SS was my last exam and I was nervous about being able to pass it before 6/30. Here was my process:
Exam sequence: CDS, SPD, PPP, BDCS, SD, BS, SS
SS (1st time, 10/17/2017) - Fail
Thaddeus videos
Ballast review manual
Kaplan Q&A (only made it through 1/3 of the questions)
Jenny's notes
NCARB practice exam
SS (2nd time, 4/23/2018) - Pass
Structural Systems by Mehdi Setareh (did the practice problems twice)
Ballast review manual (only reviewed notes that I made from the 1st try)
Ballast Q&A (twice)
Kaplan Q&A (only made it through 1/4 of the questions)
NCARB practice exam
I relied too heavily on Thaddeus the first time to "teach" me everything for the exam. Unfortunately, I needed more of a primer and should've studied more basic ideas/concepts. I cannot stress (pun intended) how much Setareh's book helped me. He goes through all the concepts, processes, and equations really well (in my opinion) and it was easy to follow. I found the Kaplan questions confusing and the mistakes were distracting, both times. Reviewed the vignette briefly the night before the exam.
THANK YOU to everyone, especially Coach and Sparky83 ❤️
Now onto the CSE!
*Edit: my score was posted this morning so that was a Monday test day to a following Wednesday score day.