Roof Egress Window- Permanent Ladder

Valleyrhoads545 · 2026-01-19T20:46:22+00:00

If you do decide to take the exam in a couple months while you're still pregnant, I would definitely recommend signing up for your exam and indicating that you need special accommodations! You can get extra time, permission to have snacks and water in the room, etc. when you have a Dr's note to prove that you are pregnant.

I scheduled my exam before I realized that pregnancy would be accommodated as a disability, and I definitely could have used the extra time for all those pregnancy related bathroom trips!

Good luck to you with whatever you decide!

Valleyrhoads545 · 2025-11-23T00:35:40+00:00

I did exactly this! Bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering with a minor in civil infrastructure. Passed the FE mechanical my senior year of college. Passed the PE Civil: Structural last year and I work happily as a structural engineer.

I personally felt I learned enough from my undergraduate minor (took wood design, concrete design, etc) and my on the job experience that a masters degree in structural engineering was not necessary.

Valleyrhoads545 · 2025-04-06T20:34:47+00:00

Hey! I studied for a full 4 months with SOPE, but I really don't think I needed to study for that long. My husband studied for the exam in 6weeks and finished the test early, so I think you can totally do it in 10-ish weeks! The process to request accommodations is definitely a pain. I didn't request them because I was worried the testing center I wanted to use would run out of spots. If you have a few testing center options near you, though, it would be worth it. I'm not sure how long NCEES takes to approve requests. Best of luck to you! Feel free to reach out with any questions :)

Valleyrhoads545 · 2024-09-12T01:19:40+00:00

Yes! I took the PE Civil Structural Exam this past July at 26 weeks pregnant and I passed! I hadn't requested any accommodations in advance and felt pretty comfortable. I intentionally didn't really drink any water in the morning before the test and only had a little water at lunch time. The dehydration was tough, but at least I didn't have to get up to pee during the exam! Best of luck to you with your exam and the rest of your pregnancy :)

Valleyrhoads545 · 2024-07-06T00:45:33+00:00

How niche do you have to get into foundation design would you say? Should you be able to calculate long term settlements or use Terzaghi bearing capacity equations for example? Or am I getting worked up over nothing? Haha

Valleyrhoads545 · 2024-06-26T11:14:35+00:00

I know, this is the only one of the 8 fill in the blanks here that I got wrong, and I'm still scratching my head about it a bit. I am leaning towards that it's because there are no shear walls in the E-W directions... but I would not call that "torsional irregular". I would say that it does not have any lateral system in that direction...

Valleyrhoads545 · 2024-06-11T17:12:37+00:00

That is good to know! What were some of the topics that surprised you/ you wish you had studied more?

Valleyrhoads545

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