PE Passing Grade

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Ziggi

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Passing Grade. If you want to know how many questions you got right on your PE exam, here is what you have to do:

After you get your results from your board, multiply percentage of the correct problems from your diagnostic report by the number of questions for your topic. After you get number of correct problems for the morning and afternoon, add them and divide by 80, so you can see total percentage you got in the exam. Share it here, so we can find out passing grade. Numbers below are based on the assumption of 2.5% per problem.

MORNING:

Construction: 8

Geotechnical: 8

Structural: 8

Transportation: 8

Water Resources: 8

AFTERNOON

Construction

Earthwork: 4

Estimating & Costs: 7

Operations and meth. 6

Scheduling: 7

Quality Control: 4

Temporary structures: 5

Health & safety: 3

Other Topics: 4

Geotechnical:

Exploration & Sampling: 3

Engineering Properties: 5

Soil Mechanics Analysis: 5

Earth Structures: 4

Shallow Foundation: 6

Deep Foundation: 4

Earth Retaining Structures: 6

Earthquake Engineering: 2

Other Topics: 5

Structural:

Loadings: 5

Analysis: 5

Mechanics of Materials: 5

Materials: 5

Member design: 10

Design Criteria: 5

Other Topics: 5

Transportation:

Traffic Analysis: 9

Transportation Planning: 3

Geometric design: 12

Traffic Safety: 6

Other Topics: 10

Water Resources:

Closed Conduit: 6

Open Conduit: 6

Hydrology: 6

Groundwater and wells: 3

Wastewater Treatment: 6

Water Quality: 6

Water Treatment: 6

Economics: 1

 
This is of no value. If you pass, great, and you won't get a diagnostic. If you fail, you should have a pretty good idea whether you were close, or if you totally bombed it (especially after 2-3 minutes with the diagnostic). Either way, trying to figure out an arbitrary "passing score" (FYI, the passing score is 70. Not 70/80, not 70%, just 70 - it's meaningless) is a total waste of time. If you failed, spend the time studying for next time.

 
(FYI, the passing score is 70. Not 70/80, not 70%, just 70
Can you (or someone else) explain that better? I was under the impression all states implemented by law that 70 is the passing score. (and I hope 70% and not 70/80).

NCEES then takes some questions out (likely the ones everyone got wrong) and the passing score is determined on 70% of the remaining (for example 75) questions. So instead of 56 scores needed (70% of 80) only 52.5 scores (70% of 75) is needed.

Is there some rule of thumb (I know, every test is different and they keep it secret) to say that having about 60% (or whatever number) correct is passing?

 
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There are no units associated with the "70." Study like you want to get them all right and you'll do fine. Studying with the goal of eeking by will almost guarantee failure.

 
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AwJeez.jpg
 
Don't count your chicken before they are hatched. Target for 100% regardless of whatever is your preparation.

 
And here we go!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It is not a little early for this?
Seriously, the test is still over a week away, results are a couple months away, and people are already planning on analyzing their failure diagnostic to try to figure out the magical passing grade?

YOU'RE DOING IT WRONG.

 
Bean - I dont think anybody is trying to shoot for the minimum, but like others, I'm also confused as to what you mean about the 70 thing. My PE prep class instructor basically said roughly 70% is passing, give or take a few that the board decides to throw out and also depending on the distribution of the scores for each exam. I'm just trying to understand what your definition is of the passing range.

 
Bean - I dont think anybody is trying to shoot for the minimum, but like others, I'm also confused as to what you mean about the 70 thing. My PE prep class instructor basically said roughly 70% is passing, give or take a few that the board decides to throw out and also depending on the distribution of the scores for each exam. I'm just trying to understand what your definition is of the passing range.
Nobody knows the passing score. Nobody includes your PE prep class instructor. He is probably making a reasonable guess, but it is a guess. And if he is talking about the "distribution of the scores" he is completely wrong. It has zero to do with that.

They do this by equating, using a pool of questions for which they have known statistics. It is all on the NCEES web site.

I hope the guy is more accurate on the test content than he is on the grading process.

If you get the necessary number correct to pass, based on this equating process, they call that a 70. This is NOT 70%. In many states they don't even use the "70" number anymore. California is one. If an instructor tells you that you will get a "70" in California, they are completely wrong, because they only give pass/fail now. How many times does this have to be explained?

Also, this notion of NCEES taking out questions. My bet is that this happens rarely. Don't assume there are any questions that won't count.

 
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My advice? Don't waste your time worrying about what the passing score is. It is irrelevant. Your focus should be on answering as many questions as possible in the time alloted. You will never know what the cut score is, so don't waste time and energy trying to figure it out.

 
How many times does this have to be explained?
every 6 months
I understand the frustration with that we ask the same question every time. The problem is that it never gets "explained". I know it is pass/fail but no one ever answers the question on how many questions need to be answered correctly to pass. all we know (and ever gets explained) it is based on the magic 70, but the part of what is needed to get to 70 is skipped.

For any school class I know that 95% is an A, 90% a B etc. and my minimum requirement is a D or whatever. But here there is no real information at all besides the magic "70" , which no one seems to be able to explain what one has to do to achieve "70".

And no, we are not trying to study less if we knew what we needed. First, we don't know how hard the test will be, second even when achieving a " D" gets you a high school degree, many students still study to get an A (or just study as much as possible to be on the safe side not to fail).

I wondered the same thing before taking the FE and stopped caring entirely the day I got my "pass" letter. We all will stop asking the day we get the same " pass" letter for the PE :) then a new generation of test takers will ask the same question and we will be frustrated by it :)

 
How many times does this have to be explained?
every 6 months
I understand the frustration with that we ask the same question every time. The problem is that it never gets "explained". I know it is pass/fail but no one ever answers the question on how many questions need to be answered correctly to pass. all we know (and ever gets explained) it is based on the magic 70, but the part of what is needed to get to 70 is skipped.
It never gets "explained" b/c the question can't be answered. The number of questions on the exam that have to be answered correctly in order to pass is never released, therefore no one here can answer that question.

 
I swear, people, use the search option and you'll see many, many threads on this topic.

 
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