Civil PE April 2010

[VBinNC]

VBinNC - When you say you failed with a 68 you mean 68% right? That would mean you scored about 54/80. Scared me a little because I know I didn't get 68 total questions correct.

Ohhh.. that 5 is awful close to that 6.... I meant I got 58% correct. When you do not pass the exam they break each section out (Breadth - Construction, Hydraulics-Closed Conduit, etc.) out and give you a % correct in order to help you gage future study areas. There was a Spreadsheet somewhere on here where it breaks it down to how many you got correct in certain areas with a Likely passing score and a Definitely passing score to help with your %correct totals...

Yeah. 58% will not get you a PE.

 

[outatime2002]

According to Haku Israni, the founder of Testmasters who actually graded PE exams for 20 years or so, your actual percent correct needs to be between 58%-62% of 80 questions. This 58%-62% depends on the degree of difficulty of the exam and how well the "group" performs as a whole. Then after they determine the actual percent, they convert that percent to the "cut score" of 70. So basically if you get 50 out of 80 questions correct (62.5%) then you will likely pass. The score of 70 that everyone talks about is not actually 70%. I don't know how true this is, but his class was awesome and definitely helped me, so this is likely pretty darn close. He seemed to be very well informed, in fact, the examples he used in class were very similar to the actual ones on the test (pleasantly surprised me actually).

I would love to believe you, but I have a hard time believing that 62.5% is a "likely" pass.

 

[ENG_Diver]

According to Haku Israni, the founder of Testmasters who actually graded PE exams for 20 years or so, your actual percent correct needs to be between 58%-62% of 80 questions. This 58%-62% depends on the degree of difficulty of the exam and how well the "group" performs as a whole. Then after they determine the actual percent, they convert that percent to the "cut score" of 70. So basically if you get 50 out of 80 questions correct (62.5%) then you will likely pass. The score of 70 that everyone talks about is not actually 70%. I don't know how true this is, but his class was awesome and definitely helped me, so this is likely pretty darn close. He seemed to be very well informed, in fact, the examples he used in class were very similar to the actual ones on the test (pleasantly surprised me actually).

I would love to believe you, but I have a hard time believing that 62.5% is a "likely" pass.

I took the exam last year and my cut score was 68% however with the breakdown it appears that i recieved a 56% which is a 12 point swing. So a 62.5% is possible. As for the exam, i thought the Depth Portion (Construction) was a lot easier than last year so i am optimistic this go around.

 

[txguy]

According to Haku Israni, the founder of Testmasters who actually graded PE exams for 20 years or so, your actual percent correct needs to be between 58%-62% of 80 questions. This 58%-62% depends on the degree of difficulty of the exam and how well the "group" performs as a whole. Then after they determine the actual percent, they convert that percent to the "cut score" of 70. So basically if you get 50 out of 80 questions correct (62.5%) then you will likely pass. The score of 70 that everyone talks about is not actually 70%. I don't know how true this is, but his class was awesome and definitely helped me, so this is likely pretty darn close. He seemed to be very well informed, in fact, the examples he used in class were very similar to the actual ones on the test (pleasantly surprised me actually).

Yes i was in the testmasters class and Dr israni mentioned the same thing about that percentage of correct answers needed to pass. I highly doubt on this one even though i have no doubt his classes are good. Another instructor in same prep course of testmasters mentioned 56 correct answers required. I have not heard too many complains about the level of difficulty for april 2010 PE test. So i would assume a minimum of 57 to 58 correct answers to be on the safe side.

 

[H2Ohhh]

According to Haku Israni, the founder of Testmasters who actually graded PE exams for 20 years or so, your actual percent correct needs to be between 58%-62% of 80 questions. This 58%-62% depends on the degree of difficulty of the exam and how well the "group" performs as a whole. Then after they determine the actual percent, they convert that percent to the "cut score" of 70. So basically if you get 50 out of 80 questions correct (62.5%) then you will likely pass. The score of 70 that everyone talks about is not actually 70%. I don't know how true this is, but his class was awesome and definitely helped me, so this is likely pretty darn close. He seemed to be very well informed, in fact, the examples he used in class were very similar to the actual ones on the test (pleasantly surprised me actually).

Yes i was in the testmasters class and Dr israni mentioned the same thing about that percentage of correct answers needed to pass. I highly doubt on this one even though i have no doubt his classes are good. Another instructor in same prep course of testmasters mentioned 56 correct answers required. I have not heard too many complains about the level of difficulty for april 2010 PE test. So i would assume a minimum of 57 to 58 correct answers to be on the safe side.

I don't know about the others, but I found breadth questions of CIVIL-WRE comparatively tougher than those of the depth ones. Not hearing too many complains does not necessarily mean test was easy. Maybe they (who did not do well, including me!) all are still in shock...

Lets wait for a few more months and see what this summer brings to all of us...

 

[MWC PE]

So say it was a much easier test and the center of the bell curve is above 70%. Do they curve down or are you safe with a true 70% correct?

 

[PEinMT]

I found out yesterday that I passed! Whoohoo, 1st time! Took WR/E in the afternoon. I have been a longtime lurker on the board and I appreciate all the solutions, study tips and test taking tips from everyone. For future test takers here what I did that worked for me:

On and off working through the CREM Problems last July. Didn't do all of them, averaged about 12 hours per week. I've been out of school since 2001 and have only been doing true civil work the last 4 years. I needed a lot of refresher, I was never a great brain of a student, I had to really work at it.

In early January I did the Lindburg practice test-morning. It kicked my a$$- 50% I got right for the morning. I carefully reworked each problem and following the solution, and also to examine ways to work problems quicker, i.e. nomographs, charts, ets.. 14-20 hrs a week.

In Late January I began working the 6-min solutions general section for all afternoon sections. It was difficult as well, some random stuff was thrown but I had located some posts on the board that made me feel better about the Lindburg and the 6-min solution. 14-20hrs a week

Crunch time. I spent Feb/ early Mar working on the practice sections of the AM that I was weak in from 6-min. Slow and really concentrated. Also, the review classes on the Texas A&M site helped some and broke up the problems solving. No study classes offered around here and I wasn't impressed with any review of the online classes that you had to pay for. 20 hrs/week.

Late Mar/April concentrated on the WR/E afternoon section. Lindburg, 6-min, NCEES AM & PM. I knew I was strong in this section based on my AM studying & that's what I've been doing at work for the last year. I struggled a little with the Environmental stuff, only because I don't do muchl, but if you can work the problems in the practice tests all's good. Reworked the 6-min & NCEES AM & PM. 20hrs/week

No studying the week of the exam. I began tabbing all my books in January as I reworked the Lindburg Practice test in January. I was amazed at the confidence I gained when I could get to the right section quickly. I used the tabs on post it notes on top and folder tabs on the side of the CREM for the sections. I also began working problems using a small binder was always handy that contained the index, again tabbed on the side A-U I think to get started, if it was something I knew wasn't tabbed. Compiled my references and tabbed as appropriate. 1 milk crate with the critical references and 1 crate with the ones I figured I may could get by without. I did open a few of the references I wasn't expecting to need for the AM, particularly carry all the transpo you can find.

Test time. Carry a clear protractor to read charts well. It was the third most helpful thing I carried besides the CREM & calculator. Metcalf & Eddy Wastewater Use, Reuse & Disposal was the second most helpful book for WR/E.

I worked most all the test problems 2 times except for the ones that I knew were out of my league, however I did get reasonable answers for these. I caught many mistakes the second time around by carefully re-reading the questions. Spent the last 15 min both morning and afternoon slowly bubbling in, double checking bubbles and gut checking my answers. Sorry for the blog, Hope this helps someone, Thanks again to everyone else that has offered up info.

 

[mustangcobra93]

I thought I failed the April test but just got my letter and I passed. Thank goodness.

 

[hp32si]

I also thought I failed---but I passed 4th try---but it still counts!

The morning was easy. I left 45 minutes early even after I checked the problems-

Afternoon was harder than in the test October--go figure!

Must have answered more correctly in the morning section

 

[hebelowkey]

Test went about as expected. Lindeburg sample problems and practice test were harder than actual exam so test went pretty smooth.