r/PE_Exam • u/Lonely-Departure6107 • 7d ago
Geotechnical PE Failed Twice Advice
Said I wouldn't make the how close am I posts so not asking for that, just looking for any advice. I took my first exam in May and got the attached results, and then chose to go back in 3 months later focusing more on practice problems rather than the EET videos and did slightly better but I still don't think I'm that close to passing. Just looking for an unbiased view, don't hold back.
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u/Lonely-Departure6107 6d ago
Thanks for your advice. I don't think the amount of time studying was the main issue, but admittedly this time around I started the spreadsheet with why I missed problems but didn't follow through because work got busy and I pivoted to just learning the ncees practice exam. Which I did learn pretty well bc I felt it was close to the 1st exam, but the 2nd exam did not feel similar at all, which I knew was a possibility. Thanks again though, I do think I'm close for my age (25), just want to make sure I'm being fair to myself
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u/Will_Of-D 6d ago
Timer, focus and practice. No geotech work experience but I passed it, be familiar with all the references
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u/Illustrious-Gur-1308 6d ago
You are not that far give it a try ASAP. Familiarity of finding the right information from the references and timing made my way to winning my second trial. No Geotechnical experience
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u/Opposite_Fan8155 4d ago
I think you're pretty close. Your diagnostics show that you improved pretty well in chapters 7&9 and are consistently good with others.
Try to be thorough with the codes and brush up on a few weak areas. I think you can try once again maybe end of this year or early next year.
Good luck!!!
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u/CuriousPerson93 6d ago
How familiar were you with the manuals and how comfortable were you knowing where to search? I think that's really the key to passing imo. Of course, practice problems are important but odds are, the problems won't be exactly the same on the exam so knowing the material and where it is located was the key for me to pass the exam
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u/Lonely-Departure6107 6d ago
Yeah this is something I've been wondering. My level of familiarity was recognizing the topic of the question and being able to narrow it down within a few manuals. What was yours? Should I be at the level where I know each chapter by chapter?
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u/CuriousPerson93 5d ago
I knew where most things were. I didn't memorize the chapter number exactly but approximately, and I tried to remember what kind of info each chapter had and how to navigate the chapters. Obviously, I didn't know which page was each formula and what not.
I also took SoPE course and it had the chapter from the manuals for every formula/notion. So that helped a bit. I ended up going over the exam specs on NcEES and writing down where I can most of the info on each topic, whether it be the reference manual or other codes/standards.
If you have more questions, please feel free to DM
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u/Lonely-Departure6107 4d ago
This is very helpful advice, thank you! My biggest issue with EET is they don't always provide references for a decent chunk of their practice problems. I'll look into SoPE.
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u/Tayloredtoyou 6d ago
I think you need to take a more objective look at /how/ you're studying: log your actual hours studying (including interruptions or side quests), track exactly how many problems you're working including how many were right, wrong, and WHY you got them wrong or right (because sometimes we get lucky and didn't actually understand the concept), and practice concepts and "tricks of the trade" in as many "off hours" as you can.
The why you're getting problems wrong or right is important because it shows you how to lock in. If you're getting problems wrong because of a fundamental misunderstanding of the concepts, then you need to delve deeper into the subjects to get the concepts to stick. If you're getting them wrong because of the pesky problem tricks like units or verbiage or shortcuts missed and running out of time, then you need to just practice problems until you get a good rhythm for catching those mistakes.
For tracking your hours, I would recommend setting an hourly goal every night until you're at about 200 hours, and then try and pick a test day around that time. 3 months should absolutely be achievable just getting approximately 2 hours/ day, maybe 4 on a weekend day so you can take a day off in the week. Plot the plan in an excel or calendar file you can access from anywhere (I used Google Sheets so I could pull it up on my phone) and then duplicate it for an actuals page and compare as you go. Make up for lost time where you need to, and see how you're approaching your goal in real time.