# How is your SE exams (2020 October)



## Andrew W (Oct 25, 2020)

SE folks, 

How did you feel about your tests? I just took both lateral and vertical in Phoenix and feel it is really harder than what I expected. There are a few MCQ in the mornings are kinda tricky and had no time to work on them. 

I guess we will receive results in around two months.


----------



## E720 (Oct 25, 2020)

I also took vertical and lateral and after doing a quick inventory last night of the PM problems I will be surprised if I passed the Lateral as I can already think of so many things that I did wrong, I feel like I totally bombed it. The vertical PM could go either way.

I feel like the multiple choice questions were about the difficulty I was expecting and I think I probably got enough correct but I could obviously be wrong.


----------



## EBAT75 (Oct 25, 2020)

Before going into the exam topic, I want to say kudos to NCEES for the way they administered the test under these trying times of COVID-19. In Tucson, AZ the venue was very spacious, comfortable, well lit. The proctors also did an excellent job.

Coming to the exam itself, I took the vertical only. The morning was good, the afternoon crunched for time. 

It is not about whether I pass or fail. Overall, I feel the exam is what it ought to be to protect public safety and above all else lives of people.

A bad doctor could be killing one patient at a time; a bad structural engineer, could kill even dozens of people "at one fell swoop" (pardon the pun).

Just a connection we might think. Two Hyatt Regency walkways fell and killed some 100 plus and injured twice as many. Not a lawyer, but rest my case.


----------



## thedaywa1ker (Oct 26, 2020)

I took both.  I felt that the difficulty was pretty much in line with what I expected.  I felt 'prepared', but its a hell of a test, so I don't know that anyone will ever feel like they knocked it out of the park.

I felt confident in right at 70% of the morning portions of both , and felt pretty good about the afternoons...but since there is no way to know if I'm totally screwing up the afternoons, who knows.  I feel like if I get a grader in a good mood for the afternoons I'll have a shot at passing both. Fingers crossed.


----------



## StandardPractice (Oct 26, 2020)

I took lateral, also felt the exam was about what I expected...granted this is my second go at lateral so that probably played a part. Few tricky questions in morning; felt I found the majority of the spots to make a mental error expect for one problem which I realized afterward. Felt good about bridge problems and steel was surprisingly my weak spot throughout morning, but worked it out before time ran out. Felt decent about afternoon except for two portions in two questions, assuming my design methodology was correct for the others.


----------



## DoctorWho-PE (Oct 26, 2020)

The first three chapters fell out of my AASHTO binder overnight before lateral and I didn't check before the exam, so I didn't have  the parts I needed available.  Which was a real bummer.

First time taking both, and I was really not ready for that.


----------



## thedaywa1ker (Oct 26, 2020)

There was a guy that showed up to the SC testing location on the 2nd day ready to take his Vertical exam. I'm pretty sure I had a dream that that happened to me.  What a nightmare.


----------



## JP87 (Oct 26, 2020)

thedaywa1ker said:


> There was a guy that showed up to the SC testing location on the 2nd day ready to take his Vertical exam. I'm pretty sure I had a dream that that happened to me.  What a nightmare.


Lol. I wonder if he was set to take Lateral on Saturday. SMH


----------



## Samir P (Oct 26, 2020)

Only took the lateral this time.  I took gravity last Oct, and after the AM, i thought I definitely failed, but I ended up passing.  I felt a lot better after the lateral AM portion this time, so hopefully that's a good sign.  PM is harder than I expected.  I came back to do one portion of the question and ran out of time.  I wrote out the steps but I had no numbers.. Hopefully that single portion won't put me at an "unacceptable" for that problem.


----------



## Aman (Oct 26, 2020)

I took lateral and feeling great about the exam.... lets see if NCEES concurs with me....


----------



## organix (Oct 26, 2020)

I felt neither exam was quite what I expected.  In that, all I really mean is that the practice exams I was used to where more heavily analytical.  The test was a bit more direct in what they wanted from you and less opened ended.  I guess I won't describe too much more to stay out of trouble. 

There were two similar threads here on this, so I'll echo what I said in the other.  For the lateral, the morning felt really solid, but I'm somewhere around 50/50 on if I passed the afternoon or not.  I know I made mistakes, but I also know I did a lot well.  Anyway, at this point, I've sort of come to terms that it was likely not good enough to pass and hoping I did do enough for vertical so that I only need to redo the lateral.   Lateral I felt really good about.


----------



## Present_SE (Oct 27, 2020)

There was a guy that used to post on these boards.  He spent two months following the exam posting everyday, multiple times a day, how sure he was that he passed the exam.  He also made it clear that if he didn't pass, he was going to shoot up the NCEES office.

Well...in the end he didn't pass.  I remember logging onto these forums and reading his post where he concluded that he was, in fact, "mentally retarded."

All was not lost of course, as there could have been a mistake in how they scored the morning!  He paid the fee to have them rescore the morning.  Original results held, he failed.

He passed eventually though 6 months later.  Moral of the story, never give up!


----------



## JP87 (Oct 27, 2020)

Guest Present_SE said:


> There was a guy that used to post on these boards.  He spent two months following the exam posting everyday, multiple times a day, how sure he was that he passed the exam.  He also made it clear that if he didn't pass, he was going to shoot up the NCEES office.
> 
> Well...in the end he didn't pass.  I remember logging onto these forums and reading his post where he concluded that he was, in fact, "mentally retarded."
> 
> ...


I guess this proves the SE exam causes permanent head damage. Lol


----------



## thedaywa1ker (Oct 27, 2020)

I just scrolled through some of those old results threads and found the posts you're talking about Present_SE.  That guy has a way with words, and makes me feel less confident about my chances, seeing as I'm not nearly as confident as he and apparently many others were.  But, those threads will give me some therapeutic reading in the even that I did fail again.  Misery loves company.


----------



## ZEZO4 (Oct 30, 2020)

JP87 said:


> I guess this proves the SE exam causes permanent head damage. Lol


I agree with you, that is serious, temporary, I felt this after finishing the S.E. exam on October 2018.


----------



## AndieWoooooooo (Nov 3, 2020)

I am glad to get all your replies sharing your experience. Any one has any clue on which day they will release the results? day 42?


----------



## ChiefIlliniwek (Nov 4, 2020)

Anywhere from 6-10 weeks. People I know who've taken the October exams said it only took 6 weeks, which would be around December 4. However when I took vertical in April 2019 it was 10 weeks, so that puts us around January 1. My guess is they'll do the grading seminar the first weekend of December with the results posted on December 11. That's my bet.


----------



## David Connor SE (Nov 4, 2020)

ChiefIlliniwek said:


> Anywhere from 6-10 weeks. People I know who've taken the October exams said it only took 6 weeks, which would be around December 4. However when I took vertical in April 2019 it was 10 weeks, so that puts us around January 1. My guess is they'll do the grading seminar the first weekend of December with the results posted on December 11. That's my bet.


Yeah, seems like it is usually the 2nd or 3rd week of December, before Christmas.


----------



## Reverse Polish (Nov 4, 2020)

Last year, Illinois released on December 19, which if I recall correctly, was:

1)  The same day NCEES (and most states) released results for SE Exam.

2)  Day 54 from completion of the Lateral Forces Exam.

I wouldn't get too excited until the pencil-and-paper PE exam results are released.


----------



## AndieWoooooooo (Nov 4, 2020)

David Connor said:


> Yeah, seems like it is usually the 2nd or 3rd week of December, before Christmas.


Hi David, do you know the passing criteria of SE exams? I heard it needs to be scored more than 70% for both morning and depth problems to pass. Is this right? or any thoughts on this? Thanks.


----------



## ChiefIlliniwek (Nov 4, 2020)

AndieWoooooooo said:


> Hi David, do you know the passing criteria of SE exams? I heard it needs to be scored more than 70% for both morning and depth problems to pass. Is this right? or any thoughts on this? Thanks.


I'm not David, but I recommend going to the thread about the October 2019 Exam results at https://engineerboards.com/topic/34507-se-exam-oct-2019-result/#comments. It's about 23 pages long, but a couple of the posters including @TehMightyEngineer and @ChaosMuppetPE did an awesome job of looking at the results of that exam and others. It seems to be about 70% each session, but you also can't have an unacceptable in the PM session.


----------



## David Connor SE (Nov 4, 2020)

AndieWoooooooo said:


> Hi David, do you know the passing criteria of SE exams? I heard it needs to be scored more than 70% for both morning and depth problems to pass. Is this right? or any thoughts on this? Thanks.


Yeah, I think they do a statistical analysis of all the questions, weigh them, etc.  Based on past diagnostic results of people who didn't pass they usually get less than 27-28 MC questions correct. Unfortunately, if you pass you don't get your results, other than "Acceptable."


----------



## sol_ring (Nov 5, 2020)

It's been almost 2 weeks and that afternoon lateral concrete problem is still nagging in the back of my mind. I felt good about everything else, but man even after taking the AEI course, that problem was nothing like I was expecting. Hopefully the graders are kind with that one.


----------



## Reverse Polish (Nov 5, 2020)

Propose a friendly amendment to the title of this thread.  Suggest, "What Degree of Horrific and Sadistic Was Your SE Exam?"


----------



## AndieWoooooooo (Nov 6, 2020)

Reverse Polish said:


> Propose a friendly amendment to the title of this thread.  Suggest, "What Degree of Horrific and Sadistic Was Your SE Exam?"


haha.... good. I like your suggestions! It's so hard to get out of the exam!


----------



## aman (Dec 1, 2020)

Clock is ticking .......


----------



## StandardPractice (Dec 1, 2020)

Anyone know when the grading weekend for SE exam is scheduled? I remember the results almost always come out the following week


----------



## TheLoneStarEngineer (Dec 1, 2020)

StandardPractice said:


> Anyone know when the grading weekend for SE exam is scheduled? I remember the results almost always come out the following week


The SE grading workshop is this weekend. The Dec. issue of licensure exchange should be out anytime now.

Hoping the results come by Friday next week.


----------



## E720 (Dec 1, 2020)

I was super anxious waiting for the PE exam results. I have tried to block from my memory that I even took the SE so I haven't even been that nervous. I know I bombed the lateral, I just hope I passed the vertical


----------



## thedaywa1ker (Dec 1, 2020)

Looking through old threads, it looks like results came out about 12/16 last year, and 12/10 the year before...if I didn't pass at least one part I think my wife might kill me


----------



## TheLoneStarEngineer (Dec 1, 2020)

December licensure exchange is up. They start determining our fates tomorrow.


----------



## TheLoneStarEngineer (Dec 1, 2020)

I wonder if they check our afternoon papers manually with on-site subject matter experts or sending them to check virtually due to COVID.


----------



## EBAT75 (Dec 1, 2020)

My understanding used to be that the scoring workshop was just a workshop on developing the scoring plan and training the scorers for the scorers to score the questions on their own afterwards. Apparently all questions are scored during the workshop itself.

So the only way to finish the scoring by Dec 5th would be through remote scoring, scanning for the second scorer. In cases where the scoring leader has to be the third scorer and cast the deciding vote, it may be either way - score the hard copy or another scanned copy as they do not get to see the original two scorers work.

All things considered, I don’t think the results would be out before the latter part of the third week this year. A holiday gift for 4 out of 10 of exam takers.


----------



## EBAT75 (Dec 1, 2020)

Actually, if done remotely, two scorers can score independently with the two scans sent to them separately. That can be a plus in terms of time. Hopefully  my prediction is going to be wrong but who knows.


----------



## AndieWoooooooo (Dec 1, 2020)

TheLoneStarEngineer said:


> December licensure exchange is up. They start determining our fates tomorrow.
> 
> View attachment 19678


where did you find the schedule of upcoming events?


----------



## JP87 (Dec 1, 2020)

AndieWoooooooo said:


> where did you find the schedule of upcoming events?


If you go to the NCEES homepage and scroll down you'll find a link to their monthly newsletter. This is a screen shot from their newsletter.


----------



## AndieWoooooooo (Dec 1, 2020)

JP87 said:


> If you go to the NCEES homepage and scroll down you'll find a link to their monthly newsletter. This is a screen shot from their newsletter.


Thanks


----------



## Hindianapolis (Dec 4, 2020)

I say PE results will starting rolling in next week. 

SE probably the week after.


----------



## YOMO (Dec 7, 2020)

https://ncees.org/news/

Results from the October exam will not be released prior to the close of registration for the January exam which is Dec. 14


----------



## AndieWoooooooo (Dec 7, 2020)

Does this only apply to PE civil without including SE?


----------



## AndieWoooooooo (Dec 7, 2020)

YOMO said:


> https://ncees.org/news/
> 
> Results from the October exam will not be released prior to the close of registration for the January exam which is Dec. 14


Does this only apply to PE civil without including SE?


----------



## AndieWoooooooo (Dec 12, 2020)

friends, should we expect the results to be released the week of 12/14??? I have been so nervous waiting for results since this week.


----------



## Sheik (Dec 14, 2020)

AndieWoooooooo said:


> friends, should we expect the results to be released the week of 12/14??? I have been so nervous waiting for results since this week.


I personally feel that the probability of result coming out this week is high!


----------



## TowersNBridges (Dec 14, 2020)

Reading through these posts is the only thing that keeps my anxiety in check around this time.


----------



## zas07001 (Dec 14, 2020)

SE results are always released on a Friday though right?....need to give my refresh button a break


----------



## AndieWoooooooo (Dec 14, 2020)

zas07001 said:


> SE results are always released on a Friday though right?....need to give my refresh button a break


If this Friday, then I will be stressed for this whole week..... Hopefully good news to all of us including myself.


----------



## aman (Dec 14, 2020)

Wish all of you good luck... hopefully in the year of Covid... SE passing rule would be more relaxed....


----------



## leggo PE (Dec 14, 2020)

TowersNBridges said:


> Reading through these posts is the only thing that keeps my anxiety in check around this time.


You should definitely spam to release stress:



It works great!


----------



## AndieWoooooooo (Dec 15, 2020)

I passed both SE exams my first try! Good luck to all of you!


----------



## jdcollins (Dec 16, 2020)

AndieWoooooooo said:


> I passed both SE exams my first try! Good luck to all of you!
> 
> View attachment 20061


So it looks like, in AZ at least, they're releasing PE and SE results simultaneously?


----------



## DoctorWho-PE (Dec 16, 2020)

jdcollins said:


> So it looks like, in AZ at least, they're releasing PE and SE results simultaneously?


NO, they were staggered by a couple of hours I think. At least Iowa was, PE was out around 8:30, SE was almost 12:30.


----------



## AndieWoooooooo (Dec 17, 2020)

jdcollins said:


> So it looks like, in AZ at least, they're releasing PE and SE results simultaneously?


I think a few hours away from each other. like 7:30am for PE and then around 10am for SE.


----------

