To Those Who've Failed

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cal91

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Thank you for being good sports and all of your positivity to those who have passed. I hope all of the celebration of passes does not get you down but rather motivates you that you can pass next time too! 

I'm pretty sure we are seeing a dispropotionate amount of pass to fail ratio... people who pass are more inclined to post results, but people who fail probably don't feel like posting. So don't feel like you're the 1 out of 10 people who didn't pass from all these posts.  I just ran the numbers from the April 2016 results, only 8320 out of 14,255 people passed across all the exams which is just 58%. And how well you take an exam does not reflect how good of an engineer or a person you are. The purpose of the exam is to collect $ more than anything. 

Keep up the hard work and you'll get it next time!

 
cal91 said:
Thank you for being good sports and all of your positivity to those who have passed. I hope all of the celebration of passes does not get you down but rather motivates you that you can pass next time too! 

I'm pretty sure we are seeing a dispropotionate amount of pass to fail ratio... people who pass are more inclined to post results, but people who fail probably don't feel like posting. So don't feel like you're the 1 out of 10 people who didn't pass from all these posts.  I just ran the numbers from the April 2016 results, only 8320 out of 14,255 people passed across all the exams which is just 58%. And how well you take an exam does not reflect how good of an engineer or a person you are. The purpose of the exam is to collect $ more than anything. 

Keep up the hard work and you'll get it next time!
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as a second time test taker, thank you for writing this up. these words are so true.

Best thing you can do is write about what you did to prepare before the exam and post it here and that can help others on the board to help you prep more or give recommendations.

Goodluck! Keep your chin up. You can do it

 
Ditto. And as a third time test taker, who ultimately passed on this third try, I'd like to say never to give up. This exam is not what makes you a good or bad engineer. It does not make you ANY less of an engineer than you were before you got your failure results.

It's a tough pill to swallow, especially the more times it happens. But don't give in! You can and you WILL pass it!

 
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leggo said:
Ditto. And as a third time test taker, who ultimately passed on this third try, I'd like to say never to give up. This exam is not what makes you a good or bad engineer. It does not make you ANY less of an engineer than you were before you got your failure results.

It's a tough pill to swallow, especially the more times it happens. But don't give in! You can and you WILL pass it!
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Well said. This is my fourth try in the recent two years and I finally passed all three exams. After seeing so many "Fail" results, I didn't have courage to open email this afternoon and even wish the result can release not so fast... It is a long process let me understand how to start from a beginner to be more and more familiar with the exams and don't give up and continue to study...

 
Even though I just found out I passed - I completely agree with everyone.  I'm no better an Engineer today than yesterday.  Everyone has a different path to get where they are going.  I've heard it numerous times... "Do you know what they call the person who just passed the PE on his/her third time?  PE"  So keep trying...

 
2nd time taker here. Thanks for your words of encouragement @cal91. I'm just awaiting my fate. My wife gave me good words of advice though: Decide now how you're going to react.

After I failed the first time, I wallowed for an hour or so and she just finally said "Are you done? Your children want to play with you." All we can do is keep on swimming.

 
cal91 said:
Thank you for being good sports and all of your positivity to those who have passed. I hope all of the celebration of passes does not get you down but rather motivates you that you can pass next time too! 

I'm pretty sure we are seeing a dispropotionate amount of pass to fail ratio... people who pass are more inclined to post results, but people who fail probably don't feel like posting. So don't feel like you're the 1 out of 10 people who didn't pass from all these posts.  I just ran the numbers from the April 2016 results, only 8320 out of 14,255 people passed across all the exams which is just 58%. And how well you take an exam does not reflect how good of an engineer or a person you are. The purpose of the exam is to collect $ more than anything. 

Keep up the hard work and you'll get it next time!
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??

 
This is my 2nd attempt, and I passed.After I had failed the first time  I took inspiration from messages on this forum that a fail does not define your competence and I took the test  again. 

Don't ever give up. You can do this!

 
Yes do not give up it was my third time taking it too. EET review course was definitely helpful. I know you may feel embarrassed not passing but there is nothing to be ashamed about. Just keep at it and you can pass!

 
leggo said:
Ditto. And as a third time test taker, who ultimately passed on this third try, I'd like to say never to give up. This exam is not what makes you a good or bad engineer. It does not make you ANY less of an engineer than you were before you got your failure results.

It's a tough pill to swallow, especially the more times it happens. But don't give in! You can and you WILL pass it!
Click to expand...
Thank you Leggo.. today I found out I failed the MDM exam for the 2nd time. Your words are inspiring....would you recommend I take it again in Oct. or wait until next April? Not sure about going back into crazy-study mode in 2 months....

 
Hi @jvanoye! I'm sorry to hear about you not passing (pardon me, but what is the MDM exam?). Whether you want to take the next offering in October or April is a pretty personal decision, assuming your job is not telling you you need to take it again right away. There are a few things I'd consider. Firstly, figure out what your study plan is going to be, and how long you plan to spending studying. Then, consider whether you have any big trips or other engagements planned in the upcoming months that would prevent you from studying for major amounts of time. I took a few weekends off this last time for things that were unavoidable, but I remember not feeling great about doing it. Also, I'd think about seasons when it's easier to study. For me, it was easier to study through the winter and spring for the April exams, than it was for me to study at the end of summer and into the fall for the October exam.

Also,  consider if you want to keep pushing continuously! There is nothing wrong, in my opinion, with taking a test cycle off. Had I not managed to pass this time, I doubt I would have taken it again this October. It's tough devoting so much of your time over however many months or years to this exam, but it will be worth it when you see that pass! Good luck!

 
leggo said:
Hi @jvanoye! I'm sorry to hear about you not passing (pardon me, but what is the MDM exam?). Whether you want to take the next offering in October or April is a pretty personal decision, assuming your job is not telling you you need to take it again right away. There are a few things I'd consider. Firstly, figure out what your study plan is going to be, and how long you plan to spending studying. Then, consider whether you have any big trips or other engagements planned in the upcoming months that would prevent you from studying for major amounts of time. I took a few weekends off this last time for things that were unavoidable, but I remember not feeling great about doing it. Also, I'd think about seasons when it's easier to study. For me, it was easier to study through the winter and spring for the April exams, than it was for me to study at the end of summer and into the fall for the October exam.

Also,  consider if you want to keep pushing continuously! There is nothing wrong, in my opinion, with taking a test cycle off. Had I not managed to pass this time, I doubt I would have taken it again this October. It's tough devoting so much of your time over however many months or years to this exam, but it will be worth it when you see that pass! Good luck!
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Leggo... my employer does not require us to have the PE, it's more of a personal goal. I will say though that with the PE, there's the likelihood of a higher salary. Having said that, this is more of a personal quest than anything else. MDM stands for Machine Design and Materials (Mechanical Engineering), so, I need to take a long, hard look at what I want to do in the months ahead. On the one hand, if I take it in Oct. everything is fresh in my head and I can focus my time on practicing more problems, rather than remember basic concepts. On the other, if I skip a test cycle I can rest up and pick things up again in the winter where I find it easier to study than in the summer/fall.

I have until 06/19 to decide if I want to register for the Oct. exam or not so... for now. I'm going to have a big glass of wine tonight and try to put this bitter moment behind me. Thanks for taking the time to share some words with me.

 
jvanoye said:
Leggo... my employer does not require us to have the PE, it's more of a personal goal. I will say though that with the PE, there's the likelihood of a higher salary. Having said that, this is more of a personal quest than anything else. MDM stands for Machine Design and Materials (Mechanical Engineering), so, I need to take a long, hard look at what I want to do in the months ahead. On the one hand, if I take it in Oct. everything is fresh in my head and I can focus my time on practicing more problems, rather than remember basic concepts. On the other, if I skip a test cycle I can rest up and pick things up again in the winter where I find it easier to study than in the summer/fall.

I have until 06/19 to decide if I want to register for the Oct. exam or not so... for now. I'm going to have a big glass of wine tonight and try to put this bitter moment behind me. Thanks for taking the time to share some words with me.
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Yes, definitely take a break, and try to enjoy your wine if you can! It is apparently National Wine Day, after all (whoever came up with that?! I don't know). You have a good 3+ weeks to decide whether you want to take the exam this next cycle, so no need to rush the decision.

 
Enjoying my National wine day for sure!! Failed PE civil WRE with a 48/80. First time taker and knew I was at a disadvantage to begin with since I never had a structures, Geo or transpo class.  I passed the Envi FE first time in college but I knew this was a whole new monster that studying got derailed with too much work for the month of March even if i started studying early. Focused too hard on what I didnt know and not enough on things I had backround on. I WILL make the October PE my "b word" though! 

Congrats to all who passed this round!! I'm 100% jealous but am 100% happy for you!!!! 

 
LaxFH4 said:
Enjoying my National wine day for sure!! Failed PE civil WRE with a 48/80. First time taker and knew I was at a disadvantage to begin with since I never had a structures, Geo or transpo class.  I passed the Envi FE first time in college but I knew this was a whole new monster that studying got derailed with too much work for the month of March even if i started studying early. Focused too hard on what I didnt know and not enough on things I had backround on. I WILL make the October PE my "b word" though! 

Congrats to all who passed this round!! I'm 100% jealous but am 100% happy for you!!!! 
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Yep that was my problem too...diligently studying the calculus and geometry section in Lindeburg for a month.  Oh well.  We got this! We'll be PEs in ...December :D

 
My condolences to those who have failed. Keep your chin up! I failed my first time (just passed the Water Resources & Environmental).

My humble advice would be to spend at least 250 hours next time steadily on study/practice and keep track in a spreadsheet. (The CERM suggests 300 hrs).

Also, regardless of your topic or many study references, you should consolidate them into an AM binder, PM binder, and the CERM (no advice about those huge codebooks though).

Lastly, the best practice is always uninterrupted hours at a time on problem sets simulating the test (even when those **** practice tests take you 20 minutes a question, not 6).

I sincerely wish everyone the best of luck in the future if they have to do it again. You can do it!

 

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