Results Soon ....right?

[MambaMentality24]

I've got to think the code change had something to do with that...going from 39% to 24% is too drastic to just be blamed on slightly different questions and colder weather at testing time

makes sense, that was my first guess as well.

 

[Be-n]

I've got to think the code change had something to do with that...going from 39% to 24% is too drastic to just be blamed on slightly different questions and colder weather at testing time

I don’t recall anything that would be so different in this exam due to the new codes. I doubt the new codes is the reason for a low passing rate. Codes like ASCE7-16 and the latest steel manuals have been adapted in most states before this year.
My guess is that because of a small number of SE exam takers, the passing rates should not be and cannot be as consistent as they are in PE Civil exams which has many times more exam takers and, statistically, should have average passing rate pretty close between exams.
It is just not realistic to have only 225 first time exam takers across the entire nation and get consistent average results from them in every exam cycle unless NCEES adjusts score to match up a passing rate.
Also, I’m curious if there are more SE exam takers this time from GA and non-SE states around GA. This is the first year GA made SE licensure a requirement for designated structures. Maybe a lot of engineers from this part of the country that never considered taking SE exam before decided to give it a try for the first time. I think engineers in this region historically have less experience with high seismicity design. Maybe this could affect the passing rate as well.
AL also added Structural Roster Designation this year.
SE is slowly spreading across the nation!

 

[DoctorWho-PE]

I don’t recall anything that would be so different in this exam due to the new codes. I doubt the new codes is the reason for a low passing rate. Codes like ASCE7-16 and the latest steel manuals have been adapted in most states before this year.
My guess is that because of a small number of SE exam takers, the passing rates should not be and cannot be as consistent as they are in PE Civil exams which has many times more exam takers and, statistically, should have average passing rate pretty close between exams.
It is just not realistic to have only 225 first time exam takers across the entire nation and get consistent average results from them in every exam cycle unless NCEES adjusts score to match up a passing rate.
Also, I’m curious if there are more SE exam takers this time from GA and non-SE states around GA. This is the first year GA made SE licensure a requirement for designated structures. Maybe a lot of engineers from this part of the country that never considered taking SE exam before decided to give it a try for the first time. I think engineers in this region historically have less experience with high seismicity design. Maybe this could affect the passing rate as well.
AL also added Structural Roster Designation this year.
SE is slowly spreading across the nation!

Actually, we have only had 1 project that was controlled by ASCE 7-16, the states around me are still IBC 2015, thus 7-10.
And the changes between 7-10 and 7-16 actually are pretty big, esp for lateral.

 

[Be-n]

Actually, we have only had 1 project that was controlled by ASCE 7-16, the states around me are still IBC 2015, thus 7-10.
And the changes between 7-10 and 7-16 actually are pretty big, esp for lateral.

Well, I guess I’m wrong by saying most states. Some states are slower than the others when it comes to adapting new codes. I’ve used all of these updated codes since January 2020 in my state, except AASHTO, which I’ve never used regardless of code edition.

 

[thedaywa1ker]

Well, I guess I’m wrong by saying most states. Some states are slower than the others when it comes to adapting new codes. I’ve used all of these updated codes since January 2020 in my state, except AASHTO, which I’ve never used regardless of code edition.

I was going to respond just like vhab and say that we haven't been using 7-16 that long...but we converted in Jan 2020 as well. Time flies when you spend 2 years studying and have a kid!

 

[mg93]

I was one of the first time test takers for the SE lateral buildings this time. Even though I passed, what I can say with confidence is that the morning portion was significantly harder than the practice tests. I practice in California so that helps when taking the lateral exam but for context, I scored a 35 in the NCEES practice test and was able to finish it comfortably. I don't think I must have even touched 30 on the actual exam. I was not able to finish it. I was flying through the morning portions of the practice exams but came out feeling pretty miserable out of the actual exam only hoping and praying that I pass. Mainly because of the morning portion and no complaints from the afternoon portion. Yes, they did ask questions around code changes in the morning exam.

 

[steel]

I was one of the first time test takers for the SE lateral buildings this time. Even though I passed, what I can say with confidence is that the morning portion was significantly harder than the practice tests. I practice in California so that helps when taking the lateral exam but for context, I scored a 35 in the NCEES practice test and was able to finish it comfortably. I don't think I must have even touched 30 on the actual exam. I was not able to finish it. I was flying through the morning portions of the practice exams but came out feeling pretty miserable out of the actual exam only hoping and praying that I pass. Mainly because of the morning portion and complaints from the afternoon portion. Yes, they did ask questions around code changes in the morning exam.

Did you feel the code changes would have had that much of an affect on the pass rate?

 

[Be-n]

I just don’t see how someone can make that many mistakes due to code changes unless s/he used old codes or old class notes during the exam. Well, using old codes to save a few $$$ after studying for hundreds of hours is just not smart.
I don’t do engineering based on the equations that I memorize. Similarly, I don’t do math on the exam without looking up equations in the code or class notes. If you look up information (tables, equations) in the new code, you should not even notice code changes for the most part.
Maybe, some people decided to save $$$ and didn’t update their codes. That will hurt. I’ve seen people asked before if they can use older codes or if they really need the seismic design manual that they’ve never used before.

I took practice exams 3 weeks before the actual exams. Both times, they were really hard for me and I never finished them on time. Every exam (vertical and lateral) I needed 2 extra hours to finish AEI practice exams. They are not necessarily very difficult. They are just so lengthy. AEI didn’t have short questions in AM and PM questions usually required more than 1 hr. But each time, both of those exams were good lessons for me and they pointed at my weaknesses very well. I studied really hard for the remaining couple of weeks and was prepared a lot better for the real exams than for practice exams. The conclusion I made was if you can solve AEI practice exam under 9-10 hours and work on your mistakes, you probably should be OK for the real 8 hr exam.
I didn’t do NCEES lateral practice exam. I ran out of time. I decided to use remaining time to study topics I missed on AEI practice exam rather than do another practice exam. So I can’t compare the level of their difficulty.
In both real exams, I solved all AM problems right before the end of the AM session. I didn’t even have time to check if I filled up the bubbles correctly. The thoughts that I messed up an answer sheet didn’t leave me for a few weeks after the exam I learned that when I’m in a such a rush, I get about 8 out of 10 solved problems correctly. Therefore, my ultimate goal was to solve all of them and make 6-8 mistakes. Solving only 30-32 meant I need to be perfect with solutions and/or lucky with the guesses. I didn’t want to take those chances.
After all, I agreed with Dr. Ibrahim, studying lateral class was a lot harder than vertical but [if you finish everything in the class] the lateral exam itself should be easier than vertical.
That’s exactly the experience I had. I had a lot less stress during the lateral exam than during the vertical in the spring.

 

[mmarlow123]

I agree with most of the previous comments. I passed the exam last year, so I didnt have to deal with the code switch.. but if I had, im sure the lateral would have been tougher.

None of the states around me have adopted the 2018 ibc yet.

Using the wind and seismic chapters of ASCE 7-10 on a relatively consistent basis at work would have made it tough to study for the exam with ASCE7-16. I've hardly opened ASCE7-16 to date, but do know that the wind provision appears to have changed.

in my short career, asce7-10 has always been the adopted code where I practice, so I havent had to make a code transition so far.