The New SE CBT Exam: The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly With Brandon Dashwood

The New SE CBT Exam: The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly With Brandon Dashwood

If you thought the PE was tough, wait until you hear everything Brandon Dashwood has to say about the SE exam after taking it himself. (Hint: it’s not good news. 😬)

Brandon is a Structural Engineer at PARADIGM Structural Engineers who’s deep in the grind of passing the most brutal exam in the civil engineering world — the SE Exam. The catch?

The exam has now gone from pencil-and-paper to computer-based (CBT), and the whole exam experience is now, let’s just say…a big mess! 😅

From becoming closed-book to a clunky interface to a new way to do what used to be the written portion, Brandon gives a first-hand look at what the new CBT SE Exam is really like — the good, the bad, and the downright frustrating.

If you’re a structural engineer planning to go that route and take the SE, this conversation gives you a candid look behind the curtain of the new format and all the aspects of it that you need to know for when your time comes.

Tune in to learn what the new SE exam is really like — and all the bugs that the NCEES will need to be looking into.


🧠 TUNE IN TO LEARN:

  • The Restrictions for PEs That Make the SE Required for Different Types of Work
  • 2 Reasons Why You'll Want to Get the SE Despite the Work It Requires
  • What the SE Exam Used to Be Like & How It Was Scored
  • How the SE Exam Works Now With the New CBT Format
  • 2 Downsides of the CBT Format for the SE Exam
  • The Even-Lower Pass Rates for the SE Exam in the CBT Format
  • How the Written Portion of the SE Changed (And Became More Frustrating!)
  • His Own Experience Passing 3 Out of the 4 Sections of the Exam
  • How the SE Exam Results and Diagnostic Report are Released
  • The Third (and Biggest!) Downside of the SE in the CBT Format
  • How Does the NCEES Grade the SE Exam?
  • His 3 Recommendations for How the SE Exam Should Actually be Administered
  • What The NCEES Should've Done Before Rolling out the New Format to the Public
  • Does the SE Exam Have Its Own Handbook, Like the PE?
  • Will the NCEES Work Out the Kinks in the (Flawed) CBT Format?
  • How Much It Costs to Take the New CBT SE Exam
  • Why He Keeps Trying to Pass His Last Portion Even Though the Exam Is Flawed
  • His Sincere Hope for this New Exam Format Regarding the Entire Industry


🔗 RESOURCES MENTIONED:

  • PARADIGM Structural Engineers

    University of California, Davis


    💬 CONNECT WITH BRANDON:

  • LinkedIn

    bdashwood@paradigmse.com


    🎁 OUR FREEBIES FOR YOU:

    The Civil FE Startup Guide

    The Civil PE Startup Guide

    FREE CFM® Course Module


    🖥️ OUR REVIEW COURSES:

    Civil FE Review Course

    Civil PE Review Courses

    CFM® Review Course


    📚 OUR PRACTICE EXAMS:

    FE Practice Exams

    FE CBT Exam Simulator

    PE Bonus Theory Questions

    PE Practice Exams

    PE CBT Exam Simulator

    CFM® Practice Exam

    FE Environmental Practice Exam

    PE Environmental Practice Exam


    📱 CONNECT WITH CEA!

    Website

    Newsletter

    Free CEA Community

    LinkedIn
    YouTube Channel

    support@civilengineeringacademy.com

    Jaksot(328)

    An Immigrant Engineer’s Path to Passing the PE Against All Odds with Hadi Azzawi

    An Immigrant Engineer’s Path to Passing the PE Against All Odds with Hadi Azzawi

    Passing the PE Exam is one thing, but doing it as an immigrant, with language barriers, and after hitting a wall multiple times before already?! That’s a whole nother story — and it’s real! 😲In this ...

    28 Touko 202530min

    Find Your WHY: The True “Secret” to Passing the FE or PE Exam

    Find Your WHY: The True “Secret” to Passing the FE or PE Exam

    Prepping for your exam isn’t a walk in the park. It’s hard. It  takes discipline. And you’ll want to quit more than once. (Been there. 😞) So, how can those who pass possibly keep going?! 😟It’s not a...

    21 Touko 202514min

    Colin Tinsley's Journey from 5 Attempts at the Construction PE Exam to Firm Owner

    Colin Tinsley's Journey from 5 Attempts at the Construction PE Exam to Firm Owner

    From frustrated PE examinee after 4 failed tries to…wait for it…future firm owner?! 😲 That’s exactly what you read!Our guest today is Colin Tinsley, who took the Construction PE exam not once, not tw...

    14 Touko 202527min

    Port of Corpus Christi's Use of Digital Twin Tech With Darrell Keach and Rex Hansen

    Port of Corpus Christi's Use of Digital Twin Tech With Darrell Keach and Rex Hansen

    The concept of “Smart Cities” is here! 🚨 Immersive digital twins to replicate and augment reality with real-time data is not the future — it's happening right now at the Port of Corpus Christi! 😱In ...

    7 Touko 202541min

    America’s Infrastructure Just Got Its Grades (And They're Not All Bad!)

    America’s Infrastructure Just Got Its Grades (And They're Not All Bad!)

    🚨 Attention! 🚨 The ASCE just dropped their latest Infrastructure Report Card…and in this episode, we break it down for you so you know where the work (and money!) is headed! 😉The ASCE Infrastructur...

    30 Huhti 202529min

    How Aggie Li Crushed the Civil FE on the First Try While Still in School

    How Aggie Li Crushed the Civil FE on the First Try While Still in School

    What’s it like to crush the Civil FE Exam on the first try, with less than two months of exam prep…all while still juggling a full course load in grad school?! 😮Just ask Aggie Li. 👇Aggie is a civil ...

    24 Huhti 202526min

    The Engineering of Communication Towers With Sudarshan Kasera, PE, PMP

    The Engineering of Communication Towers With Sudarshan Kasera, PE, PMP

    Here’s a career path that doesn’t even come to mind when you hear “Structural Engineering,” but uses the same basic knowledge and it’s just as lucrative — Telecommunications. 📡 👇This week, we sit do...

    15 Huhti 202524min

    Building, Running, and Growing a Civil Engineering Firm with Kevin Franson

    Building, Running, and Growing a Civil Engineering Firm with Kevin Franson

    If you’re the entrepreneurial type of civil engineer with (big) plans to open your own “shop” some day and scale it, this episode pulls the curtain on everything you need to know for that journey.For ...

    9 Huhti 202528min

    Suosittua kategoriassa Koulutus

    rss-murhan-anatomia
    voi-hyvin-meditaatiot-2
    rss-narsisti
    rss-uskonto-on-tylsaa
    rss-liian-kuuma-peruna
    rss-vapaudu-voimaasi
    psykopodiaa-podcast
    psykologia
    adhd-podi
    rss-valo-minussa-2
    aamukahvilla
    kesken
    rss-duodecim-lehti
    rahapuhetta
    rss-tietoinen-yhteys-podcast-2
    rss-hereilla
    dear-ladies
    filocast-filosofian-perusteet
    ihminen-tavattavissa-tommy-hellsten-instituutti
    rss-taloustaito-podcast