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Message
re: PPI review course for PE exam
Posted on 2/5/15 at 10:21 am to ellis mike the tiger
Posted on 2/5/15 at 10:21 am to ellis mike the tiger
Well there you go. I did say LTRC at least twice though 
ETA: I say it's worth it to do it. They basically teach to the test. Why not make it as easy on yourself as possible.
ETA: I say it's worth it to do it. They basically teach to the test. Why not make it as easy on yourself as possible.
This post was edited on 2/5/15 at 10:23 am
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Posted on 2/5/15 at 10:27 am to ellis mike the tiger
The morning questions (water,geotechnical, etc) are pretty basic and not very in depth. I was in the same shoes as you, mainly doing structural work and hardly any civil work. I just did all the problems and sample tests I coukd to review the morning material. The CERM is your best friend for that portion of the exam. I found most of the answers to those questions could be found right out of that manual. The afternoon part (structural) was a little more difficult and the questions were more in depth. Good luck!
Posted on 2/5/15 at 10:30 am to ellis mike the tiger
Studying for the PE is a waste of time. Just show up and take it. It isn't rocket science and if you use the 6" thick reference book, every answer from the test is in it. Any worthwhile employer will have that reference available for you at no cost to borrow.
Posted on 2/5/15 at 10:32 am to bctiger6
Also, fwiw I though the PE was a fair test in that they don't have any questions that try to trick you. Most are straight forward, either you know how to do it or you dont
Posted on 2/5/15 at 10:40 am to ellis mike the tiger
quote:
After taking it though, do you think it was worth it enough to have paid for it with your own money?
yes because the students who have taken the test before and failed provide feedback on the exam to the instructors and the instructors relay all that info to the students
also, i really liked the testmasters review books and practice tests more so than the PPI stuff because it tended to match up closer to the exam than the PPI stuff did
and if you are not discipline paying the 1500 for the course will sure make you go to class and force you to study, i didn't have that problem but i know others who did
Posted on 2/5/15 at 10:42 am to TexasTiger34
The practice problems in the PPI manual and pamphlets were 10x harder than any actual test problem
The NCEES sample test I had was spot on in regards to exam difficulty
The NCEES sample test I had was spot on in regards to exam difficulty
Posted on 2/5/15 at 10:51 am to ellis mike the tiger
if you don't take the class (which is fine), somehow you need to get a copy of a large number of practice problems/solutions (this is the main value of the classes IMO). decided to skip out on the class, and studied on saturdays on my own for 2 months reviewing old reference manuals and theory. i would never have passed except for someone lending me their copy of the practice problems from a class. which i only borrowed the tuesday before the PE.
i worked practice problems 12 hours/day the two days before the test and i learned about 10x as much as i had from all the reference material reading i had done over 8-9 wknds combined. i really don't think i would have passed otherwise. if i'd known better i'd have just spent 3-4 wknds doing the practice problems instead of 8-9 reading old textbooks. good luck.
i worked practice problems 12 hours/day the two days before the test and i learned about 10x as much as i had from all the reference material reading i had done over 8-9 wknds combined. i really don't think i would have passed otherwise. if i'd known better i'd have just spent 3-4 wknds doing the practice problems instead of 8-9 reading old textbooks. good luck.
Posted on 2/5/15 at 10:54 am to notsince98
quote:
Studying for the PE is a waste of time. Just show up and take it. It isn't rocket science and if you use the 6" thick reference book, every answer from the test is in it. Any worthwhile employer will have that reference available for you at no cost to borrow.
it's true, it's so easy. that's why the pass rate is 95%+. only real idiots can't pass the PE without studying. 
Posted on 2/5/15 at 10:57 am to ellis mike the tiger
I took the Testmasters for the FE (career change that required me to). Passed on the first time, and this was after years of working, and being away from school. It is very time consuming. And they required you to do work outside of class, which I didn't do. The main advantage was them showing you tricks to streamline harder problems, and confining what you need to study. If you have no concept of the material, it won't help much.
This post was edited on 2/5/15 at 10:59 am
Posted on 2/5/15 at 10:59 am to AUCE05
You talking about for the FE? The FE was a joke
Posted on 2/5/15 at 11:00 am to jimbeam
The FE probably wouldn't be a joke years out of school. But yes, back then it was
Posted on 2/5/15 at 11:01 am to jimbeam
Work payed for the course. I was worried about me being so long since I graduated. Probably didn't need it, but I like to be over prepared.
Posted on 2/5/15 at 11:47 am to Croacka
quote:
The practice problems in the PPI manual and pamphlets were 10x harder than any actual test problem
Did you take a course or just work through the review material?
Posted on 2/5/15 at 11:57 am to gorillacoco
Posted on 2/5/15 at 12:07 pm to ellis mike the tiger
At the time I prepared (for ME) the ME dept at LSU was doing an evening prep class which wasn't very good, but better than nothing.
MERM (from PPI) was my primary reference and practice resource. You could pass the exam I took with that book alone.
The sample questions/answers from NCEES were the best practice problems I used for preparation.
I don't have any experience with Structural but PPI's materials are very good.
MERM (from PPI) was my primary reference and practice resource. You could pass the exam I took with that book alone.
The sample questions/answers from NCEES were the best practice problems I used for preparation.
I don't have any experience with Structural but PPI's materials are very good.
Posted on 2/5/15 at 12:08 pm to TexasTiger34
quote:
i took testmasters
Since you took testmasters, they are doing an online one in houston. DO you think you would have benefited the same from doing it online as opposed to in class?
Posted on 2/5/15 at 3:23 pm to ellis mike the tiger
quote:
but as I only work in structural engineering, I haven't even looked at anything with waste water, environmental, or hydrology since school.
Why not take the S.E. then which will focus purely on structural engineering?
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