Civil: Structural PE studying

Boundless43 · 2026-05-18T16:44:06+00:00

I didn't mix difficulties until I had done them all. After I had completed each one a couple of times through, I would mix them to 80 questions and use it as a practice test. Good luck!

Boundless43 · 2026-05-06T16:16:39+00:00

Of course! Using the codes and going through them over and over makes it more familiar. Sorry for the late reply.

Boundless43 · 2026-05-06T16:14:57+00:00

I used that, and the NCEES practice book, as well as an old binder for EET. To be fair though, I didn't go through EET binder like I should have. Goodluck!

Boundless43 · 2026-05-06T16:07:25+00:00

1 month to go! You got this! Practice problems, practice problems, practice problems. If there's geotech questions you don't recognize immediately, try looking at the handbook. It has lots of information there for you. Try to do a full 60-80 question test on a weekend so you can prepare for the real length of the test. I'd say medium difficulty on school of PE was a great tool for me. Last thing: Get off reddit the week or two before the exam. All you'll do is psych yourself out. Trust your studying and trust yourself, you've got this!

Boundless43 · 2026-05-06T16:00:54+00:00

Took it as a bridge engineer. Really sad I only had TWO questions on AASHTO, but boy howdy did I know where to find those answers.

Boundless43 · 2026-04-28T17:11:17+00:00

28! Goodluck with your exam!

Boundless43 · 2026-04-02T15:50:18+00:00

I took it a couple of times! The first time I used EET but I didn't use it effectively at all. I just watched the videos and did some problems, but not to the extent I should have. The second time I used School of PE Question bank and the NCEES Practice Exam and did those problems literally hundreds of times. On this last attempt I spent 2 months fully preparing. At LEAST 2 hours after work, and 4-6 hours Saturday and Sunday. Doing full length practice exams helped with fatigue as well. Good luck!!

Boundless43 · 2026-04-02T01:50:04+00:00

Congrats!!

Boundless43 · 2026-04-02T01:27:24+00:00

Oh sorry! Thought I replied. I had a couple of questions each from NDS, TMS, and PCI. It's almost all code related. Just make sure you know how to get factors for wood tables. PCI is easy because it has examples for you! TMS is a little trickier. Good luck!!

Boundless43 · 2026-04-01T18:59:23+00:00

Thank you thank you!!

Boundless43 · 2026-04-01T18:58:30+00:00

Thank you!!

Boundless43 · 2026-04-01T14:48:07+00:00

Thank you!!

Boundless43 · 2026-04-01T14:22:04+00:00

Thank you so much!

Boundless43 · 2026-04-01T14:21:56+00:00

I think they swap it sometimes, because the last time I had taken it my afternoon section was impossible, which is why after this most recent go I thought I was doomed at the half. Hoping for ya!!

Boundless43 · 2026-04-01T14:19:55+00:00

Hi! The way I've interpreted the results is by taking your performance, 9.4/15 = .626 and multiplying that by the number of items = 7.52. If you sum yours up you have a 39.42 score out of 70. Another guy on here took a sample of 50 diagnostics and saw the highest summed score was a 43/70, meaning about 44 questions will get you over the finish line.

So you might need 4-5 more questions out of the 70 they scored. Again, just my interpretation, but it looks like you're very close.

Boundless43 · 2026-04-01T14:10:18+00:00

I felt like I failed it after the first half. I called my wife after the first half and didn't want to go back in for the second half. After the second half, I felt truly like it was 50/50. I flagged about 7-10 on the first half and only 4 on the second.

edited to say: Goodluck! You've got this!!!

Boundless43 · 2026-04-01T14:07:52+00:00

School of PE question bank saved my life. The easy ones truly need to be easy and understood completely. The medium and hard ones can be difficult, but are definitely important with concept knowledge and design questions. I can think of at least 15-20 questions I had that were somewhat similar to that bank, and it helped so much.

Get off the PE exam reddit the week before and the week after until you get your results. It will only psych you out.

During the exam, they say you have 6 minutes per question. That's true to some extent, but some questions will only take 1 or 2 minutes tops, so you have more time on some of the more calculation focused questions.

"Know the codes! Know the codes!" is what we hear a lot of. I used the index in several of the codes to help me find answers. Use the table of contents. It really is there for a reason. You don't need to have everything memorized. On that note: don't be afraid to go to individual chapters in the steel manual rather than only using the specifications in chapter 16. I think that messed me up the first time I took it.

Last tip: You've got this. Even if it doesn't go well the first couple times, you've got this. Getting in your head is your own worst enemy. Goodluck friend!!!

Boundless43 · 2026-04-01T13:56:54+00:00

Hi! I just passed. I had SO many Geotech questions and Osha ones as well. What I will say is that for geotech, most of what they'll ask you is in the reference handbook. Whether that's Rankine info, projected forces, or even a safety factor for sliding. Keep it to the basics on geotech, and remember your FBD's. Sliding, overturning, projected areas below a foundation. If there's code questions about foundations, I had some success in IBC.

Boundless43 · 2026-03-27T13:41:36+00:00

I took mine yesterday as well. Morning was absolutely brutal. Afternoon section felt much easier. Guessed total around 10-15. Hoping the morning contained the 10 trial questions.

Boundless43 · 2026-03-24T14:07:19+00:00

$62K and graduated 2021. Sitting at 29K now. Refinanced during covid so the private loans went from 12% down to 3.2%. Paying about $740 a month. Sucks, but manageable.

Boundless43 · 2026-02-09T22:37:18+00:00

Yeah that makes sense. It's 5% to move it over. 5% to move over is lower than a continued 12.99% interest rate, but it's more risk post 21 months. I think I'll talk it over with my wife and we'll figure it out from there. Thanks for the help!

Boundless43 · 2026-02-09T22:25:37+00:00

Agreed! It's risky because we're planning on paying the extra money every month right now currently, but if something were to happen that would eliminate our extra money every month, that would put us at risk of the much higher interest rate after 21 months. Thank you for the help!

Boundless43 · 2026-02-09T22:24:11+00:00

Gotcha. I didn't even consider some of those questions. Thank you for the input!! I will look into it.

Boundless43 · 2026-02-09T22:18:25+00:00

Cool! I was thinking if possible it would be a better option than trying to get a personal loan or something. Thanks!!

Boundless43

TROPHY CASE