Well that was fun... now what?

[Titleistguy]

SE lateral ... roller coaster of emotion.

Setting the obvious aside just wanna say congrats to all not for passing but for taking it.

Going to get caught up on my handicap (6.8 at the moment) and some video games.

Hope it went well for everyone!

 

[Be-n]

That is exactly what it is like for me, a roller coaster of emotions! I did vertical. I left the room for the lunch break with a big smile on my face that no one could see under the mask. I felt about it so strong, even better than the whole PE Structural I passed recently. But then I did a such a f...up in PM. I think I am the only one who can openly say what my main mistake was without breaking any NCEES rules. Writing in a wrong pamphlet 3 pages of solution is obviously a bad idea. It costed me the whole 10 minutes to copy the solution over to the right one.... I really needed this time to finish the last problem properly. Now, instead of being calm and happy with the study I’ve done in the last 4 months, I’m really nervous about the result...

to all new SE exam takers, ALWAYS CHECK YOUR PAMPHLET NUMBER!

 

[Titleistguy]

Awww man I’m sorry to hear that - it’s a silly mistake that I’m sure you’d never make 99/100 times. Try not to beat yourself up too much.

When I took lateral first time, although I didn’t write in the wrong book I did even worse .... problem said use C&C part 4 for a wind design .... so I somehow read part 2 and just straight up used the wrong method and once I realized it, darn near cost me 20 mins.

Either way it’s all in the past, so no use in marinating on it, just move on. Secure in the knowledge that everyone makes bone headed mistakes—- you’re just brave enough to share it. #respect

 

[Be-n]

I also wanted to ask everyone, what was the size of desk that you had on your exam?

On PE, I had a a very large folding table, something like 36”x72”. This is what I expected to be a standard.
On this SE, it was only 17” (!!!) by 60”.
I felt extremely squished and was constantly concerned that my binders or test sheet will fell off the table. 17” seems like extremely narrow. I couldn’t even put a binder in front of me without overlapping my test book.
In PM, it was even more challenging as it was impossible to properly lay out in front of me all at the same time my test book with questions, open pamphlet, and building code with the study binder.

 

[Engineerbabu]

I think the size of the table depends on the Exam Site. The tables were large enough in Houston and Dallas but the one in North Carolina was small.

 

[EBAT75]

So you measured the table with the ruler you were going to sketch with!

The table we had was also like that. There are no standards or specifications for exam tables. Each site has its furniture meant for their core operations. Years ago, when I took the PE, I had to sit on a chair meant for small children.

With CBT the number of examinees is much less at the exam centers now. The space requirement for SE examinees is quite different from others. Hopefully, it gets better.

 

[Be-n]

So you measured the table with the ruler you were going to sketch with!

The table we had was also like that. There are no standards or specifications for exam tables. Each site has its furniture meant for their core operations. Years ago, when I took the PE, I had to sit on a chair meant for small children.

With CBT the number of examinees is much less at the exam centers now. The space requirement for SE examinees is quite different from others. Hopefully, it gets better.

Yes, I quickly measured the table with the scale for sketching before the exam started .
I need to take it into a consideration next time when I do practice exams at home as it takes a little different way of organizing things around your work station.
I did PE on the same site and expected the room and tables to be the same on SE, but they changed everything there, building number, room, size of tables. Everything was a lot better on PE.

 

[thedaywa1ker]

Let the F5'ing commence...

 

[DoctorWho-PE]

I did vertical on the stage of a performance center. It was.... strange. Plenty of light, but pretty concentrated. It filtered through my eye lashes and made things hard to read. It was cold, yet warm. Pretty echo-y. Lateral was in the same room lateral was in in October. The proctor kept calling me Heather.

 

[E720]

After the PM portion of the lateral exam, 4 of my fellow examinees all stood up, looked at each other, and basically all said at the same time "What in the world was that Xth question all about?". I think there were many obvious errors in the exam this time (to be fair I am sure they will find plenty of obvious errors in my responses).

We had very large folding tables with room enough for me to lay out all my books on the back of it and have the front half for test, answer sheet, codes, etc. We also took the test in the ballroom of a 4 star hotel, harpist playing in the lobby when you walk in, mini-chandeliers in each individual bathroom stall, green marble walls separating the bathroom stalls, limos pulling in and out constantly, valets opening the doors for you.

 

[Be-n]

After the PM portion of the lateral exam, 4 of my fellow examinees all stood up, looked at each other, and basically all said at the same time "What in the world was that Xth question all about?". I think there were many obvious errors in the exam this time (to be fair I am sure they will find plenty of obvious errors in my responses).

We had very large folding tables with room enough for me to lay out all my books on the back of it and have the front half for test, answer sheet, codes, etc. We also took the test in the ballroom of a 4 star hotel, harpist playing in the lobby when you walk in, mini-chandeliers in each individual bathroom stall, green marble walls separating the bathroom stalls, limos pulling in and out constantly, valets opening the doors for you.

Sounds like a perfect test site!

About finding plenty of errors in your responses, do you mean your responses on the exam or your comments about the errors you sent after the exam to NCEES?

Have anyone had good experience of communicating with NCEES about what you think was an error on the exam?

 

[Be-n]

After the PM portion of the lateral exam, 4 of my fellow examinees all stood up, looked at each other, and basically all said at the same time "What in the world was that Xth question all about?". I think there were many obvious errors in the exam this time (to be fair I am sure they will find plenty of obvious errors in my responses).

We had very large folding tables with room enough for me to lay out all my books on the back of it and have the front half for test, answer sheet, codes, etc. We also took the test in the ballroom of a 4 star hotel, harpist playing in the lobby when you walk in, mini-chandeliers in each individual bathroom stall, green marble walls separating the bathroom stalls, limos pulling in and out constantly, valets opening the doors for you.

I took vertical and I think the exam content was very reasonable.
I can’t complain about anything other than my own lack of paying attention to the little details and not covering some obvious topics that were not covered in my prep class.

 

[EBAT75]

Let the F5'ing commence...

If you start too soon, you will wear out the F5 key and it may not be there for you when you need it.

 

[Tiger15]

The proctor kept calling me Heather.

When you pass your new good-luck nickname will be Heather. We will call upon Heather whenever you need good fortune!

 

[organix]

After the PM portion of the lateral exam, 4 of my fellow examinees all stood up, looked at each other, and basically all said at the same time "What in the world was that Xth question all about?". I think there were many obvious errors in the exam this time (to be fair I am sure they will find plenty of obvious errors in my responses).

Part d) of the first one? Either I totally misunderstood the question or the expected result is entirely absurd.

 

[DoctorWho-PE]

There was one that said something was for part C. It was not for part C.

 

[DoctorWho-PE]

Sounds like a perfect test site!

About finding plenty of errors in your responses, do you mean your responses on the exam or your comments about the errors you sent after the exam to NCEES?

Have anyone had good experience of communicating with NCEES about what you think was an error on the exam?

Go to the NCEES site and report it with as much detail as you can remember. There was aPE question when I took it that was based off an ASTM standard, and that was not a required reference, so I felt it was off limits. You will not get any follow-up.

 

[mmarlow123]

I took lateral yesterday. I can think of a mistake or two that I made (i realized on my ride home that I really neglected some stuff on the wood one ), but, in hindsight I felt the PM portion was fair and I didnt pick up on any exam errors. I'm sure I'll be retaking it because I'm pretty sure my wood responses were unacceptable.

 

[EBAT75]

I also felt there were moments when I questioned what I was reading but I am choosing to clear my storage memory for better things. IMHO, remembering these past questions do not amount to much. The constructed questions are not so real life that each exam will have its own set of conditions to see if the examinee is able to conceptualize the problem and solve it within time allocated.

My feeling is that this is intentional because if they provide some run-of-the-mill layout and ask for same for solutions, they may not be getting what they want - thinking on one’s feet.

 

[Titleistguy]

I did vertical on the stage of a performance center. It was.... strange. Plenty of light, but pretty concentrated. It filtered through my eye lashes and made things hard to read. It was cold, yet warm. Pretty echo-y. Lateral was in the same room lateral was in in October. The proctor kept calling me Heather.

How did you resist singing lines from Hamilton or Rent!? I need to know!!!