I received my test results and wanted to start a thread to 1) Hopefully interact with others that failed so I don't feel like the only moron on the planet and 2) discuss other ways to study so this doesn't happen again in April. I did not do the on-line NCEES practice tests or buy their problems and answers, would this be helpful? I have every PPI book and they were great, but still found some problems that I could not find the answer to in these reference manuals. Are there others that would be helpful? Also, any other discussion is welcome, including those that got a 69% and did not pass.
Hi There,
Don't feel like you're alone, it's a tough exam for most people. I took it 3 times before I passed. Here's how it went for me:
First time - I took a 6 week review course on Saturdays, and looked through all the notes. I didn't really do a lot of practice problems (we were in the process of moving so study time just wasn't available). I knew I'd be unprepared, but I took the test and looked at it as a slightly expensive practice exam. I was 80% sure I failed, and I did
I was weak in all topics, slightly stronger in my area (Water), but I took the diagnostic info and decided I'd focus on the weakest areas to try to improve my score.
Second time - NCEES changed the exam format to include Construction and also merged Water/Enviro Depth, so I spent a ton of time on Construction/Enviro problems because I didn't think I had enough background to do well in those areas. I decided to join a study group (two actually). We met twice a week for 3-4 hours, averaged 4 problems per session. We also worked a practice exam as a group, and we did another as a timed test (I aced the water section, failed the rest). Almost all our time was spent on the depth section. On my own I worked some practice problems, mainly from the NCEES sample exam and some from the CERM book. It felt like I studied alot, though it didn't feel like a huge sacfrifice. Plus I spent an inordinate amount of time organizing references and problems so I could look them up quickly. I felt like I did a LOT better, and felt great about the exam when I was done. Still failed though
This time, I had aced the water section in the morning, and was still weak in structural, transpo, geotech, plus I had some really weak scores in the afternoon on certain topics.
Third time - I skipped the study group, but had some lunch sessions with PE's in my office who helped explain some key concepts in the areas that I was particularly lacking comprehension(structures/geotech). Those really helped my basic knowledge and made working problems easier (I'd been avoiding practice problems in those areas because I couldn't get over the hurdle of not "getting" the fundamentals). I spent 50% of my time on practice problems in the 5 morning disciplines and 50% on the afternoon areas that I had weak scores. I made a binder to store all my work. I did a TON of practice problems, making sure that not only did I have the right answers, but that I got" the concepts. I realized I made tons of careless mistakes when I tried to rush through things, like unit conversion errors, using perimeter instead of wetted perimeter (doh), etc. Catching mistakes became my main focus, because I knew that was the easiest thing to fix to improve my exam score. I made a list of repeat mistakes/errors I made and put it on the wall where I studied. Every mistake I caught was a possible point closer to passing. By the time I took the exam, I was subconciously checking for those errors without looking at the list. I studied from July to October, with a 2 week vacation to Europe right at the end of September. Just before that vacation, I was coming home from work at 6pm, studying until 11pm, plus 8-10 hrs on the weekend. After the vacation I went back to that same routine. I memorized a lot of basic equations because looking them up wasted a lot of time on the last exam attempt. While studying, I felt like a shut-in, and I was determined not to suffer through another exam cycle. I felt like complete crap after I finished the exam, it was like a study hangover. Then I got the letter 2 months later saying I'd passed