PE Exam April 2011, how did you feel
- Thread starter STEEL MAN
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snickerd3
Taking suggestions
well then you have nothing to worry about. You will find out exactly how you did. 
Maybe I misread your original post but.... I read it as if you live in Texas or Virginia then they dont post scores. But I see you are saying they do post them in Texas and Virginia.well then you have nothing to worry about. You will find out exactly how you did.
Maybe I misread your original post but.... I read it as if you live in Texas or Virginia then they dont post scores. But I see you are saying they do post them in Texas and Virginia.well then you have nothing to worry about. You will find out exactly how you did.
Texas and Virginia are the two states that actually do tell you a % score. But it is scaled. I still thought that was only if you failed though. I thought it was pretty universal that if you passed they just say you passed. Anyone know for sure??
Point being if gisguy did almost make the perfect score he claims will he ever really know??
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snickerd3
Taking suggestions
people were posting scores of 80 and 90 this last time through so yes even if you pass those two states give out your score
Do they give you the dianostic report so you know how many you got right? Granted if you do in fact make a 95-100% you did great, but that doesnt mean you got 80 out of 80 since they scale it.
snickerd3
Taking suggestions
only get the diagnostic sheet if you fail.
From what I've heard ... Is it true that cut score is decided by examiners based on the performance of examinees ?? it is not 70 % of the total score .
I felt that this time 8 hrs exam seems easier than the previous one and many people also said so ... these could bring the cut score up
I felt that this time 8 hrs exam seems easier than the previous one and many people also said so ... these could bring the cut score up
I was under the impression that this is how it works:
70% is passing period. So they decide what the cut score is and set that to 70% and then everything is scaled from there.
So to answer your question I would say yes if this test is easier than tests in the past then the cut score will be higher. Ie you need to get more questions right to pass and get a 70% or higher.
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Took Transportation- First time taker, back in January I found 90% of the Exam specification topics on the jobsite through submittals,plans, specifications basically all the geometry/signals/intersection capacitys/crane picks/stormdrain details/bridge maturity meters/concrete&soils testing etc. I took what i learned about in my new HCM, GREEN BOOK, MUTCD CERM and PCA. Applying the engineering in the field and taking School of PE was huge for me and I'm very confident I passed the exam, def not perfect but found a solid answer for just bout everything....It was a lot of hard work for 3 months but at the same time I enjoyed learning more about the work I see everyday. If you work on a construction project the engineering is all around you/if you work in a design firm there are construction sites all over (atleast in DC/MD/VA area), get after it!
Also wanted to note that I received a ton of good/useful info from everybody that adds to this board
Also wanted to note that I received a ton of good/useful info from everybody that adds to this board
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STEEL MAN
Man of Steel
I actually didn't get a score from Octobers test here in VA, but the previous attempt I did (a very very frustrating 69!)
The diagnostic report does actually show you how many questions you got correct for each section and the total number of those questions in that section, so you can easily calculate your un-curved score.
So I don't know if with the new NCEES online system/diagnotic report, VA has stopped giving out scores or what, but if I pass this time around I'll let you all know if VA does in fact give out passing scores or not!
The diagnostic report does actually show you how many questions you got correct for each section and the total number of those questions in that section, so you can easily calculate your un-curved score.
So I don't know if with the new NCEES online system/diagnotic report, VA has stopped giving out scores or what, but if I pass this time around I'll let you all know if VA does in fact give out passing scores or not!
The night before the test, I got 2 hours of sleep and figured I had absolutely no chance of passing as a result of being so exhausted. I was in a fog driving to the exam site and my eyes felt heavy. When the chief proctor said “you may begin”, I was like a fighter hearing the bell ring to start the first round. I sprang to life and cranked out solutions to the problems as if I had been doing them my whole life. My studies served me very well and there was only one type of problem (in the PM) that I had not seen before. Finished an hour early AM and PM and stayed to check my work, during which time I found and corrected an error (both AM and PM). In all, there were three problems that I know were answered incorrectly and I am sure there were also several more that I got wrong. For three months, my life revolved around studying and it totally paid off. There is no doubt in my mind that I passed the test. My guess is 82%-85% correct (raw score).
Took WR/Environmental depth, but my engineering degree is not in civil. I use practical applications of civil engineering in my work (ditch/storm drain comps, rational method, etc.), so I took the Civil PE because I wanted to learn the theory behind all of it. By the third week of January, I developed a strict schedule that I stuck with up until the exam and ended up having a lot of fun with it. I would read a chapter in the CERM (sometimes taking an hour to get through 2 pages!) and then work all of the companion problems, covering a chapter or two per week for my depth topics. It was easier to study during the winter than it would have been during the summer. It is not necessary to study from it beforehand, but Metcalf & Eddy is a must-have reference for during the exam.
Although the majority of my prep was self-study, I cannot emphasize how much the School of PE helped. It saved time because they went through the material faster than I could have done on my own and they only covered topics that would possibly show up on the exam. The instructors were all at the top of their game, but I did not like the structural guy. One problem with him was that he seemed to cover the more advanced topics without mentioning that they were depth topics. I expected that I would bomb the structural problems after his session (it was that painful), but the ones on the exam were all straightforward and I breezed through them. After each School of PE weekend, I would solve related problems for 12-15 hours during the week. Covered CERM chapters 14-21 before School of PE started and chapters 25-30 during the break and after classes ended. The environmental webinar provided a good review since I had already covered the material by then.
The week before the exam, I worked through ten of the sample tests from pereview.net under timed conditions. A very useful exercise and mostly representative of AM exam problems, although look-up type problems on the exam were tougher. The NCEES sample test was good also, but I took it a month before the exam and was not yet ready at that time. Six Minute Solutions is ridiculously hard and nothing like the actual exam. Wild assumptions are needed to solve those problems, but not ones on the exam. The CERM Companion Problems are somewhat harder than the actual test, but are very well-done and slightly overprepare the student which is a good thing come exam time. They were my go-to problems during study – I worked all of the ones for my depth and all of the applicable ones for breadth.
Information, advice, and encouragement from this forum is invaluable. I think I read every single archived post from a couple of sub-forums. There is a LOT of good information here for this important and difficult test.
Took WR/Environmental depth, but my engineering degree is not in civil. I use practical applications of civil engineering in my work (ditch/storm drain comps, rational method, etc.), so I took the Civil PE because I wanted to learn the theory behind all of it. By the third week of January, I developed a strict schedule that I stuck with up until the exam and ended up having a lot of fun with it. I would read a chapter in the CERM (sometimes taking an hour to get through 2 pages!) and then work all of the companion problems, covering a chapter or two per week for my depth topics. It was easier to study during the winter than it would have been during the summer. It is not necessary to study from it beforehand, but Metcalf & Eddy is a must-have reference for during the exam.
Although the majority of my prep was self-study, I cannot emphasize how much the School of PE helped. It saved time because they went through the material faster than I could have done on my own and they only covered topics that would possibly show up on the exam. The instructors were all at the top of their game, but I did not like the structural guy. One problem with him was that he seemed to cover the more advanced topics without mentioning that they were depth topics. I expected that I would bomb the structural problems after his session (it was that painful), but the ones on the exam were all straightforward and I breezed through them. After each School of PE weekend, I would solve related problems for 12-15 hours during the week. Covered CERM chapters 14-21 before School of PE started and chapters 25-30 during the break and after classes ended. The environmental webinar provided a good review since I had already covered the material by then.
The week before the exam, I worked through ten of the sample tests from pereview.net under timed conditions. A very useful exercise and mostly representative of AM exam problems, although look-up type problems on the exam were tougher. The NCEES sample test was good also, but I took it a month before the exam and was not yet ready at that time. Six Minute Solutions is ridiculously hard and nothing like the actual exam. Wild assumptions are needed to solve those problems, but not ones on the exam. The CERM Companion Problems are somewhat harder than the actual test, but are very well-done and slightly overprepare the student which is a good thing come exam time. They were my go-to problems during study – I worked all of the ones for my depth and all of the applicable ones for breadth.
Information, advice, and encouragement from this forum is invaluable. I think I read every single archived post from a couple of sub-forums. There is a LOT of good information here for this important and difficult test.
littlewheels4
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Your post is pretty rude actually to all those people that said they didn't feel like they did well. I am not surprised you are from Texas with that attitude.
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