Civil Surveying Exam- June 2nd to 9th
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bubbahotep
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Question: How did you take your reference material? In a backpack??
I took a bag with me, but they told me that I had to leave the bag in a locker. I only had 3 books, so I just carried everything into the exam room. I'm sure your experience will be different. To be honest, the Prometric staff wasn't really sure about much of anything. I got the feeling this was the first exam they have ever administered where reference materials were allowed. Just follow their instructions, you'll be fine.
laborndcluv
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I'm interested in the logistics of the test. Do they give you a pencil and scratch paper? Are all the questions on the computer? Or do you just have to answer on the computer? I read that you cannot bring a scale, is this true? Can anyone please comment on these things? Thank you.
CAPLS
Well-known member
You should be able to find answers to your questions in the Candidate Information Bulletin that is posted at:
http://www.prometric.com/California/Civil+Engineering+Surveying+Exam.htm
Right in the middle of the page is a button to download the bulletin in PDF format
http://www.prometric.com/California/Civil+Engineering+Surveying+Exam.htm
Right in the middle of the page is a button to download the bulletin in PDF format
MrAnderson
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I don't know about everyone else, but it took me about 5 to 10 minutes to get adjusted to the test taking proceedure and actually get into the rhythm. They hand you a booklet of figures and the rest of the information is on the screen. The booklet also contains scratch paper (at random pages, which I thought was annoying). Some questions require you to look at the figure booklet, while the other questions require you to work on the scratch paper section. I needed to use the restroom during the test and it took about 5 minutes because you need to sign out; and when you sign back in they require a quick search from your pockets and a brief wand of the metal detector. Overall I think the test center was efficient at administering the test and I didn't think it was all too bad.
darius
Engineer
Casio FX115 ES is allowed
They do give you a booklet which you can use as a scratch paper and pencils (not ncees pencils, just regular)
You can bring a scale
All the questions are in the computer
All the figures are in the booklet
You answer on the computer
There is no time like any california specific test, so you shold be VERY fast to finish the exam
PS: Just coming from the test
Good luck to everyone
They do give you a booklet which you can use as a scratch paper and pencils (not ncees pencils, just regular)
You can bring a scale
All the questions are in the computer
All the figures are in the booklet
You answer on the computer
There is no time like any california specific test, so you shold be VERY fast to finish the exam
PS: Just coming from the test
Good luck to everyone
Civil2007
New member
Are you able to skip around? You know, answer the easier questions first... thanks.
darius
Engineer
Yes, you can and come back later, but again, time is the issue, if you don't know how to do it when you are there, I don't know if you have the time at the end to come back. I filled out the answers the order it was in the computer without skiping any, but anyway no time left for me at the end
Civil2007
New member
Excellent! Thank you.
LakersFreak
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So do I need to take any paperwork to take the exam like the exam entrance sheet we used to take>? Or are our names in their system?
ptatohed
Licenced to Spell
LF, please see post #7 above. Have you read the Info Bulletin?
http://www.prometric.com/NR/rdonlyres/eedbgrrigpl46g6aez2zcuzcberkrhsxziuihsqcwrvk47unoml2jhg77kc6ldrlo37ckxreuy6h6seri2dmg62kgih/CACESCIB20120426finalrevisions.pdf
I took my exam yesterday. CBT looked much better than the normal test we took before. Don't have to go thru the routine procedure that we used to go over like filling our names on the answer sheet and everything is ready in the system and just have to go, sit and take ur test. But the time issue is always there. I liked the way we can categorize the doubtful questons in marked column and go back to those questions by double clicking it in the review window.
My big question is how they score it. Can anybody tell approximate cut scores in previous exams? Question paper did not look that easy....Out of 50 how many to be correct to pass the test......I wish they can give the result immediately. Waiting is so painful....
My big question is how they score it. Can anybody tell approximate cut scores in previous exams? Question paper did not look that easy....Out of 50 how many to be correct to pass the test......I wish they can give the result immediately. Waiting is so painful....
ptatohed
Licenced to Spell
PEW, the state has stopped providing the cut score in recent years but before they stopped, historically the % of correct answers needed on the exam to pass (for both Survey and Seismic) was somewhere in the 50%-60% range. I think if you got, say 28+ correct, you're sitting pretty. But don't worry about that now. Just relax. June 29th will be here soon enough.I took my exam yesterday. CBT looked much better than the normal test we took before. Don't have to go thru the routine procedure that we used to go over like filling our names on the answer sheet and everything is ready in the system and just have to go, sit and take ur test. But the time issue is always there. I liked the way we can categorize the doubtful questons in marked column and go back to those questions by double clicking it in the review window.
My big question is how they score it. Can anybody tell approximate cut scores in previous exams? Question paper did not look that easy....Out of 50 how many to be correct to pass the test......I wish they can give the result immediately. Waiting is so painful....
I took mine on Saturday and other than a slight hiccup in getting the "artwork booklet" (the staff could not find the box of booklets for about 15 minutes), everything went smoothly.
I showed up 30 minutes early at 7:30 for the 8am exam. Bought my references in my tote bag and my rulers and calculator. They give you a key for a small locker and ask you to put away everything except for your references. They even asked me to take off my watch. That's fine, the computer you're working on has a clock in the corner of the screen.
They provide you a "artwork booklet" (as describe by other people already) which has the figures you need for the exam and also some randomly spaced blank pages you can use as scratch. They also provided two lead pencils (not automatic, just regular pencils).
The desk is a bit small compared to what we had during the April CA exam, but I only had two small reference books so I thought it was enough room for me.
The computer based exam is pretty easy to get a hang of. As you work through the questions, there are buttons at the bottom that let you navigate back and forwards to questions. There's also a button called "Mark" which lets you mark the questions for review at the end. So I just used that to flag all the questions I wasn't sure about. At the end (or at any point you want during the exam), you can go to a "review screen" which will list all the questions you've done and show which ones you've "marked". You can then click "review" and it will let you quickly click through only the "marked" questions. And you can "unmark" them as you work through and are satisfied with your answer. Very easy.
The only thing which tripped me up initially was that the very first line of the question would sometimes refer you to a figure in the "artwork booklet". And I read the questions so quickly, that once or twice I missed that line, and then was confused as to why I couldn't get enough info to solve the problem. These I "marked" and only realized my mistake of not looking at the figure on my second review. Also, it seems like you should use ALL the figures in the booklet. If you finish the exam and haven't used ALL the figures...you probably missed a question.
Overall, I thought the exam was fair, relatively painless, and that the Prometric staff were nice and efficient. True, my test center had a bit of a hard time at 7:30am locating the test booklets, but by the time I was ready at 8am, they had found the booklets. They very nicely apologized for delaying my start (you can start as soon as you get through their setup, even if it's earlier than 8) and I got all 2.5 hours to work on the exam.
Although I was very upset by what happened in April, I am pretty pleased with this solution and so so happy that it's finally done! Good luck to the rest of you!
I showed up 30 minutes early at 7:30 for the 8am exam. Bought my references in my tote bag and my rulers and calculator. They give you a key for a small locker and ask you to put away everything except for your references. They even asked me to take off my watch. That's fine, the computer you're working on has a clock in the corner of the screen.
They provide you a "artwork booklet" (as describe by other people already) which has the figures you need for the exam and also some randomly spaced blank pages you can use as scratch. They also provided two lead pencils (not automatic, just regular pencils).
The desk is a bit small compared to what we had during the April CA exam, but I only had two small reference books so I thought it was enough room for me.
The computer based exam is pretty easy to get a hang of. As you work through the questions, there are buttons at the bottom that let you navigate back and forwards to questions. There's also a button called "Mark" which lets you mark the questions for review at the end. So I just used that to flag all the questions I wasn't sure about. At the end (or at any point you want during the exam), you can go to a "review screen" which will list all the questions you've done and show which ones you've "marked". You can then click "review" and it will let you quickly click through only the "marked" questions. And you can "unmark" them as you work through and are satisfied with your answer. Very easy.
The only thing which tripped me up initially was that the very first line of the question would sometimes refer you to a figure in the "artwork booklet". And I read the questions so quickly, that once or twice I missed that line, and then was confused as to why I couldn't get enough info to solve the problem. These I "marked" and only realized my mistake of not looking at the figure on my second review. Also, it seems like you should use ALL the figures in the booklet. If you finish the exam and haven't used ALL the figures...you probably missed a question.
Overall, I thought the exam was fair, relatively painless, and that the Prometric staff were nice and efficient. True, my test center had a bit of a hard time at 7:30am locating the test booklets, but by the time I was ready at 8am, they had found the booklets. They very nicely apologized for delaying my start (you can start as soon as you get through their setup, even if it's earlier than 8) and I got all 2.5 hours to work on the exam.
Although I was very upset by what happened in April, I am pretty pleased with this solution and so so happy that it's finally done! Good luck to the rest of you!
