CA Specific Exams - Oct 2016

[Struct_Engineer530]

How's everyone feeling so far about the CA seismic and surveying exams??

 

[Maji]

How's everyone feeling so far about the CA seismic and surveying exams??

I have taken the Seismic a week ago. I am an EET student, and I sure am glad that I was.

 

[jijir83]

I'll tell you how I reeeaaally feel depending on if I see green or red on the results form.

But... I'll second Maji. I'm glad I took EET's seismic course. If I don't pass, it won't be Ibrahim's fault. I worked and answered everything. Question is whether or not I answered enough accurately to make it.

Survey is coming up on Monday. It's hard to gauge right now but I know if they load the test with curves questions, I'm definitely screwed. Shape, wording, tricks, everything about them get on my nerves and suck up my time. My plan is to not even look at them until I answer everything else.

 

[Maji]

I'll tell you how I reeeaaally feel depending on if I see green or red on the results form.

But... I'll second Maji. I'm glad I took EET's seismic course. If I don't pass, it won't be Ibrahim's fault. I worked and answered everything. Question is whether or not I answered enough accurately to make it.

Survey is coming up on Monday. It's hard to gauge right now but I know if they load the test with curves questions, I'm definitely screwed. Shape, wording, tricks, everything about them get on my nerves and suck up my time. My plan is to not even look at them until I answer everything else.

That is the best strategy... work on the ones that you feel confident and then attack the rest. 

Good luck!

 

[Struct_Engineer530]

Yeah, I took seismic already too.  Fingers crossed that it went well enough for a pass. There were about 5 that I had to blatantly guess on.

Surveying is next and I am MUCH more nervous.  Recognizing how to start the problems doesn't always come quickly and I'm worried about finishing in time.

Oh well, good luck!!

 

[coolcool]

I'll tell you how I reeeaaally feel depending on if I see green or red on the results form.

But... I'll second Maji. I'm glad I took EET's seismic course. If I don't pass, it won't be Ibrahim's fault. I worked and answered everything. Question is whether or not I answered enough accurately to make it.

Survey is coming up on Monday. It's hard to gauge right now but I know if they load the test with curves questions, I'm definitely screwed. Shape, wording, tricks, everything about them get on my nerves and suck up my time. My plan is to not even look at them until I answer everything else.

I was thinking about signing up for the EET seismic course for next April's exam...did you feel like the practice problems were comparable to the actual test questions?  I hear they are offering a surveying course for next year too, but I don't know how good it will be. Thanks!

 

[jijir83]

The practice problems were very representative. Most importantly, you don't have to rely on what you've seen during practice. You learn to actually solve pretty much anything. It's a very straight forward test once you know what the hell is going on. The final key is getting to be efficient and solving problems quickly. With all the practice problems, workshops, practice exams and CBT practices, they make well sure that you eventually get to the point where you gain a lot of speed and not doubt yourself along the way. That will save you time and increase your chances.

I heard about the survey offering too. If it's anything like the seismic review, I'd say it's worth it. Especially if they have a good number of practice problems and the CBT practice system as well. You can always use a PDF to practice on a computer but I find that an actual simulation is pretty invaluable.

Sent from my SURTAB-722-3G-HD-1S using Tapatalk

 

[Maji]

I was thinking about signing up for the EET seismic course for next April's exam...did you feel like the practice problems were comparable to the actual test questions?  I hear they are offering a surveying course for next year too, but I don't know how good it will be. Thanks!

The practice problems were very representative. Most importantly, you don't have to rely on what you've seen during practice. You learn to actually solve pretty much anything. It's a very straight forward test once you know what the hell is going on. The final key is getting to be efficient and solving problems quickly. With all the practice problems, workshops, practice exams and CBT practices, they make well sure that you eventually get to the point where you gain a lot of speed and not doubt yourself along the way. That will save you time and increase your chances.

I heard about the survey offering too. If it's anything like the seismic review, I'd say it's worth it. Especially if they have a good number of practice problems and the CBT practice system as well. You can always use a PDF to practice on a computer but I find that an actual simulation is pretty invaluable.

Sent from my SURTAB-722-3G-HD-1S using Tapatalk

I second jijir83's opinions. Dr. Ibrahim made sure we understood the material and got proficient in answering questions on the exam. When I started working on the actual exam problems, I realized that I had solved a bunch of them similar to the practice problems and practice tests. Whether I can pass or not is up to what I did in the exam, but I will say that EET prepared me well. 

Good luck.

 

[ptatohed]

Best of luck guys!   

 

[coolcool]

I second jijir83's opinions. Dr. Ibrahim made sure we understood the material and got proficient in answering questions on the exam. When I started working on the actual exam problems, I realized that I had solved a bunch of them similar to the practice problems and practice tests. Whether I can pass or not is up to what I did in the exam, but I will say that EET prepared me well. 

Good luck.

Thanks! I am most likely going to sign up for this. I am a fairly slow test taker so I hope I can get up to speed enough for the real exam. I'd be interested to see how many people who took the EET seismic course passed the exam. 

The practice problems were very representative. Most importantly, you don't have to rely on what you've seen during practice. You learn to actually solve pretty much anything. It's a very straight forward test once you know what the hell is going on. The final key is getting to be efficient and solving problems quickly. With all the practice problems, workshops, practice exams and CBT practices, they make well sure that you eventually get to the point where you gain a lot of speed and not doubt yourself along the way. That will save you time and increase your chances.

I heard about the survey offering too. If it's anything like the seismic review, I'd say it's worth it. Especially if they have a good number of practice problems and the CBT practice system as well. You can always use a PDF to practice on a computer but I find that an actual simulation is pretty invaluable.

Sent from my SURTAB-722-3G-HD-1S using Tapatalk

Good to know thanks!! I heard good things and I hope you passed because of it.

 

[jijir83]

Good to know thanks!! I heard good things and I hope you passed because of it.

Thanks. So do I.

A bit of added info... I have two friends who tried to sign up for the seismic one today and the website wouldn't let them add items to the cart. I emailed the instructor and he said that they put a hold on registration. If you try to add an item and it doesn't work, it might be worth contacting them.

Good luck with your preparation!

 

[ptatohed]

I'll tell you how I reeeaaally feel depending on if I see green or red on the results form.

But... I'll second Maji. I'm glad I took EET's seismic course. If I don't pass, it won't be Ibrahim's fault. I worked and answered everything. Question is whether or not I answered enough accurately to make it.

Survey is coming up on Monday. It's hard to gauge right now but I know if they load the test with curves questions, I'm definitely screwed. Shape, wording, tricks, everything about them get on my nerves and suck up my time. My plan is to not even look at them until I answer everything else.

jiji, I like your approach of "knowing what you don't know".  That's great advice.  But curve questions?  That was my bread and butter!  I love HC, VC curves. 

 

[Maji]

Thanks. So do I.

A bit of added info... I have two friends who tried to sign up for the seismic one today and the website wouldn't let them add items to the cart. I emailed the instructor and he said that they put a hold on registration. If you try to add an item and it doesn't work, it might be worth contacting them.

Good luck with your preparation!

They were trying to sign up now for October 2016 exams or for Spring 2017? Just curious because it seems to be a bit too late for the current session. I believe that access to the website ends after the current session exam window ends, so Spring 2017 sounds a little early. Anyway, sometimes it is better late than never, so good luck to them.

 

[jijir83]

They were trying to sign up now for October 2016 exams or for Spring 2017? Just curious because it seems to be a bit too late for the current session. I believe that access to the website ends after the current session exam window ends, so Spring 2017 sounds a little early. Anyway, sometimes it is better late than never, so good luck to them.

They're signing up for the EET for Spring 2017. Registration was open then it suddenly said that it was full. When I emailed him, he said that they were putting registration on hold while he reworks the book since the code is changing and such. Looks like they put a pop-up now that let's people know that they can sign up again starting December 1st.

 

[jijir83]

jiji, I like your approach of "knowing what you don't know".  That's great advice.  But curve questions?  That was my bread and butter!  I love HC, VC curves. 

Yuck!!!

If I'm not doing a one step calculation it's just a time drain. I've done every one of them from the sample problems you sent me so I'm doing better with them now and I started looking at them like calculus problems than just geometry. At least I was good at that. It has made them easier. We'll see how that pays off in 4 days! At least in simulations I'm scoring 45/50 :-D

 

[tj_PE]

I HATE CURVES TAKE THEM AWAY FOREVER BYE.

 

[sushionagrill]

another +1 for EET's seismic. I took it back in April and his practice problems are very close to what I had on the test. Some of them are pretty much the same problems but different numbers.

It also helped a lot when he emphasizes during the lectures the different ways they can ask the same question. There were a few "backwards" questions on the test, meaning they give you the end results that you typically get from going through the equations and then ask you something from the beginning, theoretically or numerically. 

Also, I felt mine had more theoretical questions the last time compared to the previous exams, but it was emphasizing on different topics all together. If topic A was heavy on the previous exam and topic B was only a few in between, it was reversed on the next exam.

 

[lcrmer]

How did people feel on survey? I studied so hard and I felt so confident going into the exam. Had a good strategy, knew my strengths and weaknesses (i.e. which questions I could do quickly enough). But after the exam I felt so disappointed that I didn't complete enough problems and guessed on too many at the end. I felt as if more of the problems this time around (this was my 2nd time taking it) were so heavily worded and took so much more time than before. I don't know...I feel nervous that I didn't pass.

Seismic went very well for me. I took EET also and felt like I definitely passed.

 

[jijir83]

How did people feel on survey? I studied so hard and I felt so confident going into the exam. Had a good strategy, knew my strengths and weaknesses (i.e. which questions I could do quickly enough). But after the exam I felt so disappointed that I didn't complete enough problems and guessed on too many at the end. I felt as if more of the problems this time around (this was my 2nd time taking it) were so heavily worded and took so much more time than before. I don't know...I feel nervous that I didn't pass.

Seismic went very well for me. I took EET also and felt like I definitely passed.

That was pretty much me today with survey and it was the first time I took it as well. CA can keep their license. I'll go back to MA and take the 8-hour again. Should have done that before moving here. 

I managed to skip 2 problems that were intentional time-suckers and still had 12 questions left at the end. Had to guess most of them in 10 minutes. 6 problems out of 55 were quick concept ones. Half of the rest needed 3+ step calculations. They were not hard. I didn't even need my reference book. And I thought maybe last time I just didn't know as much as I thought I did. Yeah... still came down to time. 

Whatever! Beyond frustrated. 

 

[Struct_Engineer530]

Fingers crossed though! I think you only need about 50-65% of the questions right to pass. Or at least so I am told.  Hopefully we got that many correct and we can all just move on!

Any idea how long it takes to find out about these state exams?  Does it really take 6-8 weeks like the national portion?