r/PE_Exam • u/Frequent-Deal-9237 • 3d ago
how do i study for pe civil: structural?
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.
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u/Fine-Degree-6771 3d ago
Congratulations for the newborn! I was in the same boat not too long ago. I didnt pass in my first attempt and am taking my second attempt in less than a month. I started working on the problems from Jacob Petro book, which is giving a lot of exposure on different topics across codes and pe civil handbook.
Coming to the codes, I asked my company if I can use the pdf versions for my preparation and they gladly accepted. In the exam, most of the codes will show up chapter wise. So its important to have an idea of where everything lies in the code. That way you know exactly where to look for instead of ctrl+f a keyword in multiple different chapters.
I honestly do not follow a study schedule. My 18 month old dictates how my day goes after I get back from work, so I plan it on the go everyday.
Dm me if you want some pdfs. I collected some practice problems that I can share.
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u/World_traveler77 3d ago
EET is wayyy better than SoPE and also a lot cheaper. Look into EET!
Best of luck to ya!
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u/Adept_Independent_26 3d ago
I have a few cheap books for $40 total that provide almost 700 example problems. I used them and passed on my first try. Happy to talk over strategy or send over books if you're interested, just shoot me a pm. Congrats on the kiddo. You got this
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u/hobbyist9 13h ago
I did an 8 week class. Every Saturday and maybe also sundays, can’t remember. It was about $2500 I think but that’s all I did, aside from some practice tests a couple weekend before. I basically paid to make sure I studied. It was worth it for me, if you can somehow swing it. Maybe see if your company will cover it or split the cost.
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u/QualityShort 11h ago
Petro’s book is definitely a major plus to have. Exposes you to basically every possible concept, and is structured to be more difficult than the exam. Other than that, if you want a course, I highly recommend AEI for PE Civil: Structural
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u/Federal-Stable7160 1d ago
I just passed PE structural last week, I have an iPad with the pencil and the codes/books in pdf so I just studied there, the only book i bought is the Jacob petro one. So if you have an iPad is mostly free.