Passed!!...but Beware the Vignette

Structural Layout Vignette and Multiple Choice

Passed!!...but Beware the Vignette

Postby jdholland9 » Sat Apr 15, 2017 10:39 pm

Happy to say I have passed SS, even happier it was on my first attempt. And even happier it was my last exam! Many thanks to all the people on this forum for helping to getting through this process, especially Coach and Sparky. Your comments/critic has been invaluable.

No lie, multiple choice is tough here, but assuming this is not your 1st exam, you should expect this as business as usual by now. A generous mix of incredibly vague questions combined with plenty WTF questions. My study schedule below:

Read Fema, relevant chapters, and B@R wind/seismic slowly and thoroughly taking notes (easy place to start and provides solid foundation to start)
Thaddeus is by far best for concepts_watched full series through
Reviewed Vignette
Kaplan Q&A really helped to become hammer home the details, something crazy like 480 questions. Fight through them all.
Watched Thaddeus again at 1.8x speed, helped to bring it all together.
More Vignette
Review/practice for the final days.

Total was approximately 6-7 weeks (also working full-time)

Math questions can be reduced to about 10 general types, just know how to do them all and the little tricks/variations they can offer.

HOWEVER: my main advice that I see overlook so often is the vignette. Do not underestimate those last 60 minutes. The practice vignettes/alts help you to learn the rules, but nothing prepares for variations you will see on the exam. IT' IS TOUGH AND WILL FORCE YOU TO CHOOSE THE BEST CHOICE OF A LOT OF BAD OPTIONS. True, this is often how actual practice is, but be mentally ready and over prepared. This is not the section of the exam you want to fail.

My manta for this (and all vignettes) has been, MAKE NCARB FAIL ME. By this I simply mean, know there silly rules, read the program, make sure everything ticks all their boxes, and give a reasonable solution that complies (no design consideration given). I always tried to ensure I would do nothing that would LET them fail me, instead Make them fail me. Maybe it sounds stupid, but it really helped my personality to play by there rules and meet all their requirements.

Best of Luck!!!! Keep pushing through!
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Re: Passed!!...but Beware the Vignette

Postby introversed » Mon Apr 17, 2017 7:44 am

The practice vignettes/alts help you to learn the rules, but nothing prepares for variations you will see on the exam. IT' IS TOUGH AND WILL FORCE YOU TO CHOOSE THE BEST CHOICE OF A LOT OF BAD OPTIONS.


I say just follow the rules of the vignette (keep within the span maximums) which will apply the same regardless of how bizarre the building layout will be. In situations where you have a choice to make and you're nervous, I'd strongly advocate taking the conservative approach, ensuring that you meet the vignette's requirements, even if the resulting design is a little less efficient (more columns that you wish).
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Re: Passed!!...but Beware the Vignette

Postby AREctct » Mon Apr 17, 2017 7:35 pm

Congrats on passing!

Yes, definitely look into the vignette for this exam. I failed the exam from the vignette and passed the dreaded multiple choice. Looking to practice, practice and practice the vignette, but taking a little breather until about a month before my actual exam in June!
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