For all of those who have taken/passed the S.E. Exam
For all of those who have taken/passed the S.E. Exam
(OP)
I am about to start preparing to study for the P.E. However, I recently read an article in Structure Mag that tried to convince the reader how P.E.'s 40+ in age didn't have to worry about failing the S.E. exam - that it just required a strong study regiment and excellent organization of reference material. The author made it sound enticing, not scary! It got me thinking, would it be a better idea to try out the structural exam now, since I am young and not far removed from school. I was curious of his educational background, and found out he had just a B.S.C.E. What do you S.E.'s (or attempting S.E.'s) think?
If I got paid for every hour I worked, I'd be a wealthy man.






RE: For all of those who have taken/passed the S.E. Exam
I took it as soon as I was able and usually recommend the same (PE too) to all engineers. It was helpful that I was working through my MSE at the time, although I had no life with work, school and SE prep.
IC
RE: For all of those who have taken/passed the S.E. Exam
It's funny. Everyone looks around and thinks, "...if that senile old so and so next to me got his SE in the 70's, it must of been easy...probably just had to spell his name close and they handed him the license"
When I took the Illinois SE in the 70's it was notoriously hard. I'd say 80% failed. But the trick was know your material, make good assumptions and don't go down any bad paths. Engineers who did a lot of calculations found it easier than management types. I'm not sure that reference material organization made much of a difference. I know for a fact that the quantity of reference material didn't help. I saw guys bringing in books with grocery carts.
But you should try the test as soon as you're eligible. The closer you are to the classroom, the easier the subjects you don't do regularly will be. Unfortunately, the cost of the test is so punitive now, that becomes a consideration.
RE: For all of those who have taken/passed the S.E. Exam
If I got paid for every hour I worked, I'd be a wealthy man.
RE: For all of those who have taken/passed the S.E. Exam
I was always told that the exam is set up in such a way that any practicing engineer should be able to pass. I believe that statement is dependent on your experience and where you work. When I took it the exam more focus was on concrete and steel than wood, masonry and other materials. If you were working for a company that only designed using wood or lt guage materials you would find it difficult to pass. Unfortunately I know of someone who is in this situation and he has had a hard time getting through the exam.
Good luck.
RE: For all of those who have taken/passed the S.E. Exam
RE: For all of those who have taken/passed the S.E. Exam
Mike McCann
MMC Engineering
http://mmcengineering.tripod.com
RE: For all of those who have taken/passed the S.E. Exam
M.S. Structural Engineering
Licensed Structural Engineer and Licensed Professional Engineer (Illinois)
RE: For all of those who have taken/passed the S.E. Exam
Further, everything has to be based squarely on the governing codes (clearly), but a recent graduate is rarely tested on the IBC, and a young engineer may not have needed to review every chapter in it during his work experience.
With that said, my advice for any young engineering taking the test is to read the structural chapters of the IBC/ASCE7 page-for-page, study architectural section / "how buildings come together" type books to understand how buildings are detailed, and be able to perform hand analysis comfortably. If you have those nailed down, your chances of getting "stuck" in the exam are lessoned- and time is key.
"We shape our buildings, thereafter they shape us." -WSC
RE: For all of those who have taken/passed the S.E. Exam
That is what I am worried about. I wondered if there was some balance to be had between being well-experienced and fresh out of school before taking it. Lateral analysis and stability worry me, because how often does anybody perform rigorous P-delta analysis?
With that said, does anybody know of some test question examples that could give me a "flavor" of what to expect? I do not want to invest in the full study guides until I am committed to taking it. And, I plan on knowing the IBC 2012 and ASCE-7 like the back of my hand. Maybe, I will take some personal leave to study...
Thanks, guys.
If I got paid for every hour I worked, I'd be a wealthy man.
RE: For all of those who have taken/passed the S.E. Exam
If you know (and can physically draw) the basic detailing behind shear walls / braced frames using all of the material systems, you're well on your way. You won't have much time to search for details and you really won't have much time to erase, redraw, and erase again. Knowing your ASCE-7 will allow you to generate the loads you need quickly.
As a rule of thumb: Be careful in the morning and confident and quick in the afternoon. All the choices on the multiple choice aren't unreasonable (so choose wisely!) and there's a lot of ground to cover during the constructed responses (so run like wind!). Again, the best way to see that is to review the material that NCEES itself puts out.
Good luck!
"We shape our buildings, thereafter they shape us." -WSC
RE: For all of those who have taken/passed the S.E. Exam
Before you doing anything creative, make sure the code likes the artwork you are trying to wow the world with.
RE: For all of those who have taken/passed the S.E. Exam
Know IBC chapters for design. It amends things in the other codes.
Know how to design concrete and know ACI chapter 21.
Know the AISC seismic design manual.
Same goes for masonry and timber.
And same pretty much goes for AASHTO for a lot of common design problems. All of this assumes you want to design buildings. I cannot speak for the bridge test.
The test in my opinion is pretty much code driven as already mentioned. Once you get through school and if you were a good student, you have all the analysis skills you need. Its all about the code and you don't have time to hunt for things. You need to know where they are located and get to the pronto! If you have to learn something on the fly .... forget about it. The only place I know of to learn the codes are read them, study them, and then read them again. Work lots of problems using them. Know them well! Back in school we did not use codes that much with the exception of ACI and AISC 360. Oh we did do some wind code design and I remember hearing the word seismic once or twice.
RE: For all of those who have taken/passed the S.E. Exam
Before you doing anything creative, make sure the code likes the artwork you are trying to wow the world with.
RE: For all of those who have taken/passed the S.E. Exam
The document is availble for free (hard copy and download) here: http://www.fema.gov/library/viewRecord.do?id=2393
"We shape our buildings, thereafter they shape us." -WSC
RE: For all of those who have taken/passed the S.E. Exam
Mike McCann
MMC Engineering
http://mmcengineering.tripod.com
RE: For all of those who have taken/passed the S.E. Exam
>>>Takers of the test sign an agreement as to not disclose the material in it, so I don't think you'll find many specifics online.<<<
Cute. What, specifically, do they hope to accomplish by making people guess at what to prepare for?
RE: For all of those who have taken/passed the S.E. Exam
In Russia building design you!