# Illinois Board SE Exam Reference Materials in the exam room



## Mush (Mar 17, 2017)

Hi,

I have read in one of the old posts that the Illinois Board doesn't allow the SE Reference Manual and even personal notes in the exam hall. Is it still true? I surmise it would be difficult to get a straight answer from the board on this topic. Wondering if anyone has any experience writing the SE exam in Illinois. Thanks.


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## bassplayer45 (Mar 18, 2017)

I do know from past experience, talking to people that have been there, is they do NOT allow written out examples, but that was the past. I do believe as of last year, they follow the NCEES guidelines for reference material. http://ncees.org/engineering/se/

IF you follow this, you should be good


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## Mush (Mar 18, 2017)

Thank you very much, bassplayer.


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## Wilsminator (Apr 1, 2017)

It is my understanding that was an old policy, which has changed.  I took both exams in IL last year and saw copies of the book.  Having said that, while the book is a useful study guide, I found it more helpful to know the actual sections of the code from working through the SERM.  I went straight to code references for most of the exam problems.


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## Mush (May 30, 2017)

Here's what happened during the exam. A proctor came to my desk, picked up my notes and showed it to other proctors in the exam hall. I asked the proctor, is there anything wrong? To which I got a reply, " We're just checking your notes" Another proctor comes to me after five minutes and says, "The spiral binding on your notes saved the day, never allowed hand written notes or printed examples in the past in a spiral binding."

I'd say, live in the present and follow NCEES rules.


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## leggo PE (May 30, 2017)

Mush said:


> Here's what happened during the exam. A proctor came to my desk, picked up my notes and showed it to other proctors in the exam hall. I asked the proctor, is there anything wrong? To which I got a reply, " We're just checking your notes" Another proctor comes to me after five minutes and says, "The spiral binding on your notes saved the day, never allowed hand written notes or printed examples in the past in a spiral binding."
> 
> I'd say, live in the present and follow NCEES rules.


Wow, that is terrifying. I'm glad it worked out for you!


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