April 2019 PE Structure feedback

[PEStructureAspirant]

How was it folks. My 2nd attempt.

Breadth: Found it ok. Not a breeze though. Thought I did around 30-32 solid.

Depth: Found the depth very difficult & different.

 

[Manimani]

morning gave me confidence.

depth took that confidence in a heart beat.

I think the problems were doable but I ran out of time and had to guess on atleast 5.

It was very different, unfortunately. 

 

[Active Engineer]

This was my first time taking it.

Morning: I felt like went pretty well, there was more conceptual type questions than I thought there was going to be.

Afternoon: Definitely difficult. Most  of the topics I thought was going to be on it, wasn't. I agree with different than what I expected.

 

[FromThisSoil]

Second time.

I found the morning easier than October 2018, probably because I studied more for it and was much more organized. I did a lot of flipping around and wasting my time last time.

The afternoon was “different” as someone else put it. I did far more thinking and less computations with this one. I was surprised by some of the exam content, but managed to get through the questions. I had to guess on a few questions, but overall I feel better about this one than the last. October 2018, I wasted too much time dwelling on a few questions that I was “almost there” on, this time I didn’t let those questions waste my time. I just moved on to the next one and kept going.

Hope we all pass!

 

[Civeng15]

Second attempt:

AM: Probably about 32 +/-2. Easier than last October but I think I could do better because ran out of time and end-up guessing on some questions I know how to solve.

PM: Totally different than the practice exam and even last October. A lot of look-ups questions which I missed many of them. Prior to the exam I spent too much time studying wood section and totally ignored welding part . Again, didn't have time to finish all problems and didn't manage my time correctly because I missed a couple of questions I know how to solve. 

 

[chaserB_PE]

Third (real) attempt:

1st:  was a wash and I thought about quitting.

2nd: skipped

3rd:  I took a School of PE course to help with the morning and thought I did mediocre but bombed the afternoon session. I think the cut off was 50/51 questions and I was at 49. 

4th:  I feel a lot better about the morning, 31+/- 2 but the afternoon was very difficult. I think I luckily found some of the answers in the AASHTO and Masonry books that I normally never find but we will see. There were other problems where i couldn't even get close and I would panic multiply/divide by 12, 1.67, 2, 1.5 LOL

That was my last go at it unless someone forces me to do it again so my fingers are crossed. Good luck to all!

 

[cgpartlow]

This was my first attempt. I think it went alright, but I keep second guessing myself. The morning certainly felt easier but some of the broader topics I was less familiar on. The afternoon was harder, but I was familiar with the subject manner. There were certainly some oddball questions in there though that I don't typically run across in design, that I was pretty unsure about.

*Edit

Oops, I think I actually talked about a couple of things specifically but looks like a mod already edited my post. Sorry about that. I didn't realize it was against the rules. Just started posting here.

 

[USC_Engineer PE]

_

 

[Fissy_PE]

Wishing you all the best!

 

[Matt Skillet]

What up...

My guess...

Morning 35 +/- 2.

Afternoon 25 +/-4

Definitely some left-fielders. Praying for the best, guys.

So what's the consensus from repeat takers - in terms of morning and afternoon difficulty? Also, I heard someone say something about minimum competency. What's the deal with that?

 

[Stardust]

It's from the NCEES PE Examine Guide. To pass the PE exam, candidates must show "minimum level of performance required for entry into the profession."

 

[chaserB_PE]

What up...

My guess...

Morning 35 +/- 2.

Afternoon 25 +/-4

Definitely some left-fielders. Praying for the best, guys.

So what's the consensus from repeat takers - in terms of morning and afternoon difficulty? Also, I heard someone say something about minimum competency. What's the deal with that?

Following the boards last year, I think the cutoff # was 50. So if you got a minimum of 54, you are solid. Best of luck. I'm hoping I got the cutoff+1

 

[Stardust]

The pool of fail scores on here shouldn’t give you that much confidence of the cut score. 

 

[chaserB_PE]

The pool of fail scores on here shouldn’t give you that much confidence of the cut score. 

agree....but its something to measure.

 

[Fissy_PE]

IMO no matter level of difficulty any exam period was in the past, and apparently in the future I don't think the cut score had been/will be less than 50. However, relying on the margin grace of cut score is a dangerous game, I think the best approach that worked for me is to nail it and set a standard cut score of 60/80 for yourself before attempting the exam and by this, one will be able to cover all areas to be tested and of course chilling and relaxing when others are panicking during the wait period.

 

[Manimani]

I think 60/80 is safe score and I don't think I've seen the boards post a cut score that high in the last few years.

I also think 56/80 is the low end of the safe zone. Anything below that is probably a lucky year.

But we shall find out in 5 weeks and 4 days.

 

[PEStructureAspirant]

IMO no matter level of difficulty any exam period was in the past, and apparently in the future I don't think the cut score had been/will be less than 50. However, relying on the margin grace of cut score is a dangerous game, I think the best approach that worked for me is to nail it and set a standard cut score of 60/80 for yourself before attempting the exam and by this, one will be able to cover all areas to be tested and of course chilling and relaxing when others are panicking during the wait period.

This is my 2nd attempt. 1st gave on Apr 2018 & skipped Oct 18.

Had got 50 & along with few others had the highest failing score as per forum. I beleive Oct 18 also had 50 as the highest failing score. 

Don't think, cut-off is more than 51-52 in Structures.

 

[Fissy_PE]

This is my 2nd attempt. 1st gave on Apr 2018 & skipped Oct 18.

Had got 50 & along with few others had the highest failing score as per forum. I beleive Oct 18 also had 50 as the highest failing score. 

Don't think, cut-off is more than 51-52 in Structures.

This assumption I guess is not right based on OCT 2018 PE Structure thread - Oct 2018 Failing scores. Why ? here is someone comment in the thread:



And also there is another person that did Oct 2018 PE Construction with 49/80 with a Texas score of 69 in the same thread. Meaning that 50 is actually the cut score for both Oct 2018 PE structure and Construction. But I am strongly convinced that NCEES has never got below 50 in history and apparently will not based on the April 2018 PE Structure exam difficulty and performances.

 

[hardhatsandpinkshoes]

New poster here and first time test taker. 

I felt pretty good with the morning portion. There were 10 I marked to "double check," and ended up feeling confident about my answers for 5 out of those 10, and fairly decent about my remaining 5. Realistically, allowing myself some grace, I'm thinking 35 +/- 3. Ended up with about 15 minutes left to check my answers, so that was good. Went into lunch thinking "this isn't so bad." But then...

HOLY GUACAMOLE. Nothing I could have done would have prepared me for the afternoon. I could have studied literally a million more hours and it wouldn't have helped me a lick. I just didn't study the correct subject matter. Anyone else feel that way? How about the repeat takers? Was this afternoon portion more difficult than others? I was expecting far more problems in a certain subject matter...ended up with two, and one wasn't even reaallyyyy an actual question on that matter, just happened to mention it in the problem. Talk about frustrating. I felt confident about my answers on maybe 15/40, made an educated guess on roughly 5-7 more, and the remaining 18-20 were a legitimate "well, I haven't filled in a 'B' bubble in awhile..."

Now for the waiting game... Looks like no one felt fantastic about the afternoon, so maybe that will work in our favor? 

 

[Manimani]

New poster here and first time test taker. 

I felt pretty good with the morning portion. There were 10 I marked to "double check," and ended up feeling confident about my answers for 5 out of those 10, and fairly decent about my remaining 5. Realistically, allowing myself some grace, I'm thinking 35 +/- 3. Ended up with about 15 minutes left to check my answers, so that was good. Went into lunch thinking "this isn't so bad." But then...

HOLY GUACAMOLE. Nothing I could have done would have prepared me for the afternoon. I could have studied literally a million more hours and it wouldn't have helped me a lick. I just didn't study the correct subject matter. Anyone else feel that way? How about the repeat takers? Was this afternoon portion more difficult than others? I was expecting far more problems in a certain subject matter...ended up with two, and one wasn't even reaallyyyy an actual question on that matter, just happened to mention it in the problem. Talk about frustrating. I felt confident about my answers on maybe 15/40, made an educated guess on roughly 5-7 more, and the remaining 18-20 were a legitimate "well, I haven't filled in a 'B' bubble in awhile..."

Now for the waiting game... Looks like no one felt fantastic about the afternoon, so maybe that will work in our favor? 

You are not the only one. I think the average probably got 15-25 right with the other 15-25 being a mix of educated guesses and complete guesses.

IT was a weird afternoon exam.