April 2019 SE Results Thread

[Nathan55]

The biggest thing I felt after the test was rage. Rage that the NCEES can justify charging $50 for (or even offering at all for that matter) a 'practice exam' that is not even close to the same difficulty level as the actual exam. It was a total misrepresentation for lateral. 

Copy that. The NCEES practice exam is one of the most eloquent "inception"-level sleights of hand I've seen.

"Wait so all this time....VADER was my father???Noooooooooooo!!!!"

NCEES: Well our practice test is an accurate representation of test content and difficulty......From a certain point of view.

 

[kevo_55]

The question seems general enough to me. I'll let this slide.

/steps off soapbox

Don't worry about the exam too much everyone. I have my fingers crossed!!

 

[Civil Dawg]

/ stands on stepbox kevo just got down from

I'm very frustrated with the timeline for results.  NCEES has always said 8-10 weeks for PE and 10-12 weeks for SE results but that's never been the actual timeline.  It's usually ~6 weeks for PE and ~7 for SE.  With the SE Grading Workshop not being scheduled (according to NCEES Licensure Exchange) until at least June 7-9, that means it will be 10-11 weeks at the earliest for SE results.  Does anyone know why the exam was so early this year?  I didn't decide to retake it until right before Christmas.  I could definitely have used those extra 2 or 3 weeks to study.  But if the exam got moved forward 2-3 weeks you would think they could at least move the grading workshop up 2-3 weeks to match.

/ stands off stepbox so someone else can get on

 

[crammer]

I took the buildings test. The second part of the second question confused me. find "x" when "X" was provided in the table. 

I know. I swore I was going crazy in the test thinking of that... spent a good 15 minute trying to come up with something to fill the pages.

All I could think of was that I will be doing this again.

 

[ChaosMuppetPE]

I know. I swore I was going crazy in the test thinking of that... spent a good 15 minute trying to come up with something to fill the pages.

All I could think of was that I will be doing this again.

I solved for the info with ELFP using their computed period. I'm pretty sure that is what they wanted but I agree the question was asked oddly. I also made a note that the information they were asking for was given in the table and the question did not make sense the way they were asking it.

 

[SE_Hopeful]

/ stands on stepbox kevo just got down from

I'm very frustrated with the timeline for results.  NCEES has always said 8-10 weeks for PE and 10-12 weeks for SE results but that's never been the actual timeline.  It's usually ~6 weeks for PE and ~7 for SE.  With the SE Grading Workshop not being scheduled (according to NCEES Licensure Exchange) until at least June 7-9, that means it will be 10-11 weeks at the earliest for SE results.  Does anyone know why the exam was so early this year?  I didn't decide to retake it until right before Christmas.  I could definitely have used those extra 2 or 3 weeks to study.  But if the exam got moved forward 2-3 weeks you would think they could at least move the grading workshop up 2-3 weeks to match.

/ stands off stepbox so someone else can get on




3

The more people that fail, the more $$$ for NCEES.

Why is there months between the exam and the grading workshop anyway?

 

[Civil Dawg]

Why is there months between the exam and the grading workshop anyway?

It boggles my mind why the grading workshop would be 8-9 weeks after the exam. I can get on the NCEES website and see the exam schedule through 2026 so it’s not like the exam sneaks up on them.

 

[cal91]

I solved for the info with ELFP using their computed period. I'm pretty sure that is what they wanted but I agree the question was asked oddly. I also made a note that the information they were asking for was given in the table and the question did not make sense the way they were asking it.

Ahhh, I know what you guys are talking about. Yes that was tricky. I got it, only after using probably 20 minutes of mulling it over.  Man it's hard to not talk freely about the exam!

 

[Nathan55]

It boggles my mind why the grading workshop would be 8-9 weeks after the exam. I can get on the NCEES website and see the exam schedule through 2026 so it’s not like the exam sneaks up on them.

It will be nice when this becomes computer based. The test is great enough psychological torture as it is. But then the 10+ week wait...it rankles my soul. The great thing about the long wait is that you don't know whether to start studying again until they have lopped off 2.5 months of the 6 month window.

 

[Duke]

/ huh, who left this soap box here... looks stable enough, stands on it.

As someone who has yet to prove his competence I'm not going to complain about the difficulty of the SE. But to make a test this difficult and charge $400/$800 per try and only offer it once every 6 months is what bothers me. A couple swings and misses and some tough luck costs would be professional engineers years on their career. IMO this exam should cost half as much and be offered twice as often.

/ gets off soap box

 

[ChaosMuppetPE]

/ huh, who left this soap box here... looks stable enough, stands on it.

As someone who has yet to prove his competence I'm not going to complain about the difficulty of the SE. But to make a test this difficult and charge $400/$800 per try and only offer it once every 6 months is what bothers me. A couple swings and misses and some tough luck costs would be professional engineers years on their career. IMO this exam should cost half as much and be offered twice as often.

/ gets off soap box

I don't disagree, but I would just settle for being able to see the exam after grading to know what  you did wrong. Even if they charged for it. I tried to take on the lateral without taking a course a couple times. It didn't work out for me but I had ZERO experience in special seismic detailing and bridges (which on their own make up about 70% of the morning portion and 75% of the afternoon). My honest to apples recommendation is to take a review course if your exposure to these topics is limited. I took two, both School of PE and EET. While both helped me and I now consider myself fairly competent in the BASICS of seismic detailing (read as: knows enough to be dangerous), I would definitely recommend EET as it was more in depth IMO. I would also state that you should go ahead and take the live version. Interacting with the instructor is so much easier than trying to get your questions answered through e-mail.

 

[ChaosMuppetPE]

I'm so glad that we are all super extra special best friends and support each other through these trying times.

 

[TehMightyEngineer]

I just want to thank everyone for reminding me why I'm so glad I'll never have to take that exam again.

Good luck, guys and gals; lot of great advice here and I love seeing the comradery twice a year.

 

[Nathan55]

I'm so glad that we are all super extra special best friends and support each other through these trying times.

Let's just say that there is a reason why the Special Activities Division of the CIA uses solitary confinement on detainees. Suffering alone is far worse than suffering in a group.

Also, NCEES would never allow us to see what was done wrong on the test. The multiple choice questions I'd even say I don't need to see those, since usually the key to answering it correctly is not making a dumb mistake or knowing the correct code reference. The essay questions though.......I'm relatively sure that NCEES graders are somewhere laughing hysterically at us. I've been haunted by problems of administrations past. I was SURE I did them right, but NCEES disagreed.

They are fantastically obtuse in descriptions of what differentiates the "acceptable", "improvement required", and "unacceptable" grades. I think they should simplify the grading system. If you don't pass, they just send you a bill to re-register. If you pass, they send you a free copy of the "practice" exam with "LOL" in permanent marker on the front.

 

[tj_PE]

I wrote lots of little notes like "I messed this up, this should be X instead of Y but no time to fix so I'm just keeping with Y for consistency"

 

[tj_PE]

and then a smiley face, as if that will help encourage them to be lenient LOL

 

[tj_PE]

I also wrote "rude!  " in the MC morning booklet when they said I couldnt use a shortcut.

 

[Nathan55]

and then a smiley face, as if that will help encourage them to be lenient LOL

Haha nice. My plan for next time will be to put "complete design per all relevant codes" on each essay problem. That will take 1 minute per problem, and is technically right. I'll finish in less than 5 minutes. Take that NCEES!

 

[SouthernEngineer]

I know. I swore I was going crazy in the test thinking of that... spent a good 15 minute trying to come up with something to fill the pages.

All I could think of was that I will be doing this again.

The people I took the test with simply recalculated it and the SE at our office suggested that might be what they wanted but agreed it was very poorly worded. 

 

[SouthernEngineer]

/ huh, who left this soap box here... looks stable enough, stands on it.

As someone who has yet to prove his competence I'm not going to complain about the difficulty of the SE. But to make a test this difficult and charge $400/$800 per try and only offer it once every 6 months is what bothers me. A couple swings and misses and some tough luck costs would be professional engineers years on their career. IMO this exam should cost half as much and be offered twice as often.

/ gets off soap box

Lucky! Its $500/$1000 here