# Vertical Buildings



## crammer (Oct 29, 2016)

So how does everyone feel about the vertical buildings exam. This was my first try and I felt a bit overwhelmed. I guess that's normal?


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## bassplayer45 (Oct 29, 2016)

I am more amazed they forgot to block the message boards this entire weekend like they normally do


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## TehMightyEngineer (Oct 29, 2016)

Haven't heard back from any of my review course students, if they give me any NDA compliant info I'll pass it along. Good luck to everyone who took it this time around!


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## NMStruc (Oct 31, 2016)

I took both tests for the first time. Thought it was challenging for sure. Lots of study time put in and now we wait....


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## TehMightyEngineer (Oct 31, 2016)

Heard back from two students so far; both said it was highly difficult but this was their first time so they don't have a benchmark to compare to other than their own studies. I wonder what this will do to the passing rate if it was as hard as they implied?


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## crammer (Oct 31, 2016)

Looks like most of the examines had a hard time. I talked with few repeat examines and they seem to feel like this exam was more trickier and longer. Even if the pass rate is low, I read that they do not curve the passing grade. Is that correct? This is going to be a long wait until December.


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## NMStruc (Oct 31, 2016)

Crammer-The 5 I took it with thought it was difficult as well and I believe one was a repeat taker. It's just tough I guess and agreed the waiting won't be any fun. Likely 7 weeks to dwell on it.


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## RUStructural (Oct 31, 2016)

Took both for the first time this weekend. Challenging for sure. I felt the lateral was a bit harder than the NCEES practice exam. Vertical was inline with what I was expecting.


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## NMStruc (Oct 31, 2016)

Agreed. I thought the Lateral morning was especially tough. Afternoon was reasonable.


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## TehMightyEngineer (Oct 31, 2016)

From NCEES:



> Determining passing scores
> 
> 
> When an exam is introduced or when its specifications change, a committee of subject-matter experts works with experienced psychometricians (testing experts with a background in statistics) to determine the level of performance that corresponds with minimal competence in that discipline. This becomes the passing score. NCEES does not publish passing scores because they change with each administration. NCEES scores each exam with no predetermined percentage of examinees that should pass or fail. All exams are scored the same way. First-time takers and repeat takers are graded to the same standard.
> ...


Emphasis mine.


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## RUStructural (Oct 31, 2016)

It is hard to find much information on how they sore it.  Best I've seen for a little bit of insight are at the links below.  Seems that each essay question is scored by at least 2 people.  They use a method called Partial Compensatory Scoring to allow you to make up some mistakes in the afternoon by doing better in the morning, but it appears there are limits.  Not surprising as others have surmised similar based on score reports.

http://ncees.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/STR_Exam_1208_St_Louis.pdf

http://ncees.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/7_Structural-Eng-Exam.pdf


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## Txstructural111 (Dec 15, 2016)

Do we have any idea what differentiates a acceptable/needs improvement/unacceptable ? Any theories?


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## bassplayer45 (Dec 19, 2016)

Acceptable: All major elements of the problem were hit, proper code sections were followed, critical analysis / design elements were addressed

Needs Improvement: All major elements were hit, some goofs or misinterpretations of the code were found that would have resulted in an incorrect design, or led you down  wrong path for something that ultimately would require major/ significant edits to your original design, but overall, you got the meat of it

Unacceptable: Major / critical elements were missed. Major design steps were ignored or not addressed, would result in a complete re-do of the calcs in a professional setting

This is my interpretation based on my previous attempts before passing. I could probably still cite every essay I took and what I did wrong / did right on each one that resulted in each score I got.


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