Don't know what to do anymore!!

I have taken the PE 4 times already (CA) and have not passed any part!!!! I don't know what I'm doing wrong? During the exam I was confident about 70 out of the 80 problems, yet I got about 52 out of 80!!! This makes no sense. I am completely shocked and don't know what to do anymore!! How does everyone study?

LakersFreak said:

I have taken the PE 4 times already (CA) and have not passed any part!!!! I don't know what I'm doing wrong? During the exam I was confident about 70 out of the 80 problems, yet I got about 52 out of 80!!! This makes no sense. I am completely shocked and don't know what to do anymore!! How does everyone study?

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It sounds like you are a couple of problems short from getting the 'Congratulations' letter. Don't give up; there are several people here that took several (yes, even 5 or more) times to pass. I found that what worked for me was to do lots of problems, but most importantly, enroll in a review class (I actually got some DVDs of a class, but still). The class helped me rfine my studying to things that are likley to be on the exam. I can only speak in general terms here, b/c I took the environmental exam (which CA doesn't recognize). The other thing that helped me was being on this board with other people going through the same thing. This board is a great resource. Ask lots of questions, form a study 'group', post problems on here that you are having trouble with, we're all more than willing to help. You may want to try poking around in your specific discipline on here. Good luck...we're here to help!

Hi LakersFreak, I was in the same boat a while back. Well, almost the same. It took me 3 times to finally pass. How did you do on the sample tests? Or maybe, when bubbling in the answers, they were off by a question, shifting all the correct answers down, causing the wrong ones to be bubbled in.

LakersFreak said:

I have taken the PE 4 times already (CA) and have not passed any part!!!! I don't know what I'm doing wrong? During the exam I was confident about 70 out of the 80 problems, yet I got about 52 out of 80!!! This makes no sense. I am completely shocked and don't know what to do anymore!! How does everyone study?

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Lakersfreak,

Firstly, I'd choose another basketball team. j/k

Seriously, the first thing you should do is dust yourself off and gain your confidence again. If you can't gain confidence, you might want to simply ask yourself if you actually like what you do. Often people aren't very good at something because they haven't made it their own goal. Don't do it for your dad, your friends, your wife, or even your kids. While all of those are a very worthy reason, ask yourself if you actually love it because YOU love it.

Secondly, perhaps you scored really poorly on a particular section that somewhat correlates with your field of practice. If that's the case, I would recommend taking a course at your nearby college that offers a fresh look at the industry.

Thirdly, I would make sure that you have the CERM 11th edition and have every chapter tabbed. Make sure you even know the silly stuff like engineering economy and memorize that book from cover to cover. Now, when I say memorize, I'm not saying that you should know how many words are on page 64-9, but you should know every subject and have every subject located. 99% of the exam, as others have more eloquently pointed out, is about knowing how to find and apply the right information. That includes knowing exactly what they are asking for and knowing exactly where to find it in the big behemoth.

Fourth and lastly, make sure that when you put in the time next time that you have a realistic plan that you can handle - a plan that you can track progress by grading yourself. Make sure that your plan has been communicated with your family. If you are pro-active with those you love, they are usually more willing to make the sacrifice with you. BTW~a great way to grade yourself is by working through all of the breadth portions of the 6-minute solutions. People say they are harder, but not by much. They are very, very helpful and I couldn't have done so well on the environmental side of civil engineering had it not been for those 6-minute solutions. The CERM, in my opinion, should not be your only resource. All of the 6-minute solutions along with the CERM is the only way to go, especially if your struggling.

Good luck and God bless Lakersfan. At least you have an NBA squad to be proud of. ;o)

McEngr said:

Lakersfreak,
Firstly, I'd choose another basketball team. j/k

Seriously, the first thing you should do is dust yourself off and gain your confidence again. If you can't gain confidence, you might want to simply ask yourself if you actually like what you do. Often people aren't very good at something because they haven't made it their own goal. Don't do it for your dad, your friends, your wife, or even your kids. While all of those are a very worthy reason, ask yourself if you actually love it because YOU love it.

Secondly, perhaps you scored really poorly on a particular section that somewhat correlates with your field of practice. If that's the case, I would recommend taking a course at your nearby college that offers a fresh look at the industry.

Thirdly, I would make sure that you have the CERM 11th edition and have every chapter tabbed. Make sure you even know the silly stuff like engineering economy and memorize that book from cover to cover. Now, when I say memorize, I'm not saying that you should know how many words are on page 64-9, but you should know every subject and have every subject located. 99% of the exam, as others have more eloquently pointed out, is about knowing how to find and apply the right information. That includes knowing exactly what they are asking for and knowing exactly where to find it in the big behemoth.

Fourth and lastly, make sure that when you put in the time next time that you have a realistic plan that you can handle - a plan that you can track progress by grading yourself. Make sure that your plan has been communicated with your family. If you are pro-active with those you love, they are usually more willing to make the sacrifice with you. BTW~a great way to grade yourself is by working through all of the breadth portions of the 6-minute solutions. People say they are harder, but not by much. They are very, very helpful and I couldn't have done so well on the environmental side of civil engineering had it not been for those 6-minute solutions. The CERM, in my opinion, should not be your only resource. All of the 6-minute solutions along with the CERM is the only way to go, especially if your struggling.

Good luck and God bless Lakersfan. At least you have an NBA squad to be proud of. ;o)

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Very thoughtful reply. I've failed only once "so far" but alot of what you said feels like it applies to me. Going through the CERM is a must, I had no idea where everything was in most of the morning section. Knowing where everything is will be my first key. Practice as many probs will be my second.

McEngr said:

Thirdly, I would make sure that you have the CERM 11th edition and have every chapter tabbed. Make sure you even know the silly stuff like engineering economy and memorize that book from cover to cover. Now, when I say memorize, I'm not saying that you should know how many words are on page 64-9, but you should know every subject and have every subject located. 99% of the exam, as others have more eloquently pointed out, is about knowing how to find and apply the right information. That includes knowing exactly what they are asking for and knowing exactly where to find it in the big behemoth.

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I'm going to weigh in with a different perspective... the trick to passing isn't getting everything right - it's getting it right about 70% of the time. As you point out, the CERM is a *BIG* book. You've got to neck down all the information and focus on what's going to likely be on the exam. Review courses (at least the good ones) are the key to knowing what's likely to be on the exam. If you spend lots of time on the 80% of the CERM that won't be on the exam, you're missing the opportunity to focus more on the 20% that will.

Can you show us your breakdown? Then maybe we can help a bit more. As Sraymond said, you don't have to get everything right, just most everything.

I studied by doing a bunch of problems. They were harder than the actual test so that helped. Also I took a class to review old topics.

IlPadrino and dastuff,

I'm sure that he knows that you only have to get the majority right. However, I believe you do him a disservice by letting him know he can just "get by" with a 70. When I study for an exam, I don't study to get a C, I study to get an A. For some of us (not all), we have to set the bar really high in order to achieve the results that are acceptible to pass. My $0.02.

McEngr said:

IlPadrino and dastuff,
I'm sure that he knows that you only have to get the majority right. However, I believe you do him a disservice by letting him know he can just "get by" with a 70. When I study for an exam, I don't study to get a C, I study to get an A. For some of us (not all), we have to set the bar really high in order to achieve the results that are acceptible to pass. My $0.02.

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Regardless of how high you set the bar, at the end of the day (or a two month wait!) you're either "minimally qualified" or you're not. I respect your perspective, but disagree with it. This isn't a college algebra test - it's a very comprehensive collection of questions across a wide breadth of knowledge.

As an example, consider culvert design. It could take someone twenty hours or more of review/study to master it. It's likely the topic will appear on the test at most once (or not at all). I recommend not studying culvert design for more than an hour (tops!) but rather dedicating that time towards something that will almost certainly be on the exam more than once (e.g. Bernoulli's Theorem).

Also, I'd suggest a dose of realism. This guy has taken the exam in CA four times without a single success (I read that to mean not the Seismic or Surveying portion either). There's clearly a problem with what he's studying (assuming he's not lazy) and it's very unlikely he'll turn the "F" around to an "A". Shooting for a "C" is much more reasonable! I'd agree shooting for a "D" is too close to the line...

^^ Agreed with McEngr. Study, learn, and know everything in CERM. Then when you make a stupid mistake (which we all do in the exam) you have some cushion for passing. Don't study to get a 70. Study to get a 100.

LakersFreak, I passed the first time. For 3 months I studied the hell out of CERM (at least 1 hour a night). Then I worked PPI sample problems for another month, and I did the PPI sample exam. Then I realized what I was weak on and spent 2 more weeks in CERM brushing up on these things. I did not even look at the NCEES sample exam. The questions were much easier than the PPI sample exam and I wanted to make sure I was prepared for the more difficult.

Chucktown PE said:

^^ Agreed with McEngr. Study, learn, and know everything in CERM. Then when you make a stupid mistake (which we all do in the exam) you have some cushion for passing. Don't study to get a 70. Study to get a 100.
LakersFreak, I passed the first time. For 3 months I studied the hell out of CERM (at least 1 hour a night). Then I worked PPI sample problems for another month, and I did the PPI sample exam. Then I realized what I was weak on and spent 2 more weeks in CERM brushing up on these things. I did not even look at the NCEES sample exam. The questions were much easier than the PPI sample exam and I wanted to make sure I was prepared for the more difficult.

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I am definitely not lazy as my family can vouch for that. The first time around I studied for 5 months for about 1 to 1.5 hours a night. Every time since it has been less and less only because I have given up hope. You guys may be right in the fact that I am studying wrong. However I've done thousands of problems and generally get about 80-85 percent of them correct.

LakersFreak said:

I am definitely not lazy as my family can vouch for that. The first time around I studied for 5 months for about 1 to 1.5 hours a night. Every time since it has been less and less only because I have given up hope. You guys may be right in the fact that I am studying wrong. However I've done thousands of problems and generally get about 80-85 percent of them correct.

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I was not implying in any way that you were lazy. I'm being totally serious here but do you have any anxiety disorder that causes you to freeze up in the exam? My brother is really smart (graduated with a 3.85 in mechanical engineering) but does awful on standardized tests. He would get so nervous that he did awful on the SAT, GMAT, GRE, etc.

I passeed on 4th try. One thing that I think helped me was reading and rereading each question to make sure I was answering the question they were asking (even sometimes underlining it in the exam booklet). You might know how to do a problem, and feel good about your answer, but perhaps they changed the units on you. You can bet your wrong answer will be one of the answers listed on the exam.

LakersFreak said:

I am definitely not lazy as my family can vouch for that. The first time around I studied for 5 months for about 1 to 1.5 hours a night. Every time since it has been less and less only because I have given up hope. You guys may be right in the fact that I am studying wrong. However I've done thousands of problems and generally get about 80-85 percent of them correct.

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It sounds to me like you are just making some silly mistakes on the exam, maybe out of nervousness. Have you tried taking a sit-down, in-person class? If you can find one it might help. They might even teach some strategies to avoid silly mistakes.

Chucktown PE said:

I was not implying in any way that you were lazy. I'm being totally serious here but do you have any anxiety disorder that causes you to freeze up in the exam? My brother is really smart (graduated with a 3.85 in mechanical engineering) but does awful on standardized tests. He would get so nervous that he did awful on the SAT, GMAT, GRE, etc.

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I do believe that its my nervousness that has got me. I have never done well in governmental exams either. I did well in college exams. It took me 4 tries to pass the eit. Where can I get help to "learn how to take an exam"?

LakersFreak,

I don't know where to recommend going for help, but I can share with you some advice that really helped me. I was worried when I went to sit for my exam because I usually do not do well on tests because of my nerves. I had a co-worker give me the best advice ever. He said (paraphrasing) "When you get the exam, make sure to read through all the questions and number them 1 to 5 based on how easy/difficult they may be to answer. If you come across one during your read through that you think will be quick, and you are tempted to start working it, don't! Label it with a 1 and possibly jot down the formula you think will be used (if you have it in mind) and then finish reading the rest of the test. A lot of times, nervousness comes from not knowing what is ahead of you in the exam when you are still at the beginning."

That’s a good idea but can you afford to that during the seismic and the survey tests. You have 50 questions to do within 2.5 hours. I don’t know. What does other people think about this.

My two cents for what it is worth.

I have always done well on tests, my method is such I wear a watch and keep track of how much time I have remaining for each part.

I glance at each question and stop and answer all the easy ones first.

Then I move on to the ones that the topics are very familiar to me. I save the topics I hate to last. but this might be Key for you Lakersguy.

I DO NOT BEAT MYSELF UP ABOUT STUFF I DO NOT KNOW.

When I took the EIT I knew up front that I stink on electrical problems, so when I got to the electrical questions I wasted no time on them I bubbled in B,C,C pattern.

I try to save 5-10 minutes at end to compare my bubble sheet with my questions to make sure that my answer for question 4 is not in #5's spot. If you do find an error like this you need some time to erase and rebubble.

Keep your chin up and keep trying. I work with some guys that are not able to even set for the tests in my state because of the type degree they have, so you are ahead of alot of folks who have not passed the EIT yet.

Hi,

I have been taking the PE test since 1994. I passed the survey part the first try. That was 15 years ago. And then I keep on taking the test every 18 months so I don't have to collect the signatures all over again. I was lazy and didn't study. Took review classes but never did the homework. So approximately. I have taken 10 test already to date. 2 years ago when I was taking my exam at the Cow Palace. I asked another guy if he was a repeater and he said yes he was. But he already passed the SEISMIC exam. And he told me he couldn't have passed it without taking a review class from Hiner. So I followed his example and enrolled with Steve Hiner and after that I passed the Seismic Part. Last April 2009 I took the eight hour exam. The format of the test has changed so much since I took it. I picked Construction subject in the afternoon. After taking

the test I did a short prayer. I was so happy in July 2009 I finally passed. It took so long to pass but it sure was worth the investment. Perserverance finally paid off. Hang in there. Hope my story helped.

LakersFreak said:

During the exam I was confident about 70 out of the 80 problems, yet I got about 52 out of 80!!!

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One other thing to consider is if you're making silly mistakes with unit conversions. When I took the exam, I almost got fooled several times because the equation you need to use gives you the answer in one set of units, but the test asks for different units. Of course, both answers are available as options. You might feel really confident with your answer and have done it correctly, but if its in the wrong units, its still wrong.

I also second what TXCourgarPE recommended - that's what I did and it really helped me get a feel for how difficult the questions were throughout the entire test and to not get stuck on any particular problem.

As for your nervousness during the test, maybe you should take a class or seminar on relaxation techniques, so if you find yourself getting nervous during the test, you know how to deal with it effectively.