So you are thinking about taking the SE exam in two separate sittings, but you are not sure which exam to take first: Lateral or Vertical. I think the answer to your dilemma is that you take the exam that you have a better shot at passing first because you want to build momentum and confidence before taking the more difficult exam for you. So how do you know which of the two exams you have a better shot at passing if you never took the test before? This post will explain how you can assess your chances of passing and pick the right exam for you to take first.
The key to knowing which exam to take first is your level of knowledge of seismic design. Although the Lateral exam tests your knowledge of both wind and seismic design, seismic takes up a much larger portion of the Lateral exam because there are many special requirements on the capacity side for seismic design. In addition, even though seismic design is the most difficult part of the whole SE exam, it is not commonly practiced by structural engineers across the United States because seismic issues are concentrated mostly on the West Coast. Because of this, I do think practicing engineers in seismic regions have an advantage over other engineers when it comes to Lateral exam. On the other hand, the Vertical exam tests general structural engineering knowledge that is common to ALL regions of the United States so there’s no advantage for one test taker over another. Therefore, I think the Lateral exam will be more difficult for some engineers than others while the Vertical exam should be equally difficult for everyone.
So what’s the answer? If you are a practicing structural engineer doing work in high seismic areas such at California, you should take the Lateral exam first because you will have a better chance of passing it. For me as a practicing engineer in California, I definitely thought the lateral exam was easier even though the materials were harder because I do seismic design all the time at my workplace for a living. Yes, I still had to study (and I suggest you do too as well!), but I already knew I had an advantage over say a structural engineer from Texas because I have had so much real life experience on the subject. When I walked out of the Lateral exam, I had a lot more confidence about passing it than I was walking out of the Vertical exam.
If you have not done much structural work in high seismic regions or if you don’t know seismic design very well, you are better off taking the Vertical exam first because you will have a better chance of passing it since you are on equal footing (no pun intended) with everyone else. You are not competing with engineers that have years of experience on the subject while you had just studied the materials in the last couple of months. In fact, by studying and taking the Vertical exam first, you will learn the structural engineering fundamental concepts that will set a great foundation (again, no pun intended) for you to then tackle the Lateral exam. Since the materials on the Lateral exam are tougher but more specialized, having the confidence from passing the Vertical exam and being able to solely focus on studying the Lateral exam will increase your chance of passing it.
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