If you Failed!

[NJmike PE]

I have a question. Can't figure where to post it so will do it here.

1. I took the Civil- structures afternoon session and did bad on it. I mean pretty bad. So next time when I take the test would it be a good option to register for structures again or should I just switch to something else.

What field do you specialize in? That is the afternoon session that you take.

 

[bflem]

third time fail. civil/structural. 52/80. gonna be a long afternoon.

 

[craftlady07]

Failed for the 3rd time. I took the Environmental (last time I took it was about 5 years ago). the test was so different the example tests I had. It was so heavy on air and solid waste management which are my 2 weakest areas. I guess its time to sign up for a review course. I'm so sick of failing.

 

[Teamony]

To those that failed, please don't give up. I failed 3X and just passed. I remember going home in despair while NJmike was rejoicing after passing the Oct 13 exam and wondering how it must feel like to pass the exam especially for us that have to take it more than once.

My educational experience is in electrical but i work in civil and I was determined to pass the civil PE. If I can do it, anyone can. Keep trying till you pass is my only advice.

 

[itinerant]

^^^ What depth did you opt for in Civil ?

 

[Teamony]

Construction.

 

[itinerant]

That is actually great. Congratulations Sir.

 

[Teamony]

Thanks!! You'll get it too man. Don't give up. Adios guys.

 

[wjrez]

This board has been great and very supportive relative to getting a lot of people thorugh this, RE: "getting back up on the horse". I failed again (3rd time - 50/80; Electrical Power) and I am wondering what's the use. I started on this journey as I was out of school for over 30 years and doing this as part of my "bucket list". It eats at me and my personality is not aligned to just throwing in the towel, but working long days and then studying for hours and on weekends makes me wonder what I can still do at this stage.....Pretty depressing. Not sure what to do next.

 

[itinerant]

^^^^^^ Sir, I would only say hold on and not give up. You have come this far, giving up now and thinking about it being a waste would really let everything you have studied for go in vain. Just try not to think about it for some days. I don't really have the right to give you any advice since I myself am acting braindead since yesterday, but well I know for certain that it is not really going to get any better if I give up. I really hope you feel better with time.

 

[dgoldberg010]

I failed the FE exam twice before passing on the third try (out of school for years, never thought I'd ever pass). Also failed the PE once before finally passing it. Don't give up but the sad truth is once you get the PE nobody really cares and you still get treated like a commodity/crap by your clients. At least that's my experience the consulting field.

 

[KevinA]

You guys hang in there. I know it's tough. This was my 3rd try and the last was in 2010. I went through a divorce since then hence the delay. Now with split custody of my 2 kids it took a lot to put in the time, but I felt I had to get it this time.

Did you guys take a review class? I took and would recommend the online ASCE class. For me, it helped tremendously and I could study around work and kid schedules.

 

[solomonb]

Colleagues-- If your score was not at the passing level, don't beat yourself up-- it is over and done with! YOU are a smart engineer-- you passed an ABET accredited engineering program-- you can do this. The key to this exam is to really understand what is on the NCEES website on the elements of examination. NCEES tells you what the percentage of problems are in any one specific area-- OK, you now have part 1 of the clues.

Part 2 of the clues is the fact that each question is designed to be answered in 6 minutes or less. Some can be answered by inspection, i.e., you look at the question and know the answer-- at least 2 of the answers are probably out in left field-- one of the remaining answers is probably correct if you forget to take the square root, divide, multiply, add the constant-- whatever the formula requires.

Part 3 of the clues is to work as many problems and UNDERSTAND the problem-- why are you doing what you are doing? If you are just mechanically working the problem and not understanding what it is that you are doing, then you are in trouble.

Part 4 of the clues is to really commit to the next exam-- if you have to retake it. There is no sense spending several hundred dollars for a second, third, fourth time. You can do this-- however ,you have to commit to spending the time and study effort. Sure, it will be a hassle if you have little children, etc, however-- it is a necessary evil. A mind carrot may be to work hard over the next six months, pass the exam and then take the fam to some fun place-- does not have to be Disneyworld/Disneyland-- it may be just the local zoo and Chuckie Cheeze--- again, let your imagination run wild.

You can do this-- however, you really need to be able to look at the question and know how to tackle it. If you are not that confident, don't spend the dollars to try again. Gain the confidence to be able to look at the problem, by inspection, and then answer it. Most calculation problems only require 2-3 iterative calculations-- remember, the questions are designed to be answered in 6 minutes or less. OK-- some take longer, however, some, the answer is obvious by inspection-- " The answer is C, whatever-------------------------"

Good Luck-- you can do this.

 

[billyluv]

This board has been great and very supportive relative to getting a lot of people thorugh this, RE: "getting back up on the horse". I failed again (3rd time - 50/80; Electrical Power) and I am wondering what's the use. I started on this journey as I was out of school for over 30 years and doing this as part of my "bucket list". It eats at me and my personality is not aligned to just throwing in the towel, but working long days and then studying for hours and on weekends makes me wonder what I can still do at this stage.....Pretty depressing. Not sure what to do next.

My situation is very similar wjrez. My 3rd try and failed. I've also been out of school for a long time (25 yrs). I too put many hours and studied every weekend. Just not studying in the right direction. I too wonder if it's worth it???

 

[Wheretostart]

This board has been great and very supportive relative to getting a lot of people thorugh this, RE: "getting back up on the horse". I failed again (3rd time - 50/80; Electrical Power) and I am wondering what's the use. I started on this journey as I was out of school for over 30 years and doing this as part of my "bucket list". It eats at me and my personality is not aligned to just throwing in the towel, but working long days and then studying for hours and on weekends makes me wonder what I can still do at this stage.....Pretty depressing. Not sure what to do next.

wjrez, don't give up. Explore this forum, and you may find many information and recommendation from other people at different time, which would be of great help. You will pass next time.

I am also in power, but except for a few courses related, I have no clue of the majority of the problems. I borrowed study materials from people who took testmaster review classes, and made a copy, but I also made my own notes based on what I read and came up with a re-organized study material to fit my own taste. I watched the recommended free NEC video online and followed through and took notes for a few sample. It always helps to remember by writing something down. Work on the NCEES sample test set, and make sure you understand every problem. Borrow several classic text books as recommended here. I saw someone said that he/she actually saw problems directly from there.

 

[Wheretostart]

To those that failed, please don't give up. I failed 3X and just passed. I remember going home in despair while NJmike was rejoicing after passing the Oct 13 exam and wondering how it must feel like to pass the exam especially for us that have to take it more than once.

My educational experience is in electrical but i work in civil and I was determined to pass the civil PE. If I can do it, anyone can. Keep trying till you pass is my only advice.

hehe, but NJMike has been answering questions from then on, and did give me some good idea to also tab my study note.

 

[Dark Knight]

Someone told me once, "Do not try harder. Try smarter".

By now you must have your diagnostic and it will tell you where do you have to improve. Work on that without being reckless with the areas you did well. It can be done. I did it so you can too.

 

[solomonb]

Don't make this harder than it is! I too was out of school 25 years when I had to take the exam. If you have been out of school for a long time, >15 years, NSPE suggests that you take a review course. I took a course with a live instructor for 3 days, 9 hours a day. We got a big notebook in the end, a test manual. I worked all of the problems and many more until I really knew and understood the stuff that I learned 25 years ago and either did not use, forgot or failed to really understand it the first time.

Don't give up-- you can do this. Don't be embarrassed to go take a review course-- in our review course, there were 5 of us that were over 50 years of age, veterans and all had doctorates in engineering. There were also 5 of us that were under 30 years of age, had a bachelor's degree and 5 years of experience-- the rest of the class was in-between. The instructor said that our class was one of the most diverse that he had ever taught. In the end, I think that 12/18 of us passed the exam, don't know what happened to the others.

You can do this---- as I stated above, really know and understand the elements of examination-- and then think, "What can they ask me in a 6 min timeframe?" Using that mind carrot will get you into the frame of reference to pass the test in October.

 

[franctel]

I just took the PE Exam for the second time and passed. The two biggest differences in my studying before the second try was working on/understanding a lot more practice problems and bringing/getting familiar with the references listed in the NCEES outline. Studying for the first try, I found myself looking at the problems, recognizing them, but not knowing how to proceed and start them. I was basically studying the solutions and telling myself I knew how to do the problem. Found out the hard way in October that I was wrong!

As others have said before, CERM is good but only gets so far. It should be used as a basic overview of the subjects but additional studying and problems are required. The CERM problems (separate book) are harder than the actual exam so you should also make sure you understand the extent of what you need to study (based on the NCEES outline for your discipline). It is very easy to get caught studying outside what is required and therefore waste time. When you get done studying and get closer to the test, you should be able to look at most problems from sample PE tests and at least know how to start them and/or look up the correct reference. It might not mean you can do the entire problem but with the right direction you can take it from there.

The "six minute solution" book was helpful as well because the questions were similar to the test and provided hints on how to quickly read into the problems. However, as solomonb mentioned some questions will take longer and some shorter. For this past test, I can remember a few "lookup" questions taking 15 seconds, and other questions taking me 10 minutes. Again, it's all about understanding the problems and knowing where to look things up if needed.

 

[CMKG]

go home and take a long weekend. I left work early all three times. twice when i failed and once when i passed.

hard to focus on work either way.

It really is. Now that the initial sting of the disappointment has faded a little, I think I can probably stick around for the work day. There was a little while there that I was decently afraid that my coworkers might see me cry if too many people insisted on asking me about it. I did manage to give a smile and a "congrats!" to the two who passed, though there is a small, very selfish part of me that wishes I hadn't been the only one of the three of us to have to go back in October. Thankfully, the only people who have asked about it here at work were the other two who took the exam. I know a couple of other folks overheard our very awkward conversation where I was all, "No biggie, dude! I'll try again in the fall! Congrats to you, though!" and thankfully the other folks picked up on how uncomfortable the conversation was and made the decision to not come participate in the awkward.

My biggest concern now is that I may punch the next person who gives me the sad, sort of uncomfortable-looking eyes and goes, "Oh, well, you'll get it next time!" I understand they're just trying to be nice, and I'd probably say the exact same thing in their position, but I just don't wanna hear it right now, you know? That's actually the #1 reason I haven't really told many people yet. My patience is a bit thin right now and I'd rather not visibly sneer at anyone (especially knowing I don't really mean it, I'm just bummed).

That is the worst feeling when you take it with a co-worker and they pass and you need to repeat; it happened to me the first time. I failed again this time. I will prepare for round three next April. I don't want to spend my summer studying. I took School of PE but the water resources depth is very weak-nothing on water quality and I did really bad on that. I might do transportation depth instead.

Kepp your chin up!