So am I the only one that felt this Apr '11 exam (Transpo depth) was harder than Oct '10?

ptatohed said:

My goal was/is to pass one exam at a time. CA Survey was first (easiest for me, so pick it off first, Oct 2010). Then the 8-hour (Apr 2011). Finally the CA Seismic (the hardest for me, Oct 2011).
Well, in Oct 2010 I only studied for the CA Survey exam but of course still took the 8-hour exam (Transpo depth). I thought the Oct 8-hour was actually pretty easy and I think I did pretty well for not studying at all (of course studying for the CA Survey studies some of the Transpo topics. Ex. Geometric design). I have a feeling I failed last time by only a few points, maybe even one point! (I have yet to hear of anyone else failing with a higher XX/80 than I failed with). Not too bad for not studying, I thought.

So now, here I am going into the 8-hour in Apr 2011 very prepared. I studied for 4 months and probably 150-200 hours +/- this time. It should be a slam dunk, right? Well, I actually thought the exam was pretty difficult/challenging. I think I was 50% more prepared this time but I felt the test was 40% harder than Oct '10. I do think (hope) I passed but, probably not by much.

So I am curious - those of you who took the Oct '10 and the Apr '11 PE Transportation depth module, how do think the level of difficulty between the two exams compares?

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ptatohed said:

My goal was/is to pass one exam at a time. CA Survey was first (easiest for me, so pick it off first, Oct 2010). Then the 8-hour (Apr 2011). Finally the CA Seismic (the hardest for me, Oct 2011).
Well, in Oct 2010 I only studied for the CA Survey exam but of course still took the 8-hour exam (Transpo depth). I thought the Oct 8-hour was actually pretty easy and I think I did pretty well for not studying at all (of course studying for the CA Survey studies some of the Transpo topics. Ex. Geometric design). I have a feeling I failed last time by only a few points, maybe even one point! (I have yet to hear of anyone else failing with a higher XX/80 than I failed with). Not too bad for not studying, I thought.

So now, here I am going into the 8-hour in Apr 2011 very prepared. I studied for 4 months and probably 150-200 hours +/- this time. It should be a slam dunk, right? Well, I actually thought the exam was pretty difficult/challenging. I think I was 50% more prepared this time but I felt the test was 40% harder than Oct '10. I do think (hope) I passed but, probably not by much.

So I am curious - those of you who took the Oct '10 and the Apr '11 PE Transportation depth module, how do think the level of difficulty between the two exams compares?

Click to expand...

simpatique said:

so if you are so smart why are still flunking ? what a tool

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ptatohed said:

simpatique said:

so if you are so smart why are still flunking ? what a tool

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Why are you talking to me like this?

So, you must have passed your first time, I have to assume based on what you said to me, right? I am very impressed that you can pass a professional engineering exam when your basic reading comprehension skills are so poor.

1.) "Still flunking" would imply a series (or at least more than one) examination cycle failures (or "flunks" as you put it). If you read my original post, I failed once.

2.) "so if you are so smart" indicates that I, in some way, implied that I am smart. I never did such a thing. In fact, I pointed out that I failed the October '10 8-hour, I failed the October '10 Seismic (and I mentioned that Seismic is difficult for me), and I admitted that I found the April '11 Transpo depth 8-hour exam challenging even after studying for four months. How is that implying that I am "smart"?

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So now, here I am going into the 8-hour in Apr 2011 very prepared. I studied for 4 months and probably 150-200 hours +/- this time. It should be a slam dunk, right? Well, I actually thought the exam was pretty difficult/challenging. I think I was 50% more prepared this time but I felt the test was 40% harder than Oct '10. I do think (hope) I passed but, probably not by much.

Click to expand...

benbo said:

So now, here I am going into the 8-hour in Apr 2011 very prepared. I studied for 4 months and probably 150-200 hours +/- this time. It should be a slam dunk, right? Well, I actually thought the exam was pretty difficult/challenging. I think I was 50% more prepared this time but I felt the test was 40% harder than Oct '10. I do think (hope) I passed but, probably not by much.

Click to expand...

Well, that's why a person studies for the exam, isn't it? Because you never know whether you are going to get a tough exam or an easy exam - the basic difference being whether you get questions you know or not.

You still don't know whether you passed or not. It may just seem like the former exam was easier becuase you had so little invested in it. When you work on something and put yourself out there you have more invested and therefore may be more worried and concerned than necessary. The only way you'll really know is when you get your results. If you pass, that means the latest exam was actually "easier" for you. Since the goal is to pass.

Now, if you can decipher what I just wrote then you truly are a genius.

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ptatohed said:

My goal was/is to pass one exam at a time. CA Survey was first (easiest for me, so pick it off first, Oct 2010). Then the 8-hour (Apr 2011). Finally the CA Seismic (the hardest for me, Oct 2011).
Well, in Oct 2010 I only studied for the CA Survey exam but of course still took the 8-hour exam (Transpo depth). I thought the Oct 8-hour was actually pretty easy and I think I did pretty well for not studying at all (of course studying for the CA Survey studies some of the Transpo topics. Ex. Geometric design). I have a feeling I failed last time by only a few points, maybe even one point! (I have yet to hear of anyone else failing with a higher XX/80 than I failed with). Not too bad for not studying, I thought.

So now, here I am going into the 8-hour in Apr 2011 very prepared. I studied for 4 months and probably 150-200 hours +/- this time. It should be a slam dunk, right? Well, I actually thought the exam was pretty difficult/challenging. I think I was 50% more prepared this time but I felt the test was 40% harder than Oct '10. I do think (hope) I passed but, probably not by much.

So I am curious - those of you who took the Oct '10 and the Apr '11 PE Transportation depth module, how do think the level of difficulty between the two exams compares?

Click to expand...