CA surveying exam results January 2020

[water person]

I passed seismic too!! I’m done

 

[Orchid PE]

Congrats all!

 

[Farsak Palia]

Did anyone gave surveying too?

 

[King02]

Is that possible release Survey result today?

 

[mmurph50]

Passed seismic! Next up... surveying 

 

[Farsak Palia]

Is that possible release Survey result today?

Just hoping that they also release it today

 

[plainjane]

Congrats to everyone for Seismic! Waiting on Surveying, of course that's the one taking forever. 

 

[qinjx]

Passed, got worried for a bit since I realized I used ASCE7-10 for the exam LOL.

Congrats everyone who passed!

 

[ChargerMan34]

Survey is out!

 

[plainjane]

Woohoo! Passed survey, now just need seismic! I am so relieved.

 

[Mystori]

I PASSED!!

 

[King02]

Failed again!!!!

 

[MrTeal]

Passed surveying, it's over...thank God, what a long process, but very much worth it.  

If I had to give recommendations for both sub-tests:

Seismic - Hiner is the absolute best, hands down

Surveying - CPESR book and online lectures

Good luck to all!!!

 

[wooomp]

Nice, fun stressing with everyone. Next up Seismic in March, so I'll be back waiting for results in april.

 

[Coast-to-Coast Engineer]

Hello,

Just received my result for California State Surveying Exam with Reza's class for the first time and unfortunately didn't pass. Overall, I thought I had done much better on the exam than expected going in, problems were simpler to the practice problems from Reza's class. Reza's class I believe prepared me well for the exam. Felt like I nailed 35 questions, felt 50-50 on 12 questions, and completely guessed on 8 questions (horizontal/vertical curves mostly). My guess after I took the exam was that I answered between 65%-75% correct depending on luck factors. However, that did not reflect in the results, and the diagnostic report does not clarify my score, nor adequately show my performance for what chapters I need to improve my study plan in the Reza book.

My diagnostic reads the following: 

Topographic Surveys - 35% - Marginal

Construction Surveys - 35% - Deficient

Accuracy and Error Analysis - 10% - Proficient

Preparation of Reports and Maps - 20% - Deficient

Im very confused regarding the following:

1) What was my actual score on the exam? Don't need to know the cutoff score, but at a minimum I'm entitled to know my score on each section. Deficient is defined as below the minimum passing level, however there is a very large gap of deficiency between scoring 0% and 60% which could be considered deficient. And Marginal seems like it could be from 55%-70%, and Proficient seems like 75%-100%, which also makes a big difference. The example scores on the PDF would have been nice if I could actually get that information, not sure why this needs to be hidden.

2) What topics refer to these four categories? The Reza book lays out 10 chapters, Law and Surveying, Distance measurements, Angular Measurements, Error Analysis, Topographic Survey and Mapping, Highway Curves and Volumes, Construction Staking, Photogrammetry, California State Plan Coordinates, and Global Positioning. Where do these chapters fall into? 

3) Received very few questions regarding preparation of reports and maps, only a few on map scales, how does this equate to 20% of the examination? From preparation and taking the exam, I felt similar proficiency level on all sections, so the diagnostic leaves me even more confused.

4) Received several questions regarding types of surveys and surveying equipment which I thought I answered most of these correctly, what category does this fall into?

5) Received several questions regarding horizontal and vertical curves, this was definitely my weakness, what category does this fall into?

Im really hoping to get some further clarification from the California Board regarding my score, plan to review horizontal/vertical curves more in depth and take a lot of practice exams. Need to know a benchmark from my diagnostic to know if Im making further improvements. 

Congrats to everyone who passed and doesn't need to interpret a diagnostic report. To everyone who failed like me, keep practicing and with a little bit of luck, we'll get over the hurdle.

 

[Farsak Palia]

Hello,

Just received my result for California State Surveying Exam with Reza's class for the first time and unfortunately didn't pass. Overall, I thought I had done much better on the exam than expected going in, problems were simpler to the practice problems from Reza's class. Reza's class I believe prepared me well for the exam. Felt like I nailed 35 questions, felt 50-50 on 12 questions, and completely guessed on 8 questions (horizontal/vertical curves mostly). My guess after I took the exam was that I answered between 65%-75% correct depending on luck factors. However, that did not reflect in the results, and the diagnostic report does not clarify my score, nor adequately show my performance for what chapters I need to improve my study plan in the Reza book.

My diagnostic reads the following: 

Topographic Surveys - 35% - Marginal

Construction Surveys - 35% - Deficient

Accuracy and Error Analysis - 10% - Proficient

Preparation of Reports and Maps - 20% - Deficient

Im very confused regarding the following:

1) What was my actual score on the exam? Don't need to know the cutoff score, but at a minimum I'm entitled to know my score on each section. Deficient is defined as below the minimum passing level, however there is a very large gap of deficiency between scoring 0% and 60% which could be considered deficient. And Marginal seems like it could be from 55%-70%, and Proficient seems like 75%-100%, which also makes a big difference. The example scores on the PDF would have been nice if I could actually get that information, not sure why this needs to be hidden.

2) What topics refer to these four categories? The Reza book lays out 10 chapters, Law and Surveying, Distance measurements, Angular Measurements, Error Analysis, Topographic Survey and Mapping, Highway Curves and Volumes, Construction Staking, Photogrammetry, California State Plan Coordinates, and Global Positioning. Where do these chapters fall into? 

3) Received very few questions regarding preparation of reports and maps, only a few on map scales, how does this equate to 20% of the examination? From preparation and taking the exam, I felt similar proficiency level on all sections, so the diagnostic leaves me even more confused.

4) Received several questions regarding types of surveys and surveying equipment which I thought I answered most of these correctly, what category does this fall into?

5) Received several questions regarding horizontal and vertical curves, this was definitely my weakness, what category does this fall into?

Im really hoping to get some further clarification from the California Board regarding my score, plan to review horizontal/vertical curves more in depth and take a lot of practice exams. Need to know a benchmark from my diagnostic to know if Im making further improvements. 

Congrats to everyone who passed and doesn't need to interpret a diagnostic report. To everyone who failed like me, keep practicing and with a little bit of luck, we'll get over the hurdle.

Hey, I have kind of same question. I really don't understand how they calculate it.  

 

[Mystori]

Hello,

Just received my result for California State Surveying Exam with Reza's class for the first time and unfortunately didn't pass. Overall, I thought I had done much better on the exam than expected going in, problems were simpler to the practice problems from Reza's class. Reza's class I believe prepared me well for the exam. Felt like I nailed 35 questions, felt 50-50 on 12 questions, and completely guessed on 8 questions (horizontal/vertical curves mostly). My guess after I took the exam was that I answered between 65%-75% correct depending on luck factors. However, that did not reflect in the results, and the diagnostic report does not clarify my score, nor adequately show my performance for what chapters I need to improve my study plan in the Reza book.

......

 
The test plan lays this out, each portion of the exam and what topics are covered. I don't know about your #1 question.

https://www.bpelsg.ca.gov/applicants/plan_civsurvey.pdf

 

[Coast-to-Coast Engineer]

Thanks Mystori, this definitely helps a bit. Vertical/Horizontal curves fell into one of my deficient categories. The preparation of reports and maps (they need to change the title of this section), most of the stuff underneath (areas, volumes, topographic elevations, contour intervals, map scales, GIS) I felt pretty good, so this came as a major surprise. 

 

[King02]

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Posted 2 minutes ago



I failed 3 -4 times in surveying, that's the only one exam I did not pass.

I don't think the diagnostic report can give you very accurate information about your preparation, because the questions they provided may not categorize at all, too many random questions from surveyors instead of engineers; I do not think there's any Accuracy and Error analysis question in this exam, but I got 10% proficient. (maybe I had bad memory about this part).

I have difficult time to understand some questions, especially the January exam. Maybe my primary language is not America English.

If it's your first time to take it, don't be so frustrate, keep trying, you will be there soon.

 

[King02]

There're at least 2 questions with all wrong choices provided in January exams (I'm field engineer who handle this calculations daily), are they going to waive the questions? I'm curious about the passing rate....