# SE II Bridge portion



## buening (Oct 27, 2008)

Am I the only one on this forum that took the bridge portion of the SE II exam? If not, let me know what you thought of the afternoon seismic problems. They really caught me off guard, especially the second problem!


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## wilheldp_PE (Oct 27, 2008)

Uh, that might be borderline on posting a problem from the exam...you might want to edit your post.


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## buening (Oct 27, 2008)

Done! Sorry, I guess that was a bit more than needed :brickwall:


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## Casey (Oct 27, 2008)

I did the building questions and didn't even glance at the bridge ones...

How was it doing it in Illinois with limited references?


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## buening (Oct 27, 2008)

Tough. My textbooks helped a bit with the morning portion. The seismic afternoon portion was near impossible for me. Definitely out of my realm of experience and study. I could study that area all over again and it probably still wouldn't help me.

The policy wasn't really enforced apparently. The guy sitting next to me had a copy paper box full of LRFD Bridge Design Example books and binders. They also allowed the SERM and guys even asked the proctors if it was allowed, which they said it wasn't on their list of banned materials. Consistency is a great thing :smileyballs: On the flip side, I found the SERM to be useless in the SE I exam. I think I used it on one problem and it still didn't help much. They need to add an analysis section of the SERM. It seems that was what most people that I talked to had the most difficulty with on the SE I, me included.


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## Casey (Oct 27, 2008)

I only opened the SERM once... I bought a bunch of other PE exam reference books that provided more detail than what the SERM provides and used those a fair amount in the exam. I also studied with them, so was a lot more familiar with them than with the SERM.

I have to give a shout out to Kevo though. The Seismic Design Manuals Combo came in handy a few times. They were definitely worth the extra cash.


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## buening (Oct 27, 2008)

They probably would have helped me on some of the SE I morning seismic stuff. The rigidity stuff was something I was not strong on, and it showed! I had the Seismic book from Kaplan but it provided minimal help during the exam. Time was a real killer on the morning portion. The afternoon exam went much smoother and I had time to check a few problems.


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## kevo_55 (Oct 27, 2008)

Casey said:


> I have to give a shout out to Kevo though. The Seismic Design Manuals Combo came in handy a few times. They were definitely worth the extra cash.



:appl:

No problem man!

I'm glad to see that there's still some life in you SE guys. I'm glad that the exams didn't burn you too bad.


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## buening (Oct 27, 2008)

kevo_55 said:


> :appl:
> No problem man!
> 
> I'm glad to see that there's still some life in you SE guys. I'm glad that the exams didn't burn you too bad.


Nothing a little alcohol couldn't fix :beerchug:


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## wilheldp_PE (Oct 27, 2008)

buening said:


> Done! Sorry, I guess that was a bit more than needed :brickwall:


Looks like you narrowly dodged a bullet.



Tim @ NCEES said:


> I was just reviewing a borderline post from this website with my Manager of Compliance and Security when it was edited by the poster. Please do not share exam content - we do not wish to invalidate your results.


It's hard enough to pass these exams without having your results invalidated for breaking a rule.


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## Mcgill (Oct 28, 2008)

SEII-Building guys,

How was your pace with time?

For me -It was short in morning but I finished earlier in afternoon.


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## ARLORD (Oct 28, 2008)

Mcgill said:


> SEII-Building guys,How was your pace with time?
> 
> For me -It was short in morning but I finished earlier in afternoon.



I agree with you the afternoon pace was quicker than the morning. I finished all of the questions, however,

the more I think about the problems, I am finding errors in my solutions, I'm up to one error per problem.

I gotta stop thinking about it.


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## Casey (Oct 28, 2008)

ARLORD said:


> I agree with you the afternoon pace was quicker than the morning. I finished all of the questions, however,the more I think about the problems, I am finding errors in my solutions, I'm up to one error per problem.
> 
> I gotta stop thinking about it.



I was a bit short on the morning questions, but had time in the afternoon to look back at things.

I had nightmares about the exam the night before and the night after the exam. I actually got out of bed at 6am on the Saturday after the exam because I couldn't stop thinking about what I may have done wrong. So I got up and distracted myself with internet and TV... So much for sleeping in...


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## wilheldp_PE (Oct 28, 2008)

Casey said:


> I was a bit short on the morning questions, but had time in the afternoon to look back at things.
> I had nightmares about the exam the night before and the night after the exam. I actually got out of bed at 6am on the Saturday after the exam because I couldn't stop thinking about what I may have done wrong. So I got up and distracted myself with internet and TV... So much for sleeping in...


You clearly didn't consume enough alcohol post-exam.


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## ARLORD (Oct 28, 2008)

wilheldp_PE said:


> You clearly didn't consume enough alcohol post-exam.



I had two beers friday night, was a zombie all day saturday, and drank like a fish saturday night.


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