How Bad/Hard is the Structural Depth Really?

[Manimani]

I just completed the 2018 NCEES for the structural depth and scored pretty average (75% - 30/40).

How much more different is the actual exam than peoples experience with the NCEES? I found a few of the problems in the NCEES challenging.

I struggle with some of the SA methods - i.e conjugate beam/moment distribution, mostly because i didn't bother learning them too in depth (as I really don't find a use for them when it comes to practicality).

All the horror stories I heard about OCT 2018 is making me nervous.

 

[Ahmed_sobih]

There is no comparison between the NCEES practice exam and the real exam, during my preparation time for exam I finished the practice test may be in 2 hours or less, while the real Exam I just finished it on time.

 

[Matt Skillet]

There is no comparison between the NCEES practice exam and the real exam, during my preparation time for exam I finished the practice test may be in 2 hours or less, while the real Exam I just finished it on time.

Can you elaborate?

 

[Matt Skillet]

Can you elaborate?

It sounds like it's a **** show and there is no real way to prepare.

 

[PowerStroke79_PE]

The only difference is you have never seen the problems in the exam.  If you scored 75% I would say your probably gonna be fine. Take your references, be calm, and do the ones you know only. Don't bother with the rest. 

 

[Mo84]

The rule of thumb is to go to the exam over prepared so you may need to do little more than just the NCEES practice exam. From what I've heard, Structural Depth in October 18 was easier than April 18.  Transportation and WRE Depths were the hardest this past October. I took WRE. The morning was much more challenging than I anticipated and I barely finished on time. 

If the exam is difficult then it should be difficult on most and the cut score gets adjusted accordingly. Keep your fingers crossed and be prepared. And most importantly, sleep well the night before the exam.

 

[Fissy_PE]

I will second the comments made by Mo84. The fact is structural depth in Oct 2018 was way easier than that of April 2018. I wrote the two exams and after I finished Oct 18 exam I was questioning myself while the exam was so much easy for me to the point that I was thinking I am going to make about 90 Texas score. That was my third attempt in a row and I said to myself after the exam that If I fail this time I can never pass PE structural exam again. Be advised that NCEES is not consistent with the exam difficulty and structural depth is wide and covers so much scope that NCEES will never ever repeat/re-frame any question concepts. For this reason, if you know and that you know you want to pass the exam in one sitting you need to cover as much as you can in accordance with the NCEES exam guides. Wishing all April 2019 test takers the best.

 

[GeoDude_PE]

The rule of thumb is to go to the exam over prepared so you may need to do little more than just the NCEES practice exam. From what I've heard, Structural Depth in October 18 was easier than April 18.  Transportation and WRE Depths were the hardest this past October. I took WRE. The morning was much more challenging than I anticipated and I barely finished on time. 

If the exam is difficult then it should be difficult on most and the cut score gets adjusted accordingly. Keep your fingers crossed and be prepared. And most importantly, sleep well the night before the exam.

"Transportation and WRE Depths were the hardest this past October." Don't count us Geotechs out... Just because Transportation and WRE had lower pass rates than normal doesn't mean they were harder than the other depths!

 

[DoctorWho-PE]

I took it twice, and felt like the April 2017 exam was harder than the October 2017 exam.  Part of it may have been that I studied so much more the second time, but also the questions in the October exam were pretty well aligned with my personal knowledge base, whereas the April exam covered many topics I don't work on often, so I am less familiar with them. 

In other words, it is impossible to know what they are going to ask.  I do feel like the NCEES practice exam was a little easier than the actual exam.

 

[Manimani]

As was stated before, the topics that cover the structural depth are a long list.

Seems like everyone's experience is different. I've had people tell me they saw questions very similar to the NCEES on the exam and others stating that they saw similar questions to the James Giancaspro Structural Depth practice exams (which i thought were slightly harder than the NCEES but reasonable), and other stating it was nothing like any practice problems they have ever solved. Like playing Russian roulette!

I'm hoping EET depth covered at least 60% of the material that I can expect to see on the exam. 

 

[Orca2552_PE]

I took that test twice too. April 2018 was much harder for me because of the plethora of wood and CMU questions on that test. I don't deal with those materials as part of my job, hence the performance. Besides there were quite a few code look-up questions that I wasted time searching for those things in the code. Second time around (October 2018), I solved a lot more problems (like a lot more), got intimately familiar with all codes (ACI, AISC Steel Manual, MSJC, ASCE, NDS, IBC, PSC Code). I was lucky the test was more geared towards concrete and steel with a few wood and CMU questions. I was also able to quickly find the code look-up things this time. The index for these codes is your best friend really. 

To answer your question, the structural depth specifications cover such a wide array of topics in structural engineering, it's really hard to draw a comparison between the practice tests and the real thing. But if you got a 30, I think you should be good (not considering any other factors on test day that may cause you to crush that test or do worse). Make sure you do the AM well and carry that confidence/momentum into the afternoon.

Lastly, I would say it's all down to luck on that day. The best you can do is to stay calm and focus. Use the multiple passes approach (really helped me with time management), and bring your codes, you will most certainly need em. Good luck!

 

[Mo84]

 "Transportation and WRE Depths were the hardest this past October." Don't count us Geotechs out... Just because Transportation and WRE had lower pass rates than normal doesn't mean they were harder than the other depths!

For October 2018, I would say Geotech. Depth was moderately difficult, Construction & Structural were closer to the easier end, WRE & Transportation close to the harder end. This is my personal impression from people I spoke with after the exam, from posts on couple of forums and also pass rates. Difficulty of each discipline ( and even morning  portion) can change significantly from cycle to cycle just to make it a less predictable exam and therefore a more challenging one.