October 2019 Post Exam Wait Period - Welcome to the Suck

[Tiger15]

What cycle do you think has had it the worst? 

Whichevery cycle you were in

 

[LyceeFruit PE]

Whichevery cycle you were in

I have 7 to chose from then! 

 

[RBHeadge PE]

What cycle do you think has had it the worst? 

Whichevery cycle you were in

That's usually the answer people give.

Looking back though, I think I'd have to give that distinction to Oct 2018. That class was just super skittish to begin with. The trolling probably hit its peak effectiveness that session. There was some really elaborate stuff that wasn't really fair to the noobs, and also some super obvious stuff that shouldn't have provoked a reaction from even the most naive person. But that class  took everything to heart. The collective self doubt really fed on itself in a vicious self-reinforcing cycle. I was legitimately worried that some lurker was going to eat a bullet, or worse. It made me change the way I post on the site. Not that I was ever really doing overt trolling during the initial wait period, but it made me choose my words more carefully.

Trying to figure out the second worst is harder. Recency and personal bias comes into play. I'm inclined to go with Oct 14, because the wait was sooooo long and people were crawling out of their skin towards the end. That was the session I passed; and I know I was a total basket case in the last week and a half. The trolling seemed pretty awful at the time, and some of the really bad threads got deleted. I reread through the threads a few months ago, and in retrospect it didn't look that bad, but some threads were missing.

October 15 and 16 was a long-ish wait. Trolling was getting a little more refined and less obvious, which makes things worse. Nothing sticks out as being especially bad though. But I also wasn't that active in 2016. I'd have to say that

ld-025:  Anything before April 15* is a whole other category though. I'm inclined to lump most of those together as a tied-for-second/third. The results may have come out 'quickly' but the difference between state release dates was HUGE. In the last few years, ~45 states are out by day 2. That simply wasn't the case back then. It used to be that the results would trickle out of a period of several weeks! And even the states would trickle out their results over the course of a day or two. The absolute worst part of this whole process is the wait between the first announced release and whenever you get your results. Time stops, you're frozen with anxiety, and nothing else matters. I had to go through that process in Oct 13, had to wait nearly three weeks! It was crippling. It's also why the fake "[state name] results" threads were so effective at trolling back then. It would really provoke the people who knew that their state could release at any moment. Each one of those threads was a stab in the heart and contemporary testers won't ever understand - it's also why fake release threads rarely provoke much of a reaction today. ld-025:

October wait periods are always worse than the April. Maybe because it's a little longer? Maybe different exams are offered, or the holidays? idk

*Technically the states started authorizing mass releases more quickly in April 14, but we we didn't know it at the time and we were thinking with the old mindset.

One thing that I think many people miss though is that most of the boards traditions, like the spam thread, come out of ways to de-stress from the exam. The best way to do that is to be distracted and not think about it. The spam thread should be about stupid stuff and cheap laughs, not exam discussion.

What cycle do you think has had it the worst? 

Of the many you've done so far, which did you find the worst?

 

[LyceeFruit PE]

That's usually the answer people give.

Looking back though, I think I'd have to give that distinction to Oct 2018. That class was just super skittish to begin with. The trolling probably hit its peak effectiveness that session. There was some really elaborate stuff that wasn't really fair to the noobs, and also some super obvious stuff that shouldn't have provoked a reaction from even the most naive person. But that class  took everything to heart. The collective self doubt really fed on itself in a vicious self-reinforcing cycle. I was legitimately worried that some lurker was going to eat a bullet, or worse. It made me change the way I post on the site. Not that I was ever really doing overt trolling during the initial wait period, but it made me choose my words more carefully.

Trying to figure out the second worst is harder. Recency and personal bias comes into play. I'm inclined to go with Oct 14, because the wait was sooooo long and people were crawling out of their skin towards the end. That was the session I passed; and I know I was a total basket case in the last week and a half. The trolling seemed pretty awful at the time, and some of the really bad threads got deleted. I reread through the threads a few months ago, and in retrospect it didn't look that bad, but some threads were missing.

October 15 and 16 was a long-ish wait. Trolling was getting a little more refined and less obvious, which makes things worse. Nothing sticks out as being especially bad though. But I also wasn't that active in 2016. I'd have to say that

ld-025:  Anything before April 15* is a whole other category though. I'm inclined to lump most of those together as a tied-for-second/third. The results may have come out 'quickly' but the difference between state release dates was HUGE. In the last few years, ~45 states are out by day 2. That simply wasn't the case back then. It used to be that the results would trickle out of a period of several weeks! And even the states would trickle out their results over the course of a day or two. The absolute worst part of this whole process is the wait between the first announced release and whenever you get your results. Time stops, you're frozen with anxiety, and nothing else matters. I had to go through that process in Oct 13, had to wait nearly three weeks! It was crippling. It's also why the fake "[state name] results" threads were so effective at trolling back then. It would really provoke the people who knew that their state could release at any moment. Each one of those threads was a stab in the heart and contemporary testers won't ever understand - it's also why fake release threads rarely provoke much of a reaction today. ld-025:

October wait periods are always worse than the April. Maybe because it's a little longer? Maybe different exams are offered, or the holidays? idk

*Technically the states started authorizing mass releases more quickly in April 14, but we we didn't know it at the time and we were thinking with the old mindset.

One thing that I think many people miss though is that most of the boards traditions, like the spam thread, come out of ways to de-stress from the exam. The best way to do that is to be distracted and not think about it. The spam thread should be about stupid stuff and cheap laughs, not exam discussion.

Of the many you've done so far, which did you find the worst?

I would agree with your assessment of October 2018 on the boards. Some of that trolling was absurd and I was getting frustrated trying to talk folks down. 

On a personal level, probably April 2019. I was the most dedicated to that study cycle of the ones I took (since the first time I took it October 2015, excluding October 2019) and I seriously thought I had it.

Knowing approximately when results get released does make it a bit harder. I can stay calm until about day 35 or so but then I know it's basically any day. And then once the first state releases, I'm a ball of stress and nerves 

 

[RBHeadge PE]

Knowing approximately when results get released does make it a bit harder. I can stay calm until about day 35 or so but then I know it's basically any day. And then once the first state releases, I'm a ball of stress and nerves 

Hence why I'm reluctant to publicly predict a release date. Once someone with influence puts a date out there, group think sets in, and people go extra insane when the prediction doesn't come to pass. No thanks, I'll stick with "no earlier than" or a heavily caveated probability distribution.

 

[Tiger15]

...

Looking back though, I think I'd have to give that distinction to Oct 2018. That class was just super skittish to begin with. The trolling probably hit its peak effectiveness that session. There was some really elaborate stuff that wasn't really fair to the noobs, and also some super obvious stuff that shouldn't have provoked a reaction from even the most naive person. But that class  took everything to heart. The collective self doubt really fed on itself in a vicious self-reinforcing cycle. I was legitimately worried that some lurker was going to eat a bullet, or worse. It made me change the way I post on the site. Not that I was ever really doing overt trolling during the initial wait period, but it made me choose my words more carefully.

...

I was an Oct 18 test taker. Makes me kind of glad I didn't find EB until after the results came out.

 

[LyceeFruit PE]

Hence why I'm reluctant to publicly predict a release date. Once someone with influence puts a date out there, group think sets in, and people go extra insane when the prediction doesn't come to pass. No thanks, I'll stick with "no earlier than" or a heavily caveated probability distribution.

I 100% agree. I have my own prediction as well. But they'll be released whenever NCEES/State Boards want too. 

 

[fyrfytr310]

Hence why I'm reluctant to publicly predict a release date. Once someone with influence puts a date out there, group think sets in, and people go extra insane when the prediction doesn't come to pass. No thanks, I'll stick with "no earlier than" or a heavily caveated probability distribution.

So you're saying they will be out December 2nd at 9AM EST?  Got it.

 

[RBHeadge PE]

So you're saying they will be out December 2nd at 9AM EST?  Got it.

 

[Tiger15]

So you're saying they will be out December 2nd at 9AM EST?  Got it.

I'm not anyone important, but I'm willing to guarantee that the results will be released before April.

 

[Zach Stone P.E.]

Looking back though, I think I'd have to give that distinction to Oct 2018. That class was just super skittish to begin with. The trolling probably hit its peak effectiveness that session. There was some really elaborate stuff that wasn't really fair to the noobs, and also some super obvious stuff that shouldn't have provoked a reaction from even the most naive person. But that class  took everything to heart. The collective self doubt really fed on itself in a vicious self-reinforcing cycle. I was legitimately worried that some lurker was going to eat a bullet, or worse. It made me change the way I post on the site. Not that I was ever really doing overt trolling during the initial wait period, but it made me choose my words more carefully.

I agree!

From where I sit, the changes to the electrical power specifications in 2018 played a BIG part in why the overall mood on EB during the "welcome to the suck" period for the Oct 2018 exam was brutal, at least for the electrical power examines (not sure if any other disciplines had their specs updated as well).

Most felt that the April 2018 PE exam was overkill and extremely tough due to the new specs and filled with lots of surprises. Most also thought that NCEES went over board on difficulty and assumed that they would loosen up for October 2018.

Surprise! The overall impression on the October 2018 was that it was just as if not more so tough with heavy hitting qualitative surprises that left people walking out of the exam room shook.

Because of this there were a lot people that failed the April 2018 exam that were nervously hanging around EB while waiting to see if they finally passed the Oct 2018 exam while filled with doubt the entire time, combined with all of the first time takers of the Oct 2018 exam feeding off the anxiety of the April 2018 repeat takers. 

It felt like every poster that was waiting on results was extremely anxious, nervous, and impulsive with zero patience. They bit at every bit of bait the trolls fed them.

It was an interesting time. 

 

[RBHeadge PE]

I'm not anyone important, but I'm willing to guarantee that the results will be release before April.

I can agree with that. Total release to every state, except Pennsylvania

 

[LyceeFruit PE]

I agree!

From where I sit, the changes to the electrical power specifications in 2018 played a BIG part in why the overall mood on EB during the "welcome to the suck" period for the Oct 2018 exam was brutal, at least for the electrical power examines (not sure if any other disciplines had their specs updated as well).

People felt the April 2018 PE exam was that it was overkill and extremely tough due to the new specs and filled with lots of surprises. Most thought NCEES went over board on difficulty and thought they would loosen up for October 2018. Surprise! Feedback on October 2018 was just as, if not more so rough with heavy hitting qualitative surprises. 

Because of this there were a lot people that failed the April 2018 exam that were nervously waiting to see if they finally passed the Oct 2018 exam while filled with doubt, and all of the first time takers of the Oct 2018 exam feeding off the anxiety of the April 2018 repeat takers. 

It felt like every poster that was waiting on results was extremely anxious, nervous, and impulsive with zero patience. They bit at every bit of bait the trolls fed them.

It was an interesting time. 

April 2018 was AWFUL. I have never felt so utterly defeated in my life. 

October 2018 was also a rough test but I didn't think it was *as bad* but some of the questions were definitely out of left field. Moreso than normal I think 

 

[Zach Stone P.E.]

April 2018 was AWFUL. I have never felt so utterly defeated in my life. 

October 2018 was also a rough test but I didn't think it was *as bad* but some of the questions were definitely out of left field. Moreso than normal I think 

It was hard to watch so many people put their life on hold to pour hundreds of hours into studying fall apart at the seams. 

From what I've seen, it doesn't matter how much you study, there will always be questions out of left field that shocks just about everyone. The approach that has held up well over time is the same ole adage of triaging the exam in multiple passes then attacking those problems with everything you got during the last bit of the exam with your references. 

 

[Tiger15]

Honestly, I felt pretty confident coming out of the Oct '18 Mech:MDM exam. And that confidence made me feel more unsure and nervous. (I hope that makes sense to someone besides me.)

 

[Zach Stone P.E.]

Honestly, I felt pretty confident coming out of the Oct '18 Mech:MDM exam. And that confidence made me feel more unsure and nervous. (I hope that makes sense to someone besides me.)

It does. 

In my experience, those that walk out VERY confident are the ones most surprised when they find out they did not pass. It's a tough exam and NCEES is very skilled at giving answer choices based on all of the wrong ways of solving the problem. 

 

[DilutedAr18_PE]

It does. 

In my experience, those that walk out VERY confident are the ones most surprised when they find out they did not pass. It's a tough exam and NCEES is very skilled at giving answer choices based on all of the wrong ways of solving the problem. 

I think that is one reason why I do not feel as confident about the exam or maybe don't want to outwardly feel as confident. Yes, there were plenty of out of left field questions that I couldn't even find the terms in an index in any of the multitude of references, but I felt okay about the morning and really good about the afternoon for the power exam. I believe that I did well enough to pass, but did I fall into the traps of NCEES exam creators? Who knows?

 

[pse19622]

It does. 

In my experience, those that walk out VERY confident are the ones most surprised when they find out they did not pass. It's a tough exam and NCEES is very skilled at giving answer choices based on all of the wrong ways of solving the problem. 

This is not what I needed to hear lol, but I can't say I came out feeling VERY confident. Felt pretty good overall. Now I'm really nervous.

 

[civilrobot PE etc etc]

It does. 

In my experience, those that walk out VERY confident are the ones most surprised when they find out they did not pass. It's a tough exam and NCEES is very skilled at giving answer choices based on all of the wrong ways of solving the problem. 

This is something I already knew and when I read it again and again, I'm absolutely sure I failed.

 

[civilrobot PE etc etc]

Honestly, I felt pretty confident coming out of the Oct '18 Mech:MDM exam. And that confidence made me feel more unsure and nervous. (I hope that makes sense to someone besides me.)

Makes sense.