PPI SE Course, anyone taking it?

[ninolta]

Howd the vertical go?

It was very difficult, I don't think I'll pass. I didn't feel confident at all leaving the exam. Big contrast compared to the PE. 

 

[David Connor SE]

That's the plan. By that I mean I will be applying to the Board with my updated experience. Assuming I get approved, which I should, that is definitely the plan. I know it sounds crazy. But I really think it can be done, and I've gone over the Breadth and Depth material for the PE so much I think my study plan this time will work. 

My advice is to not overload yourself. Not saying you can't do it, but why kill yourself. I would do the PE until I pass, then SE lateral (easier to study for in my opinion) until I pass, then SE vertical. But if you live in a state that let's you have a "PE" by passing the SE, then just do the SE.  

 

[PowerStroke79_PE]

My advice is to not overload yourself. Not saying you can't do it, but why kill yourself. I would do the PE until I pass, then SE lateral (easier to study for in my opinion) until I pass, then SE vertical. But if you live in a state that let's you have a "PE" by passing the SE, then just do the SE.  

Thank you for your advice. I have  less than two weeks before I sit down and make it my routine again to study for the P.E/S.E. exam. However, the P.E. exam I will take under all circumstances. No way I let it beat me. And the S.E. I just really want to give it a shot. Your comment on "easier to study for in my opinion", was that referring to breaking the exams down to take separately or to the criteria of the exam? Thanks again! 

 

[David Connor SE]

Thank you for your advice. I have  less than two weeks before I sit down and make it my routine again to study for the P.E/S.E. exam. However, the P.E. exam I will take under all circumstances. No way I let it beat me. And the S.E. I just really want to give it a shot. Your comment on "easier to study for in my opinion", was that referring to breaking the exams down to take separately or to the criteria of the exam? Thanks again! 

To me the SE lateral exam is easier to study for because you pretty much know that about 75% of the exam is going to deal with seismic questions, and 25% of the exam wind questions. Concentrate much of your studying on ASCE 7 - Seismic.  The attached is a study calendar that I came up with when I was studying for the SE exam and you can see how much time I devoted to each subject. 

https://docs.wixstatic.com/ugd/ae78ab_adf09b6bd2a64872bdd05459b561e6ca.pdf

The vertical exam is more difficult to study for because the kinds of questions they can come up with is much more broad. But if you follow the NCEES Specification of subject matter for the exam and give proper time to each subject in proportion to what is going to be asked (i.e. don't study cold-formed steel for 2 weeks, because there will only be 1 question) then you should be OK.

Also, the vertical exam is difficult, even though the general consensus is the lateral exam is more difficult. A lot of depends on your experience. If you live on the west coast then probably all of your projects deal with lots of seismic issues, so you will probably think the lateral exam is easier than the vertical. However, both components are difficult.

If I were you I would take it one step at a time. Just concentrate on the PE now and don't even worry about the SE exam until you get passed the PE.   

 

[PowerStroke79_PE]

@David Connor, SE  Thank you for your comments. I appreciate you taking the time to put things in perspective. The link for the calendar is just the calendar with no schedules on it, however i have the calendar from your website, hopefully its the same one. I am definitely going to focus on the PE exam. 

 

[David Connor SE]

@David Connor, SE  Thank you for your comments. I appreciate you taking the time to put things in perspective. The link for the calendar is just the calendar with no schedules on it, however i have the calendar from your website, hopefully its the same one. I am definitely going to focus on the PE exam. 

Weird, yeah, if you are looking at it on your iPhone then the subjects don't show up. I did it in Blubeam so it sometimes doesn't show properly. It shows up in Blubeam, and yes, it's the same calendar from my website. 

Good luck!