CA Surveying - Failed - Understanding Diagnostic Report

Hello,

Just received my result for California State Surveying Exam with Reza's class for the first time and unfortunately didn't pass. Overall, I thought I had done much better on the exam than expected going in, problems were simpler to the practice problems from Reza's class. Reza's class I believe prepared me well for the exam. Felt like I nailed 35 questions, felt 50-50 on 12 questions, and completely guessed on 8 questions (horizontal/vertical curves mostly). My guess after I took the exam was that I answered between 65%-75% correct depending on luck factors. However, that did not reflect in the results, and the diagnostic report does not clarify my score, nor adequately show my performance for what chapters I need to improve my study plan in the Reza book.

My diagnostic reads the following: 

Topographic Surveys - 35% - Marginal

Construction Surveys - 35% - Deficient

Accuracy and Error Analysis - 10% - Proficient

Preparation of Reports and Maps - 20% - Deficient

Im very confused regarding the following:

1) What was my actual score on the exam? Don't need to know the cutoff score, but at a minimum I'm entitled to know my score on each section. Deficient is defined as below the minimum passing level, however there is a very large gap of deficiency between scoring 0% and 60% which could be considered deficient. And Marginal seems like it could be from 55%-70%, and Proficient seems like 75%-100%, which also makes a big difference. The example scores on the PDF would have been nice if I could actually get that information, not sure why this needs to be hidden.

2) What topics refer to these four categories? The Reza book lays out 10 chapters, Law and Surveying, Distance measurements, Angular Measurements, Error Analysis, Topographic Survey and Mapping, Highway Curves and Volumes, Construction Staking, Photogrammetry, California State Plan Coordinates, and Global Positioning. Where do these chapters fall into?

3) Received very few questions regarding preparation of reports and maps, only a few on map scales, how does this equate to 20% of the examination? From preparation and taking the exam, I felt similar proficiency level on all sections, so the diagnostic leaves me even more confused.

4) Received several questions regarding types of surveys and surveying equipment which I thought I answered most of these correctly, what category does this fall into?

5) Received several questions regarding horizontal and vertical curves, this was definitely my weakness, what category does this fall into?

Im really hoping to get some further clarification from the California Board regarding my score, plan to review horizontal/vertical curves more in depth and take a lot of practice exams. Need to know a benchmark from my diagnostic to know if Im making further improvements. 

I failed 3 -4 times in surveying, that's the only one exam I did not pass.

I don't think the diagnostic report can give you very accurate information about your preparation, because the questions they provided may not categorize at all, too many random questions from surveyors instead of engineers; I do not think there's any Accuracy and Error analysis question in this exam, but I got 10% proficient. (maybe I had bad memory about this part).

I have difficult time to understand some questions, especially the January exam. Maybe my primary language is not America English.

If it's your first time to take it, don't be so frustrate, keep trying, you will be there soon.

Coast-to-Coast Engineer said:

Hello,

Just received my result for California State Surveying Exam with Reza's class for the first time and unfortunately didn't pass. Overall, I thought I had done much better on the exam than expected going in, problems were simpler to the practice problems from Reza's class. Reza's class I believe prepared me well for the exam. Felt like I nailed 35 questions, felt 50-50 on 12 questions, and completely guessed on 8 questions (horizontal/vertical curves mostly). My guess after I took the exam was that I answered between 65%-75% correct depending on luck factors. However, that did not reflect in the results, and the diagnostic report does not clarify my score, nor adequately show my performance for what chapters I need to improve my study plan in the Reza book.

My diagnostic reads the following: 

Topographic Surveys - 35% - Marginal

Construction Surveys - 35% - Deficient

Accuracy and Error Analysis - 10% - Proficient

Preparation of Reports and Maps - 20% - Deficient

Im very confused regarding the following:

1) What was my actual score on the exam? Don't need to know the cutoff score, but at a minimum I'm entitled to know my score on each section. Deficient is defined as below the minimum passing level, however there is a very large gap of deficiency between scoring 0% and 60% which could be considered deficient. And Marginal seems like it could be from 55%-70%, and Proficient seems like 75%-100%, which also makes a big difference. The example scores on the PDF would have been nice if I could actually get that information, not sure why this needs to be hidden.

Click to expand...

They do not release the exact # of problems for each topic. Probably so that people cannot guess the curve and try to do the bare minimum.  But, you can make an educated guess based on the diagnostic report.

https://www.bpelsg.ca.gov/applicants/diagnostic_reports.pdf

I would suggest mainly focusing on Topographic Survey and Construction Survey. They make up 70% of the test and you stand to gain the most extra points from becoming proficient in those categories.

For example:

55 questions on the test

Topographic surveys - 19 questions: Marginal, missed ~ 7 questions

Construction surveys - 19 question: Deficient, missed ~9 questions

You could potentially increase your score by about 30% just by focusing on these areas.

Accuracy and Error Analysis - 6 questions: Proficient, missed ~1 question

Preparation of Reports and Maps - 11 questions: Deficient,missed ~ 4 questions

PS none of us are entitled to know our score on each section. They are being pretty helpful by telling which areas to focus on.

Horizontal curve and vertical curve are very important topics, you need to master those.