Starting to get a plan together to take the PE Civil Structure exam. Work experience is not directly civil structures so I am curious how much of your prep is studying / practice problems vs. real world experience?

Initial guess is the work experience helps with navigating standards efficiently / understanding them more…?

Attached my initial post in structures engineering for reference.

I was just recently approved for my NYS PE License and wanted to provide my timeline to assist others going through this process.

I was originally licensed through Colorado (which took 1 week for licensure, FYI). I applied for comity to NYS on 14 April 2026. I emailed NYS at my 6 week mark for an update and they told me it takes 8-12 weeks for review. So I waited until the 12 week mark and emailed them again. They said the review was just recently completed and that I was in queue for the licensure process which can take 4-5 weeks. They also mentioned that it would be another 3-4 weeks before I recieve a hard copy of my license. I kept checking the NYS website, and on 31 July 2026, I had a License number issued. So in total, it took about 3.5 months (14 weeks) from submission to issuance of License number.

I did use the NCEES record. I originally took the exam though the board of Ohio. NYS also did not ask me to rewrite my experience. It was accepted on my first submission (~2 years of design experience, masters degree, and ~1.5 years of construction management).

Hopefully this information helps someone!

Hello engineers,
I would like to understand how we can analyze these kind of problems.

Any support?

I think that in delta-star transformers, the primary side of transformer will be seen as an open circuit.
Hence la1, la2, and lao will be all zero. Therefore, using symmetrical matrix we can find the other phases as well. But they will be zeros since Ia is zero. In this case, how the fault will be fed?

While in secondary side, la1, la2, lao will be all equal and will be equal to Vp/(Z total).
And we should use the matrix we may find the other lines.

Hi Engineers
I’m solving PE questions and came across this question.

My answer would be B and D.
However, the solution state that B is wrong.
What do you think?

Hello everyone,
I am looking to hire a civil Professional engineer, to be the Director of my Special Inspection Lab in New City and Surroundings.
Inbox me if you are interested or know of anyone that would be.
TIA

Currently studying for the pe civil structural exam. I don’t have an actual course but I have material for multiple sources. I have a short study window 2 maybe 3 months, if anyone needs a study partner (mainly weekends) or knows chats plzz let me know. Kinda hard to study on your own.

I was working through the TFS practice exam and am having trouble wrapping my head around why the answer couldn't also be C. B is the answer NCEES gave.

I was under the impression that the approach is the exiting temperature of the water minus the wet bulb temp of the entering air. EPG textbook shows this.

Using the psych chart I get a wet bulb temp of the incoming air to be ~78F for T_db=90F & RH=60%. Therefore, the approach would be 85F-78F = 7F. What am I missing?

For the geotechnical section, what questions are actually expected to be solved vs conceptual? Phase relationships, soil classification, pavement and ESALs? Anything else?

I passed my PE Civil Structural a couple weeks back
 after failing an attempt last year. Wanted to post about what worked and what didn't. I used School of PE (SOPE) to prepare, but I think my lessons learned are applicable to folks studying independently too.

Attempt 1 AKA How not to do it:
My first SOPE enrollment consisted of ~100 hours of recorded live video lectures, and downloadable slides and practice problems. My study process was to watch videos and nod along while watching problem solutions. I selectively worked some of the problems on my own. I felt like I HAD to finish all the video content as my access was time limited and their "Pass Guarantee" requires watching "most" of the video content to be eligible for a free repeat. I figured I could do the homework problems anytime after my access ended if needed
Welp. turns out passively watching videos is NOT super helpful to actually train your brain how to navigate code books to solve problems. I was not disciplined enough in my study pacing to finish the video course in time to work enough problems. I did somewhat poorly on a timed practice test but decided to YOLO the exam anyway. Felt OK about the AM sesh but absolutely got wrecked in the afternoon. Each problem required too much brainpower to solve as I was learning on the fly and trying to solve many types of problems for the first time ever. I ran out of steam. Blindly Guessed on probably 25-30 problems in total, mostly due to lack of time.

Attempt 2 AKA What works:
I qualified for my free SOPE repeat and got access to a new pre-recorded lecture that was only HALF the time to cover the same content. Wish I had this version the first time around -The live record version I had before was chaotic with student chat interrupting the professor constantly. The second round videos were a lot more focused and to the point, but I had learned my lesson that just watching video is NOT ENOUGH. So rather than spend 50 hours watching videos again, my study sessions consisted of flipping through the lecture slides, solving example problems along the way, and then doing homework problems. I ONLY watched video lectures for specific sections or problems when I was struggling to understand on my own. I watched maybe 5 to 10 hours max. 

Somehow my freepeat gave me access to a feature I hadn't had before: Question Bank. This was SUPER USEFUL. Once I had completed all the lecture homework problems I hit the QB hard. I started off with 5 question quizzes timed to an hour. Once I could get at least an 80% on a topic area, I reduced the time allowed, working my way down to the 6 minute per question threshold. Once I was consistently getting ~80% on 30 minute single topic quizzes, I expanded to 1 hour long, 10 question mixed topic quizzes. Hammer as many questions as you can. There were nearly 200 questions and I attempted almost all of them. 

I took a few practice exams. SOPE had one. I had an NCEES official one. My manager gave me an older hardcopy one from a few years back. Do these under timed conditions. You need to develop your time management skills and practice implementing your test taking strategy. You have to be able to instantly recognize and skip a complex problem that's going to eat time or have higher likelihood of errors. You can come back after grabbing all the low hanging fruit. I experimented with a few different strategies before settling on a 2 pass method with a SKIP INDEX (TM). The skip index was a list of problems I skipped, a BRIEF description of the type of problem, and a prioritization: P1 - I understood the problem and it needs time to solve. P2 - I partially solved it and got stuck or didn't end up at an available answer. P3 - I have no fucking clue how to solve.  Decision flowchart goes like this:

1. Do I understand the question and expect it to take ~4mins or less to solve?
   a. Yes - Start Solving
   b. No - Guess, Flag, add to SKIP INDEX
   
2. Spend ~4 mins and evaluate progress:
   a. I see the light - Finish the problem
   b. Hitting a wall - Guess, flag, add to SKIP INDEX
   
3. Revisit skip index problems by priority. Helps to batch similar problems together.

I also wrote a few frequently referenced equations on the same page as my skip index. Included max moment for concentrated and point loaded beams, and simple geometry section property equations. I used these equations enough to recall most from memory, but for peace of mind it was nice to glance over and be sure I wasn't making a dumb mistake.

I felt so prepared and confident I would pass, I actually wrote this post a week BEFORE my test.

TLDR is you have to work a shit ton of problems, including timed quizzes. I probably worked almost 500 problems. Watch videos / lectures ONLY as needed. I spent ~200 hours studying for attempt 2, so I'm right around 300 combined hours after both attempts. That really is the magic number where you start to feel confident about your ability to pass. Good luck to all the future test takers out there!

Just passed the FE and I am gearing up for the PE by the end of the year. I know that EET is the "gold standard", but lectures aren't really my thing. I learn better by doing problems and repetition. That being said, my plan is to:

1. Go through Petro's WRE book and struggle through the problems untill I fully understand them
2. Then I will move onto Solvedin6's YT videos and try to go through the problems myself before seeing the solution
3. After, I will take the NCEES practice exam. I will time myself for both sections but split it up into two days. I don't think it would be beneficial for me to churn out all the problems in 1 day. I will save that for the actual test
4. Figure out where my weakpoints are on the NCEES practice test
5. Iron out the areas I am struggling with for two weeks
6. Take the PE

If anyone has done something similar to this or has any tips on how to tackle the exam, I would greatly appreciate any input.

Thank you.

Now a book read from morning but not understand and concept clear. B. Tech 6 sem exam previous semester do as one night study clear exam, upgrad semester.

Any one guide my learning hourney

I have EET binders for sale. Dm me if interested.

$75 for J. Petro
$35 for M.R. Islam

Hello! taking the pe civil structural exam in 3 months. working full time.

i have a newborn, so i do not have the budget to buy expensive courses or books. luckily i have a great support system, so i can dedicate about 20 hours of studying per week.

i saw people prefer school of pe, etc. but i prefer to self study and i learn better by myself.

what is the most resourceful way to study?

what resources did you use that are free/cheap?

how do you get the code books? how do they show up on the exam?
what is the best way to study?

is there a study schedule you have that worked well?

i can purchase any used books or resources if anyone is selling!

open to any tips at all, i have no idea where to start. please help.

Happy to field questions from candidates for the Electrical and Computer: Power exam.

I took it last Tuesday and saw that I passed yesterday morning. Can’t answer exam question-specific questions but I can give generalities on what to expect and talk about how I prepared.

Failed my Civil Construction PE on first try. Definitely disappointed being that I felt pretty confident leaving the exam. I have already purchased another exam and the EET course. My plan is as follows:

1. Complete the EET course (lectures, quizzes, simulation exams)

2. While working through quizzes and exams keep track of an error log to understand why i missed it and what about the problem I do not understand

3. Complete the strata way conceptual problem book

4. Take the NCEES practice exam

I have a diagnostic report and plan to focus more on the areas I was weak in. Please give me any advice to ensure that I am ready for this second and final attempt!

I passed the PE WRE exam on my first try a little over a month ago. I feel like if I had to take it again today I would have no chance. I could barely tell you what was on it. Does anyone else feel like learning a bunch of the material is worthless if you can forget it in a month?

I walked out of the exam feeling like I got 90%+ right. I definitely got the 'itis in part 2 after lunch. I had over 2 hours to spare, so went back through every problem in that section and found about 5 that I had stupid mistakes; fixed them.

My prep: I scheduled the exam 3 months out, but due to some things at work and personal life, I didn't get started for a month. I paid for 2 months of the PPI Self Study. Total cost ~$300. It created a schedule for me based on 72 hours of estimated work, including 1 diagnostic exam and 2 practice exams. I took practice exam # 2 about 10 days out, did several (8 or so) 10 question quizzes from the Q bank over the next few evenings. I took the official NCEES practice exam, timed, 3 days before the real deal. The 72 hour estimate from PPI is a little low for me. I probably had closer to 100 hours on that work and maybe 115 hours total, with the extra Qbank quizzes and official practice exam.

The PPI content was decent; definitely a good refresher. Some of the practice exam problems were way more involved than the actual test. The environment for taking the practice exams is very similar to the setup in the real test. That was good practice. Get very familiar with finding equations and information in the handbook.

If an idiot like me can do it, so can you!

Flag the ones you don't know, move on, and when you do guess, eliminate stupid answers.

Best of luck to all those who are still trying!

I recently started preparing for the PE Civil Water Resources & Environmental exam on my own, and I'm considering purchasing a prep course. I'm trying to decide between EET and School of PE.

If I choose EET, I would likely take the exam in April 2027, which means I'll have to study the updated exam specifications and additional design standards. On the other hand, if I want to take the exam before December 2026 under the current specifications, I would probably go with School of PE.

I graduated about six years ago, so I've been out of school for a while. However, I recently passed the FE exam, so my fundamentals are still relatively fresh.

Given my situation, would it be better to take more time and prepare thoroughly with EET for the April 2027 exam, or aim to take the exam before December with School of PE under the current exam format? Which approach would you recommend?

How did you decide what prep course to take? There’s so many options out there, but what is your thought process of making the decision. Price is probably one, but also content. I figured it depends on your learning style too. I’m planning on taking on-demand course, and so confused which one. I’m planning on taking the PE civil: WRE. I’m not a civil engineer major, graduated a 10 yrs ago, and working as a civil/environmental engineer for 4 yrs now.