Just took CA Survey Oct 2012

[Eyaz]

I just took my California Survey exam and could not be more upset. First of all, it was a great surprise to see the 55 questions instead of 50 and time to remain THE SAME, 2.5 hours. Am I the only one that was not aware of this change?

The figures now in the figure book start from A to Z , AA to .. and AAA to ... I believe the 2.5 hours is NOT enough to flip thru all these pages back and forth to find a figure and being able to answer 55 questions. This method is unfair ..

 

[rogerkamp88]

I just took the Seismic exam instead of surveying, but I felt the same way.

I took the test at a Prometric test center. The desk space was small so I had to use the floor for a lot of my reference materials. When they saw that, they asked me to move my reference materials closer towards the desk. It was very difficult working on a desk with barely enough space for a keyboard/mouse. My figures book also came un-stapled. I felt like a lot of time was spent flipping through pages as well.

I wished it was a properly bound book of questions with a Scranton instead of computers.

 

[ptatohed]

I just took the Seismic exam instead of surveying, but I felt the same way.

I took the test at a Prometric test center. The desk space was small so I had to use the floor for a lot of my reference materials. When they saw that, they asked me to move my reference materials closer towards the desk. It was very difficult working on a desk with barely enough space for a keyboard/mouse. My figures book also came un-stapled. I felt like a lot of time was spent flipping through pages as well.

I wished it was a properly bound book of questions with a Scranton instead of computers.

Did you have 50 or 55 questions?

 

[hello816]

Yeah. I'm curious about too. Was it 50 or 55 questions?

Also were the questions similar to what they had in the past or is the computer generated questions completely different? Like out of this world different.

This sucks. Why did they change the format? So weird.

Also is there a clock at the testing site? Is there someone there to call 15 min, 10 min and 5 min remaining?

 

[Square]

I took the surveying exam with Prometric in April and there is a clock on the computer screen so you can always see the time.

I also felt the booklet with figures was cumbersome and hoped that in 6 months they could have found a better system.

 

[Mostruc]

Took seismic today. The booklet was stapled and tabbed for easier navigation. 55 questions. Reminder at 15 minutes and at 1 minute. The desk space is kind of small but OK for 2 books and the rest (if any) can be on the floor next to you. You do not need a whole pile of books anyway. I'd say it is decent.

 

[goredsox]

I HAVE to gripe about this. I retook the surveying exam via CBT as well with Prometric in the Boston area. Maybe it's just this one location, but it has been two awful experiences. I took the surveying in June after the April debaucle, and they did not have the artwork pamphlet. They had to get it emailed and printed for me to flip there. There was no staple or easy tabbing. This just happened AGAIN when I went to take my seismic test this past Saturday. This time it took like 2.5 hours after my 'appointment' for me to actually start the test. At first they couldn't get their email address right, then they sent a .htm file and not the right .pdf file, and it was just a total mess. Ric, if you read this, can you please hold Prometric's hand a bit more and perhaps ask that they MAKE SURE the day before someone is scheduled for one of these that they have the necessary pamphlet on hand?

On the other hand I feel like I passed! 55 Questions.

 

[nobody1231234]

@goredsox - look at it as a positive that you can even TAKE the CA Survey in the BOSTON area. You definitely would've had to pay for a cross country flight to take that exam last year.

 

[Square]

I was supposed to take my exam today at in NYC, but that's clearly not happening since I can't even get to the test center. I've rescheduled for next week. Hope everything is back in operation soon! Also, hoping everyone reading on the East Coast is safe and dry.

 

[Darcy14]

Hi all, I feel your pain and glad to read I wasn't the only one having issues, I took my Seismic test on Saturday and have the surveying coming up this Tuesday. It was awful. I was the first one to take it at this testing center (In a different state). They gave me the wrong booklet and had to have someone restart the test from their corporate location. They looked at me funny and told me I couldn't bring my reference books in....that changed when I told them to read over the guidelines. I had absolutely no space to try to use my reference materials, since it was just a tiny cube surrounded by people taking the GRE in other cubes. I could only open one item at a time. Then on top of that I had to use the awful book with the figures that wouldn't stay open (trying to write it it was miserable too), add that to my other materials and it physically made it almost impossible to do the test. Is there anyway to request more room?? I would honestly would rather fly to Cali to take the exam with space; I had to go there anyway to take the 8-hour (But that's an NCEES thing). For me it's hard to read on the computer then go to a book then back and forth between everything. Is there anything we can do to submit a complaint, beyond the survey I received at the end of the exam??? On top of it all I heard the exam increased by 5 questions.in 2.5 hours. Wow! I studied so much, had everything marked, and pretty sure I did not pass due to not being able to effectively use my resources and not being flustered because no one knew how to proctor the exam correctly.

 

[niner1]

I was already un happy with this new test method and the high cost, but now! come on is this for real? I show up at test center give them my ID and then Im told to empty my bags so they can inspect my books, ok no biggie, I am then told to empty my pockets and remove my watch and place items in my bag and given a key to a locker to place items in, I was told if I wanted to take in my life savers or gum I would have to unwrap item and place them on a tissue to take in? I guess wrappres make noise? while they inspected my books I had to read a form with 23 rules I had to agree to including the fact I would be under constant surviellance. again whatever, after I was called up I had to sign my form, stand up turn my pants pockets inside out, and then searched with a metal detector? is this for real?

 

[milecargo]

I'm puzzled as to why the Seismic and Surveying exams are so extremely hyped.

I studied for Survey using Cuomo, and Boniface's sample problems. Did every problem in those books three or four times over the course of three months - studied every single day for 1-2 hours. Took the test and felt as if I only missed a few.

I took Seismic today. Went through the Hiner and did every problem three or four times over the course of three months - studied every single day for 1-2 hours. Took the test and felt as if I missed 10-15 at the max.

My concern is that many do not invest the time that these exams truly require.

Anyway, the Prometric format is pretty sweet. You can "mark" problems that you want to return to and at the end of the test (or any time during the test) you can review the marked problems. The workbook is pretty thick and you don't use all of the figures in the workbook.

 

[milecargo]

I was already un happy with this new test method and the high cost, but now! come on is this for real? I show up at test center give them my ID and then Im told to empty my bags so they can inspect my books, ok no biggie, I am then told to empty my pockets and remove my watch and place items in my bag and given a key to a locker to place items in, I was told if I wanted to take in my life savers or gum I would have to unwrap item and place them on a tissue to take in? I guess wrappres make noise? while they inspected my books I had to read a form with 23 rules I had to agree to including the fact I would be under constant surviellance. again whatever, after I was called up I had to sign my form, stand up turn my pants pockets inside out, and then searched with a metal detector? is this for real?

I actually appreciate the high security of the exams, it protects our profession.

 

[Square]

I was already un happy with this new test method and the high cost, but now! come on is this for real? I show up at test center give them my ID and then Im told to empty my bags so they can inspect my books, ok no biggie, I am then told to empty my pockets and remove my watch and place items in my bag and given a key to a locker to place items in, I was told if I wanted to take in my life savers or gum I would have to unwrap item and place them on a tissue to take in? I guess wrappres make noise? while they inspected my books I had to read a form with 23 rules I had to agree to including the fact I would be under constant surviellance. again whatever, after I was called up I had to sign my form, stand up turn my pants pockets inside out, and then searched with a metal detector? is this for real?

I actually appreciate the high security of the exams, it protects our profession.

How does this protect engineering? And what exactly needs protecting and from what?

I didn't think the space constraint was too bad. The desk was small, but I think for seismic you only need Hiner, ASCE and IBC and maybe a folder of notes and I have enough room to have at least two open at the same time which is just fine for me.

But the booklet was just a mess. My center did not have mine ready, so I had to wait an hour for them to get it and print it. And although the review button on the Prometric software is useful, the annoying part is having to relocate the correct figure that goes with the question. The seconds it takes to flip back and forth adds up after a while. Not a fan of this booklet idea. It makes taking the exam feel very disjointed because you need to refer to both the screen and the physical paper in front of you.

 

[milecargo]

I was already un happy with this new test method and the high cost, but now! come on is this for real? I show up at test center give them my ID and then Im told to empty my bags so they can inspect my books, ok no biggie, I am then told to empty my pockets and remove my watch and place items in my bag and given a key to a locker to place items in, I was told if I wanted to take in my life savers or gum I would have to unwrap item and place them on a tissue to take in? I guess wrappres make noise? while they inspected my books I had to read a form with 23 rules I had to agree to including the fact I would be under constant surviellance. again whatever, after I was called up I had to sign my form, stand up turn my pants pockets inside out, and then searched with a metal detector? is this for real?

I actually appreciate the high security of the exams, it protects our profession.

How does this protect engineering? And what exactly needs protecting and from I am a Gigantic DoucheBag

I didn't think the space constraint was too bad. The desk was small, but I think for seismic you only need Hiner, ASCE and IBC and maybe a folder of notes and I have enough room to have at least two open at the same time which is just fine for me.

But the booklet was just a mess. My center did not have mine ready, so I had to wait an hour for them to get it and print it. And although the review button on the Prometric software is useful, the annoying part is having to relocate the correct figure that goes with the question. The seconds it takes to flip back and forth adds up after a while. Not a fan of this booklet idea. It makes taking the exam feel very disjointed because you need to refer to both the screen and the physical paper in front of you.

I do agree that the booklet was odd in that it had figures for problems that were not in my exam. It was hard to navigate through. The lettering of the pages ,"A-Z" and "AA-ZZ" was distracting.

 

[ptatohed]

I'm puzzled as to why the Seismic and Surveying exams are so extremely hyped.

I studied for Survey using Cuomo, and Boniface's sample problems. Did every problem in those books three or four times over the course of three months - studied every single day for 1-2 hours. Took the test and felt as if I only missed a few.

I took Seismic today. Went through the Hiner and did every problem three or four times over the course of three months - studied every single day for 1-2 hours. Took the test and felt as if I missed 10-15 at the max.

My concern is that many do not invest the time that these exams truly require.

Anyway, the Prometric format is pretty sweet. You can "mark" problems that you want to return to and at the end of the test (or any time during the test) you can review the marked problems. The workbook is pretty thick and you don't use all of the figures in the workbook.

What do you mean by the Seis/Surv exams being "so extremely hyped"?

 

[Mostruc]

I took surveying today after taking seismic two weeks ago. For me it was much harder test and I ran out of time, as opposed to seismic, which I finished early with spare time to check and correct marked questions. I found that many survey questions required a lot of simple but lengthy calculations, which take time if you do not do them regulary (and I do not do surveying at all like majority of structural engineers) and do not know short-cuts vs. solving triangles etc.. There were also questions that were not covered in Cuomo book. It seems that Boniface's sample problems are presented in much simpler way than test questions: it took me much more time (comparing to Cuomo and Boniface's books) to understand what am I being asked. I did study for this test and I solved all problems in Cuomo book and Boniface's book and then some...yet I am very disappointed with my performance. When there was 1 minute left I simply did not have time to even read all remaining questions and just guessed. With this format it is rather hard to select "easy" questions and do them first. Does anyone know what is approximate passing score (%)?

 

[milecargo]

I took surveying today after taking seismic two weeks ago. For me it was much harder test and I ran out of time, as opposed to seismic, which I finished early with spare time to check and correct marked questions. I found that many survey questions required a lot of simple but lengthy calculations, which take time if you do not do them regulary (and I do not do surveying at all like majority of structural engineers) and do not know short-cuts vs. solving triangles etc.. There were also questions that were not covered in Cuomo book. It seems that Boniface's sample problems are presented in much simpler way than test questions: it took me much more time (comparing to Cuomo and Boniface's books) to understand what am I being asked. I did study for this test and I solved all problems in Cuomo book and Boniface's book and then some...yet I am very disappointed with my performance. When there was 1 minute left I simply did not have time to even read all remaining questions and just guessed. With this format it is rather hard to select "easy" questions and do them first. Does anyone know what is approximate passing score (%)?

I found that the test questions on the survey exam were much more "real life scenario" than the questions in Cuomo or Boniface. Cuomo and Boniface give you the tools (trigonometry, etc) that you need to solve the problems. But you need to know when you get to a test question which tool you need to apply - it sounds like this may have been where you went wrong.

When going through Boniface and Cuomo did you really MASTER the problems or did you look at the solutions to get through them? I did some problems up to 10 times in order to truly master it and get a deep understanding of what I was doing, not simply just getting through the problem. Practice makes perfect.

You cannot say that since you don't use surveying daily that you cannot pass this exam - you can. You study daily so you stay sharp an fast, even if only an hour a night. You read through Cuomo, and if you're unclear on a concept - say Traverses - then you look on Youtube for tutorials or do some further research. Preparing for the exam doesn't have to be a huge time sink nor stressful - it's simply a daily endeavor, bit by bit.

 

[milecargo]

I'm puzzled as to why the Seismic and Surveying exams are so extremely hyped.

I studied for Survey using Cuomo, and Boniface's sample problems. Did every problem in those books three or four times over the course of three months - studied every single day for 1-2 hours. Took the test and felt as if I only missed a few.

I took Seismic today. Went through the Hiner and did every problem three or four times over the course of three months - studied every single day for 1-2 hours. Took the test and felt as if I missed 10-15 at the max.

My concern is that many do not invest the time that these exams truly require.

Anyway, the Prometric format is pretty sweet. You can "mark" problems that you want to return to and at the end of the test (or any time during the test) you can review the marked problems. The workbook is pretty thick and you don't use all of the figures in the workbook.

What do you mean by the Seis/Surv exams being "so extremely hyped"?

I'm disgruntled by the way some people present their view of the difficulty level of the exams on these Boards - as if there's some magic to the exam. Some people here create a hysteria that is uneccessary.

The recipie for success is simple - consistent studying, truly MASTERING problems not just getting through them, and repeating them over and over. Getting help if you're stuck on a concept, not simply just skipping over them. Practice makes perfect.

 

[Mostruc]

Milecargo, I never said that exam was difficult, I just pointed out some pitfalls for the future exam takers and that is what I believe this forum is for. Did I whine a little bit about my performance? Yes, I did, which I truly regret.