# Gut Feeling



## flyfisherman75 (Dec 18, 2007)

For those of us who are still waiting, I for one am curious what the correlation is between gut feelings and results.....


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## C-Dog (Dec 18, 2007)

No clue. I had to guess on about 10 of the problems, all of the others I knew! So figure I get 75% of the others correct (worst case), I will get 65%. Is that passing? I wish I knew what the passing score was, then I would have a better feeling. I think I did better than 65%, but I could have made some stupid test mistakes.

Time will tell, if my ulcer doesn't get me first!


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## jmbeck (Dec 18, 2007)

C-Dog said:


> Time will tell, if my ulcer doesn't get me first!


I'm with you on that one. I'm absolutely sick because I expect my results to be in the mail today.

The only thing I can imagine being worse is if your Doctor calls you and tells you he needs you to come in to talk about a test result.

:smileyballs:


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## meschroder (Dec 18, 2007)

I was amazed at the morning session. I looked at my watch and thought 'Oh crap. I only have an hour left.' and I only had three problems left. I sat for the last ten minutes of the morning session not wanting to screw up any of my answers because I didn't feel like I missed any of them.

In the afternoon (transportation) I worked steadily from the front of the book to the back and then to the front and then to the back answering questions that I felt were progressively harder. With about 20 minutes left I started taking what I thought were educated guesses at the remaining 5 or 6. The last question, which I thought was something I knew nothing about, was as simple as looking up three numbers in the MUTCD and adding them together.

I walked out feeling optimistic but not confident. I've blown tests before that I thought I did pretty good on.

So here I am - Optimistic, but not totally confident. And luck had nothing to do with it. Prayer. Lots of prayer. Before, during and after.


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## Techie_Junkie_PE_LEED_AP (Dec 18, 2007)

I took the exam in April 07. I watched the clock closely and used the full 4 hours for both AM and PM. I had about 5 minutes left in AM and took a best guess at 3 or 4 probs, and about 5 seconds left in PM with 3 or 4 best guesses.

I did only minor rechecking, only if something I ran into during another question warranted it. Otherwise, for the 3 or 4 questions I had no clue, I narrowed it down to 2 possible "best guess" answers and left them for the last minute pick, and moved on. I made LARGE notations near those questions in the exam book so that during crunch time (like the last 5 seconds) I could quickly guess if I didn't have time to spend on them later (which I didn't).

Good luck to all!!

:th_rockon:


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## Andros (Dec 18, 2007)

Techie_Junkie PE said:


> I took the exam in April 07. I watched the clock closely and used the full 4 hours for both AM and PM. I had about 5 minutes left in AM and took a best guess at 3 or 4 probs, and about 5 seconds left in PM with 3 or 4 best guesses.
> I did only minor rechecking, only if something I ran into during another question warranted it. Otherwise, for the 3 or 4 questions I had no clue, I narrowed it down to 2 possible "best guess" answers and left them for the last minute pick, and moved on. I made LARGE notations near those questions in the exam book so that during crunch time (like the last 5 seconds) I could quickly guess if I didn't have time to spend on them later (which I didn't).
> 
> Good luck to all!!
> ...


Hey did you pass the exam in April 07


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## Andros (Dec 18, 2007)

Techie_Junkie PE said:


> I took the exam in April 07. I watched the clock closely and used the full 4 hours for both AM and PM. I had about 5 minutes left in AM and took a best guess at 3 or 4 probs, and about 5 seconds left in PM with 3 or 4 best guesses.
> I did only minor rechecking, only if something I ran into during another question warranted it. Otherwise, for the 3 or 4 questions I had no clue, I narrowed it down to 2 possible "best guess" answers and left them for the last minute pick, and moved on. I made LARGE notations near those questions in the exam book so that during crunch time (like the last 5 seconds) I could quickly guess if I didn't have time to spend on them later (which I didn't).
> 
> Good luck to all!!
> ...


Hey did you pass the exam in April 07


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## Capt Worley PE (Dec 19, 2007)

I was sure I was going to get to find out what color the penils were in April. I was completely amazed when I saw the thin ELSES envelope in the mail. I got shaky with relief when I saw 'passing score.'

As my boss-to-be said at yesterday's engineering meeting, "It's occasionally a good thing to be wrong, isn't it?"


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## Dleg (Dec 19, 2007)

Good poll. I'm interested to see if the "I nailed it" topic continues to be 100%. That's the way I felt when I left the exam, and I passed. It would be nice to tell people that if that's how they felt, then based on our unscientific poll (in this thread), the odds are very high that they passed.


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## RIP - VTEnviro (Dec 20, 2007)

I took it in April '06.

My first thought was "I'm nailing it!" after the AM session. I felt really confident and excited after the morning and had to consciously calm myself down at lunchtime knowing I needed to focus for 4 more hours. It was a really nice day so I walked around town for a half an hour so to get rid of the nervous energy.

I felt good about the PM session as well.

The doubt and self-loathing didn't kick in until Monday when I emerged from my beer and champagne hangover.


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## NCcarguy (Dec 20, 2007)

I'm waiting on results before I actually pick the choice, but I can say ahead of time that I LEFT the exam room thinking I nailed it.....of course that feeling has diminished to thinking I'm going to be taking the test again next October......so we'll see where I fall. but for now, I feel like I nailed it.

NOW I CAN ADD TO THIS POST........ ASSED2:


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## TXengrChickPE (Dec 20, 2007)

I thought I nailed the morning... and the afternoon kicked me in the ass! I left early in the morning as I had gone through the entire test 2x. There were about 3-4 morning questions that I had no clue on, but I didn't feel that additional time would actually get me any extra points... so I left and had a VERY leisurely lunch in my car. I left thinking that I had probably gotten 35/40 in the morning.

The afternoon was a LOT harder! There were about 10 that I was totally clueless on... I used the whole 4 hours, but I was so tired by the end that I probably missed some that I should have gotten. I left thinking that I got at least 20, and had a good feeling about another 5.

Anyway, TX still gives scores, and I got a 78 (adjusted). So far we have not gotten a break-down of morning and afternoon... dunno if we will. Assuming that all of the questions were counted toward the score, I got 62.4 out of 80 correct. Which is actually higher than the 60 that I thought I would get. Moral of this story is NAIL the MORNING!!! It can save your ass!


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## busbeepbeep (Dec 20, 2007)

I don't feel confident at all. I left the test feeling that it was a lot harder than I expected. I think it's gonna be real close either way.


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## jtucker (Dec 20, 2007)

I took the EE (Power) in Georgia. I thought that I nailed the morning session. It was somewhat easier than I thought. Had ~ 45 minutes to go back and check work. Would estimate that I got 35+ right in the A.m. The afternoon was tougher Probably 6 questions that I had no clue on (straight guesses) and another 6 that were educated guesses. If I had to guess i would say I got ~25 of the P.M. questions right and maybe a few more with lucky guesses. I left the testing center feeling very confident that I passed. After about a week though, I started second guessing myself and wondering how many dumb mistakes I made. As time passed I became more and more convinced that I had about a 50/50 chance of passing. In the end, I passed although I'll never know by how much (GA doesn't report scores). I agree that the key to passing is to "smoke" the morning session and do the best you can on the P.M.


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## gymrat1279 PE (Dec 20, 2007)

TXengrChick said:


> I thought I nailed the morning... and the afternoon kicked me in the ass! I left early in the morning as I had gone through the entire test 2x. There were about 3-4 morning questions that I had no clue on, but I didn't feel that additional time would actually get me any extra points... so I left and had a VERY leisurely lunch in my car. I left thinking that I had probably gotten 35/40 in the morning.
> The afternoon was a LOT harder! There were about 10 that I was totally clueless on... I used the whole 4 hours, but I was so tired by the end that I probably missed some that I should have gotten. I left thinking that I got at least 20, and had a good feeling about another 5.
> 
> Anyway, TX still gives scores, and I got a 78 (adjusted). So far we have not gotten a break-down of morning and afternoon... dunno if we will. Assuming that all of the questions were counted toward the score, I got 62.4 out of 80 correct. Which is actually higher than the 60 that I thought I would get. Moral of this story is NAIL the MORNING!!! It can save your ass!


I completely agree with you; my feelings exactly. In the morning I got done in about 2 hours and went through and redid my calculations twice and still felt great about it. The afternoon was harder and I didn't feel as good about it but I still felt I did decently and that any more studying I would have done wouldn't have helped.

I had a feeling I was going to pass, but I never wanted to say one way or another just in case I didn't. I am so relieved that it is over and that I passed. Congrats to everyone that passed and good luck to those taking it in April.


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## rudy (Dec 21, 2007)

This time around (third try) I felt like TXengrChick and gymrat1279, I felt that I had nailed the morning. Was able to re-work a few using different approaches to make sure I got the same answer. I was sure that I got about 30 to 35 of them right. There were about 5 that I was not sure about, but was able to rule out at least 1 or 2 of the choices. The afternoon part was harder for me because this time the questions seem geared to experience. I have no experience in typical ChE equipment since I work in plasma engineering. I used some of the references and common sense. I figured I got at least 20 correct; was able to eliminate some choices for 5; had to guess on remaining 15. I had a feeling that I might pass. Result was I passed with a 75.

The first time I felt like it could go either way; got a 66. The second time felt it could go either way, but felt that I did better than the first time. I also came out feeling that if I had to, I could do it again. Like it wasn't too bad. Got a 69. The third time, felt I had done alot better than the first two times (especially with the morning part); got a 75. Oh... BTW... I totally changed my strategy the third time.


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## FL PE (Dec 21, 2007)

After several attempts....I felt good this past time. Wasn't totally sure until I got home tonight and saw the letter.


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## niffur (Dec 21, 2007)

Very interesting poll, and my interpretation of the data seems to support common sense - the more confident you are that you passed, the more likely you are to have passed, and vice-versa.


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## brick_27 (Dec 26, 2007)

This was my first attempt, so I didn't know what to really expect. However, after completing the test I would not have been surprised if I had to take it again in April. Luckily I passed. I guess I would say that I felt I would have to count on some of my "engineering guesses" to come up big.


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## StoneAG (Dec 26, 2007)

1st time taker and passed.

I felt really good about the morning (Civil). I was at about 95% confidence on around 30 of the 40 problems. And only 2 or 3 were a total shot in the dark. Made for a relaxing lunch in the car in the parking lot. The afternoon was totally different (Water Resources) I took almost 2 hrs to do about 18 problems and to be honest those were the only one's I had that 95% confidence on. Better than a 50% confidence on another 10 problems and at least 10 that were just "educated" guesses. I left the exam knowing I had done all the preparation I could have considering I have work and 2 small kids.

Don't know if there is any advice in this post, but if you can be honest with yourself and say you did the best you could, then the results won't matter quite as much...


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## danm9 (Dec 26, 2007)

i felt pretty good after the test but as each day after passed, i grew less and less confident. but i'd say my gut told me i passed and i did.


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## jrsc (Jan 4, 2008)

I only voted for my most recent attempt at the PE but here's a rundown of my experiences.

1st Time (April 2006): Felt pretty good, thought I probably passed/FAILED

2nd Time (Oct. 2006): Didn't feel as confident as the first time so I'll probably be taking it again/FAILED

3rd Time (Oct 2007): I can't wait to see what color the pencils are in April, didn't even have time to finish/PASSED


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## FINK_RB_PE (Jan 4, 2008)

I walked out thinking I kicked that things A$$, I only guessed at one problem the entire test, but after time passed I started wondering if I screwed up units or made common mistakes that they created the other answers from. In the end I thought I nailed it and I passed.


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## ChrisCT (Jan 9, 2008)

I felt reasonably confident leaving the exam. However, I wasn't sure if those feelings were just from being relieved that it's over with or really genuine. I know that I felt much better than I did after the two [horror show] Practice Exams that I took.

Of course, similar to others, as each day passed my self-doubt began to set in. To make it worse, I could barely remember any of the problems when I attempted to sit down and analytically figure out my chances!

Overall, I think (as the poll numbers are showing) that your gut feeling about the exam immediately after completion is worth something.


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## 1234oj (Feb 4, 2008)

I was excited after the morning.. i thought i did the BEST i could.. i had about 35 question i was very sure... abt 3 were dicey and 2 complete blind guesses...

Afternoon was slightly tougher.. but i think i was more than sure i got 30+ and rest were guesses..

so i knew i was there.

Seismic was the same, i thought i nailed it..

Surveying was either a miracle of god.. or i got a few guesses correct.. i was too brain dead in surveying to realise how i did..

bottom line is that i passed it at one go...


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