April 09' Civil PE Exam - How did it go?

[mattsffrd]

yeah, not even close lol. if you know what you're doing then most of them shouldn't take more than 10 minutes.

 

[SPSUEngineer]

yep, they don't take that long if you know the procedure. I thought they were helpful. They might be a little more difficult than the typical morning question but they get your mind prepared for the curve balls they like to throw on the exam.

 

[livingwaterman]

yep, they don't take that long if you know the procedure. I thought they were helpful. They might be a little more difficult than the typical morning question but they get your mind prepared for the curve balls they like to throw on the exam.

I used the 6 minutes a lot for practice and trying to understand the logic of how things worked. What I did not do though is use them as a measure of whether I was prepared for the exam. I thought the NCEES was a much better gage for that (based on what other people were saying) and my experience with the test seems to back that up. The practice problems for the CERM were even more complex and I by far did more of them than anything but once again did not use them as a gage. One person stated that the questions on the test can come from all over the place and that simply studying the NCEEs and thinking you have it covered is dumb. I agree with that but I still think that in terms of complexity and the time it took to do the questions the NCEES was much closer to what I saw on the actual test. One thing said I strongly agree with - covering the CERM (along with Wastewater Engineering and Gupta hydrologic systems in my case) and getting an idea of the breath of issues and where questions may come from is way more important than focusing on the NCEES and hoping the test was just NCEES sample questions with a slight twist because for the most part they were not.

 

[mattsffrd]

^^^ you hit the nail right on the head, people put WAY to much emphasis on memorizing how to do problems instead of actually learning the theory behind the problems and why they're solving the problem in the first place. you cant just memorize how to solve a bunch of problems and expect to go in and pass this thing, you need to know your resources and the theories behind the types of problems you might see. they're not testing you on whether you bought a book of problems and memorized how to do them, they're testing you on whether or not you know how to competently solve problems using the skills you learned while studying.

 

[Ajay]

Do any of you guys know who decides the passing score. Is it the NCEES or each individual state boards?

My understanding is that the NCEES evaluates our papers and provides the score, but the state board decide what the cut-off score should be...and the passing cut-off score may vary from state to state...

Also, few of my friends have told me that California has a history of having the highest cut-off score! meaning....is this true??

 

[EnvEngineer]

Interesting question, I assumed NCEES decided who passed and failed. I did notice that the pass percent for all CA exams (seismic and survery) are about the same. Here is the pass rates for the October 2008 exam. Anyone in another state have their pass rates.

Principles & Practices

Tested1991

Pass744

Pass %37.37%

Fail1247

Fail %62.63%

Pass/Fail Only

 

[livingwaterman]

I was told by my state board that they use the NCEES/ELES cut score. It is a liability - legal issue because they need to do due dilegence and not be aribtrary in setting the score or they will be open to lawsuit. If any state tried to do it on their own it might be California because of the survey and sizmic issues they add on etc...

 

[SPSUEngineer]

Each state board can either accept the NCEES cut score or adopt their own cut score for the exam. It is said in the Lindeburg books that most boards simply use the NCEES cut score.

 

[Ajay]

I was told by my state board that they use the NCEES/ELES cut score. It is a liability - legal issue because they need to do due dilegence and not be aribtrary in setting the score or they will be open to lawsuit. If any state tried to do it on their own it might be California because of the survey and sizmic issues they add on etc...

Typically, California gives out results approximately a month after all other states...So, if California uses NCEES cut-scores, then CA examinees will know if they have passed or not, based on results from other states...does it work that way??

 

[SPSUEngineer]

Typically, California gives out results approximately a month after all other states...So, if California uses NCEES cut-scores, then CA examinees will know if they have passed or not, based on results from other states...does it work that way??

I don't think so. They don't give out the cut score to anyone. All you know is if you pass or fail. If you fail you simply get a breakdown of how you scored. If you pass all you get is a letter stating you passed. I believe one or two states give the score you received (maybe Virginia or West Virginia I forget) but you still wouldn't know what the cut score was. They keep that secret.

 

[mattsffrd]

i think its usually around 70%, but i'm pretty sure they change it every time based on the test results

 

[civil4799]

1. Was this your first time taking the exam? Yes

2. How much did you study or prepare for the exam? In a way not much, but I was taking two online engineering classes and they sure refreshed my memory for some hydraulics, and Geotech stuff.

3. What did you think of the morning? I ran out of time I got stuck on a hydraulic question that I thought I know how to answer but I used too much time on it, so I feel badly about the morning part.

4. What depth did you take and how would you judge the difficulty? I took the construction, I thought the questions were straight forward but time consuming, I finished early though as I have lots of experience with estimating questions, and cut/fill calcs.

5. Do you think you passed? 85% sure I passed but the doubt keeps growing the longer I wait for the results.

I have already decided that if I did not pass I will wait and take again next April and not rush to get ready this October.

arty-smiley-048:

 

[mkc]

Nobody will know the true answer to your question. The cut score is determined by NCEES for each exam. One time the cut score may be 50/80 next time it may be 55/80. From what I've read it is usaully safe to assume you will pass if you get 56/80 correct. If you get less than that you may still pass, it just depends on what the cut score will be determined to be by NCEES for your particular exam.

Thanks!

 

[Tacodriver]

1. Was this your first time taking the exam? Yes

2. How much did you study or prepare for the exam? ±200 hrs total starting in Feb

3. What did you think of the morning? Not bad. Easier then I thought it would be.

4. What depth did you take and how would you judge the difficulty? Water and Environment. Water was easy. Environmental harder. But I don't do any environmental in the real world so I studied my ass off.

5. Do you think you passed? No idea. Hope to find out soon so I can hit the books again if the news is bad.

 

[majk]

Bringing back an old thread for April 09' Civil PE Exam.

1. Was this your first time taking the exam?

2. How much did you study or prepare for the exam?

3. What did you think of the morning?

4. What depth did you take and how would you judge the difficulty?

5. Do you think you passed?

My answers:

1. First Time hoping it's the Last Time

2. I started studying toward the end of February. 30-40 hours per week from then until the test.

3. Answered 27 confidently (as confidently as they can be answered, anyway) before 10am and used the rest of the time to squeak out 10 or so more. Threw down a 'B' for 3 or 4 hoping to get just one.

4. Transportation. I was prepared for worse but different, and I would have been better off if the test followed the practice problem sets that I practiced...but who wouldn't?

5. Feeling good...but who knows...75/25 perhaps.

 

[trees]

1. Was this your first time taking the exam? Yes

2. How much did you study or prepare for the exam? Not much

3. What did you think of the morning? OK, but I am a structure guy, the hydraulic and environment really killed me.

4. What depth did you take and how would you judge the difficulty? Structure......almost used all the design codes. I am a bridge engineer. AASHTO is not a problem but the questions for AASHTO were really limited.

5. Do you think you passed? Hope so...

 

[ElCid03]

1. Was this your first time taking the exam? Yes
2. How much did you study or prepare for the exam? A bajillion hours, the more the better.

3. What did you think of the morning? Not too bad, hated the structural stuff though

4. What depth did you take and how would you judge the difficulty? Construction baby! Just like the FE, I enjoyed afternoon more than the morning.

5. Do you think you passed? I did, good luck to everyone taking it in October!