My GF will be eligible, and will take, the PE later this year for Civil Engineering. As this is a huge test, there is some measure of panic in the household about passing the test, and I want to help her out. What I’m looking for is any recommended reference materials from any engineering dopers out there; particularly something that I can use to quiz her with as well as a book she can take as a reference during the test. Can anyone help us out?
I thought you were talking about your first experience in Jr. High gym. I was going to tell you that they can’t force you to take a group shower.
When I took it (back in '92 or so) I used one of those standard study guides - I don’t even remember the publisher, and I no longer have the book. Any of those should be good. Another thing that some of the other EI’s did was a video program. Does she know anyone else taking the exam? These guys pooled their $ for the videos, then got together once a week to watch them.
I’m not sure if there’s much you can quiz her with. Mostly it’s about problem solving.
Here in Seattle, the UW offered a two-week refresher course, held in the evenings. Invaluable.
Also, and this is pretty specific advice, I know, but: Avoid any problems involving light bulbs inside aluminum boxes. 
I’ll be taking my PE a year from October (stupid minor engineering specialty with only yearly tests) so I’ll be watching this thread closely. Tell her she has my sympathies.
Alright, I’ll be the first to ask, what’s PE?
PE is Professional Engineer (a step toward ultimate geekdom!?)
Regarding references for the exam the following is an excellent resource:
Civil Engineering Reference Manual for the PE Exam - latest edition by Michael R. Lindeburg and published by Professional Publications, Inc. The version I have access to is the 7th Edition (copyright 1999); however, I do not know if that is the current edition. There is also a second volume, titled Practice Problems for the CE PE Exam to accompany the reference book.
Looks like the eleventh edition is the most current. Published in February 2008.
No kidding. I usually parenthesize abbreviated terms my audience will likely not be familiar with.
I don’t think you can take anything in with you anymore except an approved calculator. Back in the day you could bring any number of books you wanted but it didn’t really help anyway. As I understand it now you get a small text with all the equations you need to pass the test as well as all the tables necessary, ie for the thermo portion.
A refresher course is a good thing. But overall I think she should not stress it too much. If she did well as an undergrad and is not too many years out of school she should do well.
There are practice tests out there and many textbooks now include sections with PE test questions.
Another vote for Lindeburg. I used his books for the EIT (FE) and the Mechanical PE. His Civil PE book has an excellent reputation as well.
If there is time and opportunity, I recommend a review course as well.
That’s nice. Pretty much anyone who could give useful advice would have known what the OP meant though.
I can’t add much except to agree that a refresher course is a good idea. Our local engineering college offers one that meets in the evenings for three-hour sessions of each specific topic. Also, only take advice from someone with recent experience, as they seem to change the rules every few years…TRM, P.E.
There has got to be a story here. Spill.
To ease her pain, 100% of the people I’ve talked to about it have said that the FE was more difficult.
This was long ago. On the test you had to answer X number of questions, taken from a long list of questions. So I blazed through X-1 questions (one thing that helped was that the list included some compound interest questions, which were a piece of cake) but then had to pick my last question and the remaining candidates all looked horrendous. 
Since I knew slightly more about heat transfer than any of the other topics, I picked one which involved a light bulb in an aluminum box–what’s the surface temperature of the box? I flailed around on that blasted thing until they called time, knee-deep in convective heat transfer equations. :rolleyes:
Nowadays, I’m twenty-six years smarter, and I’d just say 140F, and fake up some bogus empirical BS to support it. 
Thank you all for the advice; we’ve heard from a few of the other engineers she knows that the Lindeburg books are outstanding as well. She’ll be looking into a refresher course (the one she wanted her company wouldn’t approve AND it started last week…ugh).
I think that you are mixing up two different exams–the PE exam, and the FE (Fundamentals of Engineering) exam, which is the preliminary 8-hour exam you have to take several years before becoming eligible to take the PE exam. The FE covers undergraduate engineering material. The PE exam covers much more, including things you pick up in the industry. (The full title of the PE exam is the Principles and Practice of Engineering Exam.)
For the FE exam, formerly known as the Engineer-in-Training (EIT) exam, you can’t bring in any reference material. Instead, you are supplied with a standard reference book with tables and equations.
For the PE exam, there is no limit to how many references you can bring in. I’ve seen people bring in carts with boxes of books. Note that you are expected to have industry-standard references with you for the exam. You can also generally bring in notes; most state licensing boards require that they be bound in some type of folder.
For both exams, there is now only a handful of allowed calculators. You can’t even bring in your own pencil, either; one is supplied to you for the exam.
With respect to the OP, I took the PE exam two years ago, and the best advice I can give is to buy the Lindeburg reference materials at the PPI website. Most engineering employers will pay for this.
When I took the exam, I brought in two boxes of books besides the PPI ones. If I hadn’t passed the exam the first time, I would have brought in even more.
Your GF should also check out the NCEES website, if she hasn’t already. NCEES actually writes the exams. Their website states exactly what will be covered.
Finally, there are some good PE exam discussion forums out there. PPI has one here.
A better one (IMHO) is the EngineerBoards. This is an excellent place to ask general questions about the exams and how to prepare for them. Note that posters are strictly prohibited from discussing actual “exam questions, answers, problems, or solutions to anyone during or after the exam,” and NCEES routinely monitors both of these boards.
I agree. What’s worse is that I took the FE exam 12 years after finishing my undergraduate degree, and that’s what the exam covers.