FAIL!

[paki]

Still waiting out here in California though. Waiting to see what happens.

Seriously? No results in California yet? I'm sorry for your extended wait.

 

[freehealer]

I'm struggling with the limited amount of prep material available for Control Systems, but not feeling like I have enough recent experience with the other areas I've worked to take a different exam (Environmental or Chemical). However, I'm curious what other people are doing that have to wait until October 2011 to re-take the exam?
Right now, more than anything the wait to retake the exam is what's really killing me.

Got 50/80 in Power exam (Washington State) and still failed...

 

[MrAnderson41]

What worries me the most is how many people were surprised that they failed. Makes me think that there were a lot of trick questions on the exam.
I felt pretty confident coming out of the exam but I too thought that there were some tricky questions. Didn't think it was that big of a deal though. Maybe it was.

Still waiting out here in California though. Waiting to see what happens.

I don't think that they're trick questions more than they are tricky questions. You have to really watch what you're doing (i.e. units, understand what they're really asking, etc.). I know that there were a couple of questions that I answered and as I was working on a later question I had the ah ha moment and realized I had answered a previous question incorrectly either because I used the wrong units or didn't really answer what they were asking.

 

[snickerd3]

What worries me the most is how many people were surprised that they failed. Makes me think that there were a lot of trick questions on the exam.
I felt pretty confident coming out of the exam but I too thought that there were some tricky questions. Didn't think it was that big of a deal though. Maybe it was.

Still waiting out here in California though. Waiting to see what happens.

I don't think that they're trick questions more than they are tricky questions. You have to really watch what you're doing (i.e. units, understand what they're really asking, etc.). I know that there were a couple of questions that I answered and as I was working on a later question I had the ah ha moment and realized I had answered a previous question incorrectly either because I used the wrong units or didn't really answer what they were asking.

i agree with your assessment. They are really trying to see if you can look past all the gobbly gook extra stuff in the problem and figure out what they are truely asking for.

 

[dukesherman]

got my diagnostic report today...46...fail.

Basic Eng - 9/12

Mechanical Systems, Principles - 3/5

Mechanical Systems, Applications - 2/3

Hydraulics & Fluids, Principles - 3/3

Hydraulics & Fluids, Applications - 4/4

Energy & Power, Principles - 3/3

Energy & Power, Applications - 1/3

HVAC, Principles - 3/4

HVAC, Applications - 0/3

Principles, Material Properties - 1/2

Principles, Fluid Mechanics - 1/4

Principles, Heat Transfer - 3/4

Principles, Mass Balance - 2/3

Principles, Thermo - 2/4

Principles, Related - 1/1

Applications, Equipment - 1/7

Applications, Systems - 6/13

Applications, Code - 1/2

 

[mike 1]

Guys still waiting for the result from NY. My buddy got today he fail Delaware, my confident is down, and now I am turning myself to accept if I screw up.

Congrats to everybody who succeed.

 

[dukesherman]

Guys still waiting for the result from NY. My buddy got today he fail Delaware, my confident is down, and now I am turning myself to accept if I screw up.Congrats to everybody who succeed.

i feel your pain, we have to keep our heads up though. i am going to take the school of pe review course this spring and re-sit in the fall. take my time and really study for it. i am hoping by doing this, i will actually enjoy learning and not feel like i am under the gun. i am trying to remember not to beat myself about it considering i am not your typical engineer (graduated with a computer science / math degree, been a master plumber since i was 20, and only got into the engineering side of the business 6-7 years ago). know the code from front to back, can size / design most building systems at ease, but never learned the theory...until MERM. i did not see any problems on the exam that i felt were above me, just some that i were not familiar with.

i failed, yes, but i know i can do it, and so can you.

my :2cents:

 

[floridaengineerintraining]

Hey guys, this is my second time taking the PE Exam - Transportation Depth. I took it in Hawaii and we didn't get our results yet as it is being mailed. I feel good about the exam but you just never know. But I wanted to give you guys some advice for someone who failed the first time.
First, give yourself time to forget about the exam. Do something you enjoy doing to recharge your batteries. I remember going to the beach and just forgetting about the whole thing. As hard as it is to accept, you just have to. A couple weeks later, SWITCH your study habits up. I believe I missed the first exam by 4 questions getting about a 52/80. If I don't make this time I know I did better than the first exam or I'm hoping at least. But this is all due to the change in study habits. You have to realize what you did wrong and how you can improve. For me, I did not do as many problems and I was banking on the fact that I could look up the similar questions in my practice problems or even the CERM Examples. Big mistake! You will be pressed for time and you need some sort of plan going into the exam. My plan was to do the easiest problems first to get myself as relaxed as possible for the harder questions. Since my focus was trans and that's what I was best at and scanned the exam for the transportation section and tackled those first. Once I got through those questions, I moved on to the next easiest, until I reached the hardest questions. Finally, I double checked my answers and made sure that was the choice I made. You guys can do.

Remember this is not a competition between you and your co-workers or anyone else. Think of this as a marathon......and if you didn't pass....you didn't finish the marathon just yet......soon you will Wish me luck guys!!!!!!!

I passed it using this same technique - picture yourself as that yellow guy in PacMan. Gobbling up easy points, circling over and over until the time runs out. I am serious, if you catch yourself spending any real amount of time on any one problem, move on...

 

[texansam]

Its tough to fail but keeps your hopes up. Study hard and hit the books like there's no tomorrow

 

[chaocl]

got my diagnostic report today...46...fail.Basic Eng - 9/12

Mechanical Systems, Principles - 3/5

Mechanical Systems, Applications - 2/3

Hydraulics & Fluids, Principles - 3/3

Hydraulics & Fluids, Applications - 4/4

Energy & Power, Principles - 3/3

Energy & Power, Applications - 1/3

HVAC, Principles - 3/4

HVAC, Applications - 0/3

Principles, Material Properties - 1/2

Principles, Fluid Mechanics - 1/4

Principles, Heat Transfer - 3/4

Principles, Mass Balance - 2/3

Principles, Thermo - 2/4

Principles, Related - 1/1

Applications, Equipment - 1/7

Applications, Systems - 6/13

Applications, Code - 1/2

You are very close to passed the test. I think you need a little puch on PM Applications, Equipment - 1/7 and

Applications, Systems - 6/13.

Dont worry, you will pass next time.

 

[squrrelco3]

:Failed:

Fire Protection Engineering

46/80

7 of 9

7 of 7

5 of 8

3 of 8

4 of 4

6 of 10

2 of 4

2 of 7

2 of 4

2 of 3

4 of 11

2 of 5

:mf_Flush:

oh well...

 

[maximus808]

Guys, did you feel that the depth was harder than the morning? Or the morning was harder than the depth. As I wait for my results, transportation was the depth I choose. Being a second time taker in Trans I knew I had to know this subject the best. The morning in trans went well I believe and the afternoon felt better than the morning. Of course there are subjects in the morning that can stump us but the depth and your specialty in the morning you should be the best at. What helped me this time around was focusing on three core subjects instead of all of them. I focused on trans mainly, then geotech, then water. Structural I didn't work too much as well as wastewater. However, the geotech I felt was a little tricky in comparison to the study problems. But in any case. Good luck guys.

 

[maryannette]

I passed on my 4th time. I know failing feels like a kick in the gut that makes you want to puke. Don't give up. I am cheering for you.

 

[murmur11]

I passed on my second time (Mech/HVAC) and just wanted to drop a line..

After failed my first shot, I actually pin the letter I received from the board on the wall and highlighted the very first sentence, "We regret to inform you that you did not...." in red.

This really helped me focus on study.

I wish you all the best for the next exam!!

 

[Jeezus]

Fail

Structural I (50/80). I'll be taking Civil - Structural in April 2011.

N.E.V.E.R - G.I.V.E - U.P.

 

[steveno_3]

i failed first time taking transportation (civil). Passed second time with construction emphasis. Studied about 40 hours. the problems are pretty self explanitory with not alot of references, but you just gotta leave the long ones for last and do math/charts fast.

 

[Ambrug20]

i failed first time taking transportation (civil). Passed second time with construction emphasis. Studied about 40 hours. the problems are pretty self explanitory with not alot of references, but you just gotta leave the long ones for last and do math/charts fast.

This is my second attempt, both times I studied hard, spend lots of hours away from my family. I don't know the result yet, it should arrive today or tomorrow. But every time I am reading post that the problems on the test were straight forwarded with not much references involved, and somebody studied 20-40 hours total, it pissed me off. Many of us gave up favorite TV shows, games, and other entertainment, spend less time with family and still didn't pass. It doesn't make us stupid or not smart enough. Some people need more effort then the others to achieve they gold. Good luck for the next test for everyone who didn't pass. Don't give up yet. I know for sure, that if my result come negative, I will jump on the books and study, study... I don't know how to do it different than I have done, but I will work with the same speed and effort to pass this crazy test.

One more torture day for me......and than......!!!!!!!!!!!!!! we'll see...............

 

[speedyox]

I'm not trying to rub it in or anything but this thought has crossed my mind several times the last couple of weeks waiting for the exam. I've been wondering #1 how many hours does someone that failed put into studying and #2 how many references does someone that fail bring to the exam. I have it roughly figured out that I put in somewhere near 200-300 hours of studying for the PE and I only took 3 or 4 books for references. I really don't see how anyone with a suitcase full of books can really have the time to find the book they're looking for and then find the information in the book and then answer the question all within 6 minutes. I wonder what the correlation is between passing rate and number of references brought to the exam.
To all those that did fail, put in the hard work again. Anything is achievable if you're willing to work for it.

I'm sure it's slightly different for each discipline but I brought about 30 references to the Computer PE exam. I passed. I actually used at least 15 if my references and am glad I brought as many as I did. The problem I saw with the Computer exam is that the questions are deep but the subjects are broad. Relevant textbooks either go deep into one subject or insufficiently cover several. There are no industry manuals that cover more than a couple subjects. It was critically important that I knew which subjects each reference covered well so that I could get the them in time. I had also heavily tabbed at least one text for each subject which saved a lot of index time.

But I can see where your theory might come from, since, in contrast to me, the guy next to me taking the Transportation exam spent most of the test pawing through only 2 references.

 

[Ambrug20]

I'm not trying to rub it in or anything but this thought has crossed my mind several times the last couple of weeks waiting for the exam. I've been wondering #1 how many hours does someone that failed put into studying and #2 how many references does someone that fail bring to the exam. I have it roughly figured out that I put in somewhere near 200-300 hours of studying for the PE and I only took 3 or 4 books for references. I really don't see how anyone with a suitcase full of books can really have the time to find the book they're looking for and then find the information in the book and then answer the question all within 6 minutes. I wonder what the correlation is between passing rate and number of references brought to the exam.
To all those that did fail, put in the hard work again. Anything is achievable if you're willing to work for it.

I'm sure it's slightly different for each discipline but I brought about 30 references to the Computer PE exam. I passed. I actually used at least 15 if my references and am glad I brought as many as I did. The problem I saw with the Computer exam is that the questions are deep but the subjects are broad. Relevant textbooks either go deep into one subject or insufficiently cover several. There are no industry manuals that cover more than a couple subjects. It was critically important that I knew which subjects each reference covered well so that I could get the them in time. I had also heavily tabbed at least one text for each subject which saved a lot of index time.

But I can see where your theory might come from, since, in contrast to me, the guy next to me taking the Transportation exam spent most of the test pawing through only 2 references.

I am Transportation major and we required to have at least 4"bible" books + other references. Transportation is one of the very broad area, which includes soils(10-15%), constructions (at least 20%), eng. econ, water resources(20%). References are needed, and I used almost all the books, i had. If the guy next to you didn't use his references, it didn't mean he didn't need it. May be he didn't know how to use them.

 

[BeckfromPA]

DBC, did pass/fail? If you didn't make it, sorry....April is coming soon and you'll be able to do it. I had the same mentality as you and chose transportation. This was my second time taking trans and I'm glad I stuck with it instead of re-learning a new depth. I felt this time was a little better than April, but we still didn't get our results in Hawaii yet. What areas did you struggle with if you don't mind me asking. Maybe I can help or others can to help improve those scores.

I actually passed! I felt like Transportation was primarily about knowing curves and being able to do them without thinking, and then being able to look stuff up. There was a lot of looking stuff up. I wish I had photocopied the indices of my books.

But I felt there were some geotechnical questions that really caught me. That was the last section I worked hard on - days before the exam - and if I had failed I would know EXACTLY what to study for.

One thing I found helpful, too, was that I majored in structural, worked in water management, and studied transportation. That left me only two extra sections to study for in the morning, and covered most of what I needed for the afternoon.

Tim,

Congrats on the new baby and house. In the long run those are more important, although I would have a hard time seeing that in your shoes.

One thing that I did that I think was helpful. On the Saturday before the exam, I took all of my (anticipated) reference material and I gave myself exactly 4 hours to do the morning exam, and 4 hours to do the afternoon exam. I have younger children too, so I DID NOT do this at home. I guessed at nothing and only answered questions I knew how to or could figure out how to solve in the time I gave myself. After that, I hit things real hard (working full time so just grabbing every minute I could) until Wednesday (cause I knew I would fail if I did not). Wednesday and Thursday were spent reviewing and organizing my reference materials.

When I went in, I prayed that God would give the ability to perform at (or preferably, above) my current level of remembering things that I covered in school very long ago. He honored that request. If you would like, I would do the same for you when you retake your test in April.

Harry