# SE Exam Study plan/material for Oct. 2013



## hebz (Nov 13, 2012)

I am in CA &amp; planning to take SE exam in Oct. 2013.

Any suggestion on study materials i should get and when to start studying?

for start, i got NCEES SE sample Questions...and planning to get SERM soon...

what else would help me to get through this last hurdle.... I didn't hear good feedback on review courses out there overall.


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## kevo_55 (Nov 13, 2012)

Welcome hebz!

There are many people who can help you with this exam.

I would take a hard look at the SEAOC 3 volume seismic books. (http://shop.iccsafe.org/topics/engineering/2009-ibc-structural-seismic-design-manual-combo-all-three-volumes.html)

Granted, the new SE exam does cover wind, but the 2006 versions of these books helped me greatly when I took the CA Seismic exam.


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## Chosen One (Nov 13, 2012)

Each person on this forum has mentioned their own study strategy, but these are the main sources I used:

ASCE7-05 (yes it is a required code, but study it to death...especially the wind and seismic chapters)

IBC Chapter 16 and be familiar with the material specific chapters enough you can look up easy answers on the exam

NCEES Sample Problems (exam questions will be similar or slightly harder)

16 hour SE Exam Problems by PPI (book came out in August or September and was very good-problems a little more in depth than NCEES book)

SERM 6th Edition (gives a broad review of the variety of topics they will ask you about)

Consider Kaplan Review material/course if you want to spend ~$500 for each test module (certain subjects like Bridges were good for my weak areas)

Various other books by PPI, Kaplan, and other publishers that will give you tons of examples (look around online at Amazon or another online book store)

I took both days of the exam in October 2011 and looking back didn't put in adequate study time (just missed passing both days). Breaking up the exam was the best decision I made as I passed the Vertical this past spring and feel pretty good about my chances of passing the Lateral just a few weeks ago. I put in about 10 hours a week for 3 months leading up to the exam.


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## STEEL MAN (Nov 14, 2012)

Hmm, I'm debating m,yself, whether to write it on April 2012 or Oct 2013, SERM, NCEES, AKplan and SEAOC might be good references, but I would make sure codes are there prior to studying these review materials.

Any thoughts? SE passers.


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