# How many hours your studied for SE exams?



## AndieWoooooooo (Feb 18, 2020)

Dear friends,

Could you please let me know your study schedule (how many hours, books, courses) that you spent on your preparation for both lateral and vertical exams? I am considering to take the bridges later. 

Any your experience on SE exams (no matter Buildings or Bridges) are highly appreciated!

Thanks.


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## User1 (Feb 18, 2020)

AndieWoooooooo said:


> Dear friends,
> 
> Could you please let me know your study schedule (how many hours, books, courses) that you spent on your preparation for both lateral and vertical exams? I am considering to take the bridges later.
> 
> ...


definitely browse this forum. there's tons of information! and people have laid out in great detail their study plans and successes within it! good luck!


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## Titleistguy (Feb 18, 2020)

AndieWoooooooo said:


> Dear friends,
> 
> Could you please let me know your study schedule (how many hours, books, courses) that you spent on your preparation for both lateral and vertical exams? I am considering to take the bridges later.
> 
> ...


You're going to find people that barely studied, and others that put in 400+ per test.  Some folks used codes only and min references, others used every book they could get their hands on.  Your mileage may vary. 

Someone telling you how many hours they studied isn't really helpful b/c did they spend 8 hours studying in front of a TV or 3 hours in a quiet room ... you get the point.  That said, having just finished studying for the night myself, here is some random stuff I'm making up as I go. 

Expected study hours = hours required based on pre-study performance

Required study hours = the individual adjusted amount of hours 

*Step 1:  *Get the NCEES practice SE exam.  Take it, timed. 

*Step 2:  *On the Stress Response Spectrum, find your location, most people are in a Zone 200, but we can do a 'Mood'al Response analysis and get a better number, more on that some other time. For this exercise lets use Q = 200 hrs 

*Step 3: * Document the following: (subscripts v &amp; l denote vertical and lateral respectively)


Xv = number correct (am)

Yv = fraction of correct answers,   #parts / #total number of parts (pm)

Xl = number of correct (am)

Yl = fraction of correct answers,   #parts / #total number of parts (pm)

n = attempt number (1, 2, 3, .... )

q = 1.5 or 2.5 (these are not 1 and 2 b/c the sample NCEES test is generally regarded as easier than the actual exam)

1.5 for Lateral OR Vertical

2.5 for Lateral AND Vertical 


*Step 4: *Determine the _*Expected Study Hours*_, (ESH), using the following:

ESH = {[(40-Xv)+(40-Xl) / (80)] + [1-Yv] * [1-Yl]}/2 * (Q*(q^0.75)/n) * (n+1) / n

*Example:*  Q=200, Xv = 25,  Yv = 28,  Xl = 0.65, Yl =0.55, n=1 

ESH = {[(40-25)+(40-28) / (80)] + (1-0.65)*(1-0.55)]/2} * (200*(2^0.75/1)) * (1+1)/1 = 331 hrs

*Step 5: *Determine the* Required Study Hours* (RSH), using the following: 

RSH = ESH * C(total), 

C(total) = SQRT{ C(test taking skills) * C(years working) * C(direct experience in code cycle) * C(luck) * C(AEI) * C(quality of study [qos])* C(personal) * C(Engineer Boards)}


C(total) = multiplier for ESH 

C(test taking skills) =

0.85 -  good test taker,

1.0  - average test taker,

1.15 - poor test taker


[*]C(years working) = ((# of years working)^0.90 / (# of years working)) &gt;= 0.75

[*]C(direct exp in code cycle) = 


0.95 for high

1.15 for average

1.5 for little 


[*]C(luck) = feelin' lucky?


Yes = 0.90

No = 1.15

I make my own luck = 1.0


[*]C(AEI) = did you take the AEI review course


Yes = 0.9

No = 1.2


[*]C(quality of study) = 


Intense &amp; focused, peak performance = 0.85

Generally focused, minor distractions = 0.95

Average, moderate distractions = 1.1 

Not great, frequent distractions = 1.2

Why bother, too busy playing Snood = 1.5


[*]C(personal) = any personal factors not considered above that may or may not affect performance 


Default = 1.0 

0.95 &lt;= C(personal) &lt;= 1.1 


[*]C(engineer boards) = Did you read through the information shared on this site? 


Yes = 0.95

No = 1.05


*Example*:  Tommy Test Taker is taking the SE lateral and Vertical.  He's in Zone 200 on the Stress Response Spectrum.  He's a generally good test taker, took the AEI course, is unlucky, has average experience in the test code cycle, hangs out on engineer boards, puts in generally focused study, has 13 years of experience, and brought his lucky key chain to the test.  He's already determined his RSH to be 331 hours.


RSH = 331 for both tests (divide by two for estimate approx hrs for each) 

C(test taking) = 0.85

C(years working) = 0.77

C(direct exp code) = 1.15

C(luck) = 1.15

C(AEI) = 0.9

C(0.95) = 0.95

C(personal) = 0.95

C(engineer boards) = 0.95

C(total) = sqrt( 0.85*.77*1.15*1.15*0.9*.95*.95*.95) = 0.819

RSH = C(total) * ESH 

RSH = 0.819 * 331 = 271 total study hours 

Assume 16 weeks prep time (4 months), thats approx 17 hours per week. Based on a decent first pass at the practice exam (damn near passing).  

Here is a snapshot of the spread I made for no reason, to go along with this useless post...  Lol. 

&lt;THIS SPACE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK&gt;

The real lesson here is that SE prep will slowly drive you nuts such that you'll find yourself ASCE 7'ing everything into crap like this.  Good luck!

#shrug.


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## AndieWoooooooo (Feb 19, 2020)

Titleistguy said:


> You're going to find people that barely studied, and others that put in 400+ per test.  Some folks used codes only and min references, others used every book they could get their hands on.  Your mileage may vary.
> 
> Someone telling you how many hours they studied isn't really helpful b/c did they spend 8 hours studying in front of a TV or 3 hours in a quiet room ... you get the point.  That said, having just finished studying for the night myself, here is some random stuff I'm making up as I go.
> 
> ...


Hi Man, I was amazed by your "design equations". It pretty makes sense to me. Thanks for sharing your design procedure and you definitely showed the correct way that a SE should look like. Thanks again. I highly believe you succeeded in your career.


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## Titleistguy (Feb 19, 2020)

Yes, the hallmark of any good design equation --- empirically derived exponents from statistical regressions that generally make no sense and screw up the units.

In all honesty, studying for the test is highly personalized.  The numbers I've seen on the internet are around 200-300 per test depending on your skill.  

Cheers.


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## Titleistguy (Feb 19, 2020)

Playing with the spreadsheet abit, thinking something needs to be done with n ... next update cycle for this due out in 2050, I'm going to tweak that to be 1.0 for first time test takers, and 1.5 for multiple test takers.

Yea, that makes sense.


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