I passed the PE exam from last October, with an emphasis in structures. I used your course as part of my preparation – I believe it really helped. As a first-time test taker, I was understandably nervous, but going through your material really helped give me confidence that I was preparing thoroughly.
Thanks for the help!
Daniel Thompson

This is why we at PeReview.net don’t differentiate between breadth and depth problems. Instead,we advocate breadth in preparation which, in turn, will deliver depth.

I really like the article Holiday Spirit and that Looming PE Exam. However, I do not consider myself a “young engineer”. I’m 50 years old and even though I graduated in 2006 (yes it took me 8 years and I worked as an Engr. Tech) sometimes I feel that I should push this out of my mind and consider myself a “young engineer”.

Any advice on not letting my age make excuses for me? I do feel younger than 50 and I’m trying to work that one!

Carla, you’re not the first and won’t be the last PEreview.net subscriber that remembers Ronald Reagan’s inauguration. As society becomes ever more mobile, the professions are more like jobs used to be; people switch more. Careers are more changeable than ever as educational and training opportunities cater to adaptable demands. This means there are more aspiring engineers, who began their careers in other professions. The challenge with engineering is that it’s so numerate. It’s math as applied as it gets. This means that we have increasing numbers of new engineers who are coping with engineering principles drawing on rusty recollections of calculus, algebra, and trig. The good news is that with more opportunities to train and learn, there are also more ways of learning. Distance Education is more accessible than ever. Its strength is that is is usually self-paced. This means career shifting engineers don’t have to be strapped to worn out conventional “chalk & talk” methods.

You have more patience than youth, and more wisdom on how to learn. So, while you may not be as quick as some of the younger engineers, you have a measured approach to learning. Even more important is the effect of the will. The actual desire to learn always trumps ability. Give me an enthusiastic student of any age, and I can work with him – or her. The “bright” and “gifted” student who has yet to find motivation is a far weaker prospect. Anyone over 40 who is prepared to take on the PE Exam has will. And where there’s will, there’s persistence. I know, because I was made in the ’50’s, and my wife will tell anyone about my persistence – but she uses another word.

This is your computer’s temporary storage area where frequently accessed data is stored for quick access.  Your computer has effectively made a copy of the pereview site contents, at some time in the past.  So, it’s going to content that has been replaced, upgraded, or corrected.

All you need to do is empty your cache, and you’ll be accessing the very latest information.  If you’re not sure how to empty your cache, go to: http://www.wikihow.com/Clear-Your-Browser’s-Cache

It is my understanding that you cant take a drafting compass into the exam so how do you plot mohrs circle for the triaxial test problems?

If an employer would rather be invoiced, then here are the steps to follow:

Dear Professor Martin,

This e-mail is my thank you note to the PEReview. I did used most of the materials (Videos stream and Practice Exams). I took the PE Exam last October for the first time and I passed.I am most gratefull for the Transportation section, I got a lot of help for the morning session of the Exam.

Once again thank you.

Vita Wa Ngongo, PE

For the young Civil Engineer, it is the time when the PE Exam looms.  Colleagues who took the exam in October have just got the results.  For a small majority (as the NCEES statistics show) the results were good.  So for a chunky minority, and a group of PE newcomers, the holidays are overshadowed by the exam that still must be overcome.

So what can this College Professor and PE Coach offer?  Well, if you’re heading for the exam in April, the very best advice is to start preparing early.  If you’re like my undergraduate students, you are familiar with cramming.  You know how to procrastinate.  And you know how to work really hard when you’re close to a test.  Sadly, this well practiced technique won’t help you for the PE.  It is a bad habit because you simply can’t cram this exam in the way you did in College.  It’s such a different kind of exam.  It’s like taking two exams for your entire Junior and Senior years.  Amusingly, these stages are called “years”; laughable because few undergraduates get through them in two years.  Most take more.  So you’re preparing for the PE exam that addresses content that you acquired over perhaps 36 months.  Worse, much of the material is a hazy memory and while it can be dug out, it’s not that easy.  And worse, there’s so much of it.

All this means that you need to take a completely different approach to this exam.  You must prepare as a runner prepares for the Olympics.  You must work at it gently, but consistently.  The mind has a mind of its own.  It needs time to assimilate, process, and sort.  This is why 20 minutes a day for 100 days is so much more powerful than 5 hours a day for a week.  Certainly, the one-week immersion is much better than nothing.  But it’s less effective.  Like a crash diet, it’s unnatural and the benefits are temporary.  Worse, it’s nasty.

So my young Civil Engineer, if you’re preparing for the PE in April, start preparing today.  You need to put in about the same time as you have getting to this fourth paragraph.  Get your materials together.  Choose your method of preparation.  Identify the total.  Divide it into 100 little bite-sized pieces, and start nibbling.  If you’re thinking of the October exam, your commitment will be even less.

Take a good dictionary into the exam if you’re a non-native English speaker, or if you went into Engineering to avoid writing!