Strut & Tie

To the folks having already taken this test ... Without violating any NDAs, I'm curious as to how far down the strut and tie rabbit hole to go ...

1) conceptual only, basic chapter 23 stuff

2) Elements of number one with quantitative items, like identifying B and D regions and laying the truss models out...

3) Elements of 1 and 2, with full blown analysis, and detailing

Not asking for any example problems or specifics, just in general, if you were going to recommend to someone who is trying to balance their time would you recommend level 1, 2, or 3?

My current skills in S&T are right around a 0.9 ... Just have a basic handle on the concepts and still need to brush up on detailing, so I have to work up to level 1 regardless....  But do I go to a level 2 or 3?  

I'd say a general rule of thumb for NCEES and the SE exam is just...study everything. They mainly get you on "oh...I didn't expect THAT subject at all!!" You want to avoid that. It's possible to hide knowledge deficiencies on morning problems since they are multiple choice. Afternoon problems...not so much. So I'd say get to a point where you can feel confident you'll get an "improvement required" on an afternoon problem. Four "IRs" aren't enough to pass the test though, so if you gamble and have strut & tie be a weak point, be very strong on other portions for vertical afternoon. When you do the test, especially afternoon, you don't want to be scrambling to figure something out. Another option is that IF it's a weak point, have an example problem ready that you have reviewed that gives you a roadmap on how to hit all the high points.