Failed both exams for the second time. I felt that I was doing much better than first time, but I've got worst result (more "Deficient"s than last time). Maybe I should take a different class for these two exams. School of PE definitely helped me tremendously to pass the national exam (structural) at the first try, especially for the morning section. Not sure what to say about seismic and surveying. It could be my fault only that I failed. Any good advice from people who passed the exams is welcomed! Thanks.
results for CA specific engineering exams
- Thread starter MI2009
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Cookie Monster
Well-known member
I'm not too sure if anyone would want to buy any of these materials. I can't verify it, but i heard through my co-workers that all seismic related codes will be updated before the next seismic exam. If anyone else can verify this, that would be helpful and may even save others from buying obsolete study material.
randykong2010
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the code is changing, however, the logic behind how the forces are re-solved wont be changing much
Cookie Monster
Well-known member
ok... first of all i really like the pic of your dog. :kewlpics: i've always wanted a husky or one of those cool looking winter sled dogs to pull me around. lol.
in regards to my situation, i've visited the Board's website of how they score these things and what "Proficient", "Marginal", and "Deficient" translates to. Yes you are correct, maybe i could've gotten a 60-80% in those 2 categories (which would be considered "Proficient") and bombed the other ones, thus giving me the failure score. That would make sense. But i could've also gotten a few correct in the "deficient" categories which would have bumped my total score up as well. I guess the bottom line is you really can't assume anything with this type of scoring method considering the limited amount of feedback they give you. All i know is that those last 10-12 problems or so that i was forced to guess due to time restrainsts really messed my total score up and leads me to my final conclusion about the California Specific Exams...Earning your PE should NOT be about how fast you can solve a problem and/or who guesses their last 10-12 problems correctly. I don't know any licensed Engineers who solve work problems in 2 minutes. That would be scary. In any event, if i'm to assume anything i'll assume that my score was right at the "cut score" and that in the future i will have to make sure that it is NOT so close.
Thanks for your feedback, it made me feel.... :juggle: ...2% better, lol.
Cookie Monster
Well-known member
i can't say i agree with your logic here..when i took and passed the seismic everything revolved around the current code and what values to look up and plug in. I remember it being an exam that was testing how you referenced things out of the ASCE and CBC. There was barely anything about forces and structure related stuff that you didn't already know from your basis civil classes. Probably more structural related stuff on the general.
Cookie Monster
Well-known member
Been there. The first time i took the General portion i got a 52/80. I believe the cut score was something like 53 or 54. Next time my father passed away and I couldn't focus well during the exam. Did so horrible that i didnt' even bother to look at the final score. Then came back to nail it again the 3rd time. Same with Seismic. 2 Marginals, 1 Proficient, and the rest Deficient. I thought i had it walking out of the exam, then was devasted with the results. Took it again the next time, didn't feel as confident, and passed. I really can't explain how the results work out sometimes. All i know is that you just have to keep on finding ways to motivate yourself and get yourself into the study mode. For me it's just a bunch of practice exams to work on speed. I'm positive you'll pass sooner than later if you are here on these boards. You will be fine!
rc10gt
Active member
I am not sure if this will help, but it may give an alternative/additional method for preparing for the survey exam. Speaking only for the surveying exam, I passed the first time (seismic not so much, still working on it). Studying for the exam, I read and completed most of the problems in "Surveying Principles for Civil Engineers" from PPI and I completed 1 practice test. But most of the information I used for the exam was based off of my own field experience. This was also the view from other engineers and surveyors who have passed this exam. Being able to relate what I read in the book to what I saw in the field, read off a grade stake or read on a parcel map was a big help on the exam. This was especially true for the route surveying and construction staking. If you do not do this type of work as part of your regular job, maybe you could meet and work with another department or a surveyor from another company. Maybe you could "donate" some free labor and go with them to a jobsite. Using the surveyor's or your company's laser level or sight level, complete a simple site survey which includes a ditch of some kind. At the same time, survey and try to close your own traverse. Get a hold of and read some old survey field notes, this may be a little difficult with everything being digital now. A lot of what was on the exam I remembered seeing in the field notes. Another thing you can do is go down to the County Recorder's office and pull up some Subdivision Maps, Record Surveys, Parcel Maps and Rights of Way descriptions. Reading and understanding what the "picture" is trying to describe is another key to passing the exam. For a different perspective, in addition to the PPI book, on the Caltrans website you can download the LS/LSIT exam preparation course workbook with some good explanations and example problems. A good engineering survey book could help fill in some of the grey areas. Hope this helps somebody. It will not be easy, but it sure beats grinding away at problems that do not make sense.
LADWP_WATER_ENGR
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Passed Seismic and Survey. I'm a CA PE!!!
j33fleming
PE
Passed Surveying and Seismic... Need to retake the National 
My background is structural/building. Passes 16 hr national SE in one try.
For CA seismic I put in about 15 hours quick review. Passed with ease. On difficulty scale of 1 to 10 , with the national seismic being 10 CA seismic is a 2 because it only deals with ASCE 7- 05 and most problems just look up straight from the tables and couple equations to remember. CA seismic is really just testing basic of the basics for seismic. Walking out the exam room I think I nailed at least 50/55 with couple minutes to spare. My advice for this exam is to read and study ASCE 7 the seismic portion inside out like back of your hands. I can understand how this exam will be so difficult for civil without structural background to pass.
Failed survey....I wouldn't call it even a try, because the office secretary messed it up and applied for both exams when I told her I won't be ready anyway but she already paid the exam fee. I had no clue what was I doing. The civil engineer from my office passed survey with ease and he failed seismic the first time. He has no structural background and told me he spend 100+ hours to study for the seismic and I was like "really"? But now it is going to be my turn to suffer when preparing for surveying ...
Any advice from someone with no survey background and how you prepare and pass the survey?
For CA seismic I put in about 15 hours quick review. Passed with ease. On difficulty scale of 1 to 10 , with the national seismic being 10 CA seismic is a 2 because it only deals with ASCE 7- 05 and most problems just look up straight from the tables and couple equations to remember. CA seismic is really just testing basic of the basics for seismic. Walking out the exam room I think I nailed at least 50/55 with couple minutes to spare. My advice for this exam is to read and study ASCE 7 the seismic portion inside out like back of your hands. I can understand how this exam will be so difficult for civil without structural background to pass.
Failed survey....I wouldn't call it even a try, because the office secretary messed it up and applied for both exams when I told her I won't be ready anyway but she already paid the exam fee. I had no clue what was I doing. The civil engineer from my office passed survey with ease and he failed seismic the first time. He has no structural background and told me he spend 100+ hours to study for the seismic and I was like "really"? But now it is going to be my turn to suffer when preparing for surveying ...
Any advice from someone with no survey background and how you prepare and pass the survey?
