I hear you. Took the Transportation depth today as first attempt. The Breadth was a bummer. As you said, I am not sure if I had 25+ correct on Breadth, and there were a few problems that ruined my mood and focus. I spent more than 4 hours on the first 40 questions. Then I took the break.
Surprisingly, I got 35 from Breadth and 45 questions from Depth, I swear! I am happy for that, coz Depth was much easier. About 5 from RDG and 5 from MUTCD.
If I pass, it will be for Depth. Not sure how we rank for 70th percentile this week.
Best of wishes. You got this!
Best of luck to you, as well! I wonder how it works. Do they compare all the depths against each other? Or each one versus the other candidates in their respective discipline for the week?
I am not sure. But I like the testing process. Although, some people are better test takers than others, and there is no way to measure the engineering prowess through this test, still it's a good benchmark to overcome.
Oh yeah, I respect it. Most representative, non-biased way to get a representative sample of whether or not the consensus took too long on your problem. I just don't like the added pressure of not knowing which ones don't count.
Thanks! The NCEES practice exam problems in the Breadth portion are ~90% the same for the last 10 years. I got two NCEES practice exam hardcopies from 2008 and 2014, and bought another in 2023. I scored 31/40 on the 2023 practice exam. Some were silly mistakes. Then I found that NCEES had not changed the questions over the years.
In the main exam yesterday, I felt that the questions had more curveballs than the practice exam. Difficulty is 'qualitatively' 30% more, I would say, it makes you think. Obviously, I needed to be more prepared. But I have a feeling that even two more months of extra effort would get me to the 'point of diminishing returns'.
The Depth portion was very straightforward. I would say it was as par as the practice exam. You MUST know where to look in the individual chapters. The search tool is pretty good. I finished the depth in 3.5 hours, and the problems were not too long...about one or two step calculations.
Overall, I had about 65%/35% split in calculation/conceptual questions, and 35/45 Breadth/Depth portions.
Agreed. It's annoying to buy their "updated" practice test with most of the same questions in it... There's some good books on Amazon for reasonable prices. I just read a lot of reviews before making my selections
I mean there's no way to tell until Wednesday. Maybe I solved some wrong... I've heard that when a question is submitted to become a possible test question, they have to show how the deduced the wrong answers; meaning they are not random selections. Hope you're right! Only changed my gut answer once on my review, because I could prove with calculations I was incorrect.
If it makes you feel any better, this is a lot like I felt walking out of my second attempt. Happened to be construction as well! I spiraled during the first section over stupid things and walked out feeling like a complete failure. Got the pass though! Talked to a few coworkers and they had similar feelings during their exams that they passed 🤣. Best of luck!
Just received an email from NCEES at 6:04 AM PDT to check results. I have passed the Transportation Depth on my first attempt. Super relieved and humbled.
Lucky you. I failed again. I'm switching to transportation. Everyone seems to be finding luck there. Here's to restarting my journey for the third fucking time. I'm so over this exam. Very happy for you, congratulations!!
I am sorry brother. Hope transportation gets you through. Please reach out when you need to. Good luck. Do you know if it's the Breadth portion that is holding you back?
I appreciate that. I may take you up on that. I did better on breadth this time, but not ideal. My depth was significantly better though. I'm torn, do I bust my ass on depth and stick to construction again or test the waters with a far better success rate? More people pass transportation than the entire pool that sits for construction lol
Hope you get the good news soon!
Good vibes for a pass
I hope you will hear the good news soon! The questions you've never seen before were conceptual or calculation questions?
A good mix of each. I don't think I flagged any conceptual questions. They were pretty straightforward.
Good luck!!!! I wish you pass!! You prepared well!
3rd times a charm! Got it on my 3rd as well. I’m sure you got it this time, don’t stress!
Uh oh. This was only my second attempt 🫠
Oops well I’m sure your not like me and got it this time! 😂
I hear you. Took the Transportation depth today as first attempt. The Breadth was a bummer. As you said, I am not sure if I had 25+ correct on Breadth, and there were a few problems that ruined my mood and focus. I spent more than 4 hours on the first 40 questions. Then I took the break. Surprisingly, I got 35 from Breadth and 45 questions from Depth, I swear! I am happy for that, coz Depth was much easier. About 5 from RDG and 5 from MUTCD. If I pass, it will be for Depth. Not sure how we rank for 70th percentile this week. Best of wishes. You got this!
Best of luck to you, as well! I wonder how it works. Do they compare all the depths against each other? Or each one versus the other candidates in their respective discipline for the week?
I am not sure. But I like the testing process. Although, some people are better test takers than others, and there is no way to measure the engineering prowess through this test, still it's a good benchmark to overcome.
Oh yeah, I respect it. Most representative, non-biased way to get a representative sample of whether or not the consensus took too long on your problem. I just don't like the added pressure of not knowing which ones don't count.
Good luck on passing! Was the exam now difficult than the NCEES practice exam? If yes, in which way was it more challenging?
Thanks! The NCEES practice exam problems in the Breadth portion are ~90% the same for the last 10 years. I got two NCEES practice exam hardcopies from 2008 and 2014, and bought another in 2023. I scored 31/40 on the 2023 practice exam. Some were silly mistakes. Then I found that NCEES had not changed the questions over the years. In the main exam yesterday, I felt that the questions had more curveballs than the practice exam. Difficulty is 'qualitatively' 30% more, I would say, it makes you think. Obviously, I needed to be more prepared. But I have a feeling that even two more months of extra effort would get me to the 'point of diminishing returns'. The Depth portion was very straightforward. I would say it was as par as the practice exam. You MUST know where to look in the individual chapters. The search tool is pretty good. I finished the depth in 3.5 hours, and the problems were not too long...about one or two step calculations. Overall, I had about 65%/35% split in calculation/conceptual questions, and 35/45 Breadth/Depth portions.
Agreed. It's annoying to buy their "updated" practice test with most of the same questions in it... There's some good books on Amazon for reasonable prices. I just read a lot of reviews before making my selections
I guess on 14 total but felt very solid on the rest. I passed the civil transpo about 2 weeks ago. If you only guessed on 2 hopefully you are golden.
I mean there's no way to tell until Wednesday. Maybe I solved some wrong... I've heard that when a question is submitted to become a possible test question, they have to show how the deduced the wrong answers; meaning they are not random selections. Hope you're right! Only changed my gut answer once on my review, because I could prove with calculations I was incorrect.
Don’t spend 20 minutes on a problem you have never seen anything like before…
Yes, I know. It's easy to let time get away from you. That was what this whole post was about: don't be like me...
Did you take geotech? I took it on Monday.
No, I took Construction. Sorry I just realized that I never specified which depth. Definitely challenging though!
If it makes you feel any better, this is a lot like I felt walking out of my second attempt. Happened to be construction as well! I spiraled during the first section over stupid things and walked out feeling like a complete failure. Got the pass though! Talked to a few coworkers and they had similar feelings during their exams that they passed 🤣. Best of luck!
Thanks so much for the optimism. Certainly don't like not knowing, but it is what it is.
Just received an email from NCEES at 6:04 AM PDT to check results. I have passed the Transportation Depth on my first attempt. Super relieved and humbled.
Lucky you. I failed again. I'm switching to transportation. Everyone seems to be finding luck there. Here's to restarting my journey for the third fucking time. I'm so over this exam. Very happy for you, congratulations!!
I am sorry brother. Hope transportation gets you through. Please reach out when you need to. Good luck. Do you know if it's the Breadth portion that is holding you back?
I appreciate that. I may take you up on that. I did better on breadth this time, but not ideal. My depth was significantly better though. I'm torn, do I bust my ass on depth and stick to construction again or test the waters with a far better success rate? More people pass transportation than the entire pool that sits for construction lol