Cutoff score for Power exam?

Hi.

I've become pretty frustrated that NCEES doesn't provide any guidance at how many questions you need to get right to pass the EE Power exam. I understand that the exact score changes every year and with every test, and NCEES doesn't want to get tied into a number. But it would be really helpful to know if I need to get about 50% right versus 90% right. Until today I had NO idea approximately how many I needed.

I stumbled across this helpful conversation on the site:

http://engineerboards.com/index.php?showtopic=16047

It lists failing scores for all the different types of tests. Unfortunately there are only 3 power scores listed, 45, 47, 46. So I need at least 47 to pass (59%). Has anyone else found ANY information about what the cutoff score tends to be? I didn't find any recent conversations on this board about the subject. Thanks for any insight.

ElecPwrPEOct11 said:

Hi.I've become pretty frustrated that NCEES doesn't provide any guidance at how many questions you need to get right to pass the EE Power exam. I understand that the exact score changes every year and with every test, and NCEES doesn't want to get tied into a number. But it would be really helpful to know if I need to get about 50% right versus 90% right. Until today I had NO idea approximately how many I needed.

I stumbled across this helpful conversation on the site:

http://engineerboards.com/index.php?showtopic=16047

It lists failing scores for all the different types of tests. Unfortunately there are only 3 power scores listed, 45, 47, 46. So I need at least 47 to pass (59%). Has anyone else found ANY information about what the cutoff score tends to be? I didn't find any recent conversations on this board about the subject. Thanks for any insight.

Click to expand...

70% is passing. Why worry about something you cannot control such as the cutoff score. To get 70% out of 80 questions you need to get 56 questions correct. So if you can answer 48 questions and know they are right, that gives you a score of 60%. Then there are 32 questions that you are unsure of, if you randomly guess you should get 8 of those questions right. Which will give you 48 + 8 = 56 questions correct which is 70 %. If the cutoff score is lower than 56 questions correct, which you will not know, this will give you some additional margin. Shoot for getting 48 questions absolutely correct and the odds are that you will get at least 56 correct and pass.

My Two Cents.

Good post & logic. Personally I'm shooting for 75% correct but would like to have a solid grasp of how close the cutoff score is. We know it's >59%, but do we know it's <75%?

I just don't understand why NCEES doesn't provide any guidance on this when people are spending literally thousands of dollars to prepare and take this test. It's ridiculous that NCEES doesn't even say- "the cutoff is at least 50% correct. The test is hard enough as it is, but it's even harder to hit a target when you're shooting blind.

ElecPwrPEOct11 said:

Good post & logic. Personally I'm shooting for 75% correct but would like to have a solid grasp of how close the cutoff score is. We know it's >59%, but do we know it's <75%?
I just don't understand why NCEES doesn't provide any guidance on this when people are spending literally thousands of dollars to prepare and take this test. It's ridiculous that NCEES doesn't even say- "the cutoff is at least 50% correct. The test is hard enough as it is, but it's even harder to hit a target when you're shooting blind.

Click to expand...

My plan during the exam is to make 3 passes through the exam in the morning and do the same for the afternoon part. During my 1st pass through the exam, I will either solve the problem because I know how to do it, or mark it with an "A" for I can solve it but need to look stuff up which will take more than 6 min, or mark it "B" that I have never seen this type of problem. My second pass will do the "A" marked problems and then my third pass I will do the "B" marked problems. My goal is to have a total number greater than 48 problems that I solved between the morning and afternoon parts on the 1st pass. If that number is 48 or greater, I will know that I most likely passed. If it is less than 48, I will sweat it during the months of Nov and Dec waiting for the results and probably start to get ready for the exam again in April.

EEVA said:

ElecPwrPEOct11 said:

Good post & logic. Personally I'm shooting for 75% correct but would like to have a solid grasp of how close the cutoff score is. We know it's >59%, but do we know it's <75%?
I just don't understand why NCEES doesn't provide any guidance on this when people are spending literally thousands of dollars to prepare and take this test. It's ridiculous that NCEES doesn't even say- "the cutoff is at least 50% correct. The test is hard enough as it is, but it's even harder to hit a target when you're shooting blind.

Click to expand...

My plan during the exam is to make 3 passes through the exam in the morning and do the same for the afternoon part. During my 1st pass through the exam, I will either solve the problem because I know how to do it, or mark it with an "A" for I can solve it but need to look stuff up which will take more than 6 min, or mark it "B" that I have never seen this type of problem. My second pass will do the "A" marked problems and then my third pass I will do the "B" marked problems. My goal is to have a total number greater than 48 problems that I solved between the morning and afternoon parts on the 1st pass. If that number is 48 or greater, I will know that I most likely passed. If it is less than 48, I will sweat it during the months of Nov and Dec waiting for the results and probably start to get ready for the exam again in April.

Click to expand...

I like this. I had a similar plan all along.

EEVA said:

ElecPwrPEOct11 said:

Good post & logic. Personally I'm shooting for 75% correct but would like to have a solid grasp of how close the cutoff score is. We know it's >59%, but do we know it's <75%?
I just don't understand why NCEES doesn't provide any guidance on this when people are spending literally thousands of dollars to prepare and take this test. It's ridiculous that NCEES doesn't even say- "the cutoff is at least 50% correct. The test is hard enough as it is, but it's even harder to hit a target when you're shooting blind.

Click to expand...

My plan during the exam is to make 3 passes through the exam in the morning and do the same for the afternoon part. During my 1st pass through the exam, I will either solve the problem because I know how to do it, or mark it with an "A" for I can solve it but need to look stuff up which will take more than 6 min, or mark it "B" that I have never seen this type of problem. My second pass will do the "A" marked problems and then my third pass I will do the "B" marked problems. My goal is to have a total number greater than 48 problems that I solved between the morning and afternoon parts on the 1st pass. If that number is 48 or greater, I will know that I most likely passed. If it is less than 48, I will sweat it during the months of Nov and Dec waiting for the results and probably start to get ready for the exam again in April.

Click to expand...

I had a plan to do certain problems first, then another type, etc. I found that I actually worked straight through the exam. I skipped only a few to come back to later - most of those I just ended up guessing.

as many of these cut score thread end up...what does it matter what the cut score is? yes people spend lots of money preparing for the test...so what. you are only going to work a little harder to get that extra question to push above min as opposed to trying to get as close to 100 as possible?

don't waste the mind power thinking about it and spent that time studying...the cut score will never be revealed.

snickerd3 said:

as many of these cut score thread end up...what does it matter what the cut score is? yes people spend lots of money preparing for the test...so what. you are only going to work a little harder to get that extra question to push above min as opposed to trying to get as close to 100 as possible?
don't waste the mind power thinking about it and spent that time studying...the cut score will never be revealed.

Click to expand...

lusone:

Just get them all right and you don't have to worry about it.

snickerd3 said:

as many of these cut score thread end up...what does it matter what the cut score is? yes people spend lots of money preparing for the test...so what. you are only going to work a little harder to get that extra question to push above min as opposed to trying to get as close to 100 as possible?
don't waste the mind power thinking about it and spent that time studying...the cut score will never be revealed.

Click to expand...

Ditto. I never spent any time worrying about the cut score. I studied my a$$ off with a target of 80 correct answers. I know fool well I didn't get all 80 correct but I'd rather fall a little short of a bar set higher than the minimum required to pass. :2cents:

Flyer_PE said:

snickerd3 said:

as many of these cut score thread end up...what does it matter what the cut score is? yes people spend lots of money preparing for the test...so what. you are only going to work a little harder to get that extra question to push above min as opposed to trying to get as close to 100 as possible?
don't waste the mind power thinking about it and spent that time studying...the cut score will never be revealed.

Click to expand...

Ditto. I never spent any time worrying about the cut score. I studied my a$$ off with a target of 80 correct answers. I know fool well I didn't get all 80 correct but I'd rather fall a little short of a bar set higher than the minimum required to pass. :2cents:

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If you want a better explanation than the ones on those two posts? Forget it. There is none.

12

Looking at my diagnostic results, I came to the conclusion that I needed to score a 58/80 to pass the Power exam in WA state this past April 2011. Because you only get a bar of where you scored compared to those who passed, this is purely a guesstimate.

MadDawg said:

12

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But you forgot to post the units. Its a complex conversion utilizing kPa, board-feet, and a dimensionless conversion factor of 3.54i.

Dark Knight said:

Flyer_PE said:

snickerd3 said:

as many of these cut score thread end up...what does it matter what the cut score is? yes people spend lots of money preparing for the test...so what. you are only going to work a little harder to get that extra question to push above min as opposed to trying to get as close to 100 as possible?
don't waste the mind power thinking about it and spent that time studying...the cut score will never be revealed.

Click to expand...

Ditto. I never spent any time worrying about the cut score. I studied my a$$ off with a target of 80 correct answers. I know fool well I didn't get all 80 correct but I'd rather fall a little short of a bar set higher than the minimum required to pass. :2cents:

Click to expand...

If you want a better explanation than the ones on those two posts? Forget it. There is none.

Click to expand...

I agree that I'm not trying to just barely pass the exam, so a cut score of 50 vs 55 isn't critical. However when I'm studying it is very pertinent to know how many I should be getting right in order to be confident I'm 'game ready'. Ex- when I take the practice exam from NCEES do I need to get 70% or 90% right to have a good chance at passing the exam? If I need to get 90% right but only get 60% when I take the practice test then I know that I have a LOT of work to do to be ready for the exam. Especially since studying is typically an instance of diminishing returns where it takes a lot more effort to improve from 80% to 90% than 50% to 60%, so knowing approximately how high you need to score can save you a LOT of study time, stress, and aggravation.

I agree the exact number of the cut score is not critical, but for diagnostic purposes I do think it is reasonable to have a target number.

PS- I appreciate all of the responses. While it's likely a moot point since NCEES will never change, it is worth discussing among professionals.

ElecPwrPEOct11 said:

I agree that I'm not trying to just barely pass the exam, so a cut score of 50 vs 55 isn't critical. However when I'm studying it is very pertinent to know how many I should be getting right in order to be confident I'm 'game ready'. Ex- when I take the practice exam from NCEES do I need to get 70% or 90% right to have a good chance at passing the exam? If I need to get 90% right but only get 60% when I take the practice test then I know that I have a LOT of work to do to be ready for the exam. Especially since studying is typically an instance of diminishing returns where it takes a lot more effort to improve from 80% to 90% than 50% to 60%, so knowing approximately how high you need to score can save you a LOT of study time, stress, and aggravation.

Click to expand...

If you look at it from the standpoint of NCEES, you really shouldn't have to study your ass off for this exam. It's the principles and practice exam, so you should be using this stuff over the course of 3+ years before you sit for the exam. Of course, all of us know that isn't how it works in the real world, but that is theoretically how it is supposed to work.

As for the quoted text above...every time you take a practice exam, you should thoroughly review everything you get wrong to make sure you don't make the same mistake on the real exam. Whether you get 90% or 50%, you still have studying to do. You probably won't master every subject on the exam, but you should at least try. If you figure out why you screwed up something easy, it may show up on the real exam and that will be an easy point for you.

Trying to figure out a cut score at this point reeks of desperation. After you take the exam, all the second guessing begins and its natural to fret over cut scores. But now, you should be busy trying to shore up your weak subjects and reinforce your strong subjects.

Dexman PE said:

MadDawg said:

12

Click to expand...

But you forgot to post the units. Its a complex conversion utilizing kPa, board-feet, and a dimensionless conversion factor of 3.54i.

Click to expand...

I think you forgot a square root of 3.

snickerd3 said:

as many of these cut score thread end up...what does it matter what the cut score is? yes people spend lots of money preparing for the test...so what. you are only going to work a little harder to get that extra question to push above min as opposed to trying to get as close to 100 as possible?
don't waste the mind power thinking about it and spent that time studying...the cut score will never be revealed.

Click to expand...

I agree. Don't build a strategy to perform to the cut score, build a strategy for succeess. Success in this case is to answer the majority of the questions with confidence and accuracy, and apply your good engineering judgement to the remaining ones. NCEES does a lot of things that we don't now or never will understand.(Wait until scores start being released across the country!) All of your power, focus, energy, prayers, etc. should go toward preparation for the big event. Good Luck!

70% is passing. Why worry about something you cannot control such as the cutoff score. To get 70% out of 80 questions you need to get 56 questions correct. So if you can answer 48 questions and know they are right, that gives you a score of 60%.

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The mythical 70 is a scaled score, not a percentage. Which doesn't even matter anymore, since scores are not reported to examinees in most jurisdictions.

I'm with other long timers here when I reiterare: Do your best to try and get every problem right. None of us will. But don't shoot for just good enough. If the minimum is your goal, and you get a couple of tough ones, you're just as screwed as the person who bombed it.