IlPadrino
Well-known member
There's another thread on this topic somewhere... but I'd just say remember the exam is one out of three requirements EVERY state considers when registering.
who failed??
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maryannette
Wise One
3rd time will be a charm for you. (But I suggest you also do your studying.)
IlliniASU
Engineers don't only drive trains.
I have received my diagnostic report, so I will post mine as well. (First attempt of PE)
Civil breadth:
Construction - 75% (worth 20%, 6/8)
Geotech - 50% (worth 20%, 4/8)
Structural – 100% (worth 20%, 8/8)
Transportation – 100% (worth 20%, 8/8)
Water/Environ. – 50% (worth 20%, 4/8)
Approximate am score: 30
Structural Depth:
Analysis – 40% (worth 12.5%, 2/5)
Design Criteria – 80% (worth 12.5%, 4/5)
Loadings – 60% (worth 12.5%, 3/5)
Materials – 80% (worth 12.5%, 4/5)
Mechanics of Materials – 80% (worth 12.5%, 4/5)
Member Design – 20% (worth 25%, 2/10) ouch!
Other – 60% (worth 12.5%, 3/5)
Approximate pm score: 22
Approximate total score: 52
For October, I will definitely be studying up on water and geotech for the am, and analysis and member design for the pm. But still doing an overall review…
There is something else that I want to share… I feel that it may have contributed (I am not trying to make excuses) to my less than stellar performance in the afternoon, but I don’t want to speculate too much. What’s done is done, and all I can do is prepare for the next exam.
I live in an ELSES state, and we are given a separate exam id number (9 digits with leading zeros). In the morning, I filled out my social instead of my ELSES number on the exam form. I didn’t think anything of it until lunchtime when I looked at my admittance letter and noticed the separate id number. When our afternoon forms were distributed, I listened carefully to the instructions about filling out the examinee id, and there was no indication given as to which id to use, so I raised my hand and asked the nearest proctor which id we should be using. She wasn’t sure and had to ask another proctor. She came back with the answer (use the ELSES id) and I asked if she thought it would be a problem that my morning form had a different id than my afternoon form. She said no, that they would sort it all out in South Carolina and just attribute it to my being a ‘dumb blonde’. She giggled and said that she was ‘just kidding’ and walked away. Not more than a minute or two later, we were instructed to being the pm portion of the exam.
I am usually a very focused person, but after that comment I spent the first fifteen minutes of the afternoon trying to read and re-read the first problem to reorient myself and regain my concentration and focus. It probably took about a half an hour to simply get back into my test-taking mode. I have read a lot of posts and various forums about how to prepare for the exam, and I had extra pencils, erasers, a chair cushion, a bottle of water, ear plugs, snacks, a watch, a poncho and umbrella, a straight edge, tissues, everything that I thought I could possibly need for the exam. (I even got to the exam site an hour and a half early.) This comment, however, I was not prepared for.
Hopefully someone can take away something from my experience… Be prepared for anything! And try not to let anything get to you. You've worked hard and deserve to do your best. (I think I would have been fine if it had been anyone else making a derogatory comment, but I certainly wasn’t expecting behavior like that from a proctor. The exam itself is stressful enough.)
On a side note, after the exam I did fill out a NCEES questionnaire explaining what had happened.
Civil breadth:
Construction - 75% (worth 20%, 6/8)
Geotech - 50% (worth 20%, 4/8)
Structural – 100% (worth 20%, 8/8)
Transportation – 100% (worth 20%, 8/8)
Water/Environ. – 50% (worth 20%, 4/8)
Approximate am score: 30
Structural Depth:
Analysis – 40% (worth 12.5%, 2/5)
Design Criteria – 80% (worth 12.5%, 4/5)
Loadings – 60% (worth 12.5%, 3/5)
Materials – 80% (worth 12.5%, 4/5)
Mechanics of Materials – 80% (worth 12.5%, 4/5)
Member Design – 20% (worth 25%, 2/10) ouch!
Other – 60% (worth 12.5%, 3/5)
Approximate pm score: 22
Approximate total score: 52
For October, I will definitely be studying up on water and geotech for the am, and analysis and member design for the pm. But still doing an overall review…
There is something else that I want to share… I feel that it may have contributed (I am not trying to make excuses) to my less than stellar performance in the afternoon, but I don’t want to speculate too much. What’s done is done, and all I can do is prepare for the next exam.
I live in an ELSES state, and we are given a separate exam id number (9 digits with leading zeros). In the morning, I filled out my social instead of my ELSES number on the exam form. I didn’t think anything of it until lunchtime when I looked at my admittance letter and noticed the separate id number. When our afternoon forms were distributed, I listened carefully to the instructions about filling out the examinee id, and there was no indication given as to which id to use, so I raised my hand and asked the nearest proctor which id we should be using. She wasn’t sure and had to ask another proctor. She came back with the answer (use the ELSES id) and I asked if she thought it would be a problem that my morning form had a different id than my afternoon form. She said no, that they would sort it all out in South Carolina and just attribute it to my being a ‘dumb blonde’. She giggled and said that she was ‘just kidding’ and walked away. Not more than a minute or two later, we were instructed to being the pm portion of the exam.
I am usually a very focused person, but after that comment I spent the first fifteen minutes of the afternoon trying to read and re-read the first problem to reorient myself and regain my concentration and focus. It probably took about a half an hour to simply get back into my test-taking mode. I have read a lot of posts and various forums about how to prepare for the exam, and I had extra pencils, erasers, a chair cushion, a bottle of water, ear plugs, snacks, a watch, a poncho and umbrella, a straight edge, tissues, everything that I thought I could possibly need for the exam. (I even got to the exam site an hour and a half early.) This comment, however, I was not prepared for.
Hopefully someone can take away something from my experience… Be prepared for anything! And try not to let anything get to you. You've worked hard and deserve to do your best. (I think I would have been fine if it had been anyone else making a derogatory comment, but I certainly wasn’t expecting behavior like that from a proctor. The exam itself is stressful enough.)
On a side note, after the exam I did fill out a NCEES questionnaire explaining what had happened.
frazil
Master of the Boondoggle
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There's even worse! In Texas, if you're a professor at any of the universities, you don't need to take the PE exam to get your license! Now I'm not sure if they're still doing that, but last I heard they are.
maryannette
Wise One
Very good advice, IlliniASU. I've seen and contributed to a LOT of posts about preparation, but you can never anticipate that a proctor will "joke" with you like that. Thanks for sharing, and good luck.
I took a coffee in the morning and a nice buffet during lunch. It clicked for me, the first time. Best way is to keep your cool and go there with intention that if you wont pass then also you will learn something new. I actually would not recommend to take bag full of books. Take 4-5 at the most.
squishles10
CEO
In Texas, you just have to have a PhD, you don't even have to be a prof. Probably bc most engineers that have a PhD are profs anyway and won't stamp anything, or they're in a field that doesn't really license that much. Since I guess it applies to less than 5 people a year, I don't care. They went and got a PhD- that's their problem!
"Effective January 1, 2006, waivers of the Principles and Practice (PE) Examination will be limited to engineering educators with a Ph.D. and those that are currently licensed in another U.S. state, Canada, or Mexico. All other applicants for licensure as a Professional Engineer will be required to take the PE exam."
"Effective January 1, 2006, waivers of the Principles and Practice (PE) Examination will be limited to engineering educators with a Ph.D. and those that are currently licensed in another U.S. state, Canada, or Mexico. All other applicants for licensure as a Professional Engineer will be required to take the PE exam."
Geotech.PE
iGyaPE
I still remember the days when one of my professor in my undergraduate studies told us to have 3-4 colored pencils with us. Too many colors mean no color. So, too many books mean no book, .... too many dating is not a real dating. .... Have one book on one subject. We should not have a long list of books on any subject, because it will too confusing. It is the same with calculators. Using the induction rule from too many colors is no color, to many calculator is confusing, and we must remember that Casio, HP, Texas Instruments ... Sharp, all these calculators have different steps involved to get an answer, and it will be very confusing, especially, in the exam while you are trying to focus on the problems. Exam retakers should be careful with the changes in syllabi since last time. I nearly missed the new syllabi. Keep tracking every word in the syllabus. Eventhough, they say that the syllabus is not exclusive, but if we can focus on each word in the syllabus (syllabus should be worth at least 70%-80%, right?). If we can master the content in the syllabus, then we will certainly pass the Exam.
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IlPadrino
Well-known member
"Worse"... so I guess you think the five points is "bad". There's lots of veteran preference laws so I wonder why you think this one is so bad.
As I've written about in other threads, I'm not really sure how I feel about this - but I do think it's easy to rationalize it as not "bad". I would be interested to know what was behind the proposed laws (both Georgia's GI preference and Texas' PhD waiver).
Geotech.PE
iGyaPE
A friend of mine who is a teacher in a University in California, says that he does not have to take FE exam (FE Exam is waived). He is eligible to take PE Exam straight a way just because he is a teacher in a university. The hardship I had to clear the hurdle # 1: "FE Exam" in order to be eligible to take PE exam, makes feel it as an unfair privilege. I liked the idea in Minnesota (?) / or its one of the neighboring state having a university that requires every civil engineering student to get FE Exam passed in order to graduate the Bachelor's Degree. Should not a person with PhD be a model to the society by taking the actual exam instead of seeking the unfair bypass?
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Clarke
Active member
Lousy way to end a vacation and to celebrate a birthday....sort of like my New Years Eve this past one....got my failing letter midafternoon that day....hoping for a good letter this time....still waiting. :waitwall:
Casey
Well-known member
I could have gotten a Texas PE with just my P.Eng and would not have to do the exam; however, I would not be able to apply for comity with other states. I would be forced to do the exam anyways.... I really was hoping that that wasn't the case and Texas was the back door for me to PE-dom...
Well I got my dreaded letter today. I was bummed out since I thought I did just enough to pass. I missed it by 3 questions. 53/80.
In the end though it was my own fault for only taking 2 books with me. When I got to the afternoon part I was killed by some questions looking for specific answers. Atleast for the next exam I will have the confidence that those specific questions will be gimmies as I won't walk into that exam without all the books listed on the NCEES site.
In the end though it was my own fault for only taking 2 books with me. When I got to the afternoon part I was killed by some questions looking for specific answers. Atleast for the next exam I will have the confidence that those specific questions will be gimmies as I won't walk into that exam without all the books listed on the NCEES site.
benbo
Well-known member
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I don't have a huge problem with any of this. It's up to the state at this point anyway. But I'll discuss it from what I consider to be a logical point of view.
If the test is something that is an indicator of "minimal" competency (which itself is subject to some question) then I would make everyone get the same score. To me, giving somebody a few points handicap suggests that there is something intrinsically about being a veteran that makes it harder for them to pass the test, which is obviously not true. Probably the opposite. Same for a PhD
If I wanted to give them a benefit for their service, which they are certainly owed, I would do it on the experience - give them some credit in time for the time they were in the service. This makes more sense because unless you are a military engineer, the time in the service is time you sacrifice for your country when you could have been getting engineering experience. Sort of similarly, when you are getting a PhD that is time you could have been working. But I wouldn't eleimnate the experience altogether and would still require some sort of references.
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maryannette
Wise One
I took 2 crates full of books. Did not use all of them, but was glad I had them. I took Transpo depth and had a couple of questions that were easy look-ups. It depends on the discipline and how comfortable you are with your references.
I think you are right.
I was dabating whether to take my old
Fluid mechanics and Hyraulics-Schaum's Problems and it helped me on 2 questions.
I would definetely take all the reference books you used while studying.
I took some extra books for the afternoon part and I put back some
books from the morning I did not need for the afternoon during the lunch break.
good luck next time
rdbse
Research Fellow
I do not have a problem with PhD’s getting a “pass”. In addition to extensive courses and research, PhD's take a qualifying exam to become candidates in their program of study. Typically, this is a very rigorous exam on par with the PE exam.
Geotech.PE
iGyaPE
Yes the PhDs went through "extensive courses and research", but most of their work is confined to a very specific area as compared to the breadth of the exam we have to take in PE Exams.
Someone with a PhD in a very limited or a narrow area, his knowledge should not be carried over as an equivalent to the knowledge in broader spectrum, e.g. "in Civil Engineering". These two do not match. Like ASCE's membership, PhD work (the number of years) can be credited towards the numbers of years of experience required to take PE Exam, but awarding the PE solely based on PhD work is not fair, and can be misleading. In such cases, either the PE classifications should be grouped further down: e.g. Water Resources, Transportation, Geotech, .... and the group should be identified in the PE Certificate itself, so that her/his practice is limited to that specific area. Period.
