For those discovering they didn't pass...

Professional Engineer & PE Exam Forum

Help Support Professional Engineer & PE Exam Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
I have mixed feelings about failing Oct 2015 exam. I felt good right after the exam, even finished PM early. On my way home I was thinking about some of these questions, and didn't feel as confident as I was in the exam room... more time was passing by more questions I wasn't sure about.

I did study, but not a lot to be honest. I took School of PE prep classes and relay of it. Notes helped me, but it didn't cover everything. Few questions on the exam were not even mentioned in School of PE classes or notes at all.

How did you guys know how well you did in AM and PM? I have diagnostic page with 18 areas, so my overall score is 63% (53/80). Few areas are 100%.

Well, I wish I could say I am done, but I am not. Will be studying harder this time. And will be adding more tabs to my notes and material for easier navigation.

Worst part now is to tell family, friends and coworkers... def not the news I want to share right before holidays. Sad :(

 
I see you're civil... what was your area of focus for PM?

If I had failed, I'd be getting Goswami's text to study off of for the next time. I think working the 6 minute solutions was my biggest help. The ones that were most difficult for me I did over and over until I thoroughly understood the concept.

 
This is my second failure.  For some reason this one was easier to swallow than the first.  The good news is I improved 7 points overall.  I prepared really well for the Geotech afternoon which was my weak area the first time.  Like others, I found the Oct 15 morning more difficult which hurt.  If you had taken my morning from April and my afternoon from October then I would be on a different forum, but that's not the way the cookie crumbles.

In the end, all you can do is press on.

 
I just wanted to say I know it's tough seeing that red fail sign looking back at you. I took the civil construction exam three times before I passed and every time I saw that on my screen it crushed me. For a week or two I was mopy depressed mess then I shook off the dust and tried to figure out where to start and what I needed to change to better my odds.  Just know that sometimes its not the success that defines you its the troubles had you while you were getting there. This exam is not impossible it can be passed don't give up!

 
I see you're civil... what was your area of focus for PM?

If I had failed, I'd be getting Goswami's text to study off of for the next time. I think working the 6 minute solutions was my biggest help. The ones that were most difficult for me I did over and over until I thoroughly understood the concept.
I was taking Transportation. Did well on most Transportation related topics, but wasn't that good on Geotech, Hydraulics and Materials.

Oh well, for some reason I am not depressed. Sad, but I kind of expected it. I am not the lucky person by any mean, so guessing is not my thing :)

Good luck to all of us who didn't pass this time. We will do better next time!

 
This is sort of off-topic, but I see everyone posting screen shots showing their FE results in addition to PE/SE/Etc on the NCEES.  My FE doesn't show on my profile.  I took and passed it quite a while ago, I know it was administered through NCEES but I'm guessing it was prior to NCEES running things through an online account, I don't rightfully remember, I just have the certificate showing I passed with my engineer inteern certificate number... dumb question but how do I go about requesting that exam is added to my NCEES account profile.  

 
This is sort of off-topic, but I see everyone posting screen shots showing their FE results in addition to PE/SE/Etc on the NCEES.  My FE doesn't show on my profile.  I took and passed it quite a while ago, I know it was administered through NCEES but I'm guessing it was prior to NCEES running things through an online account, I don't rightfully remember, I just have the certificate showing I passed with my engineer inteern certificate number... dumb question but how do I go about requesting that exam is added to my NCEES account profile.  
Try the "chat" feature in your dashboard and see what they say. I'm guessing your EIT results are in analog format. 

 
I was taking Transportation. Did well on most Transportation related topics, but wasn't that good on Geotech, Hydraulics and Materials.

Oh well, for some reason I am not depressed. Sad, but I kind of expected it. I am not the lucky person by any mean, so guessing is not my thing :)

Good luck to all of us who didn't pass this time. We will do better next time!
I took transportation too. I have no idea what my score could be because my state doesn't release that info, but if you got 53/80 I'm thinking the cut score must be 55 and you just barely missed it. I'm not sure if that makes you feel better or not though... but it could mean the tiniest bit of extra studying could result in a pass next time. Good luck!

 
I have mixed feelings about failing Oct 2015 exam. I felt good right after the exam, even finished PM early. On my way home I was thinking about some of these questions, and didn't feel as confident as I was in the exam room... more time was passing by more questions I wasn't sure about.

I did study, but not a lot to be honest. I took School of PE prep classes and relay of it. Notes helped me, but it didn't cover everything. Few questions on the exam were not even mentioned in School of PE classes or notes at all.

How did you guys know how well you did in AM and PM? I have diagnostic page with 18 areas, so my overall score is 63% (53/80). Few areas are 100%.

Well, I wish I could say I am done, but I am not. Will be studying harder this time. And will be adding more tabs to my notes and material for easier navigation.

Worst part now is to tell family, friends and coworkers... def not the news I want to share right before holidays. Sad :(
Lolla,

That hurts! You barely missed the cut score I guess. You needed two more correct answer! other than your family and boss (or helper), you don't need to tell anyone unless someone asks you. Sounds weird but It's like "Don't ask don't policy" for other people who is not going to part of your study plan or success. Good luck on your next try. 

 
70 % am 47% pm geotech :(
Keep your head up! I failed my first try and I took geotech as well. I ended up with a 31 out of 40 in the am and like a 21 out of 40 in the afternoon. My first go around I spent a solid two months crunching problems after problems but it wasn't enough. In my opinion you can crunch problems until your blue in the face but if you dont have a true understanding of the topics your chances of passing are alot less. 

This time around I took a class and I passed. Also, another big help for the afternoon section were the Das/Bowels books I brought in as a reference. The class prepared me for both the AM/PM sections but the Das books really helped me for the geotechnical afternoon. I was very shocked last time that I didnt pass because I was crunching so many problems but I took a different approach this time and passed. Also, I think I studied less this time then I did the first; just focus more on understanding and learning topics then just pumping out problems like a zombie.  

 
Keep your head up! I failed my first try and I took geotech as well. I ended up with a 31 out of 40 in the am and like a 21 out of 40 in the afternoon. My first go around I spent a solid two months crunching problems after problems but it wasn't enough. In my opinion you can crunch problems until your blue in the face but if you dont have a true understanding of the topics your chances of passing are alot less. 

This time around I took a class and I passed. Also, another big help for the afternoon section were the Das/Bowels books I brought in as a reference. The class prepared me for both the AM/PM sections but the Das books really helped me for the geotechnical afternoon. I was very shocked last time that I didnt pass because I was crunching so many problems but I took a different approach this time and passed. Also, I think I studied less this time then I did the first; just focus more on understanding and learning topics then just pumping out problems like a zombie.  
Agree with KMart. I also used and took Das and Bowels books as references. Besides I also used Coduto book and ASCE Handbook on Foundation. Each book was very useful. For Geitech, one textbook is never sufficient. You may have to study one topic from one book, another topic from a different book, and so on. I did not take any course. By the way, have a good engineering dictionary as well. 

 
What books did you refer to for the electrical power PE exam and did not manage to pass ? I should have read Wildi's book with more time for sure.

 
Guys,

TBPE shows me a score of 66 for PE (Electrical). what does that mean? Any help

 
I have mixed feelings about failing Oct 2015 exam. I felt good right after the exam, even finished PM early. On my way home I was thinking about some of these questions, and didn't feel as confident as I was in the exam room... more time was passing by more questions I wasn't sure about.

I did study, but not a lot to be honest. I took School of PE prep classes and relay of it. Notes helped me, but it didn't cover everything. Few questions on the exam were not even mentioned in School of PE classes or notes at all.

How did you guys know how well you did in AM and PM? I have diagnostic page with 18 areas, so my overall score is 63% (53/80). Few areas are 100%.

Well, I wish I could say I am done, but I am not. Will be studying harder this time. And will be adding more tabs to my notes and material for easier navigation.

Worst part now is to tell family, friends and coworkers... def not the news I want to share right before holidays. Sad :(
53/80 =66%....how come you got a63%..

is there any diff way NCEES figure out % score?..

 
Agree with KMart. I also used and took Das and Bowels books as references. Besides I also used Coduto book and ASCE Handbook on Foundation. Each book was very useful. For Geitech, one textbook is never sufficient. You may have to study one topic from one book, another topic from a different book, and so on. I did not take any course. By the way, have a good engineering dictionary as well. 
Can you please clarify which references for Das, Bowels, Coduto?  And for ASCE are you talking about ASCE 7-10?  Thank you.

 
Can you please clarify which references for Das, Bowels, Coduto?  And for ASCE are you talking about ASCE 7-10?  Thank you.
For soil mechanics and general foundation engineering I used Das book, for bearing capacity and advanced level footings I users Bowels, and for piles it was Coduto. ASCE press has a Handbook on Foundation Engineering. I did not follow the ASCE 7-10 or any code book. For Geotech, I don't think you need any code book. By the way, read text, footnote, etc. from these textbook. Some people say solve only problems. I would say read all those prints and fine prints when you solve problems. If you do not work in the field (it was the case for me), go and visit some construction sites.  Let say, go to a road construction, bridge piling, even a new house construction site. Believe me you will appreciate such field trips.

 
I need some help. I took my PE-civil (transportation depth). I did not perform well in the morning. The PM was ok.

I took school of PE. I didn't help me much in the morning. Especially none for the Hydraulic questions, site development and material questions.

I need some advise to what course to take?

I heard EET-California is excellent. School of PE, I am not sure if they will change the practice problems that they have.

Also I heard testmasters (they are live classes, kind of hard to do it with work schedule)

Any suggestions..about EET-California..Thanks

 
I need some help. I took my PE-civil (transportation depth). I did not perform well in the morning. The PM was ok.

I took school of PE. I didn't help me much in the morning. Especially none for the Hydraulic questions, site development and material questions.

I need some advise to what course to take?

I heard EET-California is excellent. School of PE, I am not sure if they will change the practice problems that they have.

Also I heard testmasters (they are live classes, kind of hard to do it with work schedule)

Any suggestions..about EET-California..Thanks
Lindberg's CRM should be sufficient for AM. One of friends told me that testmaster was good for him. He took Structures though. I agree with the comments with Hydraulics. Should study hydraulics well as it covers significant portion in AM.

 

Latest posts

Back
Top