I appreciate the input. I didn't really have much trouble though, I finished the morning a few minutes early and estimated 38/40 correct but the scores came back 23/40 and figured I had acceptable on all 4 in the afternoon but came back with A A A I/R. I really don't understand it. I didn't struggle with hardly anything in the morning, just a couple of bridge problems. I still can't understand exactly how this happened, but I know the cold formed steel problem was marked wrong and I was 100% sure I got that one as I pulled the information directly out of the AISI. It was something about a steel deck. Either these problems were way trickier than I thought (I saw a few tricks but missing 15 additional problems seems unlikely), my tick marks beside skipped problems and/or some checked and changed answers screwed the scantron (I've applied for manual verification so at least I can eliminate this upon receipt), or I misbubbled somewhere after skipping problems prior to going back and picking them up. I suspect I likely misbubbled as I went through code by code. I had around 10 to 15 minutes of review as well. I don't know, man. I'm really frustrated by this. The knowledge I have concerning this stuff now certainly isn't reflected in an UNACCEPTABLE score.
Based on the data, that I have seen on different websites about the grading, I think they assign 10 points to each afternoon problem, so the whole exam will be 80 points and usually grades equal or above 56 ( >= 70%) are passed. Acceptable, will be assigned a grade of 8, 9 or 10 (I guess getting 10 out 10 is almost impossible). I/R has a grade of 6 or 7. Most probably, for the grades below 6 (Unacceptable) they put 0, to force the applicant to fail !!!!!! (which is totally UNFAIR in my mind) . Let's say that you got, A(9), A(9), A(8), I/R(6), with 23 in the morning, your grade is 55. What I want to say is that, you were SO, SO CLOSE. Therefore don't give up, you will easily pass it next time.
Aside from the morning civil stuff, if you aren't a civil person... I had never seen the civil stuff before I started studying for the PE, my degree has more of a mechanical lean to it. As in, up until me, they had all gone into Mechanical engineering.
Therein lies the Machiavellian genius of NCEES. Leaving an essay question blank nets you an unacceptable. Doing the problem completely can also get you an unacceptable. Explaining how to do a problem, and not really knowing what you're doing can get you an acceptable.
I meant that, if you have one 0 (UA), you will fail, regardless of the total grade. If you don't have that 0, then the total grade will determine if you passed or not. Basically, there are 2 criterias to determine passing of the exam. 1- No ZERO score in the afternoon 2- Total grade >=56
I hear ya. It's just that I've got this stuff now. I had it when I took the test. My time was pretty decent too so there really isn't room for much improvement there. There really isn't anything much I could do for preparation other than go through the AASHTO a little better. I legitimately have (2) years of studying for this thing for (8) months out of the year approximately 16 hours a week. That's almost 1100 to 1200 hours of my life wasted on this. I realize seeing that number is almost unbelievable but just the coursework I've been through amounted to 195 hours and the test alone now is 32 hours. That's an awful lot of family time/sleep/movie watching/video game playing time to have lost. Almost (3) months of my life where every waking second would've been spent with my nose in a book or my head in a classroom for 16 hours a day! Like I said previously, I don't know what options I have because I DO NOT know why I failed. I did not feel tripped up 17 times in the morning. I felt tripped up twice and there was a third problem that was a little iffy (I thought I had it) but I thought that still gave me a huge buffer for passing (estimated as 9 to 10 problems I could've failed and still passed). I passed all of EET's coursework, problems, handouts, etc. no problem. Generally made 80% or higher on them and I felt a lot of their content was equal to or harder than the actual exam. I spent a little time trying to get the last three problems right after completion but I did notice the fact that the listed answers of the morning problems that I knew tripped me up were legitimate multiples of the actual answer. What this means (to me anyway) is, their problems are specifically set up to avoid elimination of easily identifiable incorrect answers. I couldn't find a way to backsolve the two that I knew got me because there were no outlying answers so to speak. At least 37 of the answers I calculated worked out almost exactly. Maybe it's like that Kung Fu parody movie where the master intentionally taught that one guy incorrect Kung Fu so he would constantly get beat down except I was the one learning Kung Fu except instead of Kung Fu it was Structural Engineering and instead of getting beat down it was failing the SE lateral. Oh fartsicles, Now I'm upset again.
Let me share with you something @TehMightyEngineer shared with me a couple years back when I took the PPI course, just before he stopped teaching the course to build a aeroplane. Just because you fail doesn't mean all the studying goes down the drain. You are probably 95% of the way there, now you just need the extra 5%.
I really do appreciate the cheerleading. The point is though, I have the speed, I finished the exam, and I explicitly know when to throw specific design principles. You're right about the studying. I'm done with that. I've read every single code section/book/whatever on anything they throw at you on the test for lateral and gravity. My only weak points in design are spiral reinforcement and the strut and tie method for concrete. Nothing weak in steel, I design connections all day long and I've been through those codes enough to wear the color off the tabs. Nothing in wood design. Nothing in masonry design. Fairly weak on AASHTO but I have absolutely not been able to motivate myself to learn it. I went through and tabbed all the major stuff, but dear sweet baby Jesus, I hate that book. It is yet another thing that I will NEVER use again. Regardless, what I was stating is that my competency in Lateral design is more than adequate. I didn't really "think" I got 37 right. I knew I did. Anyway, the point is, there really isn't much else I can do to increase my competency. I understand the stuff. It's like addition to me now. I don't really know how I could possibly get better at addition. I don't know how I could get better at this exam. I honest to apples do not know how I could not have passed... I swear, as shitty as my luck is, it's perfectly possible that I had the wrong scantron sheet and someone from Alabama is walking around with a damn unearned SE right now. I am THAT confident I understand what the fuck I'm doing.
This may be true but this strategy is probably not something I'd do myself or recommend to others. I would imagine the probability of getting 100% on 3 problems is a lot lower than getting say 70% on all 4 problems. This exam is so difficult that you're better off attempting all the problems and trying to capture as many points as you can. Kudos to you if it worked out though.
Will do. I don't even really have faith that they even look at it though. They could just take the money and go drinking. Another thing, I am so hung up on the incompetency of other engineers (I deal with a hell of a lot of delegated design) that I wouldn't doubt, if they even look at it, they check it upside down and actually lower my grade.
I do think it is worth mentioning that you really rocked the afternoon. It's harder to well in the afternoon simply due to NCEES' shenanigans and the purposefully enigmatic grading procedures. The multiple choice is far easier, in my estimation, to improve on and excel it. SE multiple choice problems are really about identifying the common mistake or trick. You can purposefully solve a problem incorrectly and eliminate answers that way. The wrong answers are well thought out and designed to catch you in a mistake while we rush through the problems.
What? I have a Florida PE license and I've never taken the PE. Granted, Florida wasn't my first state so maybe that's the hold up?
That's what I would be doing if I had passed, but since I didn't pass lateral this go, I can't retake the SE lateral until I become licensed according to them now. (third fail)
