SE_Hopeful
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Hey, we also got confirmation that the results have not been released!
April 2019 SE Results Thread
- Thread starter Civil Dawg
- Start date
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Stardust
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QuinnTheEskimo
Active member
I took both in the fall and passed lateral. I found it to be a bit less stressful only studying for 1 test and for having the diagnostic to tell me what to focus on. Hope you pass both as well!
I pray and hope all that whom is ready to be a structural engineer pass this exam. Have faith and fear not, the Lord is good. For me it is been a journey to say the least. I pray that I pass Lateral this time. Please pray for me and I will pray for you all.
ChaosMuppetPE
Talk nerdy to me...
Good lord, I’m so tired of waiting. I think my patience started walking off, walked off some more, and then came to a gate that said “You can’t walk off past here.” Upon seeing this gate, my patience, wanting to live the impossible dream, climbed over it and walked off never to be seen again.
I wish the scoring system were more transparent. The exam appears to favor younger folks who have the time and mental capacity to learn everything and regurgitate. Pass the exam and not know anything In 4 weeks.
Some suggestions for NCEES based on my 2nd time with the lateral exam:
- 16% passing rate for some states such as WA is crazy statistics and raises eyebrows!
- Less reliance on tabbing. This is a crazy exercise in itself. Just do a survey of how many hours are spent on tabbing by the examinees to find out. Triggered primarily by the am questions.
- Less reliance on being able to just looking up information. Focus the exam on what is more important on the engineering side.
- Make the exam harder but more focused. So that if you have the engineering knowledge you are able to solve it. Right now, you just need to do the basics of everything to get through the exam. It should be more of harder problems that take more time but is required of a good structural engineer.
- Really need to separate bridge and buildings. Why get everyone to go through IBC codes and AASHTO? For a building person who passed the SE, he has no ability to design a proper bridge. So why bother?
- Have questions that rely less on the codes and more on basic engineering. Why do examinees need to buy code every 2 years sit for the exam. Seems unfair.
- Test designed for knowledge and not speed. The speed portion favors the younger ones who are still in the university exam mindset.
- Have practice exams that are representative. In my opinion, the one they have is too easy and never changes. Yet, $50 is charged.
- What portions you study for your LFRS system has a big impact on whether you pass. I have known folks who skipped a few LFRS and passed simply because of luck. If the exams were harder, it would be fair.
- no sneaky questions that is related to code nuisances. In real life, we all have time to avoid these sneaky code issues.
- There is no reason why a specified date or week cannot be stated for the release of the exam results. This will help to alleviate anxiety for folks waiting for the exam results every day for two weeks.
- In general, the release of the exam results is too late. If the April 2019 exam results come out by end of June, the re-takers are left with 3.5 months to prepare for the exam. Factor these with kids, vacations, conferences, buy new codes and tab again etc, and the window for study is too small for most folks. Ofcourse there is an option to give up on the rest of your life and study for this exam. But, it does not have to be this way (work/study/life balance). I hope NCEES does something to address this. I believe this is the primary reason why most retakers do not make it through. I am willing to bet that most retakers are older folks who have other responsibilities in life and cannot give up the other half of their life to retake the exam compared to younger folks. That is why I say that the exam is biased towards younger folks.
Just a few comments on the SE exam (more particularly the lateral exam). The above comments stand regardless of whether I pass or not.
Good luck everyone!
Some suggestions for NCEES based on my 2nd time with the lateral exam:
- 16% passing rate for some states such as WA is crazy statistics and raises eyebrows!
- Less reliance on tabbing. This is a crazy exercise in itself. Just do a survey of how many hours are spent on tabbing by the examinees to find out. Triggered primarily by the am questions.
- Less reliance on being able to just looking up information. Focus the exam on what is more important on the engineering side.
- Make the exam harder but more focused. So that if you have the engineering knowledge you are able to solve it. Right now, you just need to do the basics of everything to get through the exam. It should be more of harder problems that take more time but is required of a good structural engineer.
- Really need to separate bridge and buildings. Why get everyone to go through IBC codes and AASHTO? For a building person who passed the SE, he has no ability to design a proper bridge. So why bother?
- Have questions that rely less on the codes and more on basic engineering. Why do examinees need to buy code every 2 years sit for the exam. Seems unfair.
- Test designed for knowledge and not speed. The speed portion favors the younger ones who are still in the university exam mindset.
- Have practice exams that are representative. In my opinion, the one they have is too easy and never changes. Yet, $50 is charged.
- What portions you study for your LFRS system has a big impact on whether you pass. I have known folks who skipped a few LFRS and passed simply because of luck. If the exams were harder, it would be fair.
- no sneaky questions that is related to code nuisances. In real life, we all have time to avoid these sneaky code issues.
- There is no reason why a specified date or week cannot be stated for the release of the exam results. This will help to alleviate anxiety for folks waiting for the exam results every day for two weeks.
- In general, the release of the exam results is too late. If the April 2019 exam results come out by end of June, the re-takers are left with 3.5 months to prepare for the exam. Factor these with kids, vacations, conferences, buy new codes and tab again etc, and the window for study is too small for most folks. Ofcourse there is an option to give up on the rest of your life and study for this exam. But, it does not have to be this way (work/study/life balance). I hope NCEES does something to address this. I believe this is the primary reason why most retakers do not make it through. I am willing to bet that most retakers are older folks who have other responsibilities in life and cannot give up the other half of their life to retake the exam compared to younger folks. That is why I say that the exam is biased towards younger folks.
Just a few comments on the SE exam (more particularly the lateral exam). The above comments stand regardless of whether I pass or not.
Good luck everyone!
Last edited by a moderator:
Believe it or not, I actually did no do any tabbing. I never have. My thoughts were I should study each book I bring into the test, to the point that I know it front and back and don't need tabs. Time spent tabbing for me is better spent doing practice problems.
SE_Hopeful
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I probably spent over $50 on tabs alone
