# Pass Rate Updates



## fyrfytr310 (May 14, 2019)

Does anyone know how long it takes NCEES to update the published pass rates?


----------



## RBHeadge PE (May 14, 2019)

varies, but recently its within the first week of release.


----------



## Geralyn (May 14, 2019)

The results are out. I got an email today, 5/14/19


----------



## EngrPaper (May 15, 2019)

Geralyn said:


> The results are out. I got an email today, 5/14/19


He is talking about this: https://ncees.org/engineering/pe/pass-rates/


----------



## EI_EI_OH (May 15, 2019)

EngrPaper said:


> He is talking about this: https://ncees.org/engineering/pe/pass-rates/


And it looks like these are now updated. The LAST UPDATED column is now May 2019 for the majority of the exams. I'm assuming some of the exams aren't always offered in the Spring.


----------



## EngrPaper (May 15, 2019)

Those must've just updated.  When I posted the link, they weren't.


----------



## ashmur90 (May 15, 2019)

LMAO power and it's terrible passing rate. Not surprised. Hopefuly third time is the charm.


----------



## EngrPaper (May 15, 2019)

ashmur90 said:


> LMAO power and it's terrible passing rate. Not surprised. Hopefuly third time is the charm.


I thought the pass rate on the Industrial exam looked skewed.


----------



## Drewism (May 15, 2019)

ashmur90 said:


> LMAO power and it's terrible passing rate. Not surprised. Hopefuly third time is the charm.


Power is notorious for its very low pass rate. Even lower for repeat takers. I ended up passing the second time.


----------



## RKo (May 15, 2019)

that sucks. Whats the motive to retake it when you see that 44% pass rate.


----------



## LyceeFruit PE (May 15, 2019)

ashmur90 said:


> LMAO power and it's terrible passing rate. Not surprised. Hopefuly third time is the charm.


Power exam is awful.


----------



## ChebyshevII PE PMP (May 15, 2019)

CompEng has only 16 test takers total...wonder if that means it’ll eventually suffer the same fate as SoftEng...


----------



## EngrPaper (May 15, 2019)

ChebyshevII_PE said:


> CompEng has only 16 test takers total...wonder if that means it’ll eventually suffer the same fate as SoftEng...


Nowadays people think that a computer engineer is just a programmer, more often than not.  It wouldn't surprise me to see that side taken over by Comp Sci people.


----------



## ChebyshevII PE PMP (May 15, 2019)

EngrPaper said:


> Nowadays people think that a computer engineer is just a programmer, more often than not.  It wouldn't surprise me to see that side taken over by Comp Sci people.


That would be an interesting shift, since there are also hardware concepts involved in computer engineering. Last I remember there was very little hardware design in degree tracks for comp sci.


----------



## NikR_PE (May 15, 2019)

ChebyshevII_PE said:


> CompEng has only 16 test takers total...wonder if that means it’ll eventually suffer the same fate as SoftEng...


software had 17.  not much different. 

Since i am not from the industry. Can someone enlighten me as in why a comp eng or software person would need a PE?


----------



## ChebyshevII PE PMP (May 15, 2019)

NikR said:


> Since i am not from the industry. Can someone enlighten me as in why a comp eng or software person would need a PE?


In many cases, they don’t. Both fall under industry exemption.

The biggest reason I could see would be if specific computer hardware or a specific software program had the potential to cause harm to the general public.

I took the CompEng exam, but I don’t practice in that area per se...I chose the exam because it is considered an electrical exam (I practice in electrical), and it would give me the best chance of success since it also contained a good amount of software questions (I also practice in software).


----------



## ChebyshevII PE PMP (May 15, 2019)

NikR said:


> software had 17.  not much different.


Software is no longer going to be administered; there just weren’t enough test takers for NCEES to justify it.


----------



## NikR_PE (May 15, 2019)

ChebyshevII_PE said:


> The biggest reason I could see would be if specific computer hardware or a specific software program had the potential to cause harm to the general public.


Well with all the hoopla with facebook and google. it would be funny if the states actually try regulating the industry and require people to be licensed.


----------



## ChebyshevII PE PMP (May 15, 2019)

NikR said:


> Well with all the hoopla with facebook and google. it would be funny if the states actually try regulating the industry and require people to be licensed.


Good luck with that. Part of the reason there was such a small turnout for the software exam was because Microsoft and Silicone Valley balked at the idea that their guys had to be licensed to be considered “engineers.”


----------



## NikR_PE (May 15, 2019)

ChebyshevII_PE said:


> Good luck with that. Part of the reason there was such a small turnout for the software exam was because Microsoft and Silicone Valley balked at the idea that their guys had to be licensed to be considered “engineers.”


yup. Thats why I said "try"


----------



## ashmur90 (May 15, 2019)

LyceeFruit said:


> Power exam is awful.


Truth. When I tell people the pass rates for power, they basically fall out.


----------



## solidorange (May 15, 2019)

ChebyshevII_PE said:


> CompEng has only 16 test takers total...wonder if that means it’ll eventually suffer the same fate as SoftEng...


I was one of the 12(!) first-time test takers. I can almost seeing it going away as well.



EngrPaper said:


> Nowadays people think that a computer engineer is just a programmer, more often than not.  It wouldn't surprise me to see that side taken over by Comp Sci people.






ChebyshevII_PE said:


> That would be an interesting shift, since there are also hardware concepts involved in computer engineering. Last I remember there was very little hardware design in degree tracks for comp sci.


I have a hard time believing CompSci would be very sucessful for the same reason. Hardware description language is a large portion of the test, and they generally don't see FPGAs. It would take a lot of studying to be successful. Not impossible; just difficult.



NikR said:


> software had 17.  not much different.
> 
> Since i am not from the industry. Can someone enlighten me as in why a comp eng or software person would need a PE?






ChebyshevII_PE said:


> In many cases, they don’t. Both fall under industry exemption.
> 
> The biggest reason I could see would be if specific computer hardware or a specific software program had the potential to cause harm to the general public.
> 
> I took the CompEng exam, but I don’t practice in that area per se...I chose the exam because it is considered an electrical exam (I practice in electrical), and it would give me the best chance of success since it also contained a good amount of software questions (I also practice in software).


Personally, I work in a utility industry which values licensure. For example, becoming a lead or principal engineer requires advance degree or licensure. Taking time to earn a technical masters degree is a much more difficult road to sled in my opinion.


----------



## ChebyshevII PE PMP (May 15, 2019)

solidorange said:


> I have a hard time believing CompSci would be very sucessful for the same reason. Hardware description language is a large portion of the test, and they generally don't see FPGAs. It would take a lot of studying to be successful. Not impossible; just difficult.
> 
> Personally, I work in a utility industry which values licensure. For example, becoming a lead or principal engineer requires advance degree or licensure. Taking time to earn a technical masters degree is a much more difficult road to sled in my opinion.


Thanks for the insight!


----------



## EngrPaper (May 15, 2019)

solidorange said:


> I have a hard time believing CompSci would be very sucessful for the same reason. Hardware description language is a large portion of the test, and they generally don't see FPGAs. It would take a lot of studying to be successful. Not impossible; just difficult. ﻿﻿﻿


I'm not saying they would be successful, merely that in the realm of public opinion, CompSci people are more and more being called "Computer Engineers."  That doens't change reality for people, like you, who are "in the know."  But it does affect new graduates and people entering the industry.


----------



## eeMark PE (May 15, 2019)

The Power exam is a soul crushing monster.  The NCEES gods blessed me with a pass and I'm almost more excited not to have to take the test again than I am to get licensed.  Best of luck to you guys signing up for next October/next April.


----------



## Drewism (May 15, 2019)

eeMark said:


> The Power exam is a soul crushing monster.  The NCEES gods blessed me with a pass and I'm almost more excited not to have to take the test again than I am to get licensed.  Best of luck to you guys signing up for next October/next April.


It truly is. I've passed as well. I'm most excited about the fact that I don't have to see the exam, practice questions or other reference material again. That's how difficult it was.


----------



## civilrobot PE etc etc (May 15, 2019)

I am truly concerned about the pass rate for Civil Construction. Why so low?!


----------



## LyceeFruit PE (May 15, 2019)

civilrobot said:


> I am truly concerned about the pass rate for Civil Construction. Why so low?!


Apparently it's as soul crushing as power


----------



## GeoDude_PE (May 15, 2019)

civilrobot said:


> I am truly concerned about the pass rate for Civil Construction. Why so low?!


It's always low because people who don't have a specific sub-discipline/technical background often decide to take construction because its not as deep as other disciplines.  They don't have as much technical knowledge and it makes the exam much harder.  I am one of those people in that boat but opted to study and take geotech instead.


----------



## nyeit (May 15, 2019)

ashmur90 said:


> LMAO power and it's terrible passing rate. Not surprised. Hopefuly third time is the charm.


What study materials did you use for the exam?


----------



## nyeit (May 15, 2019)

ashmur90 said:


> LMAO power and it's terrible passing rate. Not surprised. Hopefuly third time is the charm.


What study materials did you use for the exam?


----------



## nyeit (May 15, 2019)

ashmur90 said:


> LMAO power and it's terrible passing rate. Not surprised. Hopefuly third time is the charm.


What study materials did you use for the exam?


----------



## nyeit (May 15, 2019)

ashmur90 said:


> LMAO power and it's terrible passing rate. Not surprised. Hopefuly third time is the charm.


What study materials did you use for the exam?


----------



## nyeit (May 15, 2019)

ashmur90 said:


> LMAO power and it's terrible passing rate. Not surprised. Hopefuly third time is the charm.


go crap, idk what's going with with my computer, didn't realized i post when I it keeps telling me to wait


----------



## RBHeadge PE (May 15, 2019)

civilrobot said:


> I am truly concerned about the pass rate for Civil Construction. Why so low?!


It's lower than normal, but doesn't it typically have the lowest pass rate of the CivE's?


----------



## ashmur90 (May 15, 2019)

nyeit said:


> go crap, idk what's going with with my computer, didn't realized i post when I it keeps telling me to wait


I used NCEES practice exam, Camara practice exams, PPI stuff, School of PE stuff, all the required code books, info on protective relaying and batteries.


----------



## nyeit (May 15, 2019)

ashmur90 said:


> I used NCEES practice exam, Camara practice exams, PPI stuff, School of PE stuff, all the required code books, info on protective relaying and batteries.


Idk if you plan to take it again or not, but if you are, maybe get the engineer pro guide.  At least get the practice exam questions.  I find them to be very helpful.


----------



## civilrobot PE etc etc (May 15, 2019)

RBHeadge PE said:


> It's lower than normal, but doesn't it typically have the lowest pass rate of the CivE's?


I've been watching it pretty closely and you're right, it does. I thought the numbers seemed low because it's relatively new compared to the other disciplines. I was hoping for a progressive upswing.


----------



## t_uri (May 15, 2019)

Construction low again. Glad that's over....


----------



## fyrfytr310 (May 15, 2019)

ashmur90 said:


> LMAO power and it's terrible passing rate. Not surprised. Hopefuly third time is the charm.


You’ll get it!


----------



## fyrfytr310 (May 15, 2019)

eeMark said:


> The Power exam is a soul crushing monster.  The NCEES gods blessed me with a pass and I'm almost more excited not to have to take the test again than I am to get licensed.  Best of luck to you guys signing up for next October/next April.


That is EXACTLY how I feel!


----------



## fyrfytr310 (May 15, 2019)

ashmur90 said:


> I used NCEES practice exam, Camara practice exams, PPI stuff, School of PE stuff, all the required code books, info on protective relaying and batteries.


If it means anything, I used Engineer Pro Guides and found it quite useful.  It had some errors in it but, for the money (and now the results) it was definitely worth it.

The practice tests you can get with it were invaluable in my opinion.


----------



## nyeit (May 15, 2019)

fyrfytr310 said:


> If it means anything, I used Engineer Pro Guides and found it quite useful.  It had some errors in it but, for the money (and now the results) it was definitely worth it.
> 
> The practice tests you can get with it were invaluable in my opinion.


I second that, I used Engineer Pro guide and the practice exam questions.  It really helps.  I do find the engineer pro guide questions take more step to solve it so that's a good thing.


----------



## fyrfytr310 (May 15, 2019)

nyeit said:


> I second that, I used Engineer Pro guide and the practice exam questions.  It really helps.  I do find the engineer pro guide questions take more step to solve it so that's a good thing.


Yup.  For the questions that were similar, I felt very well prepared and breezed through them.


----------



## eeMark PE (May 16, 2019)

I really liked PPI’s practice questions.  I hated their teaching materials/books/everything else.  If I could go back and only buy access to their quiz generator and skip on everything else I would.  Doing a stupid number (~1000) of practice questions helped me more than any of the reading/lectures/etc.


----------

