pe structural i or civil

huangyhg

pe: structural i or civil?
i took the structural i pe exam in october and did not pass. although i feel like i was fairly prepared i was overwhelmed with the time factor. i felt as if i needed a different code book or text book for each problem. texts where flying everywhere! i also felt like the exam writers seemed to focus on some odd (out of the mainstream) topics. i did not feel confident when i left, but i don't know who would after that eight hour exam.
my boss suggested that i take the civil test with the structural afternoon session. we had heard that the abbreviated section was more focused on basics and less focused on some of the obscure topics. i know these topics are not obscure to everyone, but at our firm we do not practice bridge design or pre-cast design (for example).
my undergraduate degree is mechanical... and i have been working for this structural firm since i was a sophmore in college.
my advisor seems to think i can 'pick up' the hydrology, traffic, and environmental portions of the morning civil exam.
has anyone taken this civil exam that might have some thoughts?
thank you in advance for your time and help.
you may be able to "pick up" these other subjects, but not without significant study as well as more reference books to bring along.  i would work a lot harder so that you are very confident going in to the next test, not just "fairly prepared".  this is very important to your career as well as your pocket book.  plan to put in all the effort it requires, which is probably more than you realize, so you can go in there, be confident and pass the test next time around.
cedent, did you buy a pe study guide and exam samples?  that should cover everything like hydrolgy, traffic, environmental science, structural, geo technical etc.  i think if you really do read the whole book and take all the practice exams, you should pass the exam.  i have not taken the exam yet but thats my plan!  
thank you for your comments. i did purchase review books for the structural exam. we have some civil review books around the office that i can look at.
i did several kaplan review books for the structural exam and i felt as if the kaplan books focused on entirely different subjects. the basic structural review manual focused heavily on the building system as a whole, lateral loads (development, application, and resisting systems), and seismic content.
compared to what i had heard, i thought the seismic content on the test i took was low.  i almost felt as if i would have been better prepared for the structural ii.
coengineeer, if you haven't taken the test yet i would recommend that you get a review book that is representative of the actual question format as well as something like the kaplan. i did not work enough problems in the multiple choice format. i will either purchase the 6 min. solutions or the ncees sample problem book this time.
i just submitted my application and they might not approve it.  as soon as i find out i can take it, i will start studying.
cedent - i have taught a review course to prepare candidates for the pe civil (structural) exam. some took the structural i exam instead. unless you plan to take the structural ii exam at some time in the future, i suggest taking your boss's advice.
the afternoon problems on pe civil (structural) more general and, therefore, a little easier than structural i problems.
the morning problems for pe civil are are straightforward. the important thing is to study the basics of the five subjects covered in the morning. whether you do this yourself (with a good study guide), or by taking a course is not too important - just do so, over a period of time - not just "cramming" in last few days.
if you're a structural engineer, take the structural 1.  eventually, you might want the structural 2, and i don't think you can take that without the structural 1.  besides, you'll be spending time having to relearn a bunch of stuff you'll never use if you're a structural engineer.
besides, it'll put some hair on your chest
lol
if you pass the structural i, are you a "structural engineer" in the state where you registered for the exam?
if not, are you a "structural engineer" when you pass the structural ii?
these seem to be relatively recent developments and i haven't kept up.  in california, civil license and three years of experience with a licensed se are prerequisite to sit for the se exam.  the se exam has two parts, one is the national portion (ncees) which i presume is equivalent to structural ii and the state portion which appears to be informally called structural iii.
slideruleera,
thanks for the advice. i have read many of your posts and you tend to make 'good sense.' i checked out the cable text on your site recently as well. it is a good reference.
i work for a former professor of mine... and i work with former classmates as well. everyone told me many times that they had 100% confidence in me.  i didn't agree, but it sure led up to a let down for everyone. i need to pass a pe test so that i can go back to finishing my master's degree in my 'free time'. i have already taken one semester off to study.
swivel63,
i haven't yet decided what i will do. i feel like i could probably pass the structural i if i took it again. ncees doesn't tell you what passing is, but i have a breakdown and i know that my weak points are concrete and masonry... mostly b/c they take me more time.
i don't want any hair on my chest, it would not look good with my two-piece swim suit.
although i don't practice in a state where structural i and structural ii, are a requirement... i would like to have the flexibility.  who knows, i may continue to torture myself and take both.
thanks all.
in addition, california civil also requires the special seismic exam which is basically structural part a...
if you're planning on working in states that have separate se licenses, you really do need the structural i.  but watch out--i thought i saw some states on the list that required the civil exam first.
if you're going to take the civil, i recommend getting the review cd-rom from ppi2pass (in addition to the famous lindeburg book).  it covers the four non-structural discplines pretty well--as a review.  i re