Post SE Exam results here...

[kevo_55]

Congrats cmp!!!

 

[rexman]

I passed gravity, failed lateral I hope we get to see the diagnostics soon.

 

[bwherrmann]

I took both sections in April and passed Vertical and failed Lateral. I retook the lateral this October and just found out I passed. Praise God. Hang in there and try agian rexman. If you look at the pass rates you can see the lateral is the harder portion of the exam to pass.

 

[bmc846]

Pass on vertical and fail on lateral. I look forward to the breakdown in the next week.

 

[McEngr]

I've heard that the west coast typically fairs better on the lateral exam. Would anyone care to mention what state they are from if it's not on their profile?

 

[bwherrmann]

I am from the midwest. I had very little knowledge of the in depth seismic calculations before the exam. I had to do a lot of digging into the code to get up to speed for the exam.

 

[rexman]

I'm from Chicago. There is no seismic in the Chicago Code

Does anyone who passed the Lateral portion have any recommendations on good reference materials for seismic? Especially for concrete special zones and moment details? I have the Guide to the Seismic Load Provisions of ASCE 7-05, but that did not help at all on the concrete problems.

bwherrmann - what changes did you make in order to pass? For example, did you do more example problems (if so, where did you find them?) or did you just study more (if so, what books helped the most?)?

 

[McEngr]

rexman,

Concrete: I have been studying chapter 29 of the PCA Notes on the ACI 318-08. I also have been using the SEAOC Volume 3 for special moment frame and special shearwall seismic design. I'm only done with the specially reinforced concrete walls. I would never have known that you can assume all tension bars are yielded unless I studied (ie ordinary walls are actually more complicated in my opinion because the stress strain compatibility solution would take forever). Moment frames have those annoying stirrup, closed hoop requirements that I'm still not quite comfortable with... studying this currently. PCA Notes: $110+/-

Steel: AISC Seismic Design Manual is absolutely essential for me. The SEAOC volume 3 which also has concrete seismic is good for the concrete stuff, but has a lot of comments of what to do in practice for steel design and flat out says in places that it goes beyond what the Seismic Design Manual does. $175+SEAOC($67) = approx. $240.

Masonry: I'm using James Armren's Reinforced Masonry Engineering Handbook, 6th edition. The one thing I don't like about Ahrmren's book is that he references his own tables in his appendix and sometimes engineers just need a quick reference to understand the topic. I like Ahrmren's book though because it is all inclusive whereas the Masonry Designer's Guide is more scattered and doesn't dig into the detailing as well as the Masonry Engineering Handbook noted above. Armrhen has also been the king of masonry research and publications, but he's nearly retired and probably won't publish a 7th edition (hand off the baton to another author?). $100+/-

Wood: I'm not sure how specialized wood design can be, but I was able to complete wood design using the Kaplan Structural Engineering Practice Problems. The diaphragm issues and finding a collector/chord force anywhere along a load path is covered very well in this book. $100+/-

I'm from Oregon, and since moving here from the midwest (I passed the PE in 2006 - my first year in Oregon), I have learned 10 fold on seismic as it relates to steel and wood... hopefully enough to pass on concrete and masonry.

 

[McEngr]

I took both sections in April and passed Vertical and failed Lateral. I retook the lateral this October and just found out I passed. Praise God. Hang in there and try agian rexman. If you look at the pass rates you can see the lateral is the harder portion of the exam to pass.

bwherrmann, what was your study routine? Did you do anything different to push you over the edge this time around? Thanks.

 

[bwherrmann]

The first time I took the exam I felt like I ran out of time, and did not get as in depth on the lateral requirements as I would have liked. After I failed the lateral section I was able to go back and focus in more on the cricital areas.

I first went through the entire wind and seismic chapters in the ASCE paragraph by paragraph.

I went through the seismic and wind forces book by Alan Williams. http://www.bookmarki.com/Seismic-and-Wind-Forces-3rd-Edition-p/9185s3.htm?click=62446

This is an excellent book that I would highly recommend.

I went through the AISC Seismic Design Manual and the ACI 318 seismic chapters very thoroughly.

I worked problems out of this Kaplan book http://www.kaplanaecengineering.com/kaplanAECengineering/menu_id%601209%60category_id%6054%60m_category_id%6054%60family_id%60116%60m_family_id%60116%60product_id%601009%60media_id%6035%60license_type%60%60from%60product_list%60product_detail.aspx

I would also highly recommend this book. It is by far the best book (and maybe the only book) that prepares you for the afternoon problems.

I worked the NCEES practice exam http://www.ncees.org/Exams/Study_materials.php?exam=PE&product=2A. It is definately a must buy.

I spent 12-15 hours a week for probably 3.5 months. This should be adequate if you are retaking one portion of the exam only. If you are taking both exams for the first time you probably need 5 months of study time.

It was good for me to fail once, as it made me not so proud and big headed, as engineers tend to be . It also made me a more knowledgeable engineer.

 

[rexman]

Thanks for the advice bwherrmann! Apparently, I have some studying to do

 

[ipswitch]

Yes, I appreciate the advice bwherrmann.

 

[rexman]

Thanks to you also McEngr, I hadn't seen your response before now. I am somewhat familiar with Steel seismic, but I definitely have to get more into the rest of the materials for SDC D. It looks like the 2012 exams will be based on IBC 2009, which is good news since IBC 2012 adopts ASCE7-10 which is a huge departure from ASCE7-05 with regards to wind.

 

[McEngr]

You're welcome rexman.

I'm hoping/praying to pass this thing before the code change to IBC 2012. There is way too much to learn in a short time frame to be considered an expert. Wind and Seismic in ASCE 7-10 is a major overhaul.

 

[ADB]

I have been monitoring the ILDFPR licensing website to see how many new SE licenses were issued after the October exam. Only 12 new licenses were added. Assuming there were around 100 people who took the exam that is a shockingly low passing percentage.

 

[rexman]

Yes it is. I am still waiting for my results by mail so I can see what went so wrong on my exam.

 

[ADB]

same here, hopefully I at least passed the vertical and then I can focus on lateral for April

 

[rexman]

The results are posted on http://continentaltesting.net/OnlineStatus/Login.aspx. It just doesn't have the breakdown.

 

[rexman]

I just got my results, and they don't give the multiple choice breakdown. This grading is so convoluted that it's hard to tell if something got messed up on their system or not.

 

[McEngr]

what afternoon questions did you get "needs improvement" or "unacceptable"? just curious if you'd like to comment more. Thanks.