April 2019 SE Results Thread

[tj_PE]

@tj_PE, Why are you always giving me chocolate ice cream with googly eyes?

Well, now I feel self conscious about my poop reactions..

 

[SE_Hopeful]

I skipped all bridge problems by drawing a light 'X' through Answer 'B', so that I avoided the disaster of accidentally bubbling in answers for the wrong problems, then I went back and did them all at the end. Worked reasonably well I thought. Oh and I also skipped the IBC and AISI questions and did those at the end as well.

 

[Nathan55]

Well, now I feel self conscious about my poop reactions..

No need to be self-conscious. Everybody does it.

 

[Nathan55]

I thought about this method but did a simplified version for the very reasons you said - didn't want the extra bookkeeping, and didn't want to spend too much time looking through every problem before solving them.

My method was I just did all 32 non bridge problems in a row, skipping the roughly 2 to 4 questions where I didn't know where/how to get the answer and would have to do some code digging.  This meant I had to use AISC one question, then ACI , then NDS, then ASCE7, then TMS, etc rinse and repeat. But I didn't mind, I only had those 5 books plus AISI and IBC on my desk so it was pretty fast to grab another reference.  Those 32 problems took about 2 hours.

Then I did the 8 bridge questions in a row, again skipping maybe 1 or 2 if it looked like I'd spend a lot of time on it. This would take about 45 minutes.

 After that I'd have about 5 questions to go back and get, and about half of those I'd realize the trick.  Looking at it a tricky question for the second time, after an hour or two of delving in the code and solving the "easier" questions really does something for your mind. For me, if I stubbornly sit on the question until I solve it, I'll eventually get it but after a lot of time searching the cod.  The other half of those last questions I'd have to go digging in the code to find. This would take about 30 minutes. 

Then after that I'd have about 45 minutes to just go through and double check that I answered every question and marked the correct bubble.  I usually find one or two that I forgot to bubble or bubbled the wrong one. It is also good to glance over every question a second time through because you might think of something that you didn't before. I'll usually find a couple questions glancing through a second time where I'll realize there was a trick, or an exception, or a missed piece of given information or something. 

But I'd tell anyone to take the exam the same way they've been taking their practice exams... don't try something new. It should feel like clockwork. So this takes some planning ahead, in that you should take your practice exams the way that you plan on taking the real exam.

You hit on an important point. To do well, you really need to be at about 30 questions completed by the 2hr mark. That's key. I generally aim for that as well. 10 questions an hour is too slow, especially considering NCEES' shenanigans. I usually just work the easy problems I can solve first. I have tried the "let's use one code at a time method" but that didn't work for me since some problems I need to look at and file in my subconscious for a bit before I can actually solve them quickly. Sometimes, wind stuff will be easy, or even bridge problems. It just all depends.

 

[ChaosMuppetPE]

I hope everyone is having a Terrific Thursday!

 

[tj_PE]

I hope everyone is having a Terrific Thursday!

it's my friday!

 

[Titleistguy]

Golf league starts tonight, and playing 18 Sunday.  It's a nice break from strap footing design study.  

 

[Duke]

What's a Thursday? Some rare pagan holiday? I only know this day as Friday Eve

@Titleistguy

Same here, softball league starts soon.

 

[ChaosMuppetPE]

What's a Thursday? Some rare pagan holiday? I only know this day as Friday Eve

@Titleistguy

Same here, softball league starts soon.

Thursday is a derivation of the day dedicated to the ancient nordic god of thunder, Tyr. Also known as Thor in the english tongue. If you're still confused, he's the fat one in Avengers.

 

[Nathan55]

Thursday is a derivation of the day dedicated to the ancient nordic god of thunder, Tyr. Also known as Thor in the english tongue. If you're still confused, he's the fat one in Avengers.

Thor's greco-roman equivalent is Jupiter (or Jove)  hence the romance language use of dies joves (latin), jueves (spanish), and jeudi (french) for Thursday.

Coincidentally, historiographers agree that NCEES' equivalent in Nordic Mythology is Loki, the god of manipulation, trickery and deceit. As to whether he's in avengers or not, that would be a spoiler.

 

[ChaosMuppetPE]

Well, only about six weeks to go, my friends. Anyone seen the newsletter with a grading workshop date yet?

 

[cal91]

Can't believe we're only at 40% of our wait time...

 

[tj_PE]

Well, only about six weeks to go, my friends. Anyone seen the newsletter with a grading workshop date yet?

I didn't see a newsletter anywhere but I saw someone, somewhere on the great wide web mention that it wasn't until June 7-8 so we shouldn't expect results til prob the 14th

 

[Stewie]

I didn't see a newsletter anywhere but I saw someone, somewhere on the great wide web mention that it wasn't until June 7-8 so we shouldn't expect results til prob the 14th

Where is this "somewhere on the great wide web"? reddit? twitter?

 

[tj_PE]

Where is this "somewhere on the great wide web"? reddit? twitter?

I don't know lol.

I assume I saw it somewhere in EB land, because I don't really go anywhere else

 

[tj_PE]

Does everyone agree that, with the grading workshop June 7-8, the expected day is the following Friday, June 14?

here

 

[cal91]

I AM THE GREAT WIDE WEB

 

[ChaosMuppetPE]

I AM THE GREAT WIDE WEB

I saw that post. I was just trying to confirm the June 7-8 date. I understood that as a "guess" from the original context, you were assuming that date because you haven't seen a date. So to confirm, have you seen that date as the grading workshop?

 

[cal91]

It wasn't a guess. I asked NCEES chat when the SE grading workshop was and they told me June 7 & June 8.  We've got another 5.5 weeks :/

 

[Nathan55]

It wasn't a guess. I asked NCEES chat when the SE grading workshop was and they told me June 7 & June 8.  We've got another 5.5 weeks

My favorite part, honestly, is that last week of waiting. It's truly a Schrödinger's cat situation, and I begin contemplating the intricacies of quantum physics and the wave-particle duality. I'm anxious for results to come, but only if I passed. In the meantime, I haven't passed or failed, so my psyche remains in tact. But I still wake up each morning curious about my fate. After failing there is a period of disbelief, then brief hope where I convince myself that an improvement on the last time's results is a "good" thing. In reality though, I'll be happy with nothing besides an "acceptable". As a pessimist, however, I plan for the worst. So I'm halfway to saving for the cost to take it in October. Just hoping the codes won't change, because ASCE 7-16 will be absolute loads of fun to design to. 

I'm also on the fence as to whether NCEES  enjoys this torture, or merely uses the data in the service of some greater, altruistic goal.