April 2021 Post Exam Wait Period - Welcome to the Suck

[PoopSmith]

they would give us results before registration for the next test opened right? there was limited seating in CA and i got kicked over to another state when i registered late last time...

 

[RBHeadge PE]

Well we have to know something by June 14.

I'd be shocked if anyone is still waiting on June 14th. Well everyone outside of Pennsylvania, Georgia, and Hawaii.

Well we have to know something by June 14. That's the date for October 2021 registration.

they would give us results before registration for the next test opened right? there was limited seating in CA and i got kicked over to another state when i registered late last time...

The release date, and the registration open and closes dates are independent of each other. There were sessions where the results came out after registration for the next exam had already begun. And if you go back to 2000's and earlier and earlier, there were a few cases where States released their results AFTER the registration period had closed. IIRC Pennsylvania nearly only gave it's applicants like a week and a half to register for April 2015 following its super-delayed release of October 2014 results.

 

[DoctorWho-PE]

A couple of months before the exam, I had a dream that I was on a scavenger hunt for problems. I was given a clue, then I had to go to a house in my neighborhood, on foot, and ask the homeowner where I can go in their house to solve the problem. Then there was a clue to about the next problem with an address. I had to go to the next address, read the problem and solve it. I got to one house and there was somebody in front of me taking a really long time on the problem and I was getting nervous because I was running out of time.

I had to skip it and go to the next house and try to make time to go back to the house I skipped. And yes, we had on masks in my dream and for some reason, my daughter was with me. So I'm holding her hand, and trying to get to these houses that were about a half block to half mile away from each other. I will never forget that "dream"...more like a nightmare. I never shared it here because I felt like it was just way too early. lol

Progressive testing. Odd.

 

[civilrobot PE etc etc]

Progressive testing. Odd.

I shouldn't give NCEES any ideas. lol

 

[Tmanwatery PE]

And I opened pandora's box and started looking up answers to questions I didn't know the answer to or wasn't sure on..... Results can't come soon enough

 

[civilrobot PE etc etc]

I'm jealous of the CBT folks who sat for the exam around the same week as the P&P exam. They got their results yesterday.

 

[Tmanwatery PE]

I'm jealous of the CBT folks who sat for the exam around the same week as the P&P exam. They got their results yesterday.

Us civils right now watching the forums/reddit for the next few Wednesdays

 

[AZ_ladybrain]

Well we have to know something by June 14. That's the date for October 2021 registration.

but I want to know meowwwwwww.

 

[hr.ghorbani]

I failed last time in October 2020. I could answer 50 questions and my rate was 69 percent. I believe that you must answer at least 52 to 54 questions to pass.
I took pe again in April 2021 and waiting for the results. This time was easier than before. I hope to pass this time.

 

[civilrobot PE etc etc]

I failed last time in October 2020. I could answer 50 questions and my rate was 69 percent. I believe that you must answer at least 52 to 54 questions to pass.
I took pe again in April 2021 and waiting for the results. This time was easier than before. I hope to pass this time.

I hope it works out for you.

 

[5 to 9]

I failed last time in October 2020. I could answer 50 questions and my rate was 69 percent. I believe that you must answer at least 52 to 54 questions to pass.
I took pe again in April 2021 and waiting for the results. This time was easier than before. I hope to pass this time.

Which discipline did you take?
I took civil structural in October 2020 and failed with 64% for 46/80. The highest failing score I saw for Civil Structural during that session was 54/80.

Here’s to us finally passing this horrible exam!

 

[leggo PE]

Trying to figure out the cut score never actually helps things...

 

[hr.ghorbani]

Which discipline did you take?
I took civil structural in October 2020 and failed with 64% for 46/80. The highest failing score I saw for Civil Structural during that session was 54/80.

Here’s to us finally passing this horrible exam!

Civil structural. same. what was the score of 54/80? mine was 69% for 50/80 in Texas.

 

[realms17]

i guessed about 8-10 questions on each part (breadth & depth) sht im screwed. i can imagine and feel my heart sink

 

[BuilderGirl]

I am a first time test taker and I took Construction pm. I keep waking up during the night either trying to solve problems from the exam, making up new unsolvable problems in my mind, or panicking that I got more wrong than the ones I have already figured out were wrong. Reading the posts on here scares me that much like the dreams from my undergrad that still haunt me (the final where I never attended a class), that this too will continue in perpetuity. Here's to hoping that I am in one of those stages of post exam trauma (should we make up an acronym - PTCD - Post Test Confusion Disorder?) I seesaw between imagining the license in my hands and imagining being back in that awful room forgetting to eat my snack and my mind tiring because I was too nervous to eat. TLDR: when will this be over??!!

 

[1973Olds98]

i guessed about 8-10 questions on each part (breadth & depth) sht im screwed. i can imagine and feel my heart sink

I feel the same way and I took the WR exam. During the AM I felt pretty good overall and guessed on about 4-5 problems. The PM was a different matter, started off attempting to complete all the problems I thought I had a chance of solving but realized I still had like 20 problems to do with a little over 1 hour left. So ended up having to guess on about 8 problems (wild guess). It just seems like for me, time was the main problem and with just a bit more time, could have worked thru many I had to choice but to guess on. I am hoping I somehow got around 30-32 correct in the AM and if 56 (roughly 70%) is the cut score would need to have gotten 24-26 correct. Possible I think so giving it about 50/50 chance overall. Regarding 56 being a cut score I guess it is possible but in my mind was shooting for 60 out of 80 correct knowing that 75% correct (raw score) would likely be enough for sure, but I guess nobody really knows. Two weeks out still thinking of questions in my mind and suffering some TLDR for sure. So now back to hoping something around 56 is the cut score and luck falls on my side a bit, for some of the problems. Just like wondering if they ever throw problems out (if too many missed it for whatever reason) or like curve the exam. Or simply take a percentage out of 80?

 

[RBHeadge PE]

Trying to figure out the cut score never actually helps things...

Reading the posts on here scares me that much like the dreams from my undergrad that still haunt me (the final where I never attended a class), that this too will continue in perpetuity.

It's not *that* bad.
The PE exam is a big career milestone. It makes sense that it will leave its mark on ones psyche for a while.

Here's to hoping that I am in one of those stages of post exam trauma (should we make up an acronym - PTCD - Post Test Confusion Disorder?)

I like the acronym!

I seesaw between imagining the license in my hands and imagining being back in that awful room forgetting to eat my snack and my mind tiring because I was too nervous to eat. TLDR: when will this be over??!!

Sound pretty normal.
It'll be over by early/Mid June for most of you.
Definitely by August for those in PA, GA, and HI.

I feel the same way and I took the WR exam. During the AM I felt pretty good overall and guessed on about 4-5 problems. The PM was a different matter, started off attempting to complete all the problems I thought I had a chance of solving but realized I still had like 20 problems to do with a little over 1 hour left. So ended up having to guess on about 8 problems (wild guess). It just seems like for me, time was the main problem and with just a bit more time, could have worked thru many I had to choice but to guess on.

Sounds a lot like what happened to me the session I passed.

I am hoping I somehow got around 30-32 correct in the AM and if 56 (roughly 70%) is the cut score would need to have gotten 24-26 correct. Possible I think so giving it about 50/50 chance overall. Regarding 56 being a cut score I guess it is possible but in my mind was shooting for 60 out of 80 correct knowing that 75% correct (raw score) would likely be enough for sure, but I guess nobody really knows.

I "graded" myself during my second attempt. I'm a PRA guy so I'd give myself fractions of a point for each question based on how confident I was in my answer. I roughly had four categories of "points" after the AM and PM session. I felt pretty good going into lunch. I was targeting 75% and that's where I think I ended up after the morning session. While one shouldn't speculate on the cut score, "75%" is likely a pass. Afternoon session wasn't as successful. My self-graded score when it was over was 70%. Way too borderline for my preferences. I spent a lot of time at the gym the following two months burning off the stress and the pounds.

So now back to hoping something around 56 is the cut score and luck falls on my side a bit, for some of the problems.

It needs repeating that the cut score varies both within subjects (by discipline and if applicable afternoon depth) and for each session. Just because it was (hypothetically) 52/80 for (hypothetically) CE/WRE last session doesn't meant that it was 52/80 for every other exam last session. Nor would it have to be 52/80 for Civil/WRE this current session.

FWIW, we've seen a 56/80 fail a couple times. We've also seen possible cut scores in the high 40s or 50. There's no way to predict it. And even if one knew the cut score ahead of time, they wouldn't know how they did on the exam. Too many unknowns in that equation to solve it. My advice is to not dwell on it.

Just like wondering if they ever throw problems out (if too many missed it for whatever reason)

Problems are rarely if ever thrown out. If a problem is found to be flawed: i.e. typographic error, printing error, correct answer isn't there, more than one correct answer, etc.
Examinees may report the more obviously erroneous problems for investigation. And I'm pretty sure they do psychometric to flag problems with strange examinee answer patterns for a closer review.

As I understand it, if a problem is found to be in error then depending on the circumstance: anyone who answered it gets it right; or more than one answer is considered right.

IIRC it's not *that* common, and it happens maybe once a session. Examinees shouldn't hope for such a scenario to play out on a large scale to help their score.

or like curve the exam. Or simply take a percentage out of 80?

The cut score is based on what the minimally competent PE would get for that selection of test problems. Yes, PEs and other SMEs take practice exams with those problems to establish a baseline.
It's not a set percentage across the board for all exams. The cut score is based on the difficulty of the combined problems in that exam.
I'm too lazy to retype the details so I'll point to the Oct 2019 WttS thread. Specifically and exchange between @Chattaneer PE and I starting around:
https://engineerboards.com/threads/...period-welcome-to-the-suck.34504/post-7586881And it goes on for a couple of pages.

tl;dr His summary is:

In case anyone comes across this in the future:

• All questions are weighted the same when calculating your exam score.
• Each question is weighted differently when calculating the passing score.
• After each pencil-and-paper exam administration, every exam undergoes extensive statistical analysis to determine the minimum level of performance required for entry into the profession.
• When the analyses and reviews are completed, NCEES changes the answer keys as necessary. The passing score and final correct answers for each exam are then used to score all answer sheets. A percentage of the answer sheets are manually verified, and the results are compared to the machine score to ensure accuracy.
• There is a question bank where questions are pulled to produce exam sessions.
• The passing score weight of each question is determined during an in-person meeting (committee and non-committee members in attendance).

 

[civilrobot PE etc etc]

Results are not out.


Just in case anybody was wondering.

 

[DoctorWho-PE]

Results are not out.


Just in case anybody was wondering.

Update appreciated.

 

[1973Olds98]

It's not *that* bad.
The PE exam is a big career milestone. It makes sense that it will leave it's mark on ones psyche for a while.


I like the acronym!


Sound pretty normal.
It'll be over by early/Mid June for most of you.
Definitely by August for those in PA, GA, and HI.


Sounds a lot like what happened to me the session I passed.


I "graded" myself during my second attempt. I'm a PRA guy so I'd give myself fractions of a point for each question based on how confident I was in my answer. I roughly had four categories of "points" after the AM and PM session. I felt pretty good going into lunch. I was targeting 75% and that's where I think I ended up after the morning session. While one should speculate on the cut score, "75%" is a probably a guarantee for a pass. Afternoon session wasn't as successful. My self-graded score when it was over was 70%. Way too borderline for my preferences. I spent a lot of time at the gym the following two months burning off the stress and the pounds.


It needs repeating that the cut score varies both within subjects (by discipline and if applicable afternoon depth) and for each session. Just because it was (hypothetically) 52/80 for (hypothetically) CE/WRE last session doesn't meant that it was 52/80 for every other exam last session. Nor would it have to be 52/80 for Civil/WRE this current session.

FWIW, we've seen a 56/80 fail a couple times. We've also seen possible cut scores in the high 40s or 50. There's no way to predict it. And even if one knew the cut score ahead of time, they wouldn't know how they did on the exam. Too many unknowns in that equation to solve it. My advice is to not dwell on it.


Problems are rarely if ever thrown out. If a problem is found to be flawed: i.e. typographically error, printing error, correct answer isn't there, more than one correct answer, etc.
Examinees may report the more obviously erroneous problems for investigation. And I'm pretty sure they do analytics (not the right term, but its close enough) to flag problems with strange examinee answer patterns for a closer review.

As I understand it, if a problem is found to be in error then depending on the circumstance: anyone who answered it gets it right; or more than one answer is considered right.

IIRC it's not *that* common, and it happens maybe once a session. Examinees shouldn't hope for such a scenario to play out on a large scale to help their score.



The cut score is based on what the minimally competent PE would get for that selection of test problems. Yes, PEs and other SMEs take practice exams with those problems to establish a baseline.
It's not a set percentage across the board for all exams. The cut score is based on the difficulty of the combined problems in that exam.
I'm too lazy to retype the details so I'll point to the Oct 2019 WttS thread. Specifically and exchange between @Chattaneer PE and I starting around:
https://engineerboards.com/threads/...period-welcome-to-the-suck.34504/post-7586881And it goes on for a couple of pages.

tl;dr His summary is:

Thanks so much for the detailed information, much appreciated sir!