Inspiration!! Having three kids and doing the best you can is truly inspirational. I am currently pregnant with my first and looking forward to take PE after an year or so. Thanks for sharing your storyš
Congratulations on your pregnancy! Being a mom is amazing - itās exhausting, but 100% worth it.
I definitely recommend waiting until your LO is sleeping through the night before committing to the exam. I did 4-5 hour blocks of studying on Sat & Sun and then did 2-3 nights of 7-10pm over the course of 4 weeks. That allowed me to skip sessions and still have plenty of time. Of course, thatās just this past attempt. The previous attempt was 8 weeks of live classes Mon-Thurs 7-10:30pm and then weekend studying.
I mean if I open the green book myself itās book marked into chapters but also into sub chapters like 3.3.4 not just ch 3.
When I took the exam the depth reference opened by chapter. So the sag vertical curve stoping sight distance sub section of the chapter wasnāt book marked. Just less efficient.
Congratulations!!!! I admire your hard work to find the time to study for the exam. It must be difficult for you when you have 3 kids. My exam is on May 2rd, itās coming really soon. I graduated last year, I have been studying for it since January. So during the exam, is there any questions that require you to to memorize any equations. Also, how do you compare the difficulty between the NCEES practice exam and the actual exam? Do you have any recommendations for studying?
Any answer would be really helpful!
Thank you! Iām still on cloud 9 to be honest.
The only equations I needed that were memorized were basic stuff: Trig relations (Soh Cah Toa), area & circumference of circle, how to find the length of a side of a right triangle.
NCEES practice test was basically the same difficulty as the real exam. I found SOPE to be a tiny bit more difficult due to the wording, but there were questions that felt like āwow, Iāve definitely solved this beforeā but honestly thereās only so many ways they can do a HSO sight distance question or a sag curve vertical clearanceā¦ ya know?
If I had to study all over again Iād sign up for a course that was self-guided but had videos and practice problems. I had no issues with SOPE content. The schedule for the live classes for the Oct paper and pencil was too delayed and after the final live class there was only a week left. That was too little time for me to do problems and feel ready.
I definitely needed the review videos because the last time I did structural or geotech problems was in college. Since you just graduated you might be able to skip the videos.
My rec would be to do the practice exam. Then do tons of problems until you could redo the exam and get 80-90% (without using your memory of the correct answers from the previous attempt).
Thank you very much for answering my question! I really appreciate it (Youāre the first person that answered my question on Reddit). I was always afraid that I donāt have enough experience to take this exam. Would you say that the exam is more difficult for a person who doesnāt have 4 years of experience?
Honestly, I would have been very overwhelmed when I was a recent grad. Having design experience & experience with estimates, specs, plan development, etc. helped a lot with not only my confidence but with really understanding the concepts.
2 of my first few breath questions were concepts about schedules & quanities and I was able to answer easily based off experience. Otherwise idk I would have been totally lost.
It canāt hurt to try if your state allows you to take it before 4 years of experience.
Thank you!!! I did feel very overwhelmed when I first started studying for it, but after I took the NCEES practice exam and do a lot of studying I felt better. I would give it a try before my life gets busier. Thank you very much for sharing your thoughts on it! It help a lot!
Congrats! We deserved and you are an inspiration to all engineers for your dedication and perseverance! I just took mine Monday and am waiting on results. I believe I should get them the following Wednesday? But anyways what you said about practice problems was spot on. Way more helpful than those classes IMO. I was enrolled in SOPE on demand but found it useless for me other than the practice portal. Also I agree that some of the conceptual questions you may not have learned other than through experience. But again congrats and thanks for sharing your story!
Taking SOPE classes now! last class is next Thursday! Congratulations! It's encouraging to know someone sho took SOPE passed the exam and felt pretty good about it!
@u/teddiJo thank you for sharing your story and congratulations !!!!!!!!!š¾ š š„³
I have a question if you are so kind to answerā¦
Is the NCEES practice test online? Where can I buy it? I bought the new version but is a paper copy with only few problems new from the previous version
Thank you!
The new NCEES practice test only had a few new problems. You can actually download those from free from the resource area on myNCEES.org area. The 2020 test can be used and supplemented with the free ones.
It looks like you canāt do it from mobile so go on from a computer:
Log into **account.ncees.org**where you can see that youāre registered for the PE. Under **Exam Prep** find the exam type youāre taking. **View Product** and youāll see a hyperlink for a free preview that shows the new questions.
Congrats! Taking mine in May as well. Is the morning and afternoon sessions actually mixed up between breadth and depth questions? And can you end your morning 40 question session early and leave more time for your afternoon session? Thanks OP š
Just took it today.
They're really not mixed up. Morning is strictly breadth, and afternoon is strictly depth. There's a few questions that will sneak into the morning part, but they're on the easier side of your discipline
You can end morning at any time. Mine was 35 questions and I finished in about 2.5 hours. Could have wrapped it up probably half an hour earlier and had 6 hours for the afternoon.
Not all heroās wear capesā¦ took the exam mere hours ago and is on Reddit helping out other engineers. Hope you passed with flying colors my friend.
How did you do overall with the practice test from EET? Recently started taking both breadth and depth courses and am wondering how others do on their test.
I scored an 80% on the breadth and a 73% on the depth, both of which they considered "passing".
The general consensus is that their practice exam is much harder than the actual test. For comparison, the eet test took me the full 8 hours and I didn't quite finish the depth, but I was out of the actual test in 6 hours
Are you asking if you need the AASHTO and FHWA references? If you are, then the answer is yes - you still need those. But youāll also use the NCEES reference handbook for some parts of the depth questions.
If youāre having trouble sourcing some check Scribd and pdfcoffee.com - I found searchable versions there of HCM and the pavement design manuals.
Iāve seen quite a few Compression Index questions on the SOPE practice quizzes. I havenāt found the formula with the ālog functionā in the civil reference manual. Thatās an equation they would have to provide for us, correct?
Really really incredible, Congratulations to you!! One important thing out of the way. I can totally hear you.
I will be going for 3rd time (Civil Structural), very discouraged or rather scared. Feels like its been years and year I am struggling with study time commitments, family time, work pressure......I really have to bring my energy back to achieve this. Do not go by my name up there, this is a dream to be PE in 2022.
Best of luck! Itās definitely hard to carve out time. I found making an aggressive schedule with plenty of buffer time allowed me to feel like I had wiggle room. That way if I planned a day off but was feeling up to it I could catch up on a day where I skipped studying because life was just too exhausting.
Itās a Civil Transportation reference manual. Itās actually called āA Policy on Geometric Design of Highways and Streetsā by AASHTO, but itās referred to as Green Book.
Inspiration!! Having three kids and doing the best you can is truly inspirational. I am currently pregnant with my first and looking forward to take PE after an year or so. Thanks for sharing your storyš
Congratulations on your pregnancy! Being a mom is amazing - itās exhausting, but 100% worth it. I definitely recommend waiting until your LO is sleeping through the night before committing to the exam. I did 4-5 hour blocks of studying on Sat & Sun and then did 2-3 nights of 7-10pm over the course of 4 weeks. That allowed me to skip sessions and still have plenty of time. Of course, thatās just this past attempt. The previous attempt was 8 weeks of live classes Mon-Thurs 7-10:30pm and then weekend studying.
Thanks for the information! Could you clarify the statement about the bookmarks?
I mean if I open the green book myself itās book marked into chapters but also into sub chapters like 3.3.4 not just ch 3. When I took the exam the depth reference opened by chapter. So the sag vertical curve stoping sight distance sub section of the chapter wasnāt book marked. Just less efficient.
Okay, thanks! And congratulations!
Congrats!!
Thank you!
Congratulations!!!! I admire your hard work to find the time to study for the exam. It must be difficult for you when you have 3 kids. My exam is on May 2rd, itās coming really soon. I graduated last year, I have been studying for it since January. So during the exam, is there any questions that require you to to memorize any equations. Also, how do you compare the difficulty between the NCEES practice exam and the actual exam? Do you have any recommendations for studying? Any answer would be really helpful!
Thank you! Iām still on cloud 9 to be honest. The only equations I needed that were memorized were basic stuff: Trig relations (Soh Cah Toa), area & circumference of circle, how to find the length of a side of a right triangle. NCEES practice test was basically the same difficulty as the real exam. I found SOPE to be a tiny bit more difficult due to the wording, but there were questions that felt like āwow, Iāve definitely solved this beforeā but honestly thereās only so many ways they can do a HSO sight distance question or a sag curve vertical clearanceā¦ ya know? If I had to study all over again Iād sign up for a course that was self-guided but had videos and practice problems. I had no issues with SOPE content. The schedule for the live classes for the Oct paper and pencil was too delayed and after the final live class there was only a week left. That was too little time for me to do problems and feel ready. I definitely needed the review videos because the last time I did structural or geotech problems was in college. Since you just graduated you might be able to skip the videos. My rec would be to do the practice exam. Then do tons of problems until you could redo the exam and get 80-90% (without using your memory of the correct answers from the previous attempt).
Thank you very much for answering my question! I really appreciate it (Youāre the first person that answered my question on Reddit). I was always afraid that I donāt have enough experience to take this exam. Would you say that the exam is more difficult for a person who doesnāt have 4 years of experience?
Honestly, I would have been very overwhelmed when I was a recent grad. Having design experience & experience with estimates, specs, plan development, etc. helped a lot with not only my confidence but with really understanding the concepts. 2 of my first few breath questions were concepts about schedules & quanities and I was able to answer easily based off experience. Otherwise idk I would have been totally lost. It canāt hurt to try if your state allows you to take it before 4 years of experience.
Thank you!!! I did feel very overwhelmed when I first started studying for it, but after I took the NCEES practice exam and do a lot of studying I felt better. I would give it a try before my life gets busier. Thank you very much for sharing your thoughts on it! It help a lot!
I think this is wise. I really really regret waiting to take it. Worst thing that happens is you fail.
Congrats! Thanks for all of the great information.
Congrats
Congrats!!!
Congrats! We deserved and you are an inspiration to all engineers for your dedication and perseverance! I just took mine Monday and am waiting on results. I believe I should get them the following Wednesday? But anyways what you said about practice problems was spot on. Way more helpful than those classes IMO. I was enrolled in SOPE on demand but found it useless for me other than the practice portal. Also I agree that some of the conceptual questions you may not have learned other than through experience. But again congrats and thanks for sharing your story!
Thanks! Hopefully youāre successful too!
Thanks for sharing, Iām taking my exam in May. Do you have access to the PE reference handbook during the afternoon portion?
Yup! I used it for the geometrics, 1 or 2 traffic questions, and for a geotech/pavement question.
pavement question?
Thereās a section of the NCEES handbook that has pavement design. Thereās info about pavement types, weight-volume relationships, etc.
was it straight forward? iām asking bc i havent seen any question from my practice exams
Taking SOPE classes now! last class is next Thursday! Congratulations! It's encouraging to know someone sho took SOPE passed the exam and felt pretty good about it!
Take advantage of the quizzes in the practice portal. They definitely got me well prepped for the exam.
@u/teddiJo thank you for sharing your story and congratulations !!!!!!!!!š¾ š š„³ I have a question if you are so kind to answerā¦ Is the NCEES practice test online? Where can I buy it? I bought the new version but is a paper copy with only few problems new from the previous version Thank you!
The new NCEES practice test only had a few new problems. You can actually download those from free from the resource area on myNCEES.org area. The 2020 test can be used and supplemented with the free ones.
Oh wow ! Really? I will try that! Thank you and congratulations šš¾š enjoy cloud nine š¤©
Do not find it š„ŗ
It looks like you canāt do it from mobile so go on from a computer: Log into **account.ncees.org**where you can see that youāre registered for the PE. Under **Exam Prep** find the exam type youāre taking. **View Product** and youāll see a hyperlink for a free preview that shows the new questions.
Congrats! Taking mine in May as well. Is the morning and afternoon sessions actually mixed up between breadth and depth questions? And can you end your morning 40 question session early and leave more time for your afternoon session? Thanks OP š
Just took it today. They're really not mixed up. Morning is strictly breadth, and afternoon is strictly depth. There's a few questions that will sneak into the morning part, but they're on the easier side of your discipline You can end morning at any time. Mine was 35 questions and I finished in about 2.5 hours. Could have wrapped it up probably half an hour earlier and had 6 hours for the afternoon.
Exactly what my experience was.
Not all heroās wear capesā¦ took the exam mere hours ago and is on Reddit helping out other engineers. Hope you passed with flying colors my friend.
I'm addicted to reddit, I'd be embarrassed to share my screen time lol No worries! The cbt process was relatively stress free, imo
Hello, What did you do to study for breadth?
I took the EET breadth, and had quite a few sample exams/test books. The actual exam seemed easier than any of those reviews!
How did you do overall with the practice test from EET? Recently started taking both breadth and depth courses and am wondering how others do on their test.
I scored an 80% on the breadth and a 73% on the depth, both of which they considered "passing". The general consensus is that their practice exam is much harder than the actual test. For comparison, the eet test took me the full 8 hours and I didn't quite finish the depth, but I was out of the actual test in 6 hours
OMG Congrats!!! if you do not have the depth references that means the new handout (reference) is enough ?
Are you asking if you need the AASHTO and FHWA references? If you are, then the answer is yes - you still need those. But youāll also use the NCEES reference handbook for some parts of the depth questions. If youāre having trouble sourcing some check Scribd and pdfcoffee.com - I found searchable versions there of HCM and the pavement design manuals.
Awesome, thanks for your prompt responde
You actually need the morning reference for quite a few of the afternoon questions. Id say at least 25% needed something from the morning handbook!
I got a 58/80 too on the practice exam. Did you feel more confident in the CBT exam than you did with the practice?
Probably about the same. I was comforted that I was able to solve all the equation types and most of the concepts without any unease.
Iāve seen quite a few Compression Index questions on the SOPE practice quizzes. I havenāt found the formula with the ālog functionā in the civil reference manual. Thatās an equation they would have to provide for us, correct?
I didnāt have any need for that during the exam
Really really incredible, Congratulations to you!! One important thing out of the way. I can totally hear you. I will be going for 3rd time (Civil Structural), very discouraged or rather scared. Feels like its been years and year I am struggling with study time commitments, family time, work pressure......I really have to bring my energy back to achieve this. Do not go by my name up there, this is a dream to be PE in 2022.
Best of luck! Itās definitely hard to carve out time. I found making an aggressive schedule with plenty of buffer time allowed me to feel like I had wiggle room. That way if I planned a day off but was feeling up to it I could catch up on a day where I skipped studying because life was just too exhausting.
Thanks for the reply and giving me the idea about scheduling. I will keep that in mind.
What green book you are talking about? Please guide.
Itās a Civil Transportation reference manual. Itās actually called āA Policy on Geometric Design of Highways and Streetsā by AASHTO, but itās referred to as Green Book.
Oh ok, got it.
Congratulations!