Career Path
I graduated with a degree in Aerospace Engineering back in 1993. This happened at a time when the Aerospace industry was at an all-time low. Imagine my discouragement as a new graduate in a big world. Luckily I was already doing well in music with my company MaDukey Productions, as we had a publishing deal with EMI. But moving on from there later in life, I failed the California P. E. Exam 5 times over many years before I finally passed. This article will tell you how I finally passed the P. E. Exam.
As much as we want to control our destiny, I’ve learned that our destiny really controls us. Fast forward to 1999. Publishing deal over, 3 children, and no job. That’s when I decided that I needed to get a job or risk working through my senior years. I was fortunate to get into the Civil Engineering field with an entry-level job at the City of Torrance as an Engineering Tech I.
Fast forward to 2005 and the realization that a Professional Engineer’s License was necessary in order to move into the next step of my career path hit me. So I started on that path. By this time, the kids were between 8 and 12 with soccer practice, golf, karate, homework and everything else you can think of. So you can imagine the difficulty in studying for the California Professional Engineer Exam.
Taking the Exam- I failed the P.E. 5 times- How I Finally Passed the P. E. Exam
In case you’ve gotten discouraged, let me emphasize that I failed the California P.E. Exam 4 times, but I finally did pass. Let me tell you how I finally passed the P. E. Exam.
The California P.E. exam is broken down into three sections and has changed since I took it: 1) The California State Seismic exam, 2) The California Survey exam, and 3) The NCEES national 8-hour exam. Back then, if you missed it, you had to take all the sections that you failed together. Nowadays I believe you can take each section at a testing center without having to pay for the whole thing as you are ready- which is very nice.
I passed the Survey specific exam the second time I took it. I passed it by doing every problem in this book until I understood each one. The test turned out to be a breeze! I highly recommend this book for anyone trying to pass the survey portion of the exam.
The seismic and 8-hour portion took a bit longer. One after the other, I failed, failed, failed. I really wish they’d change their email to say “didn’t pass” instead of “Failed.” Such a blow to the ego. My mistake, the first 4 times, was choosing the wrong module in the afternoon session. The first two times I tried the Construction Module, thinking I knew enough about it to pass- boy was I wrong. They asked specific questions about equipment and materials that, if you didn’t have the specific book, you would never be able to figure it out. While I didn’t pass, if you decide you take this module, I loved the study guides by Goswami. They had good questions and to-the-point summaries. I believe these helped me to finally pass the exam. These will help with the breadth portion of the exam.
I then went on to pass the seismic exam. I only passed this exam after taking this review course online- School of PE. I loved this course because the instructor went straight to the point so I knew exactly what to do when I encountered a specific problem.
Everyone seems to reference the Lindeberg reference manual as the PE Bible, but honestly, I felt that it was too much. The material was written like a college course, instead of a review for a test. It might be good to keep with you during the test for all the tables and graphs, but it’s overrated.
Chelapati’s books and courses are great for reviewing for the PE. Those were really helpful in giving me the knowledge I needed for the morning, or breadth, portion. Succinct information helped to make the test and problems easier to understand without all the deep background information that we really don’t need.
Another book which I found necessary and super helpful was the King’s Table handbook. I haven’t been able to find it again on Amazon, but if you find a small brown book with all the tables in it, grab it! The closest thing I could find was this hydraulic handbook, but I haven’t used it so I don’t know how effective it is. But try to find that King’s Table book for all of your hydraulic problems in the morning session.
When I finally passed, it was my first time trying the Transportation afternoon module. Someone told me it was the easiest, and I should have listened long before. I took a course in Fountain Valley that was super helpful. Luckily I didn’t have to take it again, but they do have a guarantee in case you don’t pass the first time. Of all the courses I took over the years, I felt this was the most helpful, and it was just over two days for the Transportation portion.
Here’s a link to the class.. CAPECC.com
In Conclusion- This is how I finally passed the P. E. Exam.
Passing wasn’t a matter of how much I studied. It was more a matter of how well I studied. The difference between the first 4 tests and the final test was that I managed my time much better. Instead of grabbing books and studying whenever, I planned my time each day, and mapped out the sections of the review book I was using to work out problems. I focused on the afternoon session with transportation problems and made sure I understood all areas of the morning session. This took me about 2 hours a day after work, for about 6 months. Of course, I had many years of randomly reviewing the entire test, but when I finally organized my thoughts and problems, I was able to pass. So:
- Manage your time. Study during certain hours, and let your brain rest after that.
- Focus your study. Map out your study plan, and know which problems you intend to tackle, and stick to it.
- Get the right books. Ask friends, ask me, ask professors. Check out the list on the NCEES site and try to get as many as you need for your module.
- Don’t be too hard on yourself. Know that if you don’t pass it’s not the end of the world. If I can pass it, you can too!
Here are the links to register for the PE exam:
STATE EXAM California state exam site to take the two state exams toward the PE Civil License.
NATIONAL EXAM National Exam to obtain PE Civil License.
If you have questions or want to read more of my stories and blogs, please check on my blog page for new posts weekly.
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