Repeat test takers/Exam focus from one exam to another.

[Matt-NM]

After reading through threads about past exams, it seems like there are always subjects that people think were tested very heavily. Has anybody ever had the same subjects tested heavily on consecutive exams? If the Fall 2007 ME PE was tested heavily in HVAC, what are the odds that it will be tested heavily again in April 2008? I guess the safest bet is to study everything equally (breath portion at least) and see what happens. I guess trying to predict what is going to be on the exam based on past exams is a pure gamble. Might pay off nicely, but odds are it will be a loss.

Does the difficulty of one exam to the next vary significantly, or does NCEES try to maintain a consistent exam? Would a fully prepared test taker pass one exam with ease and then fail the next?

Thanks.

 

[benbo]

After reading through threads about past exams, it seems like there are always subjects that people think were tested very heavily. Has anybody ever had the same subjects tested heavily on consecutive exams? If the Fall 2007 ME PE was tested heavily in HVAC, what are the odds that it will be tested heavily again in April 2008? I guess the safest bet is to study everything equally (breath portion at least) and see what happens. I guess trying to predict what is going to be on the exam based on past exams is a pure gamble. Might pay off nicely, but odds are it will be a loss.
Does the difficulty of one exam to the next vary significantly, or does NCEES try to maintain a consistent exam? Would a fully prepared test taker pass one exam with ease and then fail the next?

Thanks.

NCEES tries to keep to the topic percentages on it's website, and although others would dispute, they probably keep pretty close. Also, within reason, they try to balance the test difficulty, and if they give a particularly hard exam reduce the cut score using a process called "equating", where they repeat questions to see how people do on these.