Success Stories

"The Essential Guide to Passing the Structural Civil PE Exam was an exceptional resource that greatly aided my exam preparation. The clarity of the material and the thorough explanations made complex concepts much easier to grasp. The book is notably more challenging than the actual exam and includes compound questions that have multiple parts. When broken down, these questions resemble the types you'll encounter on the actual PE exam. Initially, I found these longer and more complex questions to be discouraging, but I eventually realized they helped me understand how different topics fit together and deepened my comprehension of the subject matter. The book also highlighted various tricky ways questions can be phrased and pointed out sections of the codes that are often confused. I want to give a shoutout to the author, who always responded to my emails within 24 hours whenever I had a question. This book helped me pass my exam, and I highly recommend it to anyone preparing for their exam or looking to deepen their knowledge of structural engineering."

"If could rate this book 6 stars. I would! I was fortunate enough to pass my exam on the first try and I am adamant that this book was the major key in that achievement. At first, I felt that the questions in the book were extremely difficult. I went through the book a second time and realized that taking my time and understanding the way that the questions were answered was a great help. with such in-depth questions that make you think and the fact that there are 160 of them, I believe that this book gave me huge exposure to most the resources provided by NCEES to where I was mostly prepared for anything they could throw at me. the best way I could describe this book in comparison to the exam is that it prepares you for a marathon when you’re only going to run a 5K. I would recommend this book to any future examinees. I know a lot of people opt for the thousand dollar courses, but I felt that with enough dedication and effort I could get it done for much less and I can say confidently that without this book I could not have done it. 10 out of 10.""

"The Essential Guide to Passing the Structural Civil PE Exam was an exceptional resource that greatly aided my exam preparation. The clarity of the material and the thorough explanations made complex concepts much easier to grasp. The book is notably more challenging than the actual exam and includes compound questions that have multiple parts. When broken down, these questions resemble the types you'll encounter on the actual PE exam. Initially, I found these longer and more complex questions to be discouraging, but I eventually realized they helped me understand how different topics fit together and deepened my comprehension of the subject matter. The book also highlighted various tricky ways questions can be phrased and pointed out sections of the codes that are often confused. I want to give a shoutout to the author, who always responded to my emails within 24 hours whenever I had a question. This book helped me pass my exam, and I highly recommend it to anyone preparing for their exam or looking to deepen their knowledge of structural engineering.""

"Before taking the exam I used EET along with several practice exams, but this book was easily the most helpful part of my studies. Several in-depth practice questions with great explanations on how to solve them.""

"This book was the only resource I bought besides the NCEES practice exam and I attribute passing the Civil WRE exam to the Petro book. The questions in the book are very similar to the types of questions I found on the exam and the solutions were very helpful, some even teaching me techniques for solving problems that I didn't learn in school. I would highly recommend this book to anyone planning on taking the NCEES Civil PE WRE exam, especially if you do not want to spend big $$$ on online courses. Another plus to buying this book is being able to use Jacob Petro as a resource. I reached out to him via email multiple times regarding some questions I had about solutions in this book, and he responded within a day to answer me and even provided me with links to additional resources that went into further detail about the specific question I needed help on. *Disclaimer: there is an errata for this book. In case you aren't provided with it at purchase I would recommend reaching out to Jacob Petro. I am now preparing for the California state seismic exam and plan to use Petro's new book as my main study material."

"I have been using Dr. Petro's book for my PE WRE exam preparation, and I can't recommend it enough! The material is thorough, easy to understand, and extremely helpful in navigating the complexities of the exam. What really sets this book apart is Dr. Petro's exceptional level of support—when I reached out with a question, he responded promptly and addressed my confusion right away. At under 100 dollars, this book provides great value, and I honestly feel it is a better option than many other expensive courses out there. I previously took a class with PPI, and unfortunately, my questions were never answered. With Dr. Petro’s book, I feel supported and confident in my preparation. Overall, this book has been an invaluable resource in my exam preparation. I truly appreciate the effort Dr. Petro has put into making this such an effective tool. Highly recommend it to anyone preparing for the PE WRE exam!"

"This book was a huge help in my exam prep for the Civil WRE PE exam (I took the exam in December 2024 and passed first try!) I chose to self study and did not use any review courses like PPI or EET, but this book was recommended to me as a useful and comprehensive question bank with good solutions. I found all of this to be true - the book is well-organized and the questions are written in a similar format to the actual exam, and the solutions do a good job of explaining the "why" behind the calculations. I will say that the questions in this book are a bit more calculation - heavy than the actual exam, but this isn't an issue - I'd rather my study materials be a little more difficult than the exam than the other way around. Highly recommend."

"This book is by far the best resource I have come across for preparing for the Civil-Water Resources and Environmental PE Exam. I did not have this book prior to my first attempt at the exam, and instead paid for one of the expensive online courses. The course, while providing a lot of material, was not conducive to my learning style. The course was essentially hours-long lectures followed by practice problems similar to those presented in the NCEES practice tests but not the actual exam. I used this book as my primary resource for my second attempt which I passed. This book gives practice problems in the format similar to how problems are presented on the actual exam (real-world scenarios where you need to use the right theory/methodology to get the answer). The solutions for each problem were given step-by-step with detailed explanations on the theories and methodologies behind it. This was for EACH solution, not just for the first few problems like I've seen in other study resources. The book structure also suited my learning style where the problems for each section are presented first allowing me to think about how I would go about solving it, and then the detailed solutions after so I could learn how my initial thinking was either right or wrong. This was of great value to someone like me who got their undergrad degree in chemical engineering but now works in water treatment, as this was my first time being exposed to some of the topics covered in the exam. Finally, the author was very responsive and replied quickly when I reached out with questions and encountered a misprint with one of the solutions. He quickly provided me with the correct solution and periodically would check-in during my study process. I cannot recommend this book enough for anyone preparing to take this exam."

"This guide was very helpful in my preparation for the Transportation PE exam. This guide is helpful in learning how to use the various refferences that are on the exam. There is even a summary of the chapters in the refferences on the exam. This is very important since part of the exam is learning how to efficiently navigate through the manuals in a timely manner. The solutions are very detailed and provide tips and strategies while taking the exam. This guide is not to be mistaken as a practice exam, it is exactly as the title suggests, a guide. I think this guide will help solidify your preparation for the PE exam. Jacob Petro, the author of this guide included his email in the book and responds quickly to any questions. I would highly recommend this guide for anyone taking the exam."

"EXCELLENT study guide for someone taking the PE Civil - Structural exam. I recommend this book very highly. I used this book as my primary study method and it definitely helped me pass the exam. The solutions are detailed and allow you to check your work step by step. It may be worth double checking the code versions you’re using and whether they match the versions used in the solutions. The book covers many different codes and topics and was great preparation for the exam. Note that these problems are quite thorough and can be difficult. Even the book addresses this in the introduction. I did not try to solve these problems in 6 minutes, I worked them slowly thoroughly, and a single problem sometimes took 45 minutes. But the process of working through detailed problems was GREAT for my understanding. Use this book to reinforce your knowledge of structural engineering, rather than just studying for the specific format of the exam. In my experience, the problems in this book are more difficult than the actual exam. By studying out of this book I felt very well prepared on exam day. Great study guide, highly recommended!"

"had the NCEES and this guide, I would say that the NCEES paper is bit easy compared to the real questions. There are variety of problems presented and gave me a good understanding of the questions. The solutions provided are very detailed with reference to every clause and detailed references. These helped me massively and I have passed the exam at first attempt. I am extremely glad that I gone through the reviews and bought this. The author, Dr. Jacob Petro, is also immensely helpful. I gone through all the questions and was confident going into the exam. Prior to purchasing this book I read lots of reviews on other platform where the advices are to enrol with expensive online courses. I live in the UK and I thought I will give it a go with this book only. And I can honestly say that, if anyone go through the questions (160 questions in the book) and practice thoroughly he/she would be successful. Finally, I would like to thank Dr. Jacob for preparing this amazing practice book."

"Finding an updated guide full of problems that equip you for both the exam and your professional career is challenging. Many references are outdated or full of typos, but "The Essential Guide" stands out. If you study this book in detail and review all references, your chances of passing the exam will increase significantly. The Third Edition, updated to the 2024 NCEES Exam Specifications and Design Standards, is an essential resource for PE Civil-Structural Exam preparation. It includes 160 all-depth questions, updated design codes, and an NCEES Handbook version 2.0. This Print 3.5 edition is refined to eliminate typos and errors with additional references based on reader feedback. Key strengths include comprehensive exam topic coverage, structured question presentation, detailed explanations, and alternative solutions using both LRFD and ASD methods. The questions vary in length and difficulty, often surpassing the complexity of the actual exam, providing thorough preparation. Topics covered include structural loads, cross-sectional analysis, temporary structures, material properties, and component design. Users appreciate the rigorous problem-solving focus and the author's responsiveness to queries and continuous updates. I plan to take the exam soon and will update my review based on my experience."

"This book is an outstanding resource for anyone preparing for the PE Civil Construction exam. It’s thorough, well-structured, and provides clear explanations of key concepts. The content is directly aligned with the exam topics and includes practical examples that make complex concepts easier to grasp. Whether you're just starting your preparation or reinforcing your knowledge, this book is a must-have. It’s been incredibly helpful in building my confidence for the exam. Highly recommend it to fellow PE candidates!"

"The book is great, it explains the concepts in a very detailed manner. It helped me understand concepts that I couldn’t find clear documentation anywhere else. Mr. Pedro is an amazing mentor, he will help if you had any questions regarding the book/concepts."