# Board is (Somewhat) Open



## Road Guy (Nov 1, 2010)

The board is opened with limited forums at this time.

Right now in order to be able to manage everything only this forum, and the "Shoot the breeze" forums are open for posting!

Remember those of you that took the exam signed an agreement with NCEES not to discuss the exam content in any way, shape, or form.

Please keep that in mind as you come back! &amp; NCEES can subpeana anything here..........

And we have a good relationship with NCEES staff who will be here monitoring the board the next weeks or so...

With all that said, take a deep breath now that the exam is over and try not to worry about the cut score (which is 54 by the way  )


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## HerrKaLeun (Nov 1, 2010)

I took the test and have a good feeling, which is all I'm gonna say about it.

Obviously in 10-12 weeks I will know if my feeling was correct 

Can you explain that cut score? You mean 54 out of the 80 questions correct? Or 54 % of the 80 questions (would be 43.2.... this really seems low)? How does that relate to the 70 we often hear?

and how do you know of the "54"? Is that specific to last Friday's test? I know this question has been asked a lot, but never been answered.


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## Dark Knight (Nov 1, 2010)

HerrKaLeun said:


> Can you explain that cut score? You mean 54 out of the 80 questions correct? Or 54 % of the 80 questions (would be 43.2.... this really seems low)? How does that relate to the 70 we often hear?
> and how do you know of the "54"? Is that specific to last Friday's test? I know this question has been asked a lot, but never been answered.


Oh No!!!! And here we go!!!!!!!

(Where is the pic with the guy saying...Oh Geez. Not this Shoot Again!!!)?


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## goodal (Nov 1, 2010)

Apparently you didnt see the extra helping of sarcasm dripping off his "54" statement!!!!


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## Dark Knight (Nov 1, 2010)

badal said:


> Apparently you didnt see the extra helping of sarcasm dripping off his "54" statement!!!!


I did. Just ignored it.


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## goodal (Nov 1, 2010)

Sorry i meant HerrKaleun


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## Nik (Nov 1, 2010)

I took the PE Electrical Power exam and I guess I have a good feeling about it as well.

This is my chance. hope electrical power passing percentage improves this time.

-N



HerrKaLeun said:


> I took the test and have a good feeling, which is all I'm gonna say about it.
> Obviously in 10-12 weeks I will know if my feeling was correct
> 
> Can you explain that cut score? You mean 54 out of the 80 questions correct? Or 54 % of the 80 questions (would be 43.2.... this really seems low)? How does that relate to the 70 we often hear?
> ...


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## DVINNY (Nov 1, 2010)

1st response. I'm laughin' my arse off already.

I LOVE THIS PLACE!


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## Road Guy (Nov 1, 2010)

I guess my dry humor doesnt come off very well on the internet (damn al gore!)


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## roadwreck (Nov 1, 2010)

Dark Knight said:


> (Where is the pic with the guy saying...Oh Geez. Not this Shoot Again!!!)?


ask and ye shall receive


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## DVINNY (Nov 1, 2010)

FACT: If you got 80/80 questions right, then you passed.

Otherwise, you'll never know the true cut score. (I say its 56 questions answered properly, and that's my final answer)


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## Sschell (Nov 1, 2010)

the cutscore is 12... but I cannot reveal the complex mathematics that correlate the # of questions you answered correctly to your score.


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## Dark Knight (Nov 1, 2010)

The cut score it whatever they decide is the best for this year. Economics and the number of first time and repeating candidates is irrelevant. :mf_bounce8:

The truth is that I do not have a clue and I just posting this becuase have not a bleeping thing to do right now.


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## navyasw02 (Nov 1, 2010)

What do taking the PE exam and going to jail have in common? You now have plenty of time to think about the stupid sh!t you did.

I thought the morning was super easy and I was really mad I had spent so much time studying that instead of my depth section. The afternoon SUCKED. I'm hoping the two will balance out. I feel good overall, but thinking about those handful of questions that I still cant figure out is what stuck in my mind all weekend.


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## DVINNY (Nov 1, 2010)

However, when Dark Knight decides to pick a day in which the results will start flowing in........ ya better believe him.

He is right almost always, and when off, its usually by one day.

He's the GURU.


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## Eddierizzle (Nov 1, 2010)

On a side note, NCEES just released updated study material today and for once they did something right. I noticed that they actually split the Civil Modules this time, but with 40 questions in the morning which is the same for all sections and 40 depth problems for each section.

Too bad they didn't have it ready for October 2010 exam  , because the 2008 one kinda sucked. I wonder if Lindeburg is going to update his book too. He seriously needs to.

I feel that I passed this time and hopefully I won't have to take it the third time.


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## DVINNY (Nov 1, 2010)

Eddierizzle,

Isn't that how the test has been for some time now?


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## benbo (Nov 1, 2010)

navyasw02 said:


> What do taking the PE exam and going to jail have in common? You now have plenty of time to think about the stupid sh!t you did.
> I thought the morning was super easy and I was really mad I had spent so much time studying that instead of my depth section. The afternoon SUCKED. I'm hoping the two will balance out. I feel good overall, but thinking about those handful of questions that I still cant figure out is what stuck in my mind all weekend.


This was my experience precisely. You probably passed, because I did, although I didn't think I would.


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## Dark Knight (Nov 1, 2010)

DVINNY said:


> However, when Dark Knight decides to pick a day in which the results will start flowing in........ ya better believe him.
> 
> He is right almost always, and when off, its usually by one day.
> 
> He's the GURU.


I was. Now I am retired. Just for fun, and to see what happens, the results will start coming out on December 15th, +/- two days...

:bio:


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## Eddierizzle (Nov 1, 2010)

DVINNY said:


> Eddierizzle,
> Isn't that how the test has been for some time now?


Yes, but the 2008 Civil NCEES study material only gave you 20 morning questions and 20 afternoon questions in your depth. I'm saying that the new study material is actually an improvement from what they gave you in the past. Makes it feel like more of a mock exam.


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## navyasw02 (Nov 1, 2010)

benbo said:


> navyasw02 said:
> 
> 
> > What do taking the PE exam and going to jail have in common? You now have plenty of time to think about the stupid sh!t you did.
> ...


Overall, I felt pretty good, but the morning and afternoon confidence factor was night and day. The good thing though was that I didnt dread it nearly as much as I dreaded doing all those practice problems. I actually had fun to some extent, whereas I had to drag myself to my desk to do the practice problems every day.


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## DVINNY (Nov 1, 2010)

Eddierizzle said:


> DVINNY said:
> 
> 
> > Eddierizzle,
> ...


Understand. After I responded, I noticed you were talking about the materials. That's good, because the stuff I bought had a half sized test as well.


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## XOXOXO (Nov 1, 2010)

navyasw02 said:


> What do taking the PE exam and going to jail have in common? You now have plenty of time to think about the stupid sh!t you did.
> I thought the morning was super easy and I was really mad I had spent so much time studying that instead of my depth section. The afternoon SUCKED. I'm hoping the two will balance out. I feel good overall, but thinking about those handful of questions that I still cant figure out is what stuck in my mind all weekend.


I totally agree with you. The AM was straightfoward...and I prepared very well for it. I solved problem after problem, and was literally smiling on my way out to lunch.

The PM gave me a one-two punch after the first 10 questions. I kept thinking...I can't keep skipping/guessing!!

At least I know I prepared well for the AM, and I *think* I know what to do about the PM this time...(sigh)...


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## knight1fox3 (Nov 1, 2010)

POed Mommy said:


> navyasw02 said:
> 
> 
> > What do taking the PE exam and going to jail have in common? You now have plenty of time to think about the stupid sh!t you did.
> ...


Wow, kind of scary how similar I and a few others felt about the afternoon session. I took the PE electrical power exam this past Fri. Like you guys mentioned, felt good about the morning session while going to lunch. Then I get to the PM session and it was kind of like Mac fighting Don Flamingo in Punch Out for NES (me being Don Flamingo). Just kept getting hit left and right. There were a good number of problems I had to skip and come back to (er guess at the end) during that session. I'm hoping the AM and PM will balance out though. Nice to know it wasn't just me that thought the PM was tougher (different disciplines too).


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## snickerd3 (Nov 1, 2010)

knight1fox3 said:


> POed Mommy said:
> 
> 
> > navyasw02 said:
> ...


Love the NES reference. I still have my NES and play somewhat regularly. Might just have to break out the punchout


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## The Man (Nov 1, 2010)

POed Mommy said:


> navyasw02 said:
> 
> 
> > What do taking the PE exam and going to jail have in common? You now have plenty of time to think about the stupid sh!t you did.
> ...



I am 100% behind you... I was extremely confident with the morning section but that afternoon, especially the first 10 questions, really put me back in my place. This is my second time taking the exam and I was fairly comfident that I passed last time but ended up failing. This time I am fairly confident I didn't pass so maybe it will work in my favor. I took the Civil - Water Resources / Environmental.


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## DVINNY (Nov 1, 2010)

already got an AWESOME NES Punch Out reference....... great thread


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## cableguy (Nov 1, 2010)

I'll agree with electrical power as well. I finished morning in 2 1/2 hours, went back over every problem a couple times, was only not-so-confident about maybe 2-3 of them. Morning felt good.

Afternoon brought the suck though. There were probably 8-10 of them that gave me a case of the willies. I figure I'll get some of those, and lose some of those.

I feel like I passed, but I don't feel like I got the "A" that I was studying for. Heck, half the stuff I studied wasn't even on the exam.


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## navyasw02 (Nov 1, 2010)

cableguy said:


> I'll agree with electrical power as well. I finished morning in 2 1/2 hours, went back over every problem a couple times, was only not-so-confident about maybe 2-3 of them. Morning felt good.
> Afternoon brought the suck though. There were probably 8-10 of them that gave me a case of the willies. I figure I'll get some of those, and lose some of those.
> 
> I feel like I passed, but I don't feel like I got the "A" that I was studying for. Heck, half the stuff I studied wasn't even on the exam.


Agreed, overall none of the stuff that I spent a lot of time studying was on the exam. I'm pretty certain that if I had only studied the week before the exam, I wouldve done just as well.


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## knight1fox3 (Nov 1, 2010)

The Man said:


> I am 100% behind you... I was extremely confident with the morning section but that afternoon, especially the first 10 questions, really put me back in my place. This is my second time taking the exam and I was fairly comfident that I passed last time but ended up failing. This time I am fairly confident I didn't pass so maybe it will work in my favor. I took the Civil - Water Resources / Environmental.


I am in the exact same boat but I'm hoping the AM session balances out the PM session for electrical.



cableguy said:


> I'll agree with electrical power as well. I finished morning in 2 1/2 hours, went back over every problem a couple times, was only not-so-confident about maybe 2-3 of them. Morning felt good.
> Afternoon brought the suck though. There were probably 8-10 of them that gave me a case of the willies. I figure I'll get some of those, and lose some of those.
> 
> I feel like I passed, but I don't feel like I got the "A" that I was studying for. Heck, half the stuff I studied wasn't even on the exam.


I was curious to know what you thought of the test cableguy and was going to PM you. A lot of the material I studied as well wasn't on the exam. I certainly didn't get an "A" either.


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## Road Guy (Nov 1, 2010)

how did the "pick your afternoon section" before the exam go over?

I would think it wouldnt be that big of a deal though...


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## navyasw02 (Nov 1, 2010)

Road Guy said:


> how did the "pick your afternoon section" before the exam go over?
> I would think it wouldnt be that big of a deal though...


It wasn't too big of a deal, but after the morning session I probably would have done Thermo/Fluids instead of the MD I signed up for given a spur of the moment choice.


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## dhw23 (Nov 1, 2010)

I also thought the morning exam was very straightforward and easy. I went to lunch feeling super good and filled with joy........then came the afternoon HVAC test. It was brutal and very unforgiving. Anyone else take the HVAC afternoon exam?


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## meagm11 (Nov 1, 2010)

dhw23 said:


> I also thought the morning exam was very straightforward and easy. I went to lunch feeling super good and filled with joy........then came the afternoon HVAC test. It was brutal and very unforgiving. Anyone else take the HVAC afternoon exam?


I took the HVAC afternoon exam! I felt exactly the same way. The morning was pretty easy. I got done early and felt pretty good going into the afternoon. The afternoon exam was not good. I thought it was very different from the practice tests I took. (both NCEES study exams)

I hope my morning test makes up for the afternoon test.


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## thoolie (Nov 1, 2010)

DVINNY said:


> FACT: If you got 80/80 questions right, then you passed.
> Otherwise, you'll never know the true cut score. (I say its 56 questions answered properly, and that's my final answer)



Odd you mention that.....I was doing a little browsing on the web for PE statistics and I found CA's PE results website:

http://www.pels.ca.gov/applicants/exam_statistics.shtml

If you scroll down to the results from 98 and 99, you'll find cut scores for all disciplines (you have to download the pdf). For example, in April of 1999, the cut score for the Electrical PE exam was 48 questions right out of 80 questions (60%). You'll also see that 29 of 199 people were able to get a score higher than 48 (14.6%). I'm willing to bet that this is probably in the ballpark of what should be expected of recent exams, as I think NCEES likes to try and maintain a moderate amount of similarity between exam difficulties. Now, they don't tell you if that 48 is before or after they throw out the bunk questions......

So, there is the official cut score. I hope that answers everybody's questions


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## Badger (Nov 1, 2010)

thoolie said:


> DVINNY said:
> 
> 
> > FACT: If you got 80/80 questions right, then you passed.
> ...


Wellthat should settle the cutscore debate. If I had been eligible to take the Civil PE in April I would have passed with 48/80; after that you needed 70/100.

So I am going interpolate that to mean 70% or 56/80 is required to pass the exam now, assuming there were no questions thrown out.

Anyway why would anyone want to pass with 48/80?

(Well I probably would have the on the first try since that is what I got, especially since I would not have know what score I received. Thank God I finally passed and can say thew cutscore was 80/80!)

I hope all you test takers did better than you think.


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## RJs (Nov 1, 2010)

What is the experiences of Water Resources Folks?


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## DVINNY (Nov 2, 2010)

Seriously.

You can do searches through this forum, and over the years, each time results came in, we would do a DIAGNOSTICS thread. We would (by using the percentages) figure out how many questions were on each section, then determine the highest number correct WITHOUT passing. That would lead us to assume the next highest number passed.

It has never been as low as 48 raw. I don't think it was ever lower than 54 (RG's magic #)


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## Relvinim (Nov 2, 2010)

That's bizarre. I must be the only person that felt more comfortable in the afternoon (Machine Design) session than the morning. I think my nerves were rattled right off the bat but then I settled down once I got to the 5th or 6th problem. I felt pretty good overall once I left the the exam but with each passing day I am getting more doubtful. I guess it's a case of nerves...or just a case of not wanting to go through that again. That was brutal!


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## adh (Nov 2, 2010)

meagm11 said:


> dhw23 said:
> 
> 
> > I also thought the morning exam was very straightforward and easy. I went to lunch feeling super good and filled with joy........then came the afternoon HVAC test. It was brutal and very unforgiving. Anyone else take the HVAC afternoon exam?
> ...



I'm with you guys! Afternoon HVAC was brutal... especially after feeling so good about the AM part!!


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## Road Guy (Nov 2, 2010)

54 write it down...


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## eng_boushra (Nov 2, 2010)

I took the Electric and Electronic PE exam and I did not see much difference in the afternoon and the morning same weight- I gussed about 5 and made about 3 mistakes (know it after the exam was over) . Overall I think I did good , still by time passing by I feel less and less comfortable.....dnot know if this is normal or what ... Anyone took the Electronic exam can explain how they felt please ...thanks..


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## NCSU_05_FX4 (Nov 2, 2010)

dhw23 said:


> I also thought the morning exam was very straightforward and easy. I went to lunch feeling super good and filled with joy........then came the afternoon HVAC test. It was brutal and very unforgiving. Anyone else take the HVAC afternoon exam?


I felt that way about the Machine Design module.



Relvinim said:


> That's bizarre. I must be the only person that felt more comfortable in the afternoon (Machine Design) session than the morning. I think my nerves were rattled right off the bat but then I settled down once I got to the 5th or 6th problem. I felt pretty good overall once I left the the exam but with each passing day I am getting more doubtful. I guess it's a case of nerves...or just a case of not wanting to go through that again. That was brutal!


Yup, you must be the only one!


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## dhw23 (Nov 2, 2010)

adh said:


> meagm11 said:
> 
> 
> > dhw23 said:
> ...


After completing twenty problems on the HVAC test I looked at my watch and saw that I had 1.5 hours left. I knew I was in trouble at that point. After my first round of going through all the questions and focusing on the moderate difficulty problems first, I only completed 10 problems! Hopefully we get a generous cut score.....


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## DarbCU (Nov 2, 2010)

eng_boushra said:


> I took the Electric and Electronic PE exam and I did not see much difference in the afternoon and the morning same weight- I gussed about 5 and made about 3 mistakes (know it after the exam was over) . Overall I think I did good , still by time passing by I feel less and less comfortable.....dnot know if this is normal or what ... Anyone took the Electronic exam can explain how they felt please ...thanks..


Yep, I took the EE exam and feel the same way. I felt great when the exam was over, but I am definetly feeling less and less confident every day. However, I thought I did better on the afternoon section than I did in the morning.


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## schmidty99 (Nov 2, 2010)

eng_boushra said:


> I took the Electric and Electronic PE exam and I did not see much difference in the afternoon and the morning same weight- I gussed about 5 and made about 3 mistakes (know it after the exam was over) . Overall I think I did good , still by time passing by I feel less and less comfortable.....dnot know if this is normal or what ... Anyone took the Electronic exam can explain how they felt please ...thanks..


I also took the Electrical/Electronics. I feel they were both about the same level of difficulty, but I felt much better about the PM than I did the AM. This is my second time, I think I did better than the first, but still not sure if I made it over the hump.

One thing that bothers me is that there were probably 5 questions each on the PM and AM that I had no clue how to solve. Nowhere in my study materials did I ever come across anything similiar. Does anyone have (or know of) any study materials that more closely emulate the actual exam questions, other than the NCEES sample exam of course? Also, someone mentioned the new NCEES sample exams. I wonder if there are new example questions, or if they just put a different cover on the same questions. I might have to call them....


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## MSEE (Nov 2, 2010)

I took the Electrical and Electronics exam. I felt better in the afternoon than i felt in the morning. Based on the comments i have read so far of those who took this exam, i had no clue how to solve some problems. i never seen any similar question like those while preparing for the exam. i think i have missed an average of 30, so i guess, i won't pass based on what i have read. some seem to have done well based on the Electronics and electrical posted comments so far.


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## Nik (Nov 3, 2010)

Mine was the other way, I felt good about afternoon, than the morning. Weird. However, I studied 3 books on one topic. And saw no questions on that topic.

I was pretty disappointed, I was ready to nail 100 questions if asked on this topic that I prepared so nicely.

Some of the curve-ball questions bothered me. I was aiming at 90-95% accuracy. I dont think I've hit that, I think I am between 80% - 90% .  I feel so UPSET. That said, given I have not made any "silly" mistakes. Because in Multiple choice questions, you got no room for silly mistakes. Its a straight way out to failure !



navyasw02 said:


> cableguy said:
> 
> 
> > I'll agree with electrical power as well. I finished morning in 2 1/2 hours, went back over every problem a couple times, was only not-so-confident about maybe 2-3 of them. Morning felt good.
> ...


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## schmidty99 (Nov 3, 2010)

MSEE said:


> I took the Electrical and Electronics exam. I felt better in the afternoon than i felt in the morning. Based on the comments i have read so far of those who took this exam, i had no clue how to solve some problems. i never seen any similar question like those while preparing for the exam. i think i have missed an average of 30, so i guess, i won't pass based on what i have read. some seem to have done well based on the Electronics and electrical posted comments so far.


MSEE:

I guess we're in the same boat then with how we feel about the exam. Especially on the those problems we were never able to study for. Maybe the folks who've passed can elaborate of some of the study materials they've used. I primarily used the Camara book for studying. Along with some searching of subjects on the web.

I feel my pass/fail will depend on how well I guessed. Not a good feeling. I was able to eliminate some of the choices in some cases, but still not what I would have preferred.


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## FusionWhite (Nov 4, 2010)

Apparently Im the only ChE who took that damn thing. I smoked the morning section. I finished about half an hour early and that was after I spent 20 minutes double checking the ones I was doubtful about.

The afternoon session made my soul hurt. I felt like the stupid kid in class who sits there struggling while everyone else gets the right answers. At least there wasnt a professor to call me out in front of everyone.

One thing I did notice at the end is that there was only one quantitative problem on the whole test that I didnt at least come up with one of the available multiple choices on. So Im hoping I was either getting the right, or falling into "trap answers", in which case Im screwed.

Overall Im feeling really pretty good about it. Im putting my chances of passing somewhere around..... 70%.


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## navyasw02 (Nov 4, 2010)

FusionWhite said:


> Apparently Im the only ChE who took that damn thing. I smoked the morning section. I finished about half an hour early and that was after I spent 20 minutes double checking the ones I was doubtful about.
> The afternoon session made my soul hurt. I felt like the stupid kid in class who sits there struggling while everyone else gets the right answers. At least there wasnt a professor to call me out in front of everyone.
> 
> One thing I did notice at the end is that there was only one quantitative problem on the whole test that I didnt at least come up with one of the available multiple choices on. So Im hoping I was either getting the right, or falling into "trap answers", in which case Im screwed.
> ...


You sound like the lone ranger that I saw after my exam. He was the only guy in the whole place taking the controls exam.


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## benbo (Nov 4, 2010)

eng_boushra said:


> I took the Electric and Electronic PE exam and I did not see much difference in the afternoon and the morning same weight- I gussed about 5 and made about 3 mistakes (know it after the exam was over) . Overall I think I did good , still by time passing by I feel less and less comfortable.....dnot know if this is normal or what ... Anyone took the Electronic exam can explain how they felt please ...thanks..


The current EE exam is different than a lot of the other PE exams in that there is no longer a breadth and depth session. Used to be you had a broad but relaticvely simple morning breadth session, with a more specialized but more difficult afternoon depth session.

So there is no longer a qualitative difference between the AM and PM. It is just a matter of random chance which section you will find easier, I guess it depends on what problems they ask in each and where your strengths are.

FWIW I took the old style test and thought it was lucky I did. You guys probably had a harder test, unless you are really a specialist. But the cut score shold be adjusted appropriately.


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## afrey22 (Nov 4, 2010)

I took the Civil with the Water Resources and Environmental Afternoon.

Everyone I have talked to said that the WRE afternoon looked like greek. I've been studying since March and to be honest, I am pretty confident. I thought the test was very reasonable (both the morning and the afternoon) and it was only the qualitative questions that gave me fits.

What surprised me the most is that I only had to use the CERM and a test masters binder that someone lent me. Everything else went unused. Even my engineering dictionary went unused.


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