April 2012 Exam/Design Standards

Hello Everyone -

I am beginning to prepare to take the 16 hour Structural Exam this coming April (2012) and was curious about the necessity of the recommended design standards. According to NCEES there are 11 recommended standards. In the opinion of anyone that has already taken the exam, are all standards totally necessary? I only ask because I have begun to search them out online, and am looking at nearly $1500 worth of material. I am planning to take the Building exam, and so was hoping to avoid purchasing the AASHTO Specification, however I have read through some other threads that it was used quite a bit during the morning multiple choice exams. I don't want to cheat myself, so if I need to buy them I definitely will. Also, if anyone can recommend a trustworthy website to purchase discounted books from, that would be very helpful!

Thanks!

Actual the updates are only two materials

AASHTO 2010

IBC 2010

there sets stays the same.

good luck

Krissy012,

I have taken this exam and I recommend bring all the design references noted by NCEES! As every question in the morning is important you don't want to be stuck because you didn't bring a reference. There are questions that simply require a reference to look up the answer. The AASHTO is def. required even though you are taking the building portion as there are still a good amount of bridge questions in the morning. Dont cheat yourself by not bringing the specified standards!

Vinsanity said:

Actual the updates are only two materials

AASHTO 2010

IBC 2010

there sets stays the same.

good luck

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There is NO IBC 2010. You must mean IBC 2009. It references ASCE 7-05 and AISC 13th edition along with most of what IBC 2006 referenced.

There won't be a change until IBC 2012 is adopted and they shouldn't expect you to know those changes in time for a test. Wind alone is a doozy.

I would have all of the references noted in the study prep. If you can borrow them from your work, then you save yourself the $$$.

Good luck on the test.

steve1997 said:

Krissy012,

I have taken this exam and I recommend bring all the design references noted by NCEES! As every question in the morning is important you don't want to be stuck because you didn't bring a reference. There are questions that simply require a reference to look up the answer. The AASHTO is def. required even though you are taking the building portion as there are still a good amount of bridge questions in the morning. Dont cheat yourself by not bringing the specified standards!

Click to expand...

I couldn't agree more.

Don't skimp of the references (codes). That is really what this exam is about.

I get my books from Amazon, you can find used codes usually for fairly reasonable prices. Fortunately for me the company buys all the codes and I borrow them for the test.

If you google a code or reference and use advance search to filter only pdf files sometimes you'll get a doc uploaded by a state transportation department, university, or committe. It's hit or miss but I have a few that I found that way that I'll have with me in April.

You should look at it from the perspective of return on investment and perhaps don't worry so much about cost. Is it the most expensive exam you'll ever take? I'd say yes, but in the long run you'll make it back if passing the exam gets you a leg up. Plus if you itemize on your taxes all these expenses are deductable.

I think for most of us in this forum this is the big leagues. What's left after this? A PhD? lol.

^^ LOL.

I would argue once you get your SE, you have no real need for a MS or PhD unless you want to teach.

I would also say that these exams are hard but you don't need a masters to pass them. Heck, I did everything with a BS and a whole lot of studying.

To go against the grain a little. The two standards that I didn't have during the 16 hour test and that didn't hurt me one bit was the AISI and the PCI Design Handbook.

I highly recommend the rest of the manuals even AASHTO (I also took buildings). You might try borrowing some of the reference materials you are not going to use again.

Thank you everyone for your responses! I had a feeling all standards were necessary and I have already started acquiring them. In case anyone out there is looking as well, I was able to find a few on Walmart.com. I am not a huge fan of the place, but their prices were the lowest that I have seen. Good luck to any fellow April exam takers.

Walmart.com? WTF.

ipswitch said:

You should look at it from the perspective of return on investment and perhaps don't worry so much about cost. Is it the most expensive exam you'll ever take? I'd say yes, but in the long run you'll make it back if passing the exam gets you a leg up. Plus if you itemize on your taxes all these expenses are deductable. I think for most of us in this forum this is the big leagues. What's left after this? A PhD? lol.

Click to expand...

Passing this exam will set you apart from the herd. It will pay for itself every year for the next 25 years.