# Study group for April 2021 exam-16 hour Structural Building



## texan (Oct 12, 2020)

Any one preparing for 16 hour- structural-Building for April 21 exam. I want to make a group to discuss topics of common interests or needing clarifications etc.


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## leggo PE (Oct 12, 2020)

I will be, quite possibly, depending on my application to my local board being approved (I'm based in CA).

I plan to sign up for both AEI-California courses, having had great results with them for my PE Exam passing attempt. I also know I need a course to keep my studying schedule in check.

I'd love to be a part of studying! Do you have a study plan figured out, yet?


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## texan (Oct 12, 2020)

leggo PE said:


> I will be, quite possibly, depending on my application to my local board being approved (I'm based in CA).
> 
> I plan to sign up for both AEI-California courses, having had great results with them for my PE Exam passing attempt. I also know I need a course to keep my studying schedule in check.
> 
> I'd love to be a part of studying! Do you have a study plan figured out, yet?


We can make together once you decide. We can fix a topic wise list si that we go on that and discuss any issue in that topic. It encourage the others to look at it once again.


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## EBAT75 (Oct 13, 2020)

I am taking the buildings vertical in 9 days. If I pass, I will take the lateral in April 2021. If I have to retake, I will do only Vertical again. Yes, I am in either way.


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## DoctorWho-PE (Oct 13, 2020)

I'll let you know in December.  My gut says... yes.  I'll be taking April 21.


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## leggo PE (Oct 14, 2020)

vhab49_PE said:


> I'll let you know in December.  My gut says... yes.  I'll be taking April 21.


Manifest your passes and we won't be all doing the same thing on April 21st!


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## texan (Oct 14, 2020)

EnergizerBunnyAt75 said:


> I am taking the buildings vertical in 9 days. If I pass, I will take the lateral in April 2021. If I have to retake, I will do only Vertical again. Yes, I am in either way.


Good Luck for Vertical.


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## texan (Oct 16, 2020)

Good luck to exam takers. Invite to group discussion/ study to takers of next exam. I am planning to have a next six month schedule to cover topics so that all are studying the same topic / subject at a time and discuss on this  forum any issues in each topic/ subject.


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## EBAT75 (Oct 19, 2020)

texan said:


> Good Luck for Vertical.


Thank you Texan for your wish. My plan after the exam is to slowly gear up for the April Seismic. I will take full participation in that. But Seismic still doesn’t exist in total isolation from common elements in Vertical. I will stay somewhat connected on Vertical also until December when I will know the exam result. From then on, I would have proposed, NCEES would have disposed as a similar saying goes!


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## texan (Oct 23, 2020)

EnergizerBunnyAt75 said:


> Thank you Texan for your wish. My plan after the exam is to slowly gear up for the April Seismic. I will take full participation in that. But Seismic still doesn’t exist in total isolation from common elements in Vertical. I will stay somewhat connected on Vertical also until December when I will know the exam result. From then on, I would have proposed, NCEES would have disposed as a similar saying goes!


Thanks EnergiserBunnyAt75! Whenever you are ready share topic for being in touch with vertical so that we can schedule accordingly until December.


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## lizpour71 (Oct 24, 2020)

leggo PE said:


> I will be, quite possibly, depending on my application to my local board being approved (I'm based in CA).
> 
> I plan to sign up for both AEI-California courses, having had great results with them for my PE Exam passing attempt. I also know I need a course to keep my studying schedule in check.
> 
> I'd love to be a part of studying! Do you have a study plan figured out, yet?


May I know your experience with AEI PE course? Did you take both breadth and structural depth PE course with AEI? If so which year did you take the course and how helpful it was? TIA


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## EBAT75 (Oct 25, 2020)

Hi Texan, I am back. Please see my post on the exam by a guest.

I will wrap up some loose ends at home and be ready to go by the end of the coming week, say Saturday or Sunday.

I think I will go for both Vertical and Seismic. It does not hurt.

Please let me know how you want to set this up.


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## leggo PE (Oct 26, 2020)

lizpour71 said:


> May I know your experience with AEI PE course? Did you take both breadth and structural depth PE course with AEI? If so which year did you take the course and how helpful it was? TIA


Hi, I'll shoot you a DM!


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## texan (Oct 29, 2020)

EnergizerBunnyAt75 said:


> Hi Texan, I am back. Please see my post on the exam by a guest.
> 
> I will wrap up some loose ends at home and be ready to go by the end of the coming week, say Saturday or Sunday.
> 
> ...


Thanks EnergizerBunnyAt75. First we will select a list of topics and arrange them in a sequence how we want to review on weekly basis. Also share a list of the resources what we have, so that if we need clarification from common resources, it is easier. It will keep us on track. I am open to ideas.


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## EBAT75 (Nov 1, 2020)

Please use [email protected] when addressing me. I want to ask the moderator whether I can change the moniker and keep my current posts and maintain continuity.

i have never done this kind of studying before so I am not sure about how to set about it. One way would be to follow the path of the exam specifications.

We don’t have to finish each material and move to the next material. A mix during the week would be good. Study planning week to week may be better.

How are we going to communicate?


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## EBAT75 (Nov 1, 2020)

Further to my interest in a study group, I thought about my time demands. For 6 months now, I am working “Remote” desktop reviews - mostly 6 days a week, 8 to 10 hours a day. I think it could be a factor if I have to take the vertical again. So I am going to press the pause button on the SE for now.

Thank you and best wishes for your success.


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## nhatchuong9999 (Nov 2, 2020)

I will join for sure. I took the SE vertical on Oct. Still waiting for the result. for Sure I will take lateral on April 2021. I am not sure the code will get updated.


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## EBAT75 (Nov 2, 2020)

April 2021 - same codes as the October 2020 exam. It is on NCEES website.


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## fern26 (Nov 11, 2020)

I'll be taking it then   I signed up for the PPI prep course (only because my company said okay to paying for it lol).  So that starts January 19th....but I got all the study materials and codes printed this past weekend so I was going to start reviewing casually in the next few weeks.


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## Br_Engr (Nov 13, 2020)

fern26 said:


> I'll be taking it then   I signed up for the PPI prep course (only because my company said okay to paying for it lol).  So that starts January 19th....but I got all the study materials and codes printed this past weekend so I was going to start reviewing casually in the next few weeks.


I would recommend that during your casual review you have a stack of tabs by your side.  You may want to tab things you may think are important as you find them.  You can always remove tabs as you refine your study and work through problems.


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## psustruct (Dec 16, 2020)

I will be studying for the Lateral Exam. I did not pass the Lateral this time around.

I was very disappointed in the PPI course this year.  With all the slide errors and publication issues, I feel it was worse than when I took the course in 2016.  I am considering the AEI Lateral course.


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## psustruct (Dec 16, 2020)

I would be interested in the study group.

[email protected]


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## psustruct (Dec 20, 2020)

fern26 said:


> I'll be taking it then   I signed up for the PPI prep course (only because my company said okay to paying for it lol).  So that starts January 19th....but I got all the study materials and codes printed this past weekend so I was going to start reviewing casually in the next few weeks.


fern26, I sent you a PM.


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## Engineerry (Dec 21, 2020)

I'd love to join!


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## mmarlow123 (Dec 24, 2020)

I would be interested in joining a study group. I passed the vertical this fall by studying alone,  but I feel I could use some help setting up a study plan for the lateral portion.


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## psustruct (Dec 24, 2020)

I enrolled in the AEI Lareral course.  Here is the syllabus that you can use as a guide. 

https://www.aei-california.com/content/se-lateral-webinars-schedule


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## texan (Dec 26, 2020)

@pstructural thanks.


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## psustruct (Dec 28, 2020)

@texan How did you want to handle the study group?  I am not sure what options are available.  Does anyone have any suggestions?

Maybe Google Meet?? Maximum 100 participants, with a 60 minutes time limit.

Maybe Zoom?? Maximum 100 participants, with a 40 minutes time limit.


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## psustruct (Dec 29, 2020)

@texan, I sent you a direct message.


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## Matt Skillet (Jan 2, 2021)

Texan, I also sent you a DM.

Can anyone confirm any movement on this?


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## texan (Jan 5, 2021)

Matt Skillet said:


> Texan, I also sent you a DM.
> 
> Can anyone confirm any movement on this?


Sorry, I have not seen any DM. Please join  [email protected]


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## texan (Jan 6, 2021)

mmarlow123 said:


> I would be interested in joining a study group. I passed the vertical this fall by studying alone,  but I feel I could use some help setting up a study plan for the lateral portion.


@mmarlow123 please join [email protected]


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## Duke (Jan 8, 2021)

@texan

FYI I sent a join request. Thanks


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## amanpreet_ahuja (Jan 12, 2021)

@texan i have sent a request on the google study group to join-in for SE lateral april 2021


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## Be-n (Jan 14, 2021)

Hi there! I passed my PE str last Fall and decided to try SE vertical in April 2021 and, if everything goes well, I will take lateral in October 2021. I'm debating now if I need to buy 14th edition of Seismic Steel Design Manual for my vertical exam since it is listed in NCEES references. I know I'll definitely need it for the lateral later. But the Codes will most likely change and I'll need 15th edition. So, I don't really want to buy 14th edition for the vertical exam if I end up not using it at all... Any advise? Have anyone taken SE vertical? Did you use Seismic Steel Design Manual for it?


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## psustruct (Jan 14, 2021)

You will not need the SDM for the Vertical exam.


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## DoctorWho-PE (Jan 14, 2021)

I sent a join request also!


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## davab (Jan 27, 2021)

Registered for the April Lateral SE exam. How is everyone doing with the studying? Hopefully there is no cancellation of the exam like last year. Crossing my fingers on vaccines..


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## DoctorWho-PE (Jan 27, 2021)

I;m starting to get behind, if only work-life would calm down a bit.


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## Be-n (Jan 28, 2021)

I registered for Vertical SE. I’m taking AEI course and so far so good, knocking out all the homework and doing some PPI book problems as well for each covered topic. I’m following AEI study schedule and the worst (for me) topics are not covered yet. This makes me concerned a bit. The less days are remaining on my countdown board, the later I stay every night . It’s my first try and it is definitely going to be a challenge!


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## DoctorWho-PE (Jan 28, 2021)

What are your worst topics?


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## Be-n (Jan 28, 2021)

From all 4 materials, I’d say probably steel and I have no clue about bridges.


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## DoctorWho-PE (Jan 28, 2021)

So what you men is thay have not covered those topics YET? They are all covered, but not till later in the class. I really need to hammer in the bridges myself.


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## Be-n (Jan 28, 2021)

Yeah, I mean these topics will be covered later in the class.
I just don’t like the steel manual very much. I think other codes have better organization. And I guess I’m just not doing much of complete steel building designs, about 2 per year. The folks in my coastal area either don’t like steel due highly corrosive environments or, if they still have to use it, most of the time they pick PEMBs... Unfortunately, typically you can’t compete with PEMB. That’s where my lack of being efficient with steel designs comes from.


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## Struct.Eng. (Jan 30, 2021)

I would like to join the SE study group.
I sent you a request to [email protected]
Thanks,


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## Reed D (Feb 8, 2021)

Be-n said:


> I registered for Vertical SE. I’m taking AEI course and so far so good, knocking out all the homework and doing some PPI book problems as well for each covered topic. I’m following AEI study schedule and the worst (for me) topics are not covered yet. This makes me concerned a bit. The less days are remaining on my countdown board, the later I stay every night . It’s my first try and it is definitely going to be a challenge!


What do you think about the AEI course? Is it worth the money? I am thinking about taking the on-demand one for the vertical exam but not sure how much it helps. What's your thoughts?


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## Be-n (Feb 8, 2021)

Reed D said:


> What do you think about the AEI course? Is it worth the money? I am thinking about taking the on-demand one for the vertical exam but not sure how much it helps. What's your thoughts?


I think it is definitely increasing the chance of passing and, therefore, worth the money. I am taking live though. I saved money on PE preparation and took not very well known cheap on-demand PE course and was disappointed in it due to lack of feedback and very limited structural topics. I ended up studying a lot on my own with PPI books back then for PE. I passed it.
SE is a different animal and I wanted the right course from day 1 of studying. In AEI live class, you feel like you are in a small classroom of 20-30 students, all PE's I believe, where you personally know your professor. You can ask a question any time and it will get answered during the class, which is more important for me now than I thought it would be. It clears out a lot things right away before I forget about it. The difference in cost of live and on-demand is very small. AEI binders are well prepared. HW and quiz problems are well chosen.
My co-worker is taking PPI SE Class. He liked my binder a lot more than bunch of slides that PPI gives in PDF format. It is impossible to navigate thru PPI slides on Exam because it is just thousand of pages of their PowerPoint Presentations. AEI binder is more like a textbook. Also, I feel like we discuss topics a lot more in details in AEI class than PPI does. For example, we had about 10 hours of class for loads (vertical exam). My co-worker had about 2 hr PPI class for vertical loads. It was a lot shorter and no hands on problem solving during the class, he said. Covering snow loads in details was very important for me because I'm on the south . There are less hours of lectures for both vertical and lateral in PPI class than in AEI just vertical class.
Another reason I chose AEI over PPI is that PPI doesn't offer prep course for vertical exam only.
I've also got PPI books. Sometimes, I like to compare materials and do some PPI HW problems, too, when time allows. I feel that it is great to have a back-up, second reference book. And no matter what class you take, you still need to get familiar with all NCEES references and practice a lot. This is my opinion after 4 weeks of classes. Ask me again sometime early in June when results are posted


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## Reed D (Feb 8, 2021)

Be-n said:


> I think it is definitely increasing the chance of passing and, therefore, worth the money. I am taking live though. I saved money on PE preparation and took not very well known cheap on-demand PE course and was disappointed in it due to lack of feedback and very limited structural topics. I ended up studying a lot on my own with PPI books back then for PE. I passed it.
> SE is a different animal and I wanted the right course from day 1 of studying. In AEI live class, you feel like you are in a small classroom of 20-30 students, all PE's I believe, where you personally know your professor. You can ask a question any time and it will get answered during the class, which is more important for me now than I thought it would be. It clears out a lot things right away before I forget about it. The difference in cost of live and on-demand is very small. AEI binders are well prepared. HW and quiz problems are well chosen.
> My co-worker is taking PPI SE Class. He liked my binder a lot more than bunch of slides that PPI gives in PDF format. It is impossible to navigate thru PPI slides on Exam because it is just thousand of pages of their PowerPoint Presentations. AEI binder is more like a textbook. Also, I feel like we discuss topics a lot more in details in AEI class than PPI does. For example, we had about 10 hours of class for loads (vertical exam). My co-worker had about 2 hr PPI class for vertical loads. It was a lot shorter and no hands on problem solving during the class, he said. Covering snow loads in details was very important for me because I'm on the south . There are less hours of lectures for both vertical and lateral in PPI class than in AEI just vertical class.
> Another reason I chose AEI over PPI is that PPI doesn't offer prep course for vertical exam only.
> I've also got PPI books. Sometimes, I like to compare materials and do some PPI HW problems, too, when time allows. I feel that it is great to have a back-up, second reference book. And no matter what class you take, you still need to get familiar with all NCEES references and practice a lot. This is my opinion after 4 weeks of classes. Ask me again sometime early in June when results are posted


Thanks a lot. I appreciate taking the time to put all this in writing. I think I am sold. I will take the AEI on demand since its too late for the live class for the April exam. Good luck on your exam/s in April. Are you taking both exams on April or just Vertical?


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## Be-n (Feb 8, 2021)

Reed D said:


> Thanks a lot. I appreciate taking the time to put all this in writing. I think I am sold. I will take the AEI on demand since its too late for the live class for the April exam. Good luck on your exam/s in April. Are you taking both exams on April or just Vertical?


I didn't realize you want to take it this April. Yeah, it is too late for the live class. I'm just taking Vertical. SE is not required in my state and office and I'm doing it out of my pocket. So, there is no rush in taking both, but I definitely want to pass it in the first time.
I skipped one 7 hr Sunday class a couple of weeks ago. Man, it was hard to catch up with the material and finish homework before the next class on Thursday. We already had 4 weeks of classes, which is about 30-35 hours of lectures and probably about 12 hours of working problems. If you do on-demand, you'd need to catch up with all material we've covered so far and then stay on AEI schedule until the exam. It'll be tough. It is is only 73 days left! If you just start studying now, I think it'd better to plan to take it in October instead. But if you've studied on your own for a while and now want to register for the class, then there is still time!


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## Engineerbabu (Mar 26, 2021)

Are there any discord groups for April Vertical SE exam preparation? I have taken the Lateral portion and passed it last Fall. For Vertical I am slow to start and only have about a month to prepare. Any group related to preparation would be really great to begin with


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## DoctorWho-PE (Mar 27, 2021)

THere are a couple people in the Lateral Discord group I'm in that are doing both. But I don't know of any Vertical specific group.


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