Feel good about how you did on the exam?

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Dexman PE PMP

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Welcome to phase 1 of the post-exam emotional roller-coaster.

Phase 2 (second-guessing) will start to set in over the next few days. You will start to forget small (but important) pieces of the exam and forget how you answered the question, but will remember just enough so that you keep trying to re-calculate the answers in your head. You will slowly begin to convince yourself that you got it wrong.

Phase 3 (worry) will follow within a few weeks. At this point, you've convinced yourself that you've missed a few problems, but you *should* still be ok.

After worring for about a month (we're now within a couple weeks of results at this point), you'll jump into full blown doubt (Phase 4). You are now certain that you missed way too many questions to stand a chance at passing.

Many people begin to formulate ways to calculate the cut-score. This is a sub-Phase that can happen any time between Phase 2 and Phase 4.

Once you've lost hope of passing, you'll move into Phase 5 (anger) over the fact that it's taken way too **** long to grade a simple scantron and the guys at NCEES are morons for taking so long. I mean, really, 6-8 weeks to feed a scantron into a f*ing machine, COME ON!! Another source of anger stems from all of the "Not this **** again" and "Don't try to calc it because it's worthless" responses to all of your cut-score posts.

Finally, you'll hit Phase 6 (results). Each person reacts differently at this point whether they passed or not, how many times they've taken it, financial implications, expectations, etc. Regardless of how the results come out, at this point you will find that the CAB of your choice is very welcomed to either celebrate or cry into.

Also, please remember that all of the senior members have been through this all and consequently will endlessly torment and tease you. We do this simply because it was done to us (I remember going off on Capt Worley for one of his fake results threads back in 2008), and we hope that you all stick around to tease the next round of exam takers. There is nothing personal meant or implied with these teases, we're just trying to lighten the mood.

All we can do to manage these feelings is to fully participate in the eb.com post-exam thread (typically the 10k, but may be different this year). Good luck, and we all look forward to meeting many new interesting (and hopefully equally disturbed) engineers and hope you all stick around to see what a fun and entertaining group we can actually be.

 
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Finally, you'll hit Phase 6 (results). Each person reacts differently at this point whether they passed or not, how many times they've taken it, financial implications, expectations, etc. Regardless of how the results come out, at this point you will find that the CAB of your choice is very welcomed to either celebrate or cry into.


To expand on Phase 6 (results), you will have to go through a several day period of refreshing the NCEES website hoping that your results are finally in. One or two states will post the results quickly, and the rest will trickle in. Just hope that the first few states release the results on a Monday. Knowing you have to wait through one more weekend is tough. And of course there will be one or two states that are over a week behind. Prepare to refresh that website about once every 30 minutes or so!

You should also be prepared to be fooled by a post claiming the results are in.

 
I am already in phase 2 or 3. Doubting myself that i probably screwed up even the simple questions or marked them wrong.

 
As a first time taker, I didnt feel good or I didnt feel bad. This week after the exam I went through the phases where I tried to recall as many problems and find out if I really did them correctly. The questions I guessed, I tried to asked people around and google search. Then I doubted myself that as a first time taker, luck wasn't on my side but I still hope that maybe, just maybe, some of the questions I guessed were correct.

Surprisingly, it took me quite quickly to recover and accept the fact that I might be a possibly repeat taker. I learned my strengths and weaknesses and definitely will try to work on those if the result is not on my side. But again, it's not over until you see the letter and the result.

As of the moment, I'm getting back to normal swing of things. Enjoying the hours I used to dedicate to reading/studying to relaxing. My next goal in the next few months. I have to move on :)

 
I do feel pretty good about my exam! Hopefully that doesn't change anytime soon. I had plenty of problems where I was able to find items nearly word for word in my resources, which was definitely a confidence booster (Don't you dare ask me what the questions were asking, I'll never tell!!!!).

That being said, I'm also in PA, so I am already bracing for the 2-week delay after the first states post their results, as that was the time frame last year...

 
You forgot Phase 7... several years after passing you will still have nightmares about the test.


Lol! I had a dream about the test the night before and I didn't even take it. Probably because some of my friends are. Incidentally, I dreamed I missed part of the test. Someone I know missed part of the SE exam. Creepy.

 
I feel like the results take long enough to come out that my final phase will be "forgot you even took the PE until you get an email saying that results are available." I'd live to know how I did, but it takes so freaking long that it's not worth even thinking about the test anymore. I've got more important things to do.

 
^^^ That's a good theory, but I've never really seen it in practice. It's hard to forget about something like the PE...

 
I managed to do that with the FE back when they mailed results. I didn't really care about the FE and spent very little time studying. One day in January I got a letter from the state and actually said "What's this?" I had passed, but not sure I would have cared either way.

 
I think the wait was easier when everything was mailed...the age of instant gratification has started stressing people out during the wait.

 
I'm amazed at the fact those stages so closely resemble the stages I've gone through the last few days. I think I've gone through all the stages in super drive and am now stuck in stage four since the only questions I can recall vividly are the ones I wasn't sure on and now think I answered incorrectly. Luckily there were only a few of these, so I think I'm in good shape. But we'll see. Okay, I guess I'm still in stage 3 :S

 
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As a first time taker, I didnt feel good or I didnt feel bad. This week after the exam I went through the phases where I tried to recall as many problems and find out if I really did them correctly. The questions I guessed, I tried to asked people around and google search. Then I doubted myself that as a first time taker, luck wasn't on my side but I still hope that maybe, just maybe, some of the questions I guessed were correct.
Surprisingly, it took me quite quickly to recover and accept the fact that I might be a possibly repeat taker. I learned my strengths and weaknesses and definitely will try to work on those if the result is not on my side. But again, it's not over until you see the letter and the result.

As of the moment, I'm getting back to normal swing of things. Enjoying the hours I used to dedicate to reading/studying to relaxing. My next goal in the next few months. I have to move on :)
@Mjco04, remember that two third of the first time takers pass. So your chances are more..don't lose hope.

 
Don't forget the nightmares of not having the right reference or not having your books/notes tabbed correctly. That will wake you in a cold sweat everytime!

 
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