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SE 2

SE 2

(OP)
Hi Guys,
I took the SE 2 on Friday. I went in with the attitude that I need to provide them a good final design for the questions. I felt pretty beatup and didn't have enough time to finish with the quality I'd like. In some panic areas, I think I missed some things too.

How did you guys feel after taking the SE 2 (for those who took it and finaly passed)? Do most engineers come out feeling pretty beat? Did I go in with too much emphisis on getting the final product perfect (like we try to do at work)?

RE: SE 2

It took twice for me to pass it.  It seemed to me like a crapshoot.  You either get something you know how to do or you're toast.  On my first one, they gave us a REALLY hard seismic design problem.  One of my buddies is a seismic nerd ;) from the west coast who'd just moved east and he flunked too, so I didn't feel bad.  By an hour into the afternoon, I knew I was deadmeat.

The second one had easier seismic stuff and a bunch of concrete design, so I came out of there knowing that I passed by a mile.  I had a buddy who hadn't done as much concrete and he wasn't fast enough at those specific tasks, so he flunked that one too.

Anyway--that's how it was when I took it (2001-2002? can't remember exactly).

RE: SE 2

What states are you folks from?

Do you have an application tales?

RE: SE 2

(OP)
I'm from Ohio.  Funny thing is, I felt better about the seismic than anything else smile

RE: SE 2

geez, i'm scared now.

LOL

RE: SE 2

I'm a mid-Atlantic guy.  SE in Illinois.  

It took a while to get the Illinois license, but I screwed up a couple of things on the application.

RE: SE 2

How does the content of the SE1 and SE2 exams differ?

RE: SE 2

The Strl I exam has a lot of easier questions across the breadth of structural engineering.  It includes 20% +/- bridge the last I heard.  The Strl II contains a smaller number of much harder questions.  Most folks I know passed the Strl I the first time, but took multiple tries at the Strl II.  That was 8-10 years ago, so it could be different now.

RE: SE 2

(OP)
If I recall correctly, a few years ago the passing rate was under 10% for the SE 2.  

I see last October the passing rate of first timers was over 60%.  The structural 1 pass rates for first timers was 47%.  

Maybe they are a little easier now?

RE: SE 2

ahunt, perhaps you're right.  I think the Strl II was about 15% the time I took it and the Strl I was around 50%.

I do think it's really cool that one can completely avoid bridges in the Strl II--gotta focus on the positives!

RE: SE 2

(OP)
I was so glad to be able to avoid bridges!

I wonder though, if Oct will go to AISC 13th, and IBC 2006, as well as AISC 7-05?  That will be ugly if we have to re take it.

RE: SE 2

i did notice that the passing rate is generally higher for the S-2 exam than the S-1.  

what dumbfounds me is that the repeat rate for the S-1 is lower than the first time rate.  

RE: SE 2

swivel63, LOL, I think the repeat rate is lower than the first-timers for the Strl I because most of the superstars pass it the first time!  

No offense to anybody who didn't pass it--anybody can have a bad day.

RE: SE 2

LOLOL, that's what i tell myself to make myself feel better.....but all BS aside, i've never understood that.  and it's not lower by just a smidgen, it's lower by a whole lot.

RE: SE 2

so are there any books that one can buy to study for this exam?  i'm taking it in april next year.

RE: SE 2

(OP)
I don't know if I passed it, but I thought the Seismic and Wind examples by Alan Williams did a nice job.

From what I can tell, you just need to know all the referenced codes pretty well.  I also think the NCEES examples do a good job.

In the end, it all comes down to prayer.

A.

RE: SE 2

swivel63: "...but all BS aside, i've never understood that.  and it's not lower by just a smidgen, it's lower by a whole lot."

No, I'm dead serious.  I think it's because the superstars mostly pass it the first time, so they're out of the statistical sample for the repeat tries.  

I'd also speculate that a lot of folks taking it over and over again probably aren't in jobs that are helpful.

RE: SE 2

lol, so you're saying that superstar level engineers are only about 25 to 40 percent of the population?

<== passed it first time

but i would hardly call myself anything close to a superstar just yet.  and i've seen good engineers get bit in the behind by this exam.

*shrugs*

RE: SE 2

swivel63, OK, forget the word "superstar" LOL.

How 'bout this: The "better" candidates more often pass the first time, leaving a smaller percentage of "better" candidates for repeat tries.

I agree that anybody can have a bad day, but that probably doesn't affect the overall percentage.

Heck, I don't even remember the point of all this.

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