Passing the Civil-Structural PE Exam on the First Try:

The Organized Way

After reading this short blog, I am confident you will have the guidance necessary to pass the Civil-Structural PE exam on the first try - it worked for me! Two-hundred eighty-three hours and twelve minutes over one-hundred eighty days may sound like a lot of studying, but it only accounts for 6.5% of my time spent during that period. However, it takes much more than brute force, nose-in-the-books studying to pass the exam; let's get into the specifics.

Table of Contents

1. The Courses

2. The Time

3. The Notes

4. The Tabbing

5. The Quizzes

6. The Practice Exams

7. The Exam

8. The Conclusion

1. The Courses:

First, I took the School of PE's "Ondemand" and "Live Online" courses. At the time I registered (early), I got a discount on bundling the two. The first four months of my studying I utilized the "Ondemand" sessions while the last two months I took the "Live Online" courses.

The "Ondemand" courses were most useful to organize my notes, book, resources, and materials since I could pause or stop the lectures at any time and pick them back up as my schedule allowed. Listening to the lectures at my own pace was a fantastic way to review and learn the material while, at the same time, prepare my resources for the PE exam.

The "Live Online" classes are where I spent time soaking in information, asking questions, retaining information, finalizing my notes, and homing in my problem-solving skills. During the time I took the "Live Online" courses, I spent less time organizing and more time learning and solving practice problems with the class and through the School of PE quizzes.

One may ask, "It really took 283.2 hours to take the School of PE classes?" Technically, no. But the answer a first-time passer should say is, "Yes!" Let me explain.

2. The Time:

Tracking the time I spent studying was critical to my success - setting realistic goals each week/month maintained my self-motivation. Tracking time by day, week, and month may sound like a lot, but it merely takes seconds before and after you sit down to study. Being the nerd I am, I liked to watch my graph grow as time went on (see Figure 1); it kept me in check, focused, and determined to make my time well spent in the end. I counted all studying: reading, listening to lectures, practice problems, coffee breaks (lots of those), and especially tabbing.

Figure 1: My Study Time

3. The Notes:

Ten 3-ring folders and ten textbooks were lugged around in two suitcases to the exam room. Honestly, I used every single one of these resources. The School of PE notes each had a binder per class and separate binders for practice problems relating to structures (see Figure 2).

This method of organization made it easy to locate the exact folder I needed for the question at hand. During the first half of the exam, I had all the binders very accessible. Then, during the second half, I shuffled them around making the structural, geotechnical, and constructions binders easy to access and the others out of the way.

Sorting the notes in this fashion was extremely valuable! However, this was not the most important organizational method; the most useful, valuable, and time-saving organizational method was within each binder.

Figure 2: My Notes

4. The Tabbing:

Tabbing was the number 1 most helpful way to pass the Civil-Structural PE Exam on the first try. During the exam, I knew exactly where to find any topic in my notes, books, and references. During the "Ondemand" months of my studying, I would pause the lecture at every new section to tab it on the top. Then, within that section, I would tab other important items on the side using the same color (see Figure 3). Because I organized my notes and books in this fashion, I was quickly able to locate the general topic, then the specific subject within that topic. Here's an example:

Figure 3: My Tabs

1. A question related to concrete beam moment design appears on the exam

2. I locate my Structures and Materials folder (Breadth or Depth depending on which half of the exam I am taking)

3. Using the tabs on the top, I locate Concrete Design

4. Then, using the tabs on the side, I locate Moment Design

5. After a quick review of the material, solve the problem

Taking the time to tab your resources yourself in a way you best understand allows for rapid question answering on the exam. Without tabbing, I would have easily run out of time on both the morning and evening half! Once a binder was fully tabbed, I took it to the test in practice quizzes and exams.

5. The Quizzes:

Taking the School of PE practice quizzes allowed me to discover areas I was weakest in and learn topics that may not have been discussed in the online courses. Being able to create your own quizzes based on topic, difficulty, and number of questions made it extraordinarily easy to practice at my own pace. I decided to do 100% of the structural questions, 100% of the construction questions, and all or just over half of the other topics. I would sometimes run a quiz for 5 questions of easy difficulty while my dinner was cooking, or 2 questions of hard difficulty on my lunch break.

Since the quizzes are not timed, if I answered a question incorrectly, I would spend time reviewing the solution provided, tabbing my resources for any new/valuable information or charts, and finally solving the problem on my own. Because I answered the question incorrectly, it would eventually show up on another quiz I would take, and this time I would know where to look and how to solve it.

6. The Practice Exams:

Practice exams were a monumental step in my confidence level before taking the exam. I took the School of PE practice exams as well as other paper-back versions I purchased. I ensured both were timed just as the real exam would be. Like the practice quizzes, I would review the solutions to any that I answered incorrectly and then resolve the problem making any special notes on the side.

The best part about the practice exams was that I could take them to the exam as a reference! Several of the questions on my practice exams showed up on the real exam with a few minor changes: asking for one variable instead of another, changing the scenario a bit, or just switching some values around. Since I spent the time solving each practice exam, it was obvious when a question on the PE exam was similar to one I have solved before - these questions were my favorite!

7. The Exam:

The PE Civil Structural exam is broken into two halves: the first being civil engineering breadth (all subjects), and the second being the structural depth. For both halves of the exam, I utilized the same organizational technique. I was skeptical at first thinking, "Isn't this going to take up some of my precious time?!" But, after utilizing it, the true value was very apparent.

As soon as the proctor permitted us to begin, I looked at each question on the exam for several seconds. I would write next to the question a number with a circle around it assigning it a difficulty level as follows:

1. This question is very easy: I don't even need reference material to solve it

2. This question is easy: I know exactly where to look in my notes/books to solve it

3. This question is tough: I know where in my notes/books this topic may be

4. This question is very tough: I have never seen this before; I will have to dig into a book

Once all the questions were marked (which only took a few minutes) I quickly answered all the 1's and 2's, solidifying correct answers. Then, I began to work on the 3's and skipped any that should have been marked a 4 after I started solving. Finally, I would begin working on the 4's making sure I answered each question (since incorrect answers do not hurt you, educated guesses are worth it if time is running out).

Because my training with the School of PE was so beneficial, there were zero 4's on the first half of the exam for me. And I was able to take the test twice in the allotted time with 20 minutes to spare. Yes, I took the test twice to make sure I got the same answers both times. And yes, I found a few mistakes.

The second half of the exam was a different story. No amount of studying can go over all Civil-Structural engineering. I had six questions marked as 4's and a few marked as 3 that should have been 4. With 15 minutes remaining I had four questions remaining. With 5 minutes remaining I had two questions remaining. Finally, I answered the last question with half of a minute remaining. The good news: I left the exam knowing I passed.

8. The Conclusion:

Passing the Civil-Structural exam on the first try is not an easy task. It takes preparation, concentration, organization, and confidence. Taking the time to prepare yourself is just as important as preparing your resources. Because in the end, the time does not stop ticking and you want to be sure you answer each question. Most of us have the skills and tools to pass the exam, but doing it before the proctor says, "Pencils down" is a more difficult feat.

About the Author: Brian Huttner

Brian Huttner is a licensed professional engineer for Tindall Corporation, Virginia, who designs precast concrete structures, components, and connections. He received his Associates degree in Business Administration from New River Community College (2012) and his Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from Virginia Tech (2015). In his spare time, he enjoys being a husband and a father in a loving household of 9 animals including cats, dogs, birds, and a turtle.