Passed the CA Specific Exams First Try But Failed the 8 Hr Twice Attempting 3rd Time April 2018

[engrTunis88]

Who else is on the same miserable boat as I?

 

[Aspire PE]

Not in the same boat but would like to help .. what afternoon depth .. you  attempted and failed.

 

[engrTunis88]

Not in the same boat but would like to help .. what afternoon depth .. you  attempted and failed.

Transpo Depth...I took School of PE on line on demand for the first two attempts plus supplemental practice exams (NCEES, Mansour, 6 min solutions) and still am not passing, my first attempt, I scored 54/80, second attempt 50/80.  Even though I put in soooo much more time studying for my second attempt than the first, I did worse ugh

 

[Aspire PE]

Transpo Depth...I took School of PE on line on demand for the first two attempts plus supplemental practice exams (NCEES, Mansour, 6 min solutions) and still am not passing, my first attempt, I scored 54/80, second attempt 50/80.  Even though I put in soooo much more time studying for my second attempt than the first, I did worse ugh

If you are open to switch depth , I would recommend Water Resources and Environmental. You would need least amount standard and reference. Again, you tried transportation .. but no fruit . Unless transportation is bred n buttter at your work .. it is worth considering WRE. I am sure you can solve drainage problem. You should know in transportation anyway.

 

[engrTunis88]

If you are open to switch depth , I would recommend Water Resources and Environmental. You would need least amount standard and reference. Again, you tried transportation .. but no fruit . Unless transportation is bred n buttter at your work .. it is worth considering WRE. I am sure you can solve drainage problem. You should know in transportation anyway.

I'm honestly considering doing that, although i've been doing well on the Transpo depth portion, I need to improve my AM scores.

 

[Aspire PE]

I'm honestly considering doing that, although i've been doing well on the Transpo depth portion, I need to improve my AM scores.

Remember AM portion has least transportation questions. Which AM section  is not your strength?

 

[engrTunis88]

Remember AM portion has least transportation questions. Which AM section  is not your strength?

Construction & Geotech...I actually did really well in the Water questions

 

[npcvlgeo]

Depth  - Geotechnical

I passed on third try. On my first attempt, I scored 46/80 [ 27 AM & 19 PM]. For second attempt, it was 52/80 [ 27 AM & 25 PM]. I was disappointed with my performance in the morning. It makes a difference. This time, I passed. My projection was that I will be able to score at least 30 AM & 32 PM [ +/- 2].

My advise, up your game for the morning and if you are able to get 32-34, it really takes off the pressure to perform in the afternoon.

 

[engrTunis88]

Depth  - Geotechnical

I passed on third try. On my first attempt, I scored 46/80 [ 27 AM & 19 PM]. For second attempt, it was 52/80 [ 27 AM & 25 PM]. I was disappointed with my performance in the morning. It makes a difference. This time, I passed. My projection was that I will be able to score at least 30 AM & 32 PM [ +/- 2].

My advise, up your game for the morning and if you are able to get 32-34, it really takes off the pressure to perform in the afternoon.

Yes, that's exactly my plan thanks for the advice and i'm happy for you that you passed, you pushed on and ultimately succeeded!  I have been averaging between 19-23 in the AM and so I am definitely going to put in a lot more time in studying for the AM.  I hope third time's a charm for me as well

 

[npcvlgeo]

Thank you and Good Luck to you.

 

[samopuddles]

Transpo Depth...I took School of PE on line on demand for the first two attempts plus supplemental practice exams (NCEES, Mansour, 6 min solutions) and still am not passing, my first attempt, I scored 54/80, second attempt 50/80.  Even though I put in soooo much more time studying for my second attempt than the first, I did worse ugh

You are very close, at most you need 4 or 5 more questions right. I assume you have taken many practice exams?

 

[engrTunis88]

You are very close, at most you need 4 or 5 more questions right. I assume you have taken many practice exams?

Yes, for the October exam alone I did over 10 different practice exams and I felt so good about all the material going into the exam.  But during the exam, I kinda crashed and found the morning portion to be harder than it was in April.  A few of my coworkers told me the October exam is usually tougher than the April exam for some reason.  Ugh I really hope I get this nightmare over with this April.

 

[leggo PE]

I was in this boat a year ago. Congrats on passing the CA specific exams, which are their own separate beasts!

If you are looking to up your morning score and are open to taking a review course, I would highly recommend EET. I took both their morning and afternoon modules when I was studying for my third try. Granted, I took the structural depth PE exam all three times I took it, but I thought both modules were excellent in terms of instruction, reference materials, and practice problems.

Enough of my plug for EET. 

If you are averaging 19-23 in the am section, you definitely need to shoot to increase that score. The morning questions (as I'm sure you have realized) are usually less complicated than the afternoon questions in terms of concepts and calculations. Are you perhaps overthinking the questions, especially in specific sub-topics (i.e. like geotech)?

I don't know if it will be any comfort to you, but my two first attempts were a 46 and a 45 in the structural depth, and I passed on my third attempt. You seem to be at a better starting point than I was.

You will absolutely get this exam this next time! Don't give up. You've got this!

 

[samopuddles]

Yes, for the October exam alone I did over 10 different practice exams and I felt so good about all the material going into the exam.  But during the exam, I kinda crashed and found the morning portion to be harder than it was in April.  A few of my coworkers told me the October exam is usually tougher than the April exam for some reason.  Ugh I really hope I get this nightmare over with this April.

Hmm. I took Civil - Structural in October 2016 and found the morning to be exceptionally easy and straightforward whereas April testers thought they had it bad.

Have you gone through the CERM and done all the problems? I found myself very prepared for the morning using just that. Additionally, I would think if you have passed seismic and are comfortable with it you may actually want to consider doing the structural depth. I found it difficult but there is a LOT of material and study help for it.

My strategy for the 8hr was basically get 33-36/40 in the morning and scrape by in the afternoon with 20-23/40. You just need a better strategy, I'm sure you've studied plenty.

 

[Minnesotan]

I took transportation depth and I passed 8-hr on my first attempt. I took the workshop provided by Dr. Mansour and solely studied his materials though I have tons of other materials which I have never opened. I took 3 practice exams for depth and solved the same supplemental problems (Dr. Mansour only) multiple times. In the exam, I finished both am and pm portion an hour earlier and I was confident on passing. I was stuck with surveying (I have no idea why or how). This time I just studied a week in total (probably not even that) and was not hoping to pass as I barely finished 35 or 40 problems and made guesses on 10 more ( I left blank 5 or more). I got the passing result and I give all the credits to my well wishers specially my wife and parents and to my bosses who were prompt in sending my reference letters along with wishes.

I just wanted to share my experience with you all. It is not the end. You can do it and you will do it. Just don't give up. 

 

[txjennah PE]

Me! Except I don't live in California so fortunately don't have to worry about the extra exams.

 

[engrTunis88]

I was in this boat a year ago. Congrats on passing the CA specific exams, which are their own separate beasts!

If you are looking to up your morning score and are open to taking a review course, I would highly recommend EET. I took both their morning and afternoon modules when I was studying for my third try. Granted, I took the structural depth PE exam all three times I took it, but I thought both modules were excellent in terms of instruction, reference materials, and practice problems.

Enough of my plug for EET. 

If you are averaging 19-23 in the am section, you definitely need to shoot to increase that score. The morning questions (as I'm sure you have realized) are usually less complicated than the afternoon questions in terms of concepts and calculations. Are you perhaps overthinking the questions, especially in specific sub-topics (i.e. like geotech)?

I don't know if it will be any comfort to you, but my two first attempts were a 46 and a 45 in the structural depth, and I passed on my third attempt. You seem to be at a better starting point than I was.

You will absolutely get this exam this next time! Don't give up. You've got this!

Thanks, i'm so happy I passed those but still sad I am not passing the 8 hr

Since School of PE didn't work for me both times, I do plan on borrowing a friends EET material and studying that.  I hope that would be enough to pass.  I don't think i'd switch depths at this point as by now, I am familiar with the Transpo depth topics and don't want to start from scratch again.  I appreciate your advice and words of wisdom

 

[engrTunis88]

Hmm. I took Civil - Structural in October 2016 and found the morning to be exceptionally easy and straightforward whereas April testers thought they had it bad.

Have you gone through the CERM and done all the problems? I found myself very prepared for the morning using just that. Additionally, I would think if you have passed seismic and are comfortable with it you may actually want to consider doing the structural depth. I found it difficult but there is a LOT of material and study help for it.

My strategy for the 8hr was basically get 33-36/40 in the morning and scrape by in the afternoon with 20-23/40. You just need a better strategy, I'm sure you've studied plenty.

I haven't gone through the CERM and done all the problems, maybe I will do that this time around, I honestly focused on everything other than the CERM for my studies.  I actually enjoy structures, but have all the reference material already for the Transpo depth and I do not want to go through the hassle of collecting more references and starting from scratch studying for a different depth.  That is a good strategy you noted as well, I know I need to get at least 30 questions in the AM to pass and this time around I will focus so much more on the AM, I have been averaging about 20-24 questions in the PM so I think i'm good with that.  Pray for me plz

 

[engrTunis88]

I took transportation depth and I passed 8-hr on my first attempt. I took the workshop provided by Dr. Mansour and solely studied his materials though I have tons of other materials which I have never opened. I took 3 practice exams for depth and solved the same supplemental problems (Dr. Mansour only) multiple times. In the exam, I finished both am and pm portion an hour earlier and I was confident on passing. I was stuck with surveying (I have no idea why or how). This time I just studied a week in total (probably not even that) and was not hoping to pass as I barely finished 35 or 40 problems and made guesses on 10 more ( I left blank 5 or more). I got the passing result and I give all the credits to my well wishers specially my wife and parents and to my bosses who were prompt in sending my reference letters along with wishes.

I just wanted to share my experience with you all. It is not the end. You can do it and you will do it. Just don't give up. 

Awesome advice and i'm happy for you and getting that green light.  We all have our weaknesses, I was talking to a coworker that passed the 8 hr first attempt and failed seismic and surveying four times each until he finally passed.  My struggle is the 8 hr and I will conquer it sooner or later.....

 

[engrTunis88]

Me! Except I don't live in California so fortunately don't have to worry about the extra exams.

Lucky you, those exams consumed so much of my time and drained me, glad i'm done with them.  Hopefully we all pass this coming April!