# 2009 April SE I exam



## THUDore (May 11, 2009)

Hi folks,

I took the 2009 April SE I and felt pretty comfortable with it. I took the 2008 Oct and failed.

Comparing the two, I felt the April one was much easier for me. I don't know if it's because I did have some time to sit down studying for April exam or the exam itself was really easier comparing with the previous one. I really can't tell by myself. So please give some of your input one this.

I want to know how you guys feel about it?


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## ca73 (May 12, 2009)

THUDore said:


> Hi folks,
> I took the 2009 April SE I and felt pretty comfortable with it. I took the 2008 Oct and failed.
> 
> Comparing the two, I felt the April one was much easier for me. I don't know if it's because I did have some time to sit down studying for April exam or the exam itself was really easier comparing with the previous one. I really can't tell by myself. So please give some of your input one this.
> ...



The April exam seemed to go better for me than the October exam. I don't know if it was easier or if I managed my time better. During the October exam, I would get stuck on a few problems and spend too much time on them. I tried not to do that for the April exam and I was able to finish both sessions and still have enough time to go back on work on the problems that I was not sure about.


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## THUDore (May 12, 2009)

ca73 said:


> The April exam seemed to go better for me than the October exam. I don't know if it was easier or if I managed my time better. During the October exam, I would get stuck on a few problems and spend too much time on them. I tried not to do that for the April exam and I was able to finish both sessions and still have enough time to go back on work on the problems that I was not sure about.


Thank you for your input, CA73. I did better time management as well not spending too much time on certain trap problems. So I got time left for both sessions to recheck some prolems that gave me troubles.

Good luck for your result and happy waiting. I guess it will be out in June. Hope we will have something to celebrate for 4th of July!

I can hardly wait!


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## ca73 (May 12, 2009)

THUDore said:


> Thank you for your input, CA73. I did better time management as well not spending too much time on certain trap problems. So I got time left for both sessions to recheck some prolems that gave me troubles.
> Good luck for your result and happy waiting. I guess it will be out in June. Hope we will have something to celebrate for 4th of July!
> 
> I can hardly wait!


Good luck to you as well. The long wait for the results is not fun but at least we are not studying for the exam.


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## THUDore (May 13, 2009)

It seems that not many folks on this board took Structural exam.

I'm wondering if passing structural would give me any edge over a general Civil in that the passing rate for structural is much much lower?


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## kevo_55 (May 13, 2009)

You're right, not many people take this exam.

If you want to know more about the in's and out's of SE exams, check out this area of EB: http://engineerboards.com/index.php?showforum=12


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## T2D4 (May 14, 2009)

THUDore said:


> It seems that not many folks on this board took Structural exam.
> I'm wondering if passing structural would give me any edge over a general Civil in that the passing rate for structural is much much lower?


It will end up as a moot point.

If your locale requires an SE license, then passing the Civil PE probably won't mean as much. If your locale requires nothing more than a PE license, then passing Structural I doesn't get you anything more than passing the Civil PE.

A prospective employer cares about a stamp that's valid in his or her state. Not which exam you passed to get it.


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## foosh (Jun 15, 2009)

I took the SE I in April for the first time and felt the morning portion was more difficult than the afternoon. I am thinking I scored around 65% +/- 3%. Any idea what the cutoff might be?


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## kewlman (Jun 16, 2009)

foosh said:


> I took the SE I in April for the first time and felt the morning portion was more difficult than the afternoon. I am thinking I scored around 65% +/- 3%. Any idea what the cutoff might be?


I roughly checked the number of questions that would be correct during the exam, and I also think it will be around 65%.

One of my friend told me that above 60% will be fine, and I hope he is right.

Good luck to us!


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## Davoarts (Jun 21, 2009)

I thought the morning was incredibly rough, but mostly because I didn't know what to expect and I let myself get stuck on some ridiculous questions I should have skipped. I also didn't have an AASHTO but I did have the CERM as well as notes from friends that had a lot of basic AASHTO information. Once I was able to cool down over lunch and recompose, I came back for the afternoon session and aced it through...it was a lot easier. I would say I got around 70% overall, maybe more, but we'll see...good luck all you structural guys! I'll be the first person I know to pass the structural I first time if I end up passing, most of the people I know failed the structural and passed the civil.


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## hp32si (Jun 22, 2009)

This is the third time for the structural for me. I felt the morning was easier maybe 80% and the afternoon was harder 50%? I guess it is what you use day to day. I know why nobody takes the Structural--In the test we have to know about 11 different codes. If you took any other exam you would limit the codes. If I don't pass the structural (SE-1) this time I am taking general civil. In Tenn it doesn't matter if you are a civil or a structural PE-- --even an architect can stamp structural drawings in my state---what a load of crap!


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## kevo_55 (Jun 22, 2009)

^^ Don't get too discouraged, you haven't gotten results just yet.

The Structural I is one really hard exam. I passed on my 3rd try. Maybe the 3rd time is a charm for you!


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## Prashant (Jun 22, 2009)

[i took the SE1 in Texas for first time and scored 67. The result is "fail". I am in two minds whether to go for Civil/structural for Oct' 09? Any suggestions welcome! :mf_heads_or_tails:


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## kewlman (Jun 22, 2009)

Prashant said:


> [i took the SE1 in Texas for first time and scored 67. The result is "fail". I am in two minds whether to go for Civil/structural for Oct' 09? Any suggestions welcome! :mf_heads_or_tails:


I also took SE1 this April, and never thought about taking Civil/Structural.

I'm satisfied what I have done, because I learned/reviewed lots of things during my preparation.

I know some guys kept failing SE1 and took Civil/Structural and passed it in the first try.

So if you go for the license, take Civil.

But my guess is we need to take SE1 &amp; 2 eventually to be SE in the future.

Sorry that you didn't pass this time, but do you know how many questions you made out of 80?

Or can you guess?

I think I will be also very close to the cutline.


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## Prashant (Jun 23, 2009)

kewlman said:


> I also took SE1 this April, and never thought about taking Civil/Structural.I'm satisfied what I have done, because I learned/reviewed lots of things during my preparation.
> 
> I know some guys kept failing SE1 and took Civil/Structural and passed it in the first try.
> 
> ...


Which state are you from and how did you fare?


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## kewlman (Jun 23, 2009)

Prashant said:


> Which state are you from and how did you fare?


I took SE1 in Virginia, and waiting for the result.

I heard that in Virginia, they let us know the score and how many questions were correct if we fail.

Somebody said he took the exam before and got 32 out of 80 but his score was around 60.


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## Prashant (Jun 23, 2009)

kewlman said:


> I took SE1 in Virginia, and waiting for the result.I heard that in Virginia, they let us know the score and how many questions were correct if we fail.
> 
> Somebody said he took the exam before and got 32 out of 80 but his score was around 60.


It seems the score is a percentile and 70% corresponds to about 50% correct answers.


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## Hromis1 (Jun 23, 2009)

Prashant said:


> [i took the SE1 in Texas for first time and scored 67. The result is "fail". I am in two minds whether to go for Civil/structural for Oct' 09? Any suggestions welcome! :mf_heads_or_tails:


Prashant, I took and passed the Civil/Structural depth exam several years ago. To be blunt, it was a much easier exam and I left hours early. I just took and "failed" the SE I exam for the first time. Darn hard, barely had time to finish, and limited time to re-check anything. Don't feel bad about not passing on the first time. I know several very good engineers that had to take that exam 3 times to pass.

So if you want a quick license, I would do the CE exam. However, with the phasing out of the SE I and II exams in October, you have limited time to pass these before being "forced" to take the new 2 day, 16 hour exam for licensure in many states. I now do work in many states, so not having the SE I and II has been career limiting. Our company has a bonus floating around for people that pass both exams and get licenses in some of those more restrictive states.

A few general comments about the exams. I don't think they pulled any punches and the nature of the exam and typical problems matched the study guides from NCEES. In other words, I think it was a fair exam and I consider myself properly forwarded about the questions I struggled with. After reviewing "failure" the report I received, I think it is correct in identifying my two weak areas. One of them is an area I took for granted and did not study up on the "new" code. (Shame on me)

The SE I exam is very difficult, and focuses on "exacting" by the code/book type answers. The newer codes are very complex and exacting compared to those in the past. For me this is very hard as we don't tend to micro-engineer our designs. Most of the structures I now work with are designed around durability issues and fatigue. In practice, many of the code issues covered on the exam do not dominate. Plus some of the newer codes appear to have less conservative factors of safety in them.

I will be taking the SE 1 again in the fall. But this now means I must pass the SE II in two tries at most. Good luck on you decision


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## Prashant (Jun 23, 2009)

Hromis1 said:


> Prashant, I took and passed the Civil/Structural depth exam several years ago. To be blunt, it was a much easier exam and I left hours early. I just took and "failed" the SE I exam for the first time. Darn hard, barely had time to finish, and limited time to re-check anything. Don't feel bad about not passing on the first time. I know several very good engineers that had to take that exam 3 times to pass.
> So if you want a quick license, I would do the CE exam. However, with the phasing out of the SE I and II exams in October, you have limited time to pass these before being "forced" to take the new 2 day, 16 hour exam for licensure in many states. I now do work in many states, so not having the SE I and II has been career limiting. Our company has a bonus floating around for people that pass both exams and get licenses in some of those more restrictive states.
> 
> A few general comments about the exams. I don't think they pulled any punches and the nature of the exam and typical problems matched the study guides from NCEES. In other words, I think it was a fair exam and I consider myself properly forwarded about the questions I struggled with. After reviewing "failure" the report I received, I think it is correct in identifying my two weak areas. One of them is an area I took for granted and did not study up on the "new" code. (Shame on me)
> ...


Thanks for your insight. I am inclined on taking the SE exam again. Would you study anyother way than you did this time around? I used Alan Williams SERM. I might buy the 6 minute solution and 246 solved examples book this time and practice a little more.

How do you plan on preparing for bridge design. I am quite sure not doing well in those was my problem.


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## Hromis1 (Jun 23, 2009)

Prashant said:


> Thanks for your insight. I am inclined on taking the SE exam again. Would you study anyother way than you did this time around? I used Alan Williams SERM. I might buy the 6 minute solution and 246 solved examples book this time and practice a little more. How do you plan on preparing for bridge design. I am quite sure not doing well in those was my problem.


The six minute book was very, very good. I generaly thought the problems in this book were harder than the exam. However, the book forces you use the codes to answer most the questions. I am going to do most the problems again.

Again, I am going back to re-focus on some of the example problems from NCEES. I think they give you all the hints you need as to what they, they exam writers consider important.

I have not thout about the bridge problems yet. This was a real problem for me as well and did not have time to focus on this. Using the Aashto book is a real problem during the exam, as is was just tooo big to even turn pages in. Years ago I had a smaller reference that was very good. It was an older copy of the "Bridge Design for the Civil and Structural PE Exams". I will try and get a new copy of this book. I already purchase new timber design books and am trying to catch up on that.

I am currently studying the failure report very hard. Be carefull on focusing your study tooo much. The report appears to give a break down by test category only (There are ten).....but the NCEES guidelines show that these ten areas are not equally represented in the "average" test.

IE the steel and concrete parts of the exam are 19% and 16% respectively, while the timber part is only 9%.

From this, I am guessing a modest improvement in Steel and Concrete would result in a better score than a huge improvement in timber.


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## Prashant (Jun 23, 2009)

Hromis1 said:


> The six minute book was very, very good. I generaly thought the problems in this book were harder than the exam. However, the book forces you use the codes to answer most the questions. I am going to do most the problems again.
> Again, I am going back to re-focus on some of the example problems from NCEES. I think they give you all the hints you need as to what they, they exam writers consider important.
> 
> I have not thout about the bridge problems yet. This was a real problem for me as well and did not have time to focus on this. Using the Aashto book is a real problem during the exam, as is was just tooo big to even turn pages in. Years ago I had a smaller reference that was very good. It was an older copy of the "Bridge Design for the Civil and Structural PE Exams". I will try and get a new copy of this book. I already purchase new timber design books and am trying to catch up on that.
> ...


Do you know whether NCEES will come out with a new edition of practice problems or are you going to revisit the one you already have? Where did you get the failurte report from? Did they send it by snail mail? Which state did you appear for the exam?


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## Hromis1 (Jun 24, 2009)

Prashant said:


> Do you know whether NCEES will come out with a new edition of practice problems or are you going to revisit the one you already have? Where did you get the failurte report from? Did they send it by snail mail? Which state did you appear for the exam?


I recieved an email from ELSES web site where I regestered for the exam about results being ready late last week. When I logged back into that web site there was an option to generate a report and have it emailed to me. I took the exam in Ohio, I am not sure if all the states allow you to get results this way.

BTW, the NCEES example problems are good in the respect that they teach what they think is important for the exam, HOWEVER.....THEY ARE FULL OF ERRORS....PAGES of ERRATA.....a very poor job of editing on those books.


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## Davoarts (Jun 27, 2009)

I just got the results in today. I passed! This was my first time taking the SE1 and yes, it was crazy hard. I said earlier that I didn't have an AASHTO but I did have the CERM and SERM guides (in addition to IBC, ASCE, ASD, LRFD, NDS Wood, ACI shoot I can't even remember how many books I had but I was the only one in my testing room taking the SE and I had at least twice as many books as everyone else).

The biggest thing I would say that helped was I got two 3" binders and condensed all of my school notes and all of the general design notes I had made through the years of working, and also sections of certain codes I thought were pertinent for easy access so I mostly only used those two binders and then went back to the codes as needed to reinforce my answers or look up things I didn't copy over. It took a while making those binders, but ever since I made them I have been using them constantly at work, and obviously they worked.

I'm not saying that's the way to do it, just saying what I did, and it worked for me. I'm also not saying by any means that I am awesome, I know I missed more than enough questions to be scared of whether or not I would actually pass.

Also, most of my codes were older codes just by a few years and I figured not too much could have changed with the newer codes, but DEFINITELY be sure you have the LRFD 13th whether you are doing ASD or LRFD design. That book scared me when it came out because sometimes the engineer side of me comes out and I hate change, but the values in that book ARE different for a few things...


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## hp32si (Jul 7, 2009)

Hromis1 said:


> Prashant, I took and passed the Civil/Structural depth exam several years ago. To be blunt, it was a much easier exam and I left hours early. I just took and "failed" the SE I exam for the first time. Darn hard, barely had time to finish, and limited time to re-check anything. Don't feel bad about not passing on the first time. I know several very good engineers that had to take that exam 3 times to pass.


I have taken the SE 1 three times and have FAILED three times---I will be taking the civil/struct in October In Tenn they do not recoginize the SE only the PE. So I have let my ego get the best of me three times---time to swallow my pride and take the general civil. ANd yes all I need is the stamp.

P.S. Thanks for being honest about the exam---engineers (we) tend to want to overstate things!


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