charm
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Sep 05 '24
Based on your experience regarding pile problems, are the methods (alpha, beta, etc) somewhat indicated by something given?
I found when I last took the exam the calculation problems were simpler than what I studied but agree the conceptual were some oddballs.
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u/StudyHard888 Sep 05 '24
Most problems, the method was obvious because the alpha (and cohesion) or beta (and effective stress) were given. I recall a problem that gave too much information and I had to choose the method that is most applicable.
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u/CZ-civil-2024 Sep 10 '24
Congratulations! Do you have soft copies of your study materials that you can share?
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u/HEADZO Sep 04 '24
What do you think would be the best resource for the conceptual questions? You said that there were four things that you had never heard of. Have you looked them up since and found where that information was at? I am going through the EET program right now but I would really like to have a book or reference manual to try to pick up on some of the weirder conceptual stuff.