# So how did everyone do?



## bassplayer45 (Apr 27, 2016)

What did everyone think of the exam this time around? I have talked to two people and seem to get the tough but fair consensus with a few WTH moments from a few of the questions


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## dvtn (Apr 27, 2016)

This was my first time taking. I took Vertical only. I'm pretty sure that I failed since I didn't finish one of the afternoon problems (only got like one third through it) so that's automatic unacceptable and a fail. I had to guess on a bunch of questions in the morning portion due to time management issues. I do agree that it was tough but fair. There was only one question in the morning portion that made me go huh but that was because I didn't study the method to solve it. I learned that you pretty much have to memorize a lot of things because you won't have enough time to flip through your codes/references. There is no room for error either if you mess up on a problem and have to spend twice as much time on it to get the correct answer. I had a 15 page syllabus that I made with all the problems I've solved for PE/SE exams but it proved to be useless and a waste of time during the test. Hopefully, by October I'll be able to do most of the stuff from memory.


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## Giuseppe (Apr 28, 2016)

Use it as a learning experience and take another shot at it.

I think trying to use brute memorization of canned material and responses can be a recipe for poor performance if there isn't a thorough underlying comprehension of the information itself.  Memorizing material and comprehending material are two different things entirely.  

I'm not saying that a person can't pre-package their way through a successful completion of the morning portion(s) of the exam with a good bit of luck, but the afternoon session(s) will not be so kind.  I believe that's why the exam is so tough: you simply have to KNOW the material.  The only wildcard remaining then becomes an individual's ability to put it all together under pressure on test day.

Good luck next go-round.


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## BridgeSewist (May 2, 2016)

I took both days in October 2015; passed the vertical and failed lateral.  I took lateral again in April 2016.

Generally everyone who I have talked to thought that April was harder than October. Personally the morning had a few tough ones right at the beginning then seemed smooth sailing for me minus the time I lost up front (poor time management on my part).  The bridge afternoon was definitely fair but there was one detail I hadn't designed before so I got hung up a bit on it.  If you hadn't seen some of it before it would have been a bit trickier but I focused a lot of effort into mastering the nuance details of AASHTO I had previously breezed over last time.

No matter what it's a long day that is now in the past.  I doubt I would try again at this point as I have dedicated far too much of the past 1.5 years of my life to this test.  Congrats to everyone else who survived the day!


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## PE Stamps (May 2, 2016)

Was pretty tough for me.  First time around without a ton of studying.  Just testing the waters to see how hard it was.


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## bacen (May 4, 2016)

I took the lateral portion. I thought the questions were not that hard but time was the issue for me. I could not manage the time to complete all the parts. Totally I missed two parts. One part of  the 3rd question and one part from the 4th.  If I had 20 more minutes, I would have completed everything. We will see what happens.


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## David Connor SE (May 4, 2016)

Bacen,

Are you in the Greenville, SC area? Just noticing the Clemson Tiger paw.

David


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## bacen (May 4, 2016)

David Connor said:


> Bacen,
> 
> Are you in the Greenville, SC area? Just noticing the Clemson Tiger paw.
> 
> David


David,

I live in Alpharetta, GA.


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## Road Guy (May 4, 2016)

Former 30064 resident here


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## David Connor SE (May 5, 2016)

bacen said:


> David,
> 
> I live in Alpharetta, GA.


Cool. My company is located in Lawrenceville, GA (Haines, Gipson, and Associates) but I work out of Greenville.

Good luck on getting "Acceptable" result on the SE.

David


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## wgodfrey (May 10, 2016)

I took both Vertical and Lateral in October 2015. Passed Vertical, (just barely?) failed Lateral.

I thought that the Lateral April 2016 exam was slightly easier than the October Exam in the morning and way, way easier in the afternoon. I agree that there were a few head scratchers, particularly up front in the morning.


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## SE_FL (May 10, 2016)

wgodfrey said:


> I thought that the Lateral April 2016 exam was slightly easier than the October Exam in the morning and way, way easier in the afternoon. I agree that there were a few head scratchers, particularly up front in the morning.


Or like someone said before, you may have been better prepared this time around.


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## wgodfrey (May 13, 2016)

SE_FL said:


> Or like someone said before, you may have been better prepared this time around.


Oh yeah, that is possible. But I definitely thought that the AASHTO questions were not as bizarre this time around. And I can assure you, I did no additional AASHTO studying.


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## SE_FL (May 13, 2016)

AASHTO is my weakness, I will never design a bridge (maybe a culvert). So I have a hard time putting the effort into it. But I will before the next exam.


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