LSIT Exam Prep

What State are you in?

Many state societies have programs in place to assist anyone wanting to sit for their states exam.

NSPS and WFPS are also good sources of information.

The PPI2PASS / Van Sickle books "Surveying Solved Problems" and "Surveyor Reference Manual" made up the bulk of my practice material. NCEES still offers a practice test book. I used that as well, although it's only 50 problems. I found it to be a decent approximation of what is on the exam.

For straight textbooks on surveying, it's hard to beat Wolf and Ghilani's Elementary Surveying, or Kavanaugh's Surveying: Principles and Applications.

The above were pretty much all I used to prepare. An hour or two per night just working problems, for 2-3 months.

I cannot learn through canned videos, but the Caltrans FS instructional videos are still on Youtube, for those that find videos to be useful.

Like Rover83 mentioned NCEES has a 50 question practice exam. I think it's really worth going through. The practice exam will show your soon to be SIT's the areas they need to brush up on before the exam. From there you can help devise a study plan with them. I worked for a firm that used to do "brown bag" lunches once or twice a month to help people study. They would go over practice problems from some of the resources listed above with a licensed surveyor to help the examinees further understand the problem and it's solution. I think it helped the licensed guys too

Personally I don't think 2-3 months of daily study is enough. I'd recommend a couple of years, especially if there is no academic background. Elementary Surveying,?ÿalready recommended, is a basic need. That's got over 30 chapters, each one worth a week or 2 of study at least.?ÿ

Surveying Solved Problems, also previously recommended, is good. There is also Fundamentals of Surveying Practice Exam.?ÿ

For LSIT level I recommend Brown's Boundary Control & Legal Principles - but not the latest edition. Go to Alibris.com where a 2nd edition (1969) can be had?ÿ for under $5, plus shipping. Well suited to LSIT level study. Once your man gets past the Fundamentals test he can dive into the later editions. Same for older editions of Evidence & Procedures.

?ÿI wouldn't bother with Skelton or Clark at LSIT level. Maybe after.?ÿ

The Caltrans videos are tough to wade through, but can't be beat as resources for the price. On Youtube you can play them back at 2x speed, which is a blessing.

@dougie

CA. I ame aware of the local stuff, but wanted to have them get some self study items, or other online resources that they can fill their free time with!  😉  Books, online cources, and things they should focus on.

True, 2-3 months won't necessarily work for everyone. It all depends on how the examinee learns - and if they understand how they learn.

I should have mentioned that I took the FS with six years experience, including a good amount of boundary work that was enough to answer most of the basic boundary questions found on the FS. Brown is definitely a good resource, and I too would avoid Clark/Skelton/Wattles until the PS.

I had zero formal training or education prior to the FS, just a B.A. in history. I got the geomatics B.S. a few years later. There were some students in my program who came out of school totally unable to pass the FS, and others who barely studied and breezed through it in the middle of their fourth year.

Can't beat this book:

?ÿ

It was my main resource for passing the FS.?ÿ

Have any of you guys recently taken the Fundamentals of Surveying or the Principles of Surveying exams through NCEES? I've purchased the following books to study for both exams by but I wasn't sure if I should just focus on a few of them for now or even just working out problems right now in those sold to me by PPI??ÿ

PPI2PASS Fundamentals of Surveying Book Collection

• Surveyor Reference Manual 6^th edition
• Surveying Solved Problems 4^th Edition
• Fundamentals of Surveying Practice Exam 4^th Edition
• NCEES Fundamentals of Surveying Practice Exam (NCFSR) - newer
• Definitions of Surveying and Associated Terms

Additional Items Purchased that a friend recommended for further study:

• Surveying with Construction Applications 7^th Edition ƒ?? Barry Kavanugh
• Brownƒ??s Boundary Control & Legal Principles 5^th edition
• Land Surveying Law: With Study Guide Questions ƒ?? John Keen
• The Landowner, the Land Surveyor & the Neighbor - John Keen

I'm familiar with NCEES' testing format as I took & passed both the Fundamentals of Engineering (EIT) and the Principles of Engineering (PE) exams with them (the PE exam back in 2017). I have survey experience and exposure (over the last 7-8 years in my career working with our survey department) so I know the basics plus had a 6 month course on it while in engineering school. So now I am looking to further my career as a registered surveyor - if possible. The additional items that I purchased, besides the PPI2PASS bundle/kit, came as a recommendation from a friend who recently took the PS exam as well as NC's exam, but he did not take the FS exam recently through NCEES. Granted NCEES gives you a rough idea of what to look over but I always trust other's experiences more than a 1 page study guide. And each time I delve into any of the above referenced books I stumble across something else that doesn't appear to be a part of NCEES' FS Practice Exam. But at only 50 problems in that particular book I guess that's to be expected...?

Youƒ??ve got a good list. I passed the FS this past March. I later passed the PS and both MD state specific exams, and the FS was by far the hardest. No comparison.?ÿ

The first half of mine was mostly very tough math problems. The second half was a breeze to me, I felt it was mostly rudimentary boundary questions. I wouldnƒ??t waste time digging too deep into Browns. Great book, but Iƒ??d stick to gleaning the highlights.

In the FS reference formula sheet they provide online from NCEES I recommend learning what every formula is, and what itƒ??s for. I found it helpful to be in tune with their nomenclature and the order of their manual throughout my entire study regimen. Practice a wide variety of problems. They will still throw you a ton of curveballs. And donƒ??t panic, because I came out of there thinking I failed but I passed it.

Jan van Sickle's GPS for Land Surveyors, 4th Edition?ÿwould be a worthwhile addition.?ÿ

Posted by: @ncsudirtman

PPI2PASS Fundamentals of Surveying Book Collection

• Surveyor Reference Manual 6^th edition
• Surveying Solved Problems 4^th Edition
• Fundamentals of Surveying Practice Exam 4^th Edition
• NCEES Fundamentals of Surveying Practice Exam (NCFSR) - newer
• Definitions of Surveying and Associated Terms

Additional Items Purchased that a friend recommended for further study:

• Surveying with Construction Applications 7^th Edition ƒ?? Barry Kavanugh
• Brownƒ??s Boundary Control & Legal Principles 5^th edition
• Land Surveying Law: With Study Guide Questions ƒ?? John Keen
• The Landowner, the Land Surveyor & the Neighbor - John Keen

• Surveyor Reference Manual 6^th edition
• NCEES Fundamentals of Surveying Practice Exam (NCFSR) - newer
• Definitions of Surveying and Associated Terms

These were the main books I used for the 2015 CBT FS exam (which was the hardest exam). The rest of the books I also have them but they weren't even close to the level of difficulty of the FS (BUT, I suggest going through them anyway to refresh basic concepts). I'd start out with NCEES Practice test and from there plan your study areas. The Reference Manual and the Definitions books are a must. Another thing to include, which I recently discovered, a programmable calculator that's allowed in the test. I suggest the classic HP 35s with all of survey equations/programs, and fully learn it. It'll help you save time.

Make sure they have the right calculator and know how to use it. And by that I mean knowing how to do survey functions long hand.?ÿ I didn't have any programs in my HP's until one of my LS exams just for time's sake.?ÿ I've seen people go into freak out mode when their batteries died and they lost their programs.

@jflamm

Excellent advice.

I didn't program my calculator until a week or two before the exam, mostly so I could make sure I knew where the functions were and how to use them. Did all the practice problems the long way.

On the exam I used the programs first to get my answers, and had plenty of time to go back and re-work all of the computations by hand as a check. This was before they computerized the test, so I don't know how the time constraints are now, but I walked out of there early even after doing all the checks by hand. Also, I installed fresh batteries an hour before exam time for peace of mind...

Posted by: @rover83

The PPI2PASS / Van Sickle books "Surveying Solved Problems" and "Surveyor Reference Manual" made up the bulk of my practice material. NCEES still offers a practice test book. I used that as well, although it's only 50 problems. I found it to be a decent approximation of what is on the exam.

For straight textbooks on surveying, it's hard to beat Wolf and Ghilani's Elementary Surveying, or Kavanaugh's Surveying: Principles and Applications.

The above were pretty much all I used to prepare. An hour or two per night just working problems, for 2-3 months.

I cannot learn through canned videos, but the Caltrans FS instructional videos are still on Youtube, for those that find videos to be useful.

This. PPI2PASS was basically my go to for the FS.

Also, the exam is a 70 percent pass rate if they have a surveying degree and graduated recently.

@ncsudirtman Where did you pick up "The Landowner, the Land Surveyor & the Neighbor? I can't seem to find much about it online..

@jflamm,

Definitely make sure your calculator is on their list.  I usually use a cheap Casio, and have had a few of them.  They're identical in function, with the same buttons, etc, but the model numbers vary.  One of them is on their list, the other isn't, and there's no explaining it to them.  (this was for LS exams, not the SIT, so not sure if that's any different).

My advice specific is specific to the math related training and testing strategy:

Study the formula sheet provided by NCEES! Get really familiar with the plug and chug equations that allow you to problem solve in one step without a great deal of analysis. Train up with the calculator of your choice. Use Kahn academy on line to explore concepts. Get a college algebra and a trigonometry book from a thrift store heck get a few they generally have them and they are great. Use the formula sheets and methods in the appendix this is often a great shortcut. Don't worry too much about calculus, just know basic derivation for the 2 questions that you will likely encounter. Get your unit conversion methodology down I use what they teach in physics. Make sketches for every problem that you work, and work lots of problems- the more you put pencil to paper the better you will do, speed and efficiency will come with understanding and a robust problem solving methodology- there is good guidance on line as to approaches that work for generalized problem solving. Develop a test strategy that is based on time, skip all questions that are 2 step or beyond and get them on round 2 or 3. When you focus on the low hanging fruit and buzz through all the answers that you know you will build confidence and manage your time more wisely. Stick to your test strategy. Don't get intimidated by the arcana that is included in all the study guides, it can be overwhelming to try for competency in all areas. When you get tired of working problems, take a break and read the BLM manual, Brown's etc. It is work, those courses never offered me much and there are no real shortcuts. Just put the time in and work the problems! Cramming never worked for me just spend the time- if you have to review algebra, do so. If you need to work curve problems do so, if you need to strategically avoid something like spiral curves do so. Focus on strengthening areas you have identified as weaknesses, by analyzing your practice tests.?ÿ

@mp-chc

look on Amazon it ebay for it used. Took some searching but I found it at one of the two places as all my used books have come from there & for pennies on the dollar too, usually! 

@ncsudirtman Thanks! I'll just have to keep checking back.. no hits.