PASS

Structural Layout Vignette and Multiple Choice

PASS

Postby archejk » Fri Nov 08, 2013 8:21 am

Out of the 6 exams I have taken, this is my first time posting my PASS experience for an exam and I feel that it is needed for the Structural Exam.

Of the exams I have taken, Structures was difficult. I studied off and on for 3 months. It is important that you understand the concepts of structures and don't spend too much time remembering every formula. Know the overall concepts and know the purpose of the formulas, i.e. what are they achieving with the shear formulas, etc.

Study Material:
Ballast
Ballast Q&A
Kaplan
Kaplan 500
FEMA
IBC Chapter 16
Dorf Vignette Book
Mikes Guides
BAR
Structural History (Random PDF documents from the areforum/up)
Span Chart
Tons of random PDF documents are on the areforum/up site too that you may want to look at and ready through quickly
Jenny's Notes (highly important to read this several times)
Flashcards

Strategy:
I read ballast and jenny's notes several times, highlighting the important information the first time through. Read the Kaplan book once because they explain information more than Ballast (not always in a good way). Please note that the Kaplan study information is filled with errors, if you already didn't know that. I did the Ballast and Kaplan Q&A once. I wish I had time to do these exams a few times. I read the rest of the information in the above list at least once. Memorized the flashcards.

I did not do any study classes, i.e. Thaddeus, etc. People recommend them, but if you somewhat understand structures, you can do it yourself, you have all the study material available to you that you need to pass with. I found myself emailing my structural engineer several times asking him to explain what they did with a certain math problem.

Formulas:
Do not memorize all the formulas (note that the exam can test you on anything, so everything is fair game). I would read jenny's notes and she list a series of formulas to memorize. Definitely know those formulas that she calls out. Know the basic formulas; shear, moment, deflection, moment of inertia, moment of elasticity, overturning, torsion (know torsion), etc.

Exam:
I had a large number of math problems that included some type of calculation even if it was multiplication. I skipped all math related questions and came back to them at the end.

Vignette:
Practice the vignette and read the forum from other peoples post. You will understand what to do and what not to do. Get the NCARB vignette down and you are good to go. I finished my vignette in 7 minutes and just sat there for 20 more minutes checking my vignette then left because I didn't want to make any unnecessary changes.

Good luck.
archejk
 
Posts: 24
Joined: Thu Oct 24, 2013 6:00 pm

Re: PASS

Postby matte » Fri Nov 08, 2013 9:21 am

congratulations!!
matte
 
Posts: 451
Joined: Tue Sep 17, 2013 2:39 pm


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