Environmental Diagnostic Results from NCEES

[CPuerta]

All-

For those of us whom didnt make the cut this time around, I was wondering what the breakdown, in terms of total points on the diagnostic was like. I am trying to determine if I am like 20% off from passing or only missing by a point or two. I added up each score total from the environmental diagnostic I got from NCEES, and out of 12 categories, I scored 600 total points. What other score totals have those whom have failed received?

Also- I did very poorly in emissions sources and water resources. Any good advice on focus topics, books, problems that were "sure things"?

 

[Guest]

Do you mind sharing your diagnostic breakdown - we can better help you figure out what is happening score-wise as well as looking at weaknesses based on the scoring.

JR

 

[RIP - VTEnviro]

I added up each score total from the environmental diagnostic I got from NCEES, and out of 12 categories, I scored 600 total points. What other score totals have those whom have failed received?

Not sure I follow you there - what do you mean by 600 points?

 

[RIP - VTEnviro]

Also- I did very poorly in emissions sources and water resources. Any good advice on focus topics, books, problems that were "sure things"?

Air Quality by Godish et al. is a good general air quality book.

 

[CPuerta]

On the environmental diagnostic received from NCEES packaged nicely with the "F" letter, they give you a score percentage correct out of each of the 12 categories. Eg. I got 87% correct on wastewater.

I correlated 87% to 87 points, with a total of 1200 points since there are 12 categories.

I was trying to figure out what the highest number was that still received an "F". My grand total was 600 points, assuming thats 50% of the test correct.

Be curious what other numbers we have seen from folks.

Not sure I follow you there - what do you mean by 600 points?

 

[klk]

Well, that method doesn't seem to account for the differences in weights for each category. Each category has a different weight according to the exam specs listed at the link below:

http://www.ncees.org/exams/professional/pe..._exam_specs.pdf

Since there are 100 questions, the percentages represent the approximate number of questions for each category. If you multiply the percentage you got right for each category by the number of questions, it should give you a close approximation of how many you got right. Add them up, and thats your score out of 100.

 

[CPuerta]

Wastewater - 45%

Stormwater 83%

Potable Water 55%

Water Resources 0%

Ambient Air 75%

Emissions Sources 0%

Control Strategies- 88%

MSW, Commercial, Industrial - 20%

Haz Waste - 60%

Enviro Assessments - 56%

Remediation - 50%

Public H &S - 67%

Using the weight approach, this totaled 52 correct. Its definitely not a 70.

Well, that method doesn't seem to account for the differences in weights for each category. Each category has a different weight according to the exam specs listed at the link below:
http://www.ncees.org/exams/professional/pe..._exam_specs.pdf

Since there are 100 questions, the percentages represent the approximate number of questions for each category. If you multiply the percentage you got right for each category by the number of questions, it should give you a close approximation of how many you got right. Add them up, and thats your score out of 100.

 

[klk]

Hmm, your diagnostic breakdown is interesting. Despite your score for the emissions sources, you did relatively well in the air category. Here's the scores based on the number of points:

Wastewater - 5/11

Stormwater 5/6

Potable Water 6/11

Water Resources 0/6

Ambient Air 6/8

Emissions Sources 0/4

Control Strategies- 7/8

MSW, Commercial, Industrial - 2/10

Haz Waste - 6/10

Enviro Assessments - 5/9

Remediation - 4/8

Public H &S - 6/9

Total 52/100

If you look at how many you missed by major category, you can get a feel for where you missed the most number of points:

Water 18/34

Air 7/20

Solid, Hazardous, and Special Waste 12/20

Enviro Assessments, Remediation, and Public H &S 11/26

It looks like maybe you should do some more water problems. I'd be curious though, to hear how you felt during the exam - did you feel like you knew what you were doing on the various types of problems or were you doing a lot of guessing? If you felt like you knew how to solve the water problems, then maybe the unit conversions were the reason for so many missed ones. If you felt like you did a lot of guessing on the air problems, then maybe you were lucky in those categories and you should still study more on tha air topics.

When I took the exam, I felt I did the most guessing on the last two major categories, and that I knew how to answer most of the water and air problems. If I had received a similar diagnostic breakdown, I'd guess that I must have gotten held up by unit conversions. I remember there were several problems that I had found an answer, selected the answer from the options, and then when I went back to review them, realized I hadn't converted the units and changed my answer.

 

[RIP - VTEnviro]

I learned the public health and safety stuff exclusively from the ENVRM and by downloading and reading the federal statues.

Whenever I encountered a reference to 40 CFR 123.45 or whatever, I would go to the federal government web portal and download the sections in question and read them. It was very helpful I thought.

It's all free, public information.

That's how I learned almost all my OSHA stuff.

 

[CPuerta]

Im curious what other folks have scored on the environmental diagnostic in terms of % correct and still failed. Anyone else wish to share?

I learned the public health and safety stuff exclusively from the ENVRM and by downloading and reading the federal statues.
Whenever I encountered a reference to 40 CFR 123.45 or whatever, I would go to the federal government web portal and download the sections in question and read them. It was very helpful I thought.

It's all free, public information.

That's how I learned almost all my OSHA stuff.

 

[RIP - VTEnviro]

^ I was lucky to never have gotten the infamous diagnostic report, so I don't have numbers in any event.

The passing score is a rolling thing. That's what I'm trying to offer suggestions to help you in your weaker areas than spit out numbers and percentages. Don't worry about whether you got 26 or 28% of haz wastes or whatever right. Just recognize where you need to spend the most time studying the material. It's too easy to get caught up in numbers.

 

[CivE Bricky]

This should help with your study planning - a spreadsheet to analyze your diagnostic and target areas for more study

http://engineerboards.com/index.php?showtopic=9673