# SE Results are Out



## Mithrandir918

New thread to post to see which states have posted results for 2017 Fall SE Exam.  Best of luck to all!


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## Mr. Bean

Mithrandir918 said:


> New thread to post to see which states have posted results for 2017 Fall SE Exam.  Best of luck to all!


I have seen Iowa and North Carolina so far.


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## scottp62

Oregon results are out as well


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## Mithrandir918

Oregon

North Carolina

Iowa


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## MaxDefl

Virginia is out.


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## Mithrandir918

MaxDefl said:


> Virginia is out.


Sorry to hear the results were unfavorable, was this your first time and bridges or buildings?

going with the pass rates, especially from last time, there is about an 80% chance that people will take this exam more than one time so dont feel bad.


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## MaxDefl

Yeah...it was my first time with Buildings.  I believe I am going to split Vertical and Lateral the next time, and work a *LOT* more problems.


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## Mr. Bean

New York is out.  Failed both days.  Surprised on some of my results but can't say I deserved to pass.  I will say I found it ridiculously hard.


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## leggo PE

Mr. Bean said:


> New York is out.  Failed both days.  Surprised on some of my results but can't say I deserved to pass.  I will say I found it ridiculously hard.


@Mr. Bean, I'm sorry to hear that. Keep you head up. You can do it! You WILL do it!


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## Mr. Bean

leggo PE said:


> @Mr. Bean, I'm sorry to hear that. Keep you head up. You can do it! You WILL do it!


Thanks leggo


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## K Engineer

Nebraska is released.  Passed SE - Lateral for Buildings. 

Passed SE- Gravity in the Spring, so all of the studying after hours is officially over.


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## GTJacket

Heck yeah!!!!! Results are out in Georgia! Passed both on the first try! Can't believe it because I felt like I got my butt kicked!


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## Mithrandir918

GTJacket said:


> Heck yeah!!!!! Results are out in Georgia! Passed both on the first try! Can't believe it because I felt like I got my butt kicked!


Congrats!

I love hearing about people who get pleasantly surprised like this.  Buildings or Bridges?


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## GTJacket

I did Buildings. The amount and difficulty of ASSHTO questions in the AM on both days really had me worried. There were also several questions on both days in the PM that threw me for a loop. Honestly, I'm still in shock, albeit a happy shock lol.


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## YAZRABADI

Congrats to all that passed.


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## axiomata

when do pass rates get published?

took and passed building vertical


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## David Connor SE

Congrats to all that end up passing.  If you did not pass just remember, this is the *most difficult* engineering exam that NCEES produces.  With experience and additional study, you will get there! 

Glad to see a fellow Yellow Jacket "GTJacket" has passed. Congrats!


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## Mithrandir918

Is there any other states besides IL that have not published *PE* results?


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## FL_Structural_PE

Mithrandir918 said:


> Is there any other states besides IL that have not published *PE* results?


Checking the PE boards it looks like Kentucky, Vermont, and Rhode Island still haven't posted PE results


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## TehMightyEngineer

Mr. Bean said:


> New York is out.  Failed both days.  Surprised on some of my results but can't say I deserved to pass.  I will say I found it ridiculously hard.


Ooof, not fun for sure but a lot of us have been there. Still you now know what worked for your studies and what didn't you'll now be able to double down and be twice as prepared next time.



MaxDefl said:


> Yeah...it was my first time with Buildings.  I believe I am going to split Vertical and Lateral the next time, and work a *LOT* more problems.


Working problems was what helped me pass the most when I didn't pass the first time. I like your idea of splitting them up, should help focus your studies. Especially with the code changes the extra time will be useful.



K Engineer said:


> Nebraska is released.  Passed SE - Lateral for Buildings.
> 
> Passed SE- Gravity in the Spring, so all of the studying after hours is officially over.


Woohoo! Congratulations for seeing it through to the end. Good to have it all over, no?



GTJacket said:


> Heck yeah!!!!! Results are out in Georgia! Passed both on the first try! Can't believe it because I felt like I got my butt kicked!


Wow! Color me impressed as that's not an easy feat. Definitely celebrate that.

Good luck to everyone else waiting for results. So far the few PPI review course takers this Fall who have reported back to me said they passed so hopefully this exam works out to be a more favorable one in terms of the passing rate.


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## GTJacket

David Connor said:


> Congrats to all that end up passing.  If you did not pass just remember, this is the *most difficult* engineering exam that NCEES produces.  With experience and additional study, you will get there!
> 
> Glad to see a fellow Yellow Jacket "GTJacket" has passed. Congrats!


Thanks David! I'm a proud GT grad despite our athletic short comings lol. I have to say thank you so much for your book on bridges. I've always done Buildings and knew very little when it came to ASSHTO. I know for sure it saved my butt on a few questions.


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## tenguy23

For all those who didn't get acceptable results, hang in there...For the Illinois test takers, I have made this summary of past result-release milestones; I would guess Illinois would get their results by mid-week next week (as you can tell by the amount of data, I've been studying-for/taking this test way too long). SESW = SE Scoring Workshop in South Carolina (NCEES publishes these dates in their circular)

April 2013
0 weekends later = 4/12/13 (Vertical) thru 4/13/13 (Lateral) Exams
0 weekends later = 4/12/13 thru 4/13/13 SE Exam Meeting
8 weekends later = 6/6/13 thru 6/8/13 SE Scoring Workshop (aka SESW)
8 6/7 weeks later = 6/14/13 SE results released to state boards (6/7w after SESW)
9  5/7 weeks later = 6/20/13 SE results released on CTS (1 5/7w after SESW)

October 2013
0 weekends later = 10/26/13 (Lateral)
1 weekends later = 11/1/13 thru 11/2/13 SE Exam Meeting
6 weekends later = 12/5/13 thru 12/7/13 SESW
7 3/7 weeks later = 12/17/13 SE results released to state boards
7 3/7 weeks later = 12/17/13 SE results released on CTS

2014
NA

April 2015
0 weekends later = 4/18/15 (Lateral) Exams
7 weekends later = 6/4/15 thru 6/6/15 SESW
8 2/7 weeks later = 6/15/15 SE results released to state boards (1 1/7w after SESW)
8 3/7 weeks later = 6/16/15 IDFPR Illinois SE Board Meeting (http://www.idfpr.com/Profs/Meetings/Minutes/SEMinutes06162015.pdf )
8 4/7 weeks later = 6/17/15 results released on CTS (aside: emailed BKC &amp; PN) (1 4/7w after SESW)

April 2016
0 weekends later = 4/16/16 (Lateral) Exams
7 weekends later = 6/2/16 thru 6/4/16 SESW
8 3/7 weeks later = Tue 6/14/16 IDFPR Illinois SE Board Meeting Scheduled  (http://www.idfpr.com/Profs/Meetings/Notices/SEMeeting06142016.pdf )
8 4/7 weeks later = Wed 6/15/16 SE results released on CTS? (1 4/7w after SESW)

April 2017 *
0 weekends later = 4/22/17 (Lateral) Exams
6 weekends later = 6/1/17 thru 6/3/17 SESW
7 2/7 weeks later = 6/13/17 SE results released on NCEES
*IL SE Board meetings were scheduled on 5/23/17 and 7/18/17…https://www.idfpr.com/Profs/Boards/se.asp 

October 2017 (** = my estimate as of today)
0 weekends later = 10/28/13 (Lateral)
4 5/7 weeks later = 11/30/17 thru 12/2/13 SESW
5 6/7 weeks later = Various Engineerboards.com posts that “NC results are out”
**6 3/7 weeks later = Tue 12/12/17 SE results released to state boards?
**6 3/7 weeks later = Tue 12/12/17 SE results released on CTS?


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## Mithrandir918

@tenguy23

Thank you for sharing.  

I believe the October 2016 exam results were released to the states on 12/9 (similar to this season's), Illinois did not post PE results until 12/13 and SE results came out 12/16.  

Over/Under, 12/15 - 12/18... my guess.


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## Phil Clark

I was one of two in Vermont to take the SE lateral this past October.  A coworker took SE lateral October 2016 and results came out on a Monday.  Since VT did not release on Friday, as many predicted, and as they were for the SE in April 2017, I would assume Monday will be the next best bet.  I was hoping to have the weekend after getting results, since I am not confident about an afternoon problem...Productivity might be low until then!


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## Mithrandir918

Phil Clark said:


> I was one of two in Vermont to take the SE lateral this past October.  A coworker took SE lateral October 2016 and results came out on a Monday.  Since VT did not release on Friday, as many predicted, and as they were for the SE in April 2017, I would assume Monday will be the next best bet.  I was hoping to have the weekend after getting results, since I am not confident about an afternoon problem...Productivity might be low until then!


Yes I would assume a lot of states come out Monday/Tuesday.  Illinois seems to drag their feet most the time however.

Its hard to imagine two people in a room taking that exam.  Illinois there is about 250-300 testing under very poor conditions.


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## Phil Clark

Mithrandir918 said:


> Yes I would assume a lot of states come out Monday/Tuesday.  Illinois seems to drag their feet most the time however.
> 
> Its hard to imagine two people in a room taking that exam.  Illinois there is about 250-300 testing under very poor conditions.


Haha, yes, well VT is a small state.  And the other guy was from Canada, so I was actually the only Vermonter.


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## TehMightyEngineer

Similar for Maine, we had one from Canada and two from Maine when I took the SE lateral. A lot less people and most sit for just the PE exam.


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## rtrutsab

Tx is out. Failed first time bridge lateral. 20/40 in the morning. Acceptable, Acceptable,  Improvement required.


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## ZEZO4

Texas, Passed, Vertical Building, thanks for this awesome forum, congratulations for everyone passed, for the failed guys, don't worry you will get it eventually.


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## FL_Structural_PE

Florida is out. Passed Lateral!! I passed vertical in April so that's it for me!


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## FL_Structural_PE

Many thanks to EET! I took their lateral review course this time around and was able to pass vertical first try.


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## TheStructuralEngineer

Passed Vert. Bldg. first time. No review course taken. Congratulations to all who passed. Whoever failed, start hitting the books right back.  I don't think anyone can disagree that this is  the toughest test we would take in our profession. Having courage to just register for this test is a great thing in itself.


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## Mithrandir918

TheStructuralEngineer said:


> Passed Vert. Bldg. first time. No review course taken. Congratulations to all who passed. Whoever failed, start hitting the books right back.  I don't think anyone can disagree that this is  the toughest test we would take in our profession. Having courage to just register for this test is a great thing in itself.


Congrats!  What state ?


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## StructEngBrah

Passed the Lateral Building first time   I took the School of PE review course for lateral and found the notes to be very useful.  I also used David Connor's bridge book and found the practice problems to be very helpful.   

I passed the Gravity Building last April, so I think I'm done taking exams.  I appreciate all the helpful tips and suggestions posted on this forum.


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## TheStructuralEngineer

Mithrandir918 said:


> Congrats!  What state ?


Texas.
And yes like others are saying, David's book definitely helps you get familiar with AASHTO. For building engineers, it is very useful.


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## TehMightyEngineer

rtrutsab said:


> Tx is out. Failed first time bridge lateral. 20/40 in the morning. Acceptable, Acceptable,  Improvement required.


Certainly wouldn't feel too bad about that score. A handful more morning problems and I bet you'll get it. Hit the books again and you definitely got a great chance for the 2nd try.


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## tua85366

Congrats to all who have passed. What other states are we waiting on? PA is slow this test cycle. Really hoping to hear by today.


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## YAZRABADI

how about AZ and CA


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## Phil Clark

Still waiting in Vermont.


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## silentbob011

I am waiting on MA to release results.  :waiting:


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## Mithrandir918

Illinois may be a few more days yet.


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## Civil Dawg

Still waiting in Louisiana...


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## MathsWell

I passed the Lateral - Buildings this go through after failing the same test in the spring (my result was 28/30 in morning and Unacceptable x 2, Needs Improvement, and Acceptable). I took the EET review course and that dramatically helped turn around my result for the afternoon portion. I felt much better walking out of the test though I quickly convinced myself I had failed the concrete question and all hope was lost. On to the vertical I suppose...


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## MIPE

IL results are out. Check Continental Testing Services Website.


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## tua85366

Status update on PA results:

I spoke with the board this morning and the person I talked to could only tell me my results were pending and they haven't received exam results yet. This can't be true since I later confirmed with an NCEES rep that PE and SE results have been released to ALL state boards. I'm wondering what is going on here. Has anyone else spoke with the PA board since the SE results have been released from NCEES? I'm thinking about putting in another call later on today, but I hate being a pest.


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## Phil Clark

tua85366 said:


> Status update on PA results:
> 
> I spoke with the board this morning and the person I talked to could only tell me my results were pending and they haven't received exam results yet. This can't be true since I later confirmed with an NCEES rep that PE and SE results have been released to ALL state boards. I'm wondering what is going on here. Has anyone else spoke with the PA board since the SE results have been released from NCEES? I'm thinking about putting in another call later on today, but I hate being a pest.


This is funny, since here in VT I had not received results yet and emailed the board to confirm.  The board member said they had not received results from NCEES yet.  They said they had received results for PE, but not for SE.  I also contacted NCEES to explain this conversation to them (via chat) and they said they had released results to ALL state boards.  They even said this twice - "All SE results have been released to the state boards."  I emailed the state board back to ask if they could call NCEES to double check but have not heard back since an hour ago (around 9am).  Sounds fishy...

We must have gotten perfect scores and they are investigating?  This is the only possible explanation I can think of (cue eye-roll).


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## School of PE

StructEngBrah said:


> Passed the Lateral Building first time   I took the School of PE review course for lateral and found the notes to be very useful.


Great to hear! Congratulations!  Feel free to leave us a review on Facebook here.


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## tua85366

Phil Clark said:


> This is funny, since here in VT I had not received results yet and emailed the board to confirm.  The board member said they had not received results from NCEES yet.  They said they had received results for PE, but not for SE.  I also contacted NCEES to explain this conversation to them (via chat) and they said they had released results to ALL state boards.  They even said this twice - "All SE results have been released to the state boards."  I emailed the state board back to ask if they could call NCEES to double check but have not heard back since an hour ago (around 9am).  Sounds fishy...
> 
> We must have gotten perfect scores and they are investigating?  This is the only possible explanation I can think of (cue eye-roll).


Sounds very fishy. I am just imagining the results sitting in someones inbox, but let's go with the perfect score theory. My anxiety is at an all time high right now since I was expecting results by end of day Friday. PA managed to release Oct 2016 PE results day one and April 2017 SE results day one. What's going on?!


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## Civil Dawg

Failed Vertical Buildings for the 2nd time.  My mind is blown right now.  I failed in April and fully expected the result I got...24/40, A, IR, UA, UA.  This time I felt like I did much better but somehow got 19/40 in the morning?!?!?! My afternoon was good with A, A, A, IR.  I have NO IDEA how I could only get 19/40 in the morning correct.  I'm convinced something went wrong with my scantron or when I went to copy answers to my scantron?  For the April exam I had 11 problems I guessed on, for this one I only had 4.  I'll be emailing NCEES but the frustrating thing is unless there was a scantron error (0.000001% chance) there's no way for me to know what happened! Argh!


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## Phil Clark

tua85366 said:


> Sounds very fishy. I am just imagining the results sitting in someones inbox, but let's go with the perfect score theory. My anxiety is at an all time high right now since I was expecting results by end of day Friday. PA managed to release Oct 2016 PE results day one and April 2017 SE results day one. What's going on?!


Same schedule generally for VT.  I spoke with NCEES chat again and mentioned this happened for PA as well, and she said there is no mixup, all of the results are sent out.  So I asked her if she could call the board and remind them when they sent them out and she said "Unfortunately I cannot call.  There is a process and once it is decided the board will let NCEES know when to release them."  So I'll call the board member to see if I can't get more info...


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## tua85366

Phil Clark said:


> Same schedule generally for VT.  I spoke with NCEES chat again and mentioned this happened for PA as well, and she said there is no mixup, all of the results are sent out.  So I asked her if she could call the board and remind them when they sent them out and she said "Unfortunately I cannot call.  There is a process and once it is decided the board will let NCEES know when to release them."  So I'll call the board member to see if I can't get more info...


Phil, thanks for reaching out on behalf of PA test takers. I just emailed the board so we'll see what happens. Let us know if anything turns up once you call.


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## MIPE

It is official!!!.  Passed both vertical and lateral first trial with no review course. Thanks to everybody here and best of luck for everyone who is still waiting.


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## tua85366

PA results out. Unacceptable for lateral buildings. I thought it would be close, but I'm surprised just how poorly I did. 22/40 in the morning and UA-Wood, UA-Concrete, A-General Analysis, and IR-Steel.

Background: PE Structural passed first try October 2016, SE Vertical Building passed first try April 2017, and SE Lateral Buildings failed first try October 2017.

Back to the books....


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## Phil Clark

tua85366 said:


> PA results out. Unacceptable for lateral buildings. I thought it would be close, but I'm surprised just how poorly I did. 22/40 in the morning and UA-Wood, UA-Concrete, A-General Analysis, and IR-Steel.
> 
> Background: PE Structural passed first try October 2016, SE Vertical Building passed first try April 2017, and SE Lateral Buildings failed first try October 2017.
> 
> Back to the books....


Sorry to hear that.  I think I'm going to be there with you. 

Looks like PA "found" the results?  I can't get through to the VT board...


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## tua85366

Phil Clark said:


> Sorry to hear that.  I think I'm going to be there with you.
> 
> Looks like PA "found" the results?  I can't get through to the VT board...


Thanks, Phil. Best of luck with your results.


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## Phil Clark

Much to my surprise and excitement, I passed Lateral in Vermont.  I guess the email "got lost" and results have not typically been released until after the holidays, so anyway, better late than never!

I really am quite surprised that I passed.  I remember thinking during the afternoon when I was bogged down on that first problem that I was going to be taking the test again.  The thought crossed my mind to just stop then, but I remembered how many people were behind me and didn't think it was my right to throw all that support away.  I tried to salvage the problem and moved on.  I contacted NCEES regarding the issues I found with the problem (per the encouragement of the people on this forum - thanks!) and there you have it.  I have not taken any courses.  450 hrs Vertical study (April 17); 300 hrs Lateral study (Oct 17).  

Thanks to this forum for all the tips and knowledge regarding this exam.  It has been a huge help.  I have had most of my questions answered just by searching the archives and great to be able to keep track of results coming out or when to expect them.


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## FL_Structural_PE

Phil Clark said:


> Much to my surprise and excitement, I passed Lateral in Vermont.  I guess the email "got lost" and results have not typically been released until after the holidays, so anyway, better late than never!
> 
> I really am quite surprised that I passed.  I remember thinking during the afternoon when I was bogged down on that first problem that I was going to be taking the test again.  The thought crossed my mind to just stop then, but I remembered how many people were behind me and didn't think it was my right to throw all that support away.  I tried to salvage the problem and moved on.  I contacted NCEES regarding the issues I found with the problem (per the encouragement of the people on this forum - thanks!) and there you have it.  I have not taken any courses.  450 hrs Vertical study (April 17); 300 hrs Lateral study (Oct 17).
> 
> Thanks to this forum for all the tips and knowledge regarding this exam.  It has been a huge help.  I have had most of my questions answered just by searching the archives and great to be able to keep track of results coming out or when to expect them.


Congrats Phil!


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## tua85366

Phil Clark said:


> Much to my surprise and excitement, I passed Lateral in Vermont.  I guess the email "got lost" and results have not typically been released until after the holidays, so anyway, better late than never!
> 
> I really am quite surprised that I passed.  I remember thinking during the afternoon when I was bogged down on that first problem that I was going to be taking the test again.  The thought crossed my mind to just stop then, but I remembered how many people were behind me and didn't think it was my right to throw all that support away.  I tried to salvage the problem and moved on.  I contacted NCEES regarding the issues I found with the problem (per the encouragement of the people on this forum - thanks!) and there you have it.  I have not taken any courses.  450 hrs Vertical study (April 17); 300 hrs Lateral study (Oct 17).
> 
> Thanks to this forum for all the tips and knowledge regarding this exam.  It has been a huge help.  I have had most of my questions answered just by searching the archives and great to be able to keep track of results coming out or when to expect them.


Congrats! Good work. That lateral component was intense and has a 31% pass rate to prove it.


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## Phil Clark

Most important and useful books for studying and during the _Lateral _exam:

- Seismic and Wind Forces Structural Design Examples 4th edition  by Alan Williams (This is the same guy who does the SERM.  Some sections may be out of date now for the 18 exams).  I used the steel section in lieu of studying the example problems in the AISC seismic manual (though you still need to know the rest of the AISC manual).  I spent 80 hours in this book.  I substituted SEAOC Vol 1 for the Seismic section of this book, but went through every other chapter.  This was my main reference for materials questions on the exam.

- Bridge Problems for the Structural Engineering (SE) Exam: Lateral Loads - 2nd Ed. by David Connor (This books was critical.  I do not believe I would have passed without this book.  I have even emailed David directly with questions and he got right back to me.)  Went through this book twice.

- NCEES and PPI practice exams.  Went through them twice.

- SEAOC Volume 1 (did skim the other volumes but they were not as useful.)  Went through this book twice

- Structural Engineering Reference Manual,  Lateral and Bridges sections were critical for analysis (in combination w/ David Connors book for AASHTO problems).


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## David Connor SE

Congratulations on passing Phil!  And thanks for the book recommendation.


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## hessineer

I took 16hr exam in IL. I failed both Vertical and Lateral. This is the 2nd time. I'm an experience engineer and studied really hard for the 2nd time. My mind is blown!!! both AM sessions my score was 20/40. in both cases for afternoon session my score was Un, Un, IR and A. I have no idea what to do next! can you help me? thanks.


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## Phil Clark

hessineer said:


> I took 16hr exam in IL. I failed both Vertical and Lateral. This is the 2nd time. I'm an experience engineer and studied really hard for the 2nd time. My mind is blown!!! both AM sessions my score was 20/40. in both cases for afternoon session my score was Un, Un, IR and A. I have no idea what to do next! can you help me? thanks.


What areas were you weak in?  Was it a question or two in all areas or was it more in certain materials or analysis or AASHTO?  How do you study problems?  For example, for morning type problems, I would work problems on a daily basis.  If I got a problem wrong, or couldn't do it without looking at the answer key, I would mark it and work it again the next day.  I would repeat this until I could do the problem without looking at the answer key.  Some problems took me 5 days to move on.  Then I would re-do all the problems closer to the exam.  For afternoon problems, it is important to show that you know what to do, even if you don't have time to do it during the exam.  For example, if you are supposed to "check" the adequacy of a masonry beam, you could just check bending, but you should also check shear, max/min area of bending steel, etc.  If you don't have time to do, it all, leave 10 minutes at the end of the problem to list the additional check you would do if you had time.

Did you find yourself running out of time?  What references did you use?  How much time is "studying really hard".  I spent over 700 hrs studying total between the two exams, (more for the first one I took - vertical).  I would consider breaking up the tests.  Just take one.  Some people say it is better to do both in one weekend, but I say you need to evaluate yourself and know how much information you can actually keep in the front of your mind.  I just took one per weekend because I have "kid brain" (two kids and my memory is mush - totally serious).

I noted in a previous post this thread the references I used for the lateral exam.  I would be happy to share the references I used for the vertical exam as well if you are interested...


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## MIPE

hessineer said:


> I took 16hr exam in IL. I failed both Vertical and Lateral. This is the 2nd time. I'm an experience engineer and studied really hard for the 2nd time. My mind is blown!!! both AM sessions my score was 20/40. in both cases for afternoon session my score was Un, Un, IR and A. I have no idea what to do next! can you help me? thanks.


My advice is to asses yourself first using one of the few sample exams available. Try to solve it without looking at the answers and using the same 4 hour exam time in each part. This should tell you about your weaknesses whether it is time, accuracy, or missing steps and start from there to address it.


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## David Connor SE

hessineer said:


> I took 16hr exam in IL. I failed both Vertical and Lateral. This is the 2nd time. I'm an experience engineer and studied really hard for the 2nd time. My mind is blown!!! both AM sessions my score was 20/40. in both cases for afternoon session my score was Un, Un, IR and A. I have no idea what to do next! can you help me? thanks.


The first thing I would do is split up the components. I could not imagine taking the lateral exam the day after the vertical exam. 

Just take one, and maybe consider doing lateral first. I found it easier to study for the lateral exam because you know it is going to be 75% ASCE 7/Seismic and 25% Wind.  With the vertical exam the possible types of questions are much more. 

Strictly study the NCEES SE exam spec subjects listed. Don't stray too far "into the weeds" when you study.  Yes, you may get an off the wall question that is not specifically listed as an SE exam subject, but you will cover almost everything you should see on the exam. 

Work our problems from study guides. That means work them out without looking at the solutions. This will help you notice what small nuances that you may miss, etc. My guess is that on the morning session, you arrived at answers that were listed and made you feel pretty good that you got the correct answer. They purposely put incorrect answers on the exam like that! You need to remember to use the correct factors, etc. That what seems to trip people up on the morning sections. 

But first thing, DON'T TAKE BOTH EXAMS THE SAME WEEKEND!


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## K Engineer

I strongly agree with David about splitting the exam up.  I started studying 4 months out on each and at the two month mark, I took the PPI practice exam to see where I was with studying and then I took the NCEES practice exam the weekend before the test to see if I am ready to go.    I don't think the "plug and chug" method is quite adequate for the SE.  Instead, I read through all of the codes and textbooks to be used on the exam at least twice and even used the School of PE as a means to get a refresher on topics.  Plus it is a huge bonus if your current work is hitting a lot of the NCEES topics.  I was fortunate to have a lot of projects that covered rigid analyses and high seismic.  Just some food for thought that I found helpful for myself.


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## User1

Phil Clark said:


> What areas were you weak in?  Was it a question or two in all areas or was it more in certain materials or analysis or AASHTO?  How do you study problems?  For example, for morning type problems, I would work problems on a daily basis.  If I got a problem wrong, or couldn't do it without looking at the answer key, I would mark it and work it again the next day.  I would repeat this until I could do the problem without looking at the answer key.  Some problems took me 5 days to move on.  Then I would re-do all the problems closer to the exam.  For afternoon problems, it is important to show that you know what to do, even if you don't have time to do it during the exam.  For example, if you are supposed to "check" the adequacy of a masonry beam, you could just check bending, but you should also check shear, max/min area of bending steel, etc.  If you don't have time to do, it all, leave 10 minutes at the end of the problem to list the additional check you would do if you had time.
> 
> Did you find yourself running out of time?  What references did you use?  How much time is "studying really hard".  I spent over 700 hrs studying total between the two exams, (more for the first one I took - vertical).  I would consider breaking up the tests.  Just take one.  Some people say it is better to do both in one weekend, but I say you need to evaluate yourself and know how much information you can actually keep in the front of your mind.  I just took one per weekend because I have "kid brain" (two kids and my memory is mush - totally serious).
> 
> I noted in a previous post this thread the references I used for the lateral exam.  I would be happy to share the references I used for the vertical exam as well if you are interested...


I'm interested. and I'm sure others are as well! Out of curiosity, how many problems would you work per day?


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## Phil Clark

tj_PE said:


> I'm interested. and I'm sure others are as well! Out of curiosity, how many problems would you work per day?


Well, since you are interested...

For Vertical my main study reference was the Structural Engineering Reference Manual (SERM).  This was my main reference for the exam as well.  It has the bulk of the information you need right in this one book, in both ASD and LRFD.  You need to weed out some lateral stuff if you are just taking vertical, but this book is mostly for vertical (in my opinion, see previous post for lateral uses).  David Connor's book for Vertical AASHTO components.  I think studying AASHTO would be hard regardless, but for vertical, where would you even start!  David's book really hones in on fundamental topics discussed in the NCEES outline.  The two practice exams (PPI and NCEES), and Structural Engineering Solved Problems, by PPI (I think, I'm not at work so am not looking at the references on my bookshelf).  I spent months in the SERM.  I would say over 100 hrs.  I started in June before the April exam.  There is just so much stuff to sink in.  A co-worker said he would have gotten the SERM a year before the vertical and just gone through it a little bit at a time if he had to go back and do it again.  You should know this book inside and out.  I studied my Structural Analysis textbook from college for all of the fundamental structural analysis type problems.  I am fortunate to have piers and mentors at my office who were willing to take the time and help me understand topics I didn't quite get the first (or second) time through.

So, in the beginning, Vertical, I went through the SERM and David Connor's book.  8-10 hrs per week for the first 6 months.  I would study before work or after work and several hours on the weekends. If I was going through the morning style practice exams, that would be about 4-6 problems in an hour and a half.  I took a practice exam 2.5 months out, timed, on a Saturday.  Sunday I would grade the morning portion of the exam, break problems into categories (ASCE, AISC etc) and see how I did in each category.  The following week I would start going through the morning problems.  It was slow, probably took me a 15-20 minutes per problem because I was really trying to figure them out on my own, before looking at the answer key.  If I needed to read up on something, I would take an extra half hour, find the code section, read it one or two or three times, then go back to solving problems.  If I couldn't get a problem, I would walk through the answer key,  mark it and come back to it the next day, repeat, until I could do the problems without looking at the answer key.  The next weekend, I would grade the afternoon problems.  This was my favorite part (oddly, I did enjoy some of the studying).  I would see what parts I got right, and if there was a part I got wrong (of which there were a lot) I would re-work that part of the problem right then and there, following the answer key.  I would spend at least 2 hours per afternoon problem this first weekend.  I came back the next weekend and re-worked the afternoon problems, then graded them the same way.  Not only did this help me learn the problem, but it burned the type of problem into my brain so if needed, I would remember where to go to find this problem.

While I did start studying very far out from the exam, it wasn't horribly intense and I don't think I got burned out (unlike for lateral).  I will say, I probably spent 50 more hours than I needed (of 450).  It took a good month to just get back into some sort of study habit (8 years since college).  For lateral, I condensed my study to about 5 months out, and 300 hours (exactly, I kept track).  I started studying for lateral 3 weeks after I took the vertical (didn't know yet if I had passed vertical).  I would study 2 hours per day from about 11am to 1pm at my office and another 4-6 on the weekend.  My employer was very generous to help work with my schedule in this way.  It worked out very well to spend the morning getting my brain going with work things, then study for 2 hours, then finish out my day working.  I tried to get 16 hrs per week for the lateral exam.

Maybe some people think it's a no-brainer, but repeating problems until I got them has been the only way I could pass this test.  You may be one of those people who can just read something once and remember it, where it is in the code and it just makes sense the first time.  But if you are one of those people who thinks you are one of these people, but actually are not, than you need to snap out of it.  It won't work.  You won't be able to just read through a chapter and example problems in the SERM and then expect to remember how to do something similar on a practice exam or real exam and get it right.  You need to suck it up and do these things over and over and over.  If you think, "I _think_ I've got this" than you don't know it well enough.  You need to know it "backwards and front" as Barney Fife would say.  One of my co-workers was fortunate to have a brain like that.  He may have spent 150 hrs between the two exams.  The other 3 co-workers to take this test spent up to 400 hours between the two exams.  One of them still had to take each part twice.  And then there was me at 750 hours.

Well, that is a lot of text.  I hope it is helpful to someone, because my wife just glazes over when I start talking about this stuff.  I may have over prepared, but I didn't want to take this thing more than once.  Good luck to all.  The test will rake you over the coals, but growth is always painful.


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