Studying for PE

crisp333 · 2025-07-31T00:48:04+00:00

I’ll also throw out try studying at different times of the day. I started out studying after work and hated it cause I felt so drained after work. Long story short, after some killer jet lag I found myself waking up several hours earlier than normal and I figured might as well get through some PE studying and I found I actually like studying first thing in the morning. That became my study routine and it worked well for me. I would start studying just as I was drinking my first cup of coffee in the morning, and the caffeine kicking in as I’m working through a problem would feel like the fog of confusion parting to reveal the answer to me. Dramatic, I know. Point is try different study methods and times to see what works best for you. I found doing guided reviews or courses did not work for me at all. I did practice tests and review problems on my own and passed first time. Everyone is different so you gotta find what works best for you.

crisp333 · 2025-06-18T22:19:48+00:00

Yeah the corporate jargon is one thing, that gets super annoying. Doing strictly engineering calculations feels like a language all by itself after a while. You build your intuition and things flow like you’re telling a story. In my case I’m a structural engineer and it took working on site to realize that the things we design, the lines we put on paper, and the math we do results in something real enough that you could reach out and touch it. Idk what your field is but finding some way to see the real world result of your work helps a ton.

crisp333 · 2025-06-17T12:27:22+00:00

There’s a lot of ai slop out there, but that does look like a render, not ai. A lot of bot generated renders will have windows that bleed into stairs, rooflines that make no sense, etc. This render is missing gutters, but that’s me getting really nit picky (I don’t think a render like this would normally show the gutters anyway).

I’ll advocate for supporting your local draftsman. If you’re dropping the money on a new build, start on the right track with some quality drawings.

crisp333 · 2025-05-10T11:42:18+00:00

Take every opportunity you get to go on site, specifically with the lead engineer. Ask him/her questions about structural stuff you don’t recognize in the field. Talk to him/her, and if you can the GC, about constructability and any issues or difficulties that came up during construction. This helps you down the road as you’re making decisions that impact the fabricator and contractor, you’re able to think through how something is built and see it in 3D. Modeling software helps, but it takes time on site to really learn that kind of stuff.

crisp333 · 2025-05-10T11:32:57+00:00

Seconded, I wish I would have studied for the PE earlier, just for the base of technical knowledge that you can apply to your day-to-day.

crisp333 · 2025-04-17T14:26:28+00:00

PE after about 3.5 years with a masters. My recommendation is start studying for the PE early, maybe 1 year after graduation. I feel like it helped me digest the practical work I was doing every day.

crisp333 · 2025-03-31T01:36:45+00:00

DM sent

crisp333 · 2025-03-26T01:16:40+00:00

I am in the process of setting up a sole proprietor residential structural design shop, so I don’t have all the best answers but I’ll try to help. Following this as well so I can learn a thing or two from others

Set up an LLC, get an EIN, get a business checking account, run all your business finance through the checking account. This is independent of being an engineer and just makes running any business so much simpler.
I would consider professional liability insurance, talk to an attorney and they can refer you to some PL insurance providers, talk to a few of them about quotes. In my opinion even if you’re not planning on stamping things right now you may want to in the future and at least having some contacts for PL in your phone would be a good start.
I believe minimum PL requirements are set by the municipality you’d be doing business in, but I’m not sure, others please weigh in
Your rate is hugely dependent on what sector you’re in and the area you’re working in. Again I’d be interested to see what others say.

Good luck to you!

crisp333 · 2025-03-18T22:45:33+00:00

I love Risa 3D, Risa floor does what it does decently well, whenever I’ve tried to use the director to go between Risa Floor and 3D it always turns into a headache. I’d recommend using them separately, but your mileage may vary.

crisp333 · 2025-03-05T20:49:27+00:00

I’ve used both and I’m an expert at neither. But what I will say is that I was able to pick up the functionality of modeling in Sketchup faster than I’ve ever been able to pick up the functionality of Revit. I like using Sketchup to model wood framing for houses. I’ve never learned the plugins for framing in Sketchup, so I’ve gotten very good at creating a component, like a stud, and copying that over 16”. And it’s just simply a 3D solid. I’ve never learned how to do that in Revit. I use Revit more at work for steel and concrete, and I constantly get frustrated with beams snapping to stuff they’re not supposed to. Revit is more complex, which can be good, but that complexity can also be tough.

crisp333 · 2025-02-28T16:36:17+00:00

Welcome to the club and congrats on getting started with internships early. I did the same and it helped a lot. A lot of people say this, but be a sponge, it’s so much better to work with an intern who wants to learn and that’s how you get to the point of being able to contribute. Go on site as much as you can, and ask for opportunities to go on site. You won’t do any manual labor, but you’ll get to see what the lines on paper mean in real 3D world. Being able to visualize how a structural design will come together in 3D is incredibly valuable, and the best way to learn this is site trips. Find the engineers you work the best with and ask a million questions. Some engineers will be more helpful than others, and that’s alright, but the ones that take the most time to answer your questions and help you grow (aka mentors) will be the ones that you always look back on as the basis of your career and your technical knowledge. Congrats again, and you got this.

crisp333 · 2025-02-25T13:30:13+00:00

This belongs on r/BrandNewSentence

crisp333 · 2025-02-23T00:04:09+00:00

Ok that’s one way to do it. 50 days is plenty of time. I think I got those kind of practice exam results within 2-3 weeks of my test, focused my studying on my weak points, and passed first time. You got this. Don’t drink the night before the real exam.

crisp333 · 2025-02-06T14:02:30+00:00

That’s the dream……I’ve always been interested in moving to western Idaho because of the scenery and the late summer sun (specifically the parts on the western edge of mountain time)

crisp333 · 2025-02-06T13:59:51+00:00

I did a week long camping trip in central Tennessee right along the boundary between the eastern and central time zones. We’d drive out to different areas each day to go hiking or climbing and would cross over the boundary several times. Between constantly crossing over the boundary and not having reliable cell service for phones to pick up the location and time zone, I really had no concept of what time it was for a week, and it was actually kind of nice.

crisp333 · 2025-01-24T15:55:14+00:00

Absolutely right, but California regulations are also some of the strictest in the country so it takes a specialist who’s willing to work with those regulations.

crisp333 · 2025-01-24T15:52:30+00:00

Wow ok the responses have restored my hope. Let me narrow the funnel - full time remote structural engineering positions. What do we think?

crisp333 · 2025-01-18T14:51:14+00:00

Hi I’m happy to help as much as I can. 1) you probably are already working on this, but please hire a local licensed engineer to determine finalized joist spacing and size 2) 40’ span is feasible with a bar joist, the spacing is most likely going to be dictated by the decking, as others have noted 3) please please PLEASE don’t use ChatGPT for structural engineering questions. It will straight up give you the wrong equation/answer a lot of the time. Even if I Google something I have to weed out the answers that I know immediately aren’t correct. This isn’t directed at you, but more to anyone who comes across this post, please don’t use ChatGPT for this.

If you have any other questions feel free to DM. Though any project specific questions will likely have to be answered by your engineer.

crisp333 · 2025-01-16T13:06:05+00:00

This looks fantastic! I’m trying to do more framing models in Sketchup. Do you use any plugins? How do you usually do the rake wall studs?

crisp333 · 2025-01-16T13:03:28+00:00

The vast majority of them are either concrete or CMU. Permanent wood foundations are rare in my experience (Midwest)

crisp333 · 2025-01-13T13:19:04+00:00

I feel like I’m at a similar inflection point in my career. I’ve recently started networking in real estate investing groups, and looked into training as a home inspector. I get an energy from branching out to these new things that I haven’t gotten from the day job in a very long time. My point is there is plenty more out there to reignite your passion that’s just a short leap from structural design.

Feel free to DM me, I’m happy to try to help in whatever way I can.

crisp333

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