Best Surveying Book for CA PE Exam

What is the best surveying review book to prepare for the California Engineering Surveying exam? This is a complete list of the available books. There are not too many options!

Here, I list the books that don't make people pull their hair out. By this, I mean they have better than 50% reviewer ratings.

The California Engineering Surveying exam has a lower pass rate than either of the NCEES morning or afternoon exams. The first thing you need to do is understand what is on the exam. To do this, visit the bpelsg.ca.gov website's 7-page description of the five content areas covered in the Engineering Surveying exam:

I. Topographic Surveys (35%)

II. Construction Surveys (35%)

III. Accuracy and Error Analysis (10%)

IV. Preparation of Reports and Maps (20%)

Subjects Covered in the California Civil Surveying Exam

Part I, Standards and Practice, is kind of a "gimme", like the ethics questions of the FE exam. If you read the material twice, you're sure to answer all these correctly. Read this article, and print out the 37 pages and take them with you in a binder: Engineering and Land Surveying for Public Officials

The second part of part I of the five content areas for the civil surveying exam is the Professional Engineer's Act. Reading this is required to complete the take-home exam portion of the PE exam, so you most likely already know this material. Review the 33 pages anyway, and print it if you want: Professional Engineers Act

Personally, I went to the public library and checked out an intro-to-surveying text book. I did this less than a week before my exam date. I gave it a full day. I reviewed all the chapters, and worked the easy problems in each section.



California Engineering Surveying Exam Test-Taking Strategy

Total, I prepared 10 hours for this exam. Most of this was to familiarize myself with the book. During the exam, I answered all the questions I could do with my head knowledge.

Then, I returned to the problems I recognized from the college text book I brought with me. I had circled the numbers of these exam problems in the test booklet. This way, you don't have to re-read the problems to recognize the ones you knew you could do- but with time-burning equation retrieval from a reference.

I found the equations I needed. I found them quickly because I had familiarized myself with my book. Then, I answered those questions as well.

If you have never surveyed, or have little experience surveying or working with survey data, you will require more review and more preparation. I worked 5 years as a technician during which I regularly surveyed and processed the data.

If you have experience calculating angles, distances, inverts, slopes, and curves, you have an advantage on this exam. I felt it was very practical.The problems on the exam were the kinds of calculations and reasoning I used performing surveys and drafting plans from survey data.

Best Surveying Book for the CA PE Exam

The good news is: You don't have too many resources to consider. The bad news is: Most of the options are disappointing.

If you know of a book which should be on this list, please, leave a comment.

 
1.  Surveying for the California Civil PE License, by Shahin Mansour. Mr. Mansour is a veteran PE exam prep instructor. He only created a seller account online in early 2015. So, this is a great book and is only recently available. Before, former students sold copies at inflated rates... and they sold out.

2.  Surveying Principles, by Paul A. Cuomo $74, average rating on Amazon: 2.8 of 5 stars.

2. 120 Solved Surveying Problems, by Peter Boniface $75, 2.8 of 5 stars.

The next options are actually geared toward the Principles and Practice of Surveying (PS) exams. But, their ratings are epic compared to the products above, which focus on the California Civil Engineering Surveying Exam. 

3. Surveyor Reference Manual, by George M. Cole, PhD, $170 (newer edition available for $217). Average rating on Amazon: 4.0 of 5 stars.

4. 1001 Solved Surveying Fundamentals Problems, by Jan Van Sickle $100 used, $200 new: 4.8 of 5 stars.

5. Surveying Solved Problems, by Jan Van Sickle $95, 4.7 of 5 stars.

6. Surveying Practice Problems, by Timothy Nelson $18, 4 of 5 stars (just one review.)

7. The FREE NCEES PS Reference Handbook: 130 pages of surveying equations.This has far more than you need for the Civil Surveying exam. However, pick through and take what you want. Put it into a section of your Quick Reference folder.

More options to prepare for the California Engineering Surveying Exam: 

8. PES Surveying for the California Civil PE. This is a DVD set selling for $350, by Shahin Mansour. Mr. Mansour also offers his services at passpe.com.

9. Surveying Practice Exams and Solutions, $139, also offered by Shahin Mansour.


Further Reading: 

Six Week NCEES PE Exam Study Guide


PE Exam Study Materials - a dedicated, pre-filtered store containing only current, well-reviewed PE exam review and preparation materials: books, DVDs, course notes, and more.

PE Review Course List and Comparison - PE exam review courses, what is provided, and the cost. 

What is Better than Online PE Exam Review Courses?

PE examinees: If you seriously plan to pass the NCEES exam, you need to beat the competition. There is no set passing score for the professional engineering exam. This is because you compete against other working FEs for placement above the cut score. The cut score is the yet-undetermined qualifying score. If you can score 70 on the scaled score, you pass (a rule of thumb.) To be sure, if you can regularly score a literal 70% on practice exams, you will earn your state license. You need to outperform the 30 to 40 percent of examinees who will not pass.

How will you beat all those other engineers studying diligently? Simple: get the best materials and take many practice exams. I passed both NCEES exams on the first effort. (Please don't ask about the California seismic exam!)

Online review courses have some advantage: they cover most or all of the material; they provide a framework for you to follow; they (often, not always) include a PE to answer any questions.

Is there a better way? Well, a classroom environment is superior. Online, you are often at your own pace. Always, you are alone (unless a friend joins you at your home.)

When cost is isolated as a consideration, there is a better method than online review courses. Take a series of practice PE exams. There are several good offerings on Amazon: PE Exam Study Materials

Study Plan for the Professional Engineer Exam: This links to a 6-week study plan for the PE. Most sources recommend 3 months and 300 hours. However, if you are starting late, this is a great plan, and I believe you can pass with it.

Marking the ASCE7-05 for Quick Recognition & Use

California Seismic Exam Preparation

While you prepare for your California State Specific Seismic Exam (or any other PE exam component), you will face a learning curve in chapter applicability recognition. One of the most important differentiations is to pattern yourself to quickly move to chapter 12- for Building Structures, and to chapter 13- for Nonstructural Components.

The problem is: the ASCE is a very bland mix of uniform type and random equations (at a glance, at least.) When you are maximizing your time (rushing), this can frustrate, confuse, and waste your precious minutes. To break the power of black and white type on paper:

Break up the page by highlighting the Section Titles. 

 I used blue for chapter 12 and pink for chapter 13. As you practice, you will begin to associate the blue with building equations and the pink with nonstructural equations. Additionally, the unique positions of the pink horizontal bars gives each two-page open book layout a unique look. You will begin to recognize these pages as the pages containing certain information and equations. This will help you visually recognize the location of certain pages.

Of course, the most important pages for referencing should be tabbed. For about $3, you can get some packs of see-through tabs in Office Depot or Office Max. The sticky part is clear. The tab which overhangs the edge of the page is in four colors: green, red, yellow, and blue. You will want these in all your reference books. It really speeds up referencing tables.

Where to find great books for the PE Exam:

You will need several reference books for the PE exam. Most people also purchase the CERM, two or more practice exam books, and other study materials. The best of these are compiled here:

Best PE Exam Review Materials

ATC 20 - To Buy or Not to Buy?

Is ATC 20 Worth the Investment?

ATC 20 is titled “Procedures for Postearthquake Safety Evaluation of Buildings”. The Applied Technology Council produced this 152-page book in 1989. It is an analysis of safety evaluation procedures following an earthquake. It details methods of evaluation, ratings of evaluated buildings, and provides excellent sketches and photos of earthquake damage.

Will you need this during the exam? After my seismic test, a young lady next to me said she had been told at her firm (a traffic engineering agency) that she needed only “the Hiner book”. She felt she had done well. However, she seemed a teeny-bit surprised when I told her I had answered three questions using the ATC books.

There are three ATC 20 books: ATC 20, ATC 20-1, and ATC 20-2. ATC 20-1 is a small pamphlet, a “Field Manual”. Just 4.25” x 7.25”, it is hand held and designed to be used to quickly translate visible damage during rapid assessment into ratings of “SAFE”, “Potentially UNSAFE”, or “UNSAFE”.

In today’s world of tilting earth, shifting magnetic fields, plate tectonic weapons like HAARP, and massive earthquakes like Sichuan, Haiti, Chili, Indonesia, and Japan, we engineers need to be ready to provide emergency services. Safe buildings can reopen for business. Safe homes can provide shelter. In addition to engineers, city inspectors are permitted to perform inspections. However, the engineering profession should step up and meet the responsibility as best as possible. You will need this book on your shelf.

Unlike the young examinee next to me, it is appropriate to seek advice beyond the people in your office. Go directly to the exam website and write down titles of the required references and books. Use the link below. Find the exam you will take, download the exam criteria (a pdf), and scroll down for the list of required texts:

NCEES PE Exam Data Sheets

There are 55 questions on the California State Specific Seismic Exam (2.5 hours = less than 3 minutes per question). If you can answer 3 questions using the ATC 20 books, that is 3/50, or 6% of the available questions. (Note: 5 questions do not count toward your score. Those are new questions under trial, being calibrated for future exams.) Passing is set by a cut score. This means it is a competition. You need to perform better than the majority of the others testing with you. Typically, (according to various unofficial sources) 70% is expected to be a passing score. 3/(.7x50) = 8.6%. Basically, you are given an 8.6% advantage over your fellow examinees if you will:

1. Buy the ATC 20 series.
2. Review all three publications when they arrive.
3. Bring them with you to the exam.

That is a significant benefit. The questions I answered could have been reasoned with basic engineering knowledge to eliminate (maybe) one option in just one of those three. You need these books, and you need to be familiar with their contents.

I did not read every page. I spent about two hours reviewing all the material, reading the main passages, and writing a few summary notes in white space (Use ink for this, not pencil). During the exam, I was able to recognize I needed the ATC books, and knew what I needed. I flipped through until I found the sections I needed to answer the questions (easy with so many sketches and photos).

I took the April, 2010 seismic exam without these. I never knew I needed the books (I did not have them.) I took the April, 2011 exam with them, and I am sure I answered those three questions correctly.

Buy ATC 20!

See costs of all the Seismic Principles exam reference books and where to get the best buy. 

Free Transportation AM Review Seminar

Great News if you are looking to take a PE review seminar. Professional Engineering Services, Inc. permits free participation in the first part of their review course. From the advert they mailed out:

"You're invited to attend the first day of our Civil PE (Transportation AM) seminar for FREE. This $225 value includes: An 8-hour review seminar, Transportation AM book, and one, 2-hour DVD. Just email us at freeclass@passpe.com
If you're not able to attend the live FREE Transportation AM review seminar, you're invited to participate in the live, FREE Webinars (Orange County or Hayward Locations; or Both). For more information, simply email freewebinar@passpe.com"

Notice emails for each opportunity differ. For the live PE review class, email to freeclass@passpe.com. For the free webinar, send email to freewebinar@passpe.com.

This looks like an excellent opportunity. If you are preparing for an exam after the April 8 & 9 exams, visit Mansour's website www.passpe.com. The free class/webinar offer exists on the homepage as well.

More Resources:

Free Traffic Engineering Review

Transportation PE Review Book List: See the current, and top-rated prep books for the PE Exam Transportation afternoon exam.

Can Prayer Help Pass the PE Exam?

Prayer helped me in passing the PE exam. I will tell you how:

How Prayer Aided my EIT test success: 

I read, prior to taking the EIT (FE) exam that two things can increase exam scores by 5 to 10 percent. First, do five minutes of exercise. The increased blood circulation improves mental performance. Second, drinking a cup of coffee also increases blood flow. The morning of the exam, as I left a friend's home en route to Sacramento, I prayed, "Lord, please give me an opportunity to have a cup of coffee and also to get a little exercise before the test begins."

On the way, I suddenly had to relieve my bladder. I pulled off highway 99 to a gas station. As I pulled into the lot, I saw a large four foot square banner: 16 oz Coffee 99 cents       

So, I bought a coffee, which I had already forgotten I wanted to do. I slowly sipped it as I drove the last 20 miles to the exam site at Cal Expo. I drank only about half. It is wise to prevent multiple trips to the restroom during the exam.

When I arrived, I parked across the street to save the five dollar parking fee. I walked to the exam and sat down at a table. I looked and noticed a fellow next to me had two calculators on the table. I thought, "He should only have one calculator on the table." Then, I looked for where I had placed mine. I remembered it was on the floor of my car.

I had to negotiate with the elderly lady at the door. She told me to speak with the person in charge. This man had no problem with it, but told me to hurry. "If the doors close before you get back, no one enters after the doors close." So, I ran to my parking space. Finding my calculator there, I again ran back, wishing I had worn something other than my Birkenstock sandals.

When I returned, the door was yet open, and I entered with no problem. I made sure the man in charge saw me, and sat at my seat. I recalled the prayer. I realized I just received the second part of my prayer: a 5 minute jogging exercise.

How I Prayed for the PE Exam:

I prayed for success, of course. I also prayed that God would cause me to have work which would incorporate problems that were going to be on the PE exam.

On the actual exam day, many of the problems were similar to those I had worked in the few months prior to the exam. In fact, the day before the exam, I broke conventional wisdom and took a practice exam using my PPI account to generate the practice exam. Several of them I was almost able to solve, but answered incorrectly. I worked each one correctly, then copied them into Word documents, printed them out, and put them into a three-ring binder. Three of them used the exact same solution process as actual questions on the exam.

I did not study for the surveying exam or the seismic exam very well. On the surveying exam, most of the problems were problems that I had worked as the survey crew leader in Athens-Clarke County. On the seismic portion, I mismanaged my time. I worked as if I had 4 hours. Really, there are just 2 and a half hours for 50 questions. This is 3 minutes per seismic problem, not 6, as I worked. So, the California Board of Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors sent me an automatic entry for the October 30, 2010 exam.

The new procedure requires all PE examinees to also register with NCEES. I did and received a confirmation, which I printed out and filed. So, I was surprised on September 27th when I received this email:

Subject: NCEES Exam Registration October 2010 - Cancelled

Your state board or testing service has not approved you to sit for the October 
2010 exam. Therefore, your NCEES exam registration has been cancelled. Please do 
not call NCEES about your registration status.  You should direct all your 
inquiries to your board or testing service.
 
Please note that if you wish to take a future exam, your NCEES ID number will 
remain the same. You simply need to access your NCEES account to register for 
any exams in the future. Registration for the April 2011 exam will open in late 
November.

Thanks, 

NCEES

I was so surprised, I did not even notice the double misspelling of the word "canceled". Returning to the confirmation print-out, I noticed that my own name was not on it. My wife's name was there. Google AutoFill must have done this. When I completed the NCEES boxes, I clicked to advance to the next page of the process, but was returned to the same page to correct something. That must have been when the substitution occurred. AutoFill swapped out my name and inserted my spouse's name instead.

I called NCEES. I spoke with Tamara and explained the situation. She saw that I had in fact registered, and that my wife's name was in my place. She assured me that NCEES never makes any exceptions. Once the deadline has passed, she told me, they have never, not ever, allowed anyone to sit for the exam. NCEES had already ordered the exams to be printed on the 21st, she said. It was impossible because there would be no exam printed for me.

However, she promised to ask the responsible people. I hung up and spoke with my wife. I told her, "We need to pray." We prayed for less than 5 minutes. I said that God promised to grant any prayer in the name of Jesus if two or more people touched in agreement. We prayed for favor and that God would do something to open a door for me to sit for the seismic exam. Then we did a fist bump, and I returned to my desk.

As she promised, Tamara phoned before the end of the business day. I said hello. She said, "You must be the luckiest man on the planet. They agreed to change your status." Then she explained she had actually asked three different people. The third man gave the approval.

So, God blessed me. I believed in God's word, and asked and believed.

Yes, prayer will help you to not only pass the exam, but also to get into the exam in the first place!

Side note: When someone like Tamara goes the extra mile for another person, God will ensure she receives the same if she ever has a need like I had. "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you."

PE Exam Tip #2: Make a "Quick Reference" Folder

PE Exam Tips for Winners

During the actual exam, you will utilize your time most effectively, and thereby earn your maximum potential score, by skipping problems with which you are unfamiliar, or which do not quickly yield a solution method. Instead, you will move to the problems you know well. You will work questions similar to the work you perform during the week, from classes in which you excelled, and in material you studied during your preparation for the NCEES exam.

Include: Equations, conversions, solution methods you use regularly.

Add as well: Solved problems you have worked successfully a few times on practice exams, but cannot solve quickly without referencing an example. The day before the April exam, I took the afternoon portion of a practice exam. I copied several examples I correctly worked. And I added a few on which I made simple errors and corrected them in review. On the actual exam, there were three problems very similar to those I had added into my quick reference folder the night before.

Ensure all sheets are secured. I read some testimonies of binders being shaken for loose papers, examinees taping loose sheets into folders in the moments before the exam, and other stories of paranoid police-state enforcement. Just make sure the sheets stay in the folder. I used a hole punch and a Dollar Store plastic three-ring binder. Nothing fancy. Get one that flops open and stays open. Fighting your binder to keep it open during the timed professional engineering exam is not best!

One error I caught while taking a practice exam at home was the distraction of a a binder that wants to flip closed on it's own. I replaced it with one that has creases at the binding so it lays flat naturally.

When you take your practice exams, keep the quick reference binder on the desk you will use. After each use, organize and reorganize to make it more intuitive. Add index sheets or tabs. Put the most used categories to the front. Within categories, move most used sheets to the front, nearest the tab. That way, when you open the binder with the tab, the most likely desired information is immediately available.

Be selective. An overcrowded quick reference is less advantageous than one holding only the richest equations and solution methods. 

Use it during your practice sessions. Books you use during your practice sessions become valuable. You will use them on the exam. References you do not use will be less than worthless- they will be a detriment as you stumble through them hoping the equation you need can be gleaned from unfamiliar pages. The same is true for the quick reference folder.

Bonus tip: You should have a quick reference folder for your desk at work. The one you prepare for the exam will provide the basis for your work version.