Now the wait begins.......

the last time i took the test i didn't prepare at all and knew deep down that i didn't pass so the wait was pretty easy.

this time i prepared and actually think that i might have passed, so i'm guessing that this will be a pretty long two months

till the results start appearing.

c

^ me too. Last time I walked out just knowing I had failed, but now that there's a chance I passed I can't wait for January (the earliest my state has ever seen results).

any ideas as to what the ever so secretive "cut score" would be? I have been told that 48-52 over 80 would be your norm depending on the difficulty of the exam as perceived by the NCEES committee. Thought I would ask considering there might be some people who have failed the exam the last go around and have both the raw and adjusted scores. Maybe could shed some light on how things are done in the background...

tdurak said:

any ideas as to what the ever so secretive "cut score" would be? I have been told that 48-52 over 80 would be your norm depending on the difficulty of the exam as perceived by the NCEES committee. Thought I would ask considering there might be some people who have failed the exam the last go around and have both the raw and adjusted scores. Maybe could shed some light on how things are done in the background...

Click to expand...

For what its worth, this is my diagnostic report from the last year....

the percentages correct in each topic are reported, i calculated the number correct/total number

based on about how many questions in each catagory.

ie. 20% Geo. in the AM should be about 8 questions out of the 40....and so on....

[SIZE=12pt]Breadth - AM[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt][/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]Envir. 50% .... ...4/8[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]Geo. 38% ..........3/8[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]Struct. 63%....... 5/8[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]Transp. 75%........6/8[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]WS 63% ............5/8[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt][/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]Depth - PM[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt][/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]Traffic Anlys. 67% .....6/9[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]Traffic Plan 75% .......6/8[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]Traffic Design 89% .....8/9[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]Geotech. 83%............5/6[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]Water Resours 63%.......5/8[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt][/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]That's a total of 23/40 in the morning and 30/40 in the afternoon[/SIZE]




For a grand total of 53/80 = Fail.











but who knows what kind of voodoo is done to the scores before they are reported....

So you don't suspect that your score was adjusted? I thought there was a difference with between the raw scores and the reported scores. Well I hope that is the case with mechanical! 56/80 would be a rough number to achieve for the exam administered couple days ago... But who knows... The cut-score conspiracy will stay a mystery for a while it seems...

tdurak said:

any ideas as to what the ever so secretive "cut score" would be? I have been told that 48-52 over 80 would be your norm depending on the difficulty of the exam as perceived by the NCEES committee. Thought I would ask considering there might be some people who have failed the exam the last go around and have both the raw and adjusted scores. Maybe could shed some light on how things are done in the background...

Click to expand...

I'd love to know this cut score too. This was my first time and I think I did very well on the morning and not so well on the afternoon. Most are the opposite. I know water, but now wastewater/environmental. I studied the problems, used a CD course and was still just stumped on a few questions. I just have no experience at all in this area and this is a depth exam in the afternoon.

Bust using 56/80 as the cutoff, I think I passed. I think I got at least 30 or 32 in the morning, so that leaves me to get as little as 24 or 26 in the afternoon. I think I pulled that off, but I just wasn't as prepared for the afternoon as I was for the morning. We'll see in January, I'm from NJ and that looks like the soonest I'll see.

Need this one: I am the only person in my firm with a firm water background, so I need those two beautiful letters so I can take responsibility for the designs.

tdurak said:

any ideas as to what the ever so secretive "cut score" would be? I have been told that 48-52 over 80 would be your norm depending on the difficulty of the exam as perceived by the NCEES committee. Thought I would ask considering there might be some people who have failed the exam the last go around and have both the raw and adjusted scores. Maybe could shed some light on how things are done in the background...

Click to expand...

I gave up on trying to figure out the cut score. I am aiming for 56/80, bottom line.

PEPG said:

I gave up on trying to figure out the cut score. I am aiming for 56/80, bottom line.

Click to expand...

same here.

After each exam administration and right around the results similar discussion threads make rounds... It is understandable what you all are going thru... but take this advice for your own good...

The cut-score is a MYSTERY and it will remain that way. All we have been able to do is get some numbers like the one posted above. No one here can give you a definite answer and so it is a futile exercise.. Instead, just relax and take part in vaious discussions on the forum, enjoy the football season, the upcoming holiday season.. or whatever it is that you feel like doing.. Just don't try to guestimate something that is out of our reach..

Good luck to you all...

To those who still won't quit, there are several threads that "speculates" about cut scores and several more results posted.. go look around and if you find something please enlighten all of us!!

tdurak said:

told that 48-52 over 80

Click to expand...

It won't be that low. At least I doubt it.

Every exam, we breakdown the diagnostic reports like you see above, and it's usually the same story, 53 or 54 is not enough many times.

Go for 80 out of 80, and hope for at least 56.

I agree, I had 53 or 54 in April 08 and I failed so there is no benefit in trying to figure out the cut score. The funny thing is that even though I was more prepared for this exam than the April 08 exam, I thought this one was harder. maybe the "cut" score will be lower

BoogieDownPE said:

I agree, I had 53 or 54 in April 08 and I failed so there is no benefit in trying to figure out the cut score. The funny thing is that even though I was more prepared for this exam than the April 08 exam, I thought this one was harder. maybe the "cut" score will be lower

Click to expand...

You just typed what Ive been thinking since Saturday. I was more prepared, but the test was so much HARDER.

SUGGESTION: to take your mind off the wait, check out all of the threads around here. You might find some distraction to take your mind off the wait.

I know how hard it is. I joined EB when I was waiting and it got me through.

Just to add one more thing (controversy) to the "Cut Score" predictions...

All the cut scores that are calculated here are based on the assumption that all the 80 questions have been applied towards the final score. However, that may not be true as there are several questions that are discarded due to invalid data, ambiguity and other reasons. So this will always remain a guess. As NCEES points out, the score depends on the difficulty of the exam and the pool of the examinees, hence there is no clear-cut answer.

Now let the counter-arguments begin........

i tried to get 80 out of 80 so as to avoid worrying about making the cut score.

but by 9 AM i knew that plan wasn't going to pan out as i had hoped.

ccollet said:

i tried to get 80 out of 80 so as to avoid worrying about making the cut score.
but by 9 AM i knew that plan wasn't going to pan out as i had hoped.

Click to expand...

I'm with you...I went for 80 of 80....but saturday morning in my half asleep state I realized that I did one problem wrong...so 79 out of 80. I'm sure of it.

Jennifer said:

I'm with you...I went for 80 of 80....but saturday morning in my half asleep state I realized that I did one problem wrong...so 79 out of 80. I'm sure of it.

Click to expand...

cool, i'm pretty confident in saying that 79 is above the cut score.

Ladies & Gentlemen,

Vis is right, the "cut score" is a moving target. NCEES takes several factors into account when they send a RECOMMENDED CUT SCORE to the states. But in the end, the state boards either accepts the recommended score, or sets thier own. (To the best of my knowledge, most states accept the recommended score.) You can agonize about the cut score, but your time would be better spent planning how you how spend your lottery winnings, or coming up with a better BCS formula. Focus on enjoying the next few weeks; do your Christmas shopping early, shop for your seal/stamp; the results will start rolling in around the New Year.

Freon, P.E.

As a note, three years ago at this time, in an act of pure bravado, I ordered some personnal business cards with "Freon, P.E." on them. I stuck them in a desk drawer and waited. As it turned out, I was passing them out with cigars on January 5th.

I just wanted to say GOOD LUCK EVERYONE! I got my good news 4 months ago and wish the same for everyone else now.

ccollet said:

cool, i'm pretty confident in saying that 79 is above the cut score.

Click to expand...

you did note the sarcasm in my voice, right?