So how was it?

[hountzmj]

Ok folks. Don't do anything stupid and post a question from the test or something here. I'm just looking for general thoughts.

So how did you feel about it? Pass? Fail?

Personally I think it can go either way for me.

I felt pretty good after then morning session. I finished in about 3:15 or so which gave me a decent amount of time to review my score sheet to be sure I had bubbled correctly, spot check some problems I wasn't sure on and spend some extra time on a couple that I had really struggled with the first time(s) through the test. I put my pencil down right at the 5 minute warning and was very content with that. Headed out for lunch with a reasonable level of confidence.

The afternoon was a bloodbath. I was prepared for some of the questions but overall I was probably under-prepared in this area. I "finished" around 3:30 or so. Checked my answer sheet and a couple problems like I did in the morning and then bubbled in my guesses at the 5 minute warning. I had 6 or so that were total outright guesses. Not good. Many that I just wasn't sure of or may have taken a wrong approach. Who knows. Lost of stuff really threw me for a loop.

I left feeling pretty low. But just having the test over with for a while was a huge relief. It was like an enormous weight was lifted from me as I drove out of Indianapolis headed for a family birthday dinner.

At the end of the day I'm content with my level of preparation. If I have to give it another go I'll be spending 90% of my time working through problems. I worked a lot of problems this time around but more would have helped me I think.

I guess we'll see.

Other thoughts.

I had a good number of books. I used every book I brought. I didn't have as many as some people did. But I also had more than a few others it looked like. Mine all fit in a rolling, carry-on suitcase.

You don't think about eating or drinking. I had 3 bottles of water and some snack with me. I didn't touch a bottle of water until late in the morning session when I drank the entire thing. Did the same in the afternoon.

 

[VAPSU]

I took the civil-structural...and I found the morning to be super easy. I actually finished in just under 2 hours, then went back and checked all my answers twice. Of course now that I've had the weekend to think about it I'm starting to second guess everything and feel like I must have missed something to have finished so quickly!

The afternoon I thought was pretty rough. It wasn't so much the difficulty of the questions, but that there were a bunch that took more than 6 mintues to solve. I was writing until the very last second. Although I did manage to answer them all, I just worry since I was so rushed I made some stupid mistakes. Guess we'll see come June!

 

[willsee]

I took the electrical

It wasn't bad but I wasn't completely prepared for it either. I left feeling that if I failed, I knew what I didn't study enough to pass the next time.

 

[Happy]

Civil Transportation

Morning - Difficult, some questions really threw me for a loop especially in the geological section. I worked out or found a logical answer for almost all of them, so feel safe thinking I got 30/40 or better (conservative estimate). I finished with about 20 minutes to spare.

Afternoon - Easier than the morning, I was able to come up with an answer for every question except for 1 question that required a reference I didn't have. Luckily, I afterwards look it up and discovered I guessed correctly. Some questions were pretty left field but for the most part I was prepared. Finished with about 30 minutes to spare, double checked everything. I feel safe thinking I got at least 30/40 right. I probably got 35-38 right, but am conservatively downplaying my correct number answered as I'm sure some of the questions might have tripped me up.

So, I think I passed, will actually be rather shocked if I don't. The test was very hard, but I studied hard too.

I brought a lot of books, 80 lb worth fit into my suitcase. Still, if I was to write the test again I'd bring even more books. I actually used almost all of my books. Usually to look up some terminology I hadn't heard before or wasn't very familiar with. One question in particular I wound up using this musty old textbook for the 60's I had thrown into the pile last minute to answer.

I enjoyed the test overall. Big expansive room, nice blue pencil. Great snacks/lunch. A trifle long to be sure, but overall a solid experience.

 

[roadwreck]

Civil Transportation
Morning - Difficult, some questions really threw me for a loop especially in the geological section.

Man, they must have really changed up the format. I don't remember a geology section when I took the exam.

 

[DannyV]

Mine was in Power, I was upset and caught off guard by some of the questions. I think about 30% test was not on any of my references but I only had 4 books with me... LOL :brickwall:

However I think I did enough to pass the test. :th_rockon:

 

[bingcrosbyb]

EE - Power. "You sunk my battleship."

Preparation Time/Materials: 250 total hours. 5 textbooks, prep coursework notebook, 2 notebooks of graduate class material, calculators, snacks, rolling suitcase.

Money: ~$1,550.

General Observations: Arrived at my site 30 minutes prior to report time. Noticed that many others had literally libraries and libraries of books. Someone had a giant wagon with bungie cords holding all of the books together. Others just had a single piece of paper. Wild. I randomly started thinking of a national geographic special with narration by Morgan Freeman on PE test taking habits. I needed that laugh to clear my head.

AM Session: Felt the AM session was great. Only ended up with 6-7 that I didn't have a single solid answer or couldn't find it in my reference. I finished slightly early and checked only some of my work.

PM Session: Total unadulterated bloodbath. Couldn't seem to concentrate enough to find the equations I needed. Calculator was spitting out answers that were out of this world. Saw stuff that I barely covered in droves. About 2-3 hours into the afternoon, my brain felt like it had been through a dishwasher and I started hopping around from question to question. Not good. I will be lucky if I got a quarter to half right. I might as well have taken another discipline in the afternoon or gone to work. A monkey may have been able to do better.

Final Thoughts: As I left the exam area, I felt numb, dumb, and a little crushed. I felt like I blew the morning session out of the water. Then the PE got off a torpedo as I was heading to collect my stamp, promotion, and better life. I'm not very good at guessing and doing the math in my head all weekend I kept envisioning a percentage score in the upper 60s with an afternoon diagnostic that simply says "monkey". 6 months of neglecting my wife and family might be for nothing in the end except doing it all over again. I know the pass rate for repeaters is low, but what is the divorce rate?

Oh well. If I recall from a coworker, last years results were released in around 45-50 days following the exam. I think he got his in late May. We shall see. I guess the ultimate decision is now do I crack open another book....or another beer?

 

[Clydeman]

I did mechanical (thermo fluids).

Morning was easy. Afternoon was brutal. In the afternoon I found that if it was not a problem that I had seen before I couldn't do it. My brain simply was not functioning that well. At the very beginning of the test there were a bunch of problems in a row from a certain dicipline which I had not seen before. My heart rate went up and I was in somewhat of a panic state for a short while. Luckily I moved on to problems I knew and calmed down.

Not sure if I passed or not. I think I did, but am not sure.

Unfortunately in the wonderful state of Oregon the deadline for October is June 1 (next door in WA it is Juky 31). I called them this morning and asked if it was intentional that they are forcing people to wait a year, they said yes. They said I can go take it in another state. Great!

 

[MechMark]

Definitely another beer...don't crack another book until you get your results.

Like I've commonly seen on this site, I felt pretty darn good after the morning session, and then in the afternoon I took a beating. In the morning I first worked through everything I had a clear idea on how to solve (or knew the correct answer to outright) and had 28 bubbles filled in. The other 12 I searched through my books to find equations and methods of solving, and only had to end up completely guessing on a couple.

Needless to say, I sat down feeling decently for the PM portion, but as soon as I started reading the problems I realized how much harder that session would be. I only had 12 bubbles filled before I had to start digging, and I guessed on a solid 7-10. I'm hoping I did enough to pass, but my confidence isn't super high right now. That being said, I was positive I had failed the EIT, the LEED Credentialing exam and most of my exams in college, so hopefully I'm wrong now like I was then.

I took probably 12 books and used 4 heavily, 3 occasionally and the others not at all. I was surprised how much I used my unit conversions book and was very thankful I had bought it. The most exciting part was the ejection that took place at the table next to mine. Everybody in the vicinity was curious about what had happened. The test-taker definitely acted shocked and then royally pissed off when he was tapped on the shoulder.

 

[va_gator]

I took the Electrical - Power, and I thought that both the morning and afternoon sessions were on the same level of difficulty (for me, and with the material that I studied).

Morning:

I definitely screwed up on a couple of morning questions that I should not have done (this may be due to myself trying to rush through the test initially). Its been bugging me all weekend, and will continue to do so until I find out about the results. If these questions made the difference between a pass/fail, I will tar and feather myself.

Afternoon:

I feel a lot better about this than the morning session, more curveballs than what I expected but mentally I was in "test mode" after the morning session.

We'll wait and see. I scheduled a vacation in late-May and I'm afraid I won't be able to enjoy that due to anxiety about the results from this test. I feel bad for the S/O as well if I fail, considering the time preparation for this test consumed, and I told her we won't be expanding our family until this test was out of the way.

 

[Happy]

The most exciting part was the ejection that took place at the table next to mine. Everybody in the vicinity was curious about what had happened. The test-taker definitely acted shocked and then royally pissed off when he was tapped on the shoulder.

That sounds pretty interesting, you were getting some entertainment value for your exam fees there.

I was thinking during the exam though, it would be so easy to absent-mindedly use the pencil to help find a point on a chart or graph - or maybe to asterix a paragraph on a page of text while you looked up a cross reference. I mean, I personally was really getting caught up in the exam and not always thinking about proper pencil placement. A few times I had to catch myself and put the pencil down on the table. I would feel bad for anyone who was thrown out for making an mindless but harmless error like like.

 

[va_gator]

^

Yeah, I know what you mean. About halfway through the morning session, I got in the habit of keeping the pencil on my ear while looking through my references, just to be safe.

 

[Happy]

Civil Transportation
Morning - Difficult, some questions really threw me for a loop especially in the geological section.

Man, they must have really changed up the format. I don't remember a geology section when I took the exam.

Oh Crumb, no wonder I had trouble! Both that and the proctology section were not easy for me. Note to self: lay off the caffeine pills if I have to write again.

 

[DJsigma]

I had a slight scare myself. At 10:00 my watch beeped, catching the ears of three vigilant proctors. I held my breath as they marched toward me. Luckily, though, they just confiscated my watch and allowed me to continue.

 

[bingcrosbyb]

I took the Electrical - Power, and I thought that both the morning and afternoon sessions were on the same level of difficulty (for me, and with the material that I studied).
Morning:

I definitely screwed up on a couple of morning questions that I should not have done (this may be due to myself trying to rush through the test initially). Its been bugging me all weekend, and will continue to do so until I find out about the results. If these questions made the difference between a pass/fail, I will tar and feather myself.

Afternoon:

I feel a lot better about this than the morning session, more curveballs than what I expected but mentally I was in "test mode" after the morning session.

We'll wait and see. I scheduled a vacation in late-May and I'm afraid I won't be able to enjoy that due to anxiety about the results from this test. I feel bad for the S/O as well if I fail, considering the time preparation for this test consumed, and I told her we won't be expanding our family until this test was out of the way.

I feel the same way. The wait and the second guessing is going to be more painful than the exam. But I think what hurts me the most is the finality of it all. It doesn't matter what I do anymore. It's done. Finished. No amount of bargaining will gain me anymore points on the ones that I guessed on and got correct versus the ones I made a simple calculation error. I'm no longer in control of whether I pass or fail. The cutoff will be dramatic and swift leaving thousands out in the cold by simply 1 point. Does that 1 point mean someone else is more minimally competent than me to stamp drawings? Hell no. Just means he/she was luckier on April 8th, 2011.

 

[hamada128]

Civil / Structural:

I think the morning was easy for me, the afternoon was tough. Hope I can pass the first time.

What you guys mean when you say "the passing rate for repeater is low" is that from NCEES or just a guess.

 

[snickerd3]

ncees, they break out the stats

 

[bingcrosbyb]

Civil / Structural:
I think the morning was easy for me, the afternoon was tough. Hope I can pass the first time.

What you guys mean when you say "the passing rate for repeater is low" is that from NCEES or just a guess.

Historical pass rates (some would say "flow control" rates but that is a debate for another time) of minimally compentent first time takers has ranged from 60-80% depending upon difficulty of test, breadth/depth, etc. Repeat takers range from 25-35%. Theories abound as to the reason for a lower pass rate for repeaters. Some say that the repeaters are simply the slackers taking it over and over again. Others say that with thousands of dollars in tutoring and references out the wazoo they still wouldn't pass because they just are too slow or not "built" for the PE type of test. Smartest engineer in our office took it three times. He's brilliant with the "details". Just has a slow method.

It's a mystery my friend.

 

[Jamo]

Mechanical / HVAC Depth

Review: Started last September. Read through MERM and worked practice problems. Also did part of Lindberg's exam (was too much of a downer in recent weeks), did the NCEES 2008 sample exam, and SMS HVAC. I worked the SMS and NCEES a couple of times each during the last month. During the test I primarily used MERM, but also used the Lindberg equation book, SMS, NCEES test, and 3 of the 4 ASHRAE books.

Morning: Felt great. Finished with enough time to slowly and deliberately review each of the problems. Took the whole time in the morning although about an an hour and fifteen minutes of that was checking my work. Had lots of check marks in my test book and only a few ? marks. Thinking I got about mid-30s.

Afternoon: Definitely harder, but not as much as I expected. For the last month I focused on my depth so that may have helped. Knocked out a bunch of questions in the first pass through and was able to grind out answers for most problems. I made some good time through the first pass, but still slowly read the question, identified what they were asking for, and took a close look at units/keywords that I knew tripped me up sometimes during practice. Had time to check back through everything and would wager that I got about 30 right.

Rest of the weekend: Celebrated under the assumption that I passed. I felt great walking out of the room. Was very confident in my answers, and could literally feel the weight come off my shoulders as I handed in my booklet. I'm just a bit nervous that I got tripped up on some answers that I "know" I got right, but I had been tripped up during my preparation and knew what pitfalls to watch out for.

 

[wjrez]

Electrical Power -

This was my first time and did not know what to expect. I prepped as well as I could of considering work, family, life and all the other inconsequential things that get in the way, but the morning went better than expected (initially could not even think and balnked out on the first 4 questions), but the afternoon was a dog. I struggled through most of them and guessed on a lot more than I would of liked to, but as they (or maybe it is just me) say "the cards were dealt, so I am playing the hand given to me". I felt I did my best in spite of all the second guessing I may have done afterwards (and the 3A.M. wake up on the answer to a question I just guessed at during the exam) and the best you can do is all you can do. So be it.