April 2018 SE Exam Results

[Glengineer]

Yeah that's what I was thinking...I just spent several hundred on codes for this past cycle because I was confident they wouldn't change again in the immediate future...

I mean...I know we all think (read as know) NCEES is a foul hellbeast, bent on ruining our lives....I’d like to think there is SOME compassion in their ranks that wouldn’t go flopping to IBC 18 right after the switch to 15.

 

[kl/r_robots]

Illinois makes sense, they do everything backwards, but Idk what Minnesota's excuse is. 

Pretty sure they like to mail out the letters before posting online. Normally 11 people wouldn't take too long but they had to find a special truck to mail all the stuff I got wrong... 

 

[FriendofSEStress]

I'm sure you're not in the best of moods right now, and I can certainly understand that, but I wouldn't agree he is being a jerk.

That's fine, sir. We can agree to disagree. I know he was and I'm done with it. (At the very least I'll consider overzealous.) Have a nice Father's Day weekend though and I'll probably be back around December. That is unless I go into dentistry.

 

[FriendofSEStress]

I mean...I know we all think (read as know) NCEES is a foul hellbeast, bent on ruining our lives....I’d like to think there is SOME compassion in their ranks that wouldn’t go flopping to IBC 18 right after the switch to 15.

Good God, I hope you are right.

 

[NY STRUCTURAL]

I've been following this thread the last few days and finally signed up to post. I passed the Lateral and failed the Vertical! First time taking the exam. Glad to get at least one of them out of the way.

I personally thought the Vertical Afternoon was brutal. The questions were straight forward but the volume of things to calculate/design seemed incredible to me. I ran short of time on the fourth question and was just writing stuff down and free wheeling. 

Someone I took it with mentioned that it was his 2nd time taking Vertical, and 6 months ago the afternoon was way easier. Anyone else think the vertical afternoon was crazy?  

Much respect to those that could get through that!
 

 

[JayP_SE]

Passed both parts on the first attempt this spring (Buildings).  Definitely a challenging exam but reasonably difficult with the exception of the random AASHTO questions.  Personally, the largest contributor to my successful outcome was utilizing pratice exams under simulated conditions to learn/recognize common mistakes and improve problem solving speed.  When I started my prep I was probably at 17 minutes a question (6 minute problems workbook).  By the week of the exam I was down to exactly 6 minutes. I utilized the PPI, NCEES, and ASCE pratice tests.

 

[VladI]

Way to go JayP!  That's awesome for you.  Congrats!  I must agree with the AASHTO questions (hope this doesn't violate any rules) I thought half of them were ridiculous for those of us in buildings. I admittedly just answered 'B' for those and moved on to save time.  Afternoon I thought was not bad with a couple exceptions of sub parts. I only took lateral as I already passed vertical.

that said ... I have been lurking here for a while (no idea if I passed as my state is one that drags ___ in releasing results, no doubt to ruin my Father's Day)  I believe I have picked up on a major issue through my attendance at several years' Structures Congress and participation and application at ASCE 7 subcommittees.  It is very clear that this exam no longer fits the definition of a test of minimum competency but is rather a means to counteract the stated mission of ASCE to increase its membership, which has been reiterated multiple times in speeches at S- Congress.  Whether it is just a faction within the group, those who help create the questions for the NCEES exam, or a more broad group remains to be seen.  Regardless, this exam is not a test of engineering ability, it is a measure of ensured exclusivity.  What other explanation could there possibly be?  This exam format is not that old, the complexity of the codes has increased a lot in ten years, and the overall length of virtually all of the codes has increased as well.  

So, I am going to lay a challenge out there to those of you who have the SE designation (in particular if you or you know of a long standing license holder, if you are lurking around) but have not had the pleasure to endure the modern version of the exam with the current codes.  Take this exam as an anonymous person along with the rest of us and see how you fare.  If you take it and pass, good for you, you proved wrong my theory of intentional ensured exclusivity.  Otherwise, if you fail, I am correct in my conclusion that this exam is not a measure of minimum competancy and the ability required of newer engineers exceeds the ability of existing, experienced licensed engineers.

What's more, those of you who have passed both vertical and lateral, you can take much pride in the fact that you have exceeded the ability of those more senior to you who cannot achieve what you were forced to undergo.

 

[Mithrandir918]

Way to go JayP!  That's awesome for you.  Congrats!  I must agree with the AASHTO questions (hope this doesn't violate any rules) I thought half of them were ridiculous for those of us in buildings. I admittedly just answered 'B' for those and moved on to save time.  Afternoon I thought was not bad with a couple exceptions of sub parts. I only took lateral as I already passed vertical.

that said ... I have been lurking here for a while (no idea if I passed as my state is one that drags ___ in releasing results, no doubt to ruin my Father's Day)  I believe I have picked up on a major issue through my attendance at several years' Structures Congress and participation and application at ASCE 7 subcommittees.  It is very clear that this exam no longer fits the definition of a test of minimum competency but is rather a means to counteract the stated mission of ASCE to increase its membership, which has been reiterated multiple times in speeches at S- Congress.  Whether it is just a faction within the group, those who help create the questions for the NCEES exam, or a more broad group remains to be seen.  Regardless, this exam is not a test of engineering ability, it is a measure of ensured exclusivity.  What other explanation could there possibly be?  This exam format is not that old, the complexity of the codes has increased a lot in ten years, and the overall length of virtually all of the codes has increased as well.  

So, I am going to lay a challenge out there to those of you who have the SE designation (in particular if you or you know of a long standing license holder, if you are lurking around) but have not had the pleasure to endure the modern version of the exam with the current codes.  Take this exam as an anonymous person along with the rest of us and see how you fare.  If you take it and pass, good for you, you proved wrong my theory of intentional ensured exclusivity.  Otherwise, if you fail, I am correct in my conclusion that this exam is not a measure of minimum competancy and the ability required of newer engineers exceeds the ability of existing, experienced licensed engineers.

What's more, those of you who have passed both vertical and lateral, you can take much pride in the fact that you have exceeded the ability of those more senior to you who cannot achieve what you were forced to undergo.

There is no doubt on your theory.  I have been told this by test writers themselves.  It’s exclusivity.  This is especially true in Illinois, and the beauracratic BS that is plaguing the state.  This certification is the last way control the market in this profession.  For those of you outside Illinois, I am sorry but you will never understand the pressure here and the politics behind all of this.  Some of the best well educated, most talented engineeers with years of experience I know are being relegated to take orders from kids four years out of college that still maintain the youthful mental stamina to go thru this gauntlet.

its unfortunate the way this profession has gone and sad to see dreams crushed because engineers cannot seem to answer 28/40 questions on a rediculously written exam.

 

[JayP_SE]

There is no doubt on your theory.  I have been told this by test writers themselves.  It’s exclusivity.  This is especially true in Illinois, and the beauracratic BS that is plaguing the state.  This certification is the last way control the market in this profession.  For those of you outside Illinois, I am sorry but you will never understand the pressure here and the politics behind all of this.  Some of the best well educated, most talented engineeers with years of experience I know are being relegated to take orders from kids four years out of college that still maintain the youthful mental stamina to go thru this gauntlet.

its unfortunate the way this profession has gone and sad to see dreams crushed because engineers cannot seem to answer 28/40 questions on a rediculously written exam.

I totally agree that mental stamina is a huge factor especially when sitting for the full 16 hours. I flew in to Illinois for the exam since I wanted to skip the 3 year wait in California.

 

[Glengineer]

I think my biggest disappointment (aside from my abysmal showing on the exam) is their AM diagnostic only breaks down by General topic.  No feedback as to whether it was bridge or building questions that were failed.  Eh, guess I’ll just need to buckle down again and give it another shot!

 

[MB13]

It’s release day #2 for all of us who had to wait through the weekend...let’s hope for (favorable) results today! I think we have at least MN, MA, and NV waiting still. Who else?

 

[GataGunna]

It’s release day #2 for all of us who had to wait through the weekend...let’s hope for (favorable) results today! I think we have at least MN, MA, and NV waiting still. Who else?

FL

 

[Ramnares P.E.]

@knight1fox3 looks like the board got a bit hectic while I've been out.  I haven't been around long enough to gauge but this exam cycle seems to have a lot of folks divulging information or getting too close for comfort.

 

[Toad]

Updated pass rates for the April SE exam are posted on the NCEES page. Yikes.

 

[David Connor SE]

Updated pass rates for the April SE exam are posted on the NCEES page. Yikes.

Yes, that is brutal. I had noticed over the last couple SE Exam iterations that the pass rates were going up, which I thought was a good thing.

I'm not sure if NCEES noticed the trend too and decided to try to get things back to the 30% neighborhood, but those pass rates definitely seem too low. 

 

[NCEng45]

Well, I took both and failed both (serious props and congrats to those who passed).  Like many of you, this was in spite of my high level of preparation and confident feelings leaving the exams.  I am curious though if anyone who passed might be interested in providing those of us who did not an idea of what we should feel when leaving?  From what some have mentioned for failing scores, it seems approximately 70% in the morning and all 4 problems as acceptable in that afternoon is the minimum we need to be to pass this beast (a bit humorous this is "minimum competency" but it is what it is). 

So, did you feel you got the entire exam correct?  Was your passing ever in doubt (if so, why)?  Like many, I felt I performed really well only to receive a puzzling set of feedback.  I felt I had at least 80% in the morning correct (only felt questionable on 4-5 problems) and all 4 problems correct in the afternoon.  However, I only received 70% correct in the morning and 1 acceptable in the afternoon (partial on the rest).  This isn't my first rodeo and there isn't a piece of material that I do not know backwards and forwards (88% of the material in the morning correct that is on the afternoon portion).  As such, I am wondering if it is my presentation of the material in the afternoon or something non-technical that isn't appealing to the graders.  Any feedback on how you organized your results in the afternoon (obviously, not revealing testing content details) would be appreciated as well.

Like all of us, I am just trying to get better in this limited feedback world we are living in.  I have a family and kids that this is affecting and I am seriously evaluating whether this is even possible for me to pass, despite knowing I have the intelligence, experience, and test-taking abilities to do it, under reasonable circumstances.

 

[David Connor SE]

Passed both parts on the first attempt this spring (Buildings).  Definitely a challenging exam but reasonably difficult with the exception of the random AASHTO questions.  Personally, the largest contributor to my successful outcome was utilizing pratice exams under simulated conditions to learn/recognize common mistakes and improve problem solving speed.  When I started my prep I was probably at 17 minutes a question (6 minute problems workbook).  By the week of the exam I was down to exactly 6 minutes. I utilized the PPI, NCEES, and ASCE pratice tests.

If you haven't seen my book on AASHTO SE exam questions, please look into it.  I specifically wrote it for us building engineers who have to answer AASHTO questions on this exam. Lots of people have told me it was a great help on the bridge questions.  

 

[David Connor SE]

I mean...I know we all think (read as know) NCEES is a foul hellbeast, bent on ruining our lives....I’d like to think there is SOME compassion in their ranks that wouldn’t go flopping to IBC 18 right after the switch to 15.

I was thinking more about AASHTO being switched over to the 8th edition at the end of this year. 

 

[RamblinOn]

If you haven't seen my book on AASHTO SE exam questions, please look into it.  I specifically wrote it for us building engineers who have to answer AASHTO questions on this exam. Lots of people have told me it was a great help on the bridge questions.  

I'll second this.  Your book was a huge help for the building engineer.  You simply cannot skip the bridge problems and pass this test.  You have to have a comfort and familiarity with AASHTO.  Thanks for writing the book, it was definitely one of the best test prep resources I had.  

 

[MB13]

Updated pass rates for the April SE exam are posted on the NCEES page. Yikes.

Oh my...these are definitely discouraging for those of us still waiting for results. I don’t think I want to keep checking anymore.