How was your testing Venue?

[Daisy]

I took my exam in the basement of the Elks Lodge, and it was a less than ideal location. It was a pain in the butt to lug my books down two flights of stairs, the lighting was horrible, a majority of the plastic table tops were cracked, and the noise from the kitchen prep. for the evenings event was a little distracting. But, I did have a padded chair, and I got my own table, so that was a positive. There was a lady from the NCEES 'observing' who actually apologized for the venue location, and she was kind enough to buy us all ear plugs for the afternoon portion, which I really appreciated.

How was everyone else's test site?

 

[Sschell]

^at least it was a short walk to the bar at the end of the test!

 

[Parks and Rec]

My test site was as I expected because it is the same location I took the FE exam. Large room, with good lighting. Our room was pretty quiet. I took earplugs, but didn't use them. The room was freezing, I was glad I wore pants and brought a jacket even though it was mid 80's outside.

 

[rynodawg]

The McKimmon Center at NC state wasn't bad. It was a conference/meeting center, everyone tested in one giant room. Nice courtyard to walk around and relax in during lunch. That said, I hope I never have to go back!

Much different than the Tulane classroom that I passed the FE in 5 years ago.

 

[dastuff]

Pomona Fairplex, CA...

Huge testing site (there were probably 1000 people in one room). Noise wasn't that bad.. The one thing that drove me nuts is I sat under one of the huge air conditioners for the 2nd day and FROZE MY BUM OFF...

Other than that everything went rather smoothly...

 

[Mech2Civil]

Cow Palace, Daly City, CA

$10 to park and the parking lot was a good 5-10 minute hike to the exam room. The seats were okay, temperature was okay, noise level was okay, however, the place smelled.

Overall, was not a bad test site.

 

[Sschell]

had to pay to park... had to hike to th exam room... it smelled bad.... if thats NOT a bad test site... how would you define a bad test iste???

 

[Mech2Civil]

had to pay to park... had to hike to th exam room... it smelled bad.... if thats NOT a bad test site... how would you define a bad test iste???

Bad test site would be if during the test, it was too cold/hot or it was noisy -- pretty much anything that would have disrupted my concentration.

 

[Kephart P.E.]

Bad test site would be if during the test, it was too cold/hot or it was noisy -- pretty much anything that would have disrupted my concentration.

Took it at Seattle Center Exhibition Hall.

All in all pretty good except the tables where the plastic folding type that have sort of a rough surface, and this made it difficult to fill in the answer sheet without putting holes in it. Very annoying once you are in hour 6+ and are mildly freaking out and you just want to fill in the damn circle and move on.

I did like the pencils, I was afraid they would give us the super cheap ones with the really thin lead that breaks every time I try and use it.

Oh and I didn't have this problem, but the parking structure right across the street had only 1 pay gate operating and the line of cars was backed up way around the block. The woman I shared the table with said she was nearly late and was freaking out got in the door with like 3 minutes to spare after spending 25 minutes trying to park.

 

[testee]

I had a table with a rough plywood finish with random bolt holes so I used the back of an unused text under the answer sheet to avoid the punch thru concern.

 

[jmdennis]

Best Western, Hillside (Chicago) IL - Big room with tight table spacing. You had to put suitcases/milk crates to the side of the room after you unpacked, so it was kind of annoying when people started to pack up and leave. Still, the room was pretty quiet and stench free. The adjacent landfill was surprisingly mild for such a warm spring day.

 

[WantsPE]

Reynolds Boy Scout Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.

No complaints at all about the venue. Very nice and very comfortable. Quiet and peaceful.

 

[GulfCoastCivil]

Took it at the Vicksburg Convention Center. Quiet venue, comfortable seating, lots of space. My only issue is once you left for lunch they would not let you in to use the bathroom until the next session was to start. Kind of a pain because you had to drive to a bathroom. The guard caused a hub bub in the morning by announcing no food or drinks allowed, but when she saw us about to riot said she was going to go confirm it, then came back and admitted she was wrong. My other issue is with Vicksburg in general. No sit down breakfast place opened before 8am, even at the casino. I didn't have time to drive the few miles to McDonalds.

My sister took her FE in the Ponchartrain Center in Kenner, LA. She said it was nice and quiet. The first time I took it there a car alarm went off outside the double loading doors in the testing room for over an hour. Her biggest problem was the test started late. Really really late. They were all checked in and seated when they announced that the tests had not arrived yet. They were being loaded on an armored truck and would be there in 45 minutes. 2 hours later the test arrived. They ended up taking a shortened lunch so it wouldn't go on forever. She left before the end of the session and left at 7pm.

 

[humner]

Took mine in Northfield VT. Took mine in a middle school classroom. Table was large, chair could have been a little bigger. Ramp access was great so I could wheel in my cart with books. Only 32 people were in room. I am surprised with that one posting of the person who had to carry their books down the stairs. What if someone was in a wheel chair or was unable to make use of stairs, due to a walker. These tests should be open to handicap access.

 

[geofs_PE]

The NCEES has a process for requesting such accommodations:

http://www.ncees.org/exams/special_accommodations/

 

[Mike in Gastonia]

I took my exam in the basement of the Elks Lodge, and it was a less than ideal location. It was a pain in the butt to lug my books down two flights of stairs, the lighting was horrible, a majority of the plastic table tops were cracked, and the noise from the kitchen prep. for the evenings event was a little distracting. But, I did have a padded chair, and I got my own table, so that was a positive. There was a lady from the NCEES 'observing' who actually apologized for the venue location, and she was kind enough to buy us all ear plugs for the afternoon portion, which I really appreciated.
How was everyone else's test site?

What was the lady observing? Did other sites have observers as well?

 

[SPSUEngineer]

Took it in Knoxville, Tn. I thought it was very nice accomadations. The lighting in the room left a little to be desired but it wasn't too bad at all. The lights were a little noisey above me and I used my ear plugs at first.

The proctors were very professional and diligent. I had to put my books on the floor and water on the floor and no more than 2 straight edge's. I was a little surprised by all of that but they were very nice. Thought I was in boot camp there for a minute but rules are rules I guess.

 

[EnvEngineer]

Pomona also but really there were over 2000 people in the room. I wish someone could take a camera the sight of all those tables with people and books was unreal. 8' plywood table and a plastic chair. They did keep the room cool, I was afraid it would get hot with all the people. I cant see how they would find another venue to take its place. Parking 12$ lined down the street a couple of miles the first day.

 

[Daisy]

What was the lady observing? Did other sites have observers as well?

I don't know who the lady was, all I know is she was from NCEES (she had an official shirt) and helped our proctors when they had a hard time passing out the right test the the surveyors.

 

[pugsx]

Maryland State Fairgrounds 4H building.

+Free parking

+very large room, climate controlled

+Large wood tables (rough surface but they provided a large piece of cardboard to write on)

+ 2 to a table so ample room to place references

+ overall quite quiet

+ Padded chair was decent

+ can bring water and snacks. Drinks must be kept on the floor

+fastfood nearby

+ Lighting was ok. Not great.

- For future Maryland PE takers, do NOT bring suitcases/luggages! Only Milk crates/folding cart/large clear plastic containers.

- Cannot hang jackets on chair, must be placed in a box by the proctor table.

- Don't bring an expired ID or the cops will escort you out the door.

Interesting happenings:

1) yeah, one guy was escorted out coz of expired ID

2) A cell phone rang *GASP* hmy: after the head proctor started giving instructions. The next 10 minutes was wasted looking for cell phone (they couldn't find it). Finally, everyone in my section needed an escort to the restroom during the exam.