You've been waiting and waiting for your PE results to come in. You get that email, or if you're old-school like me, a letter in the mail. You tore into it or opened it and quickly scanned threw the results faster than tearing into Christmas presents when you were a kid - only to find out that you didn't pass 🙁
A flood of frustration comes over you. You put in so much time into studying you don't know if you can do it again. You hate the exam, you hate everything, you think everything was a waste of time and money, because you know in 6 months you have to do it again.
So what do you do?
Let's acknowledge the frustrations of not passing and look at the reasons why students hit the "wall." Let's also look at how we get better prepare next time so that we can ace this test properly.
The typical pass rate for the PE exam is only around 69% for first time takers. It drops drastically for repeat takers, but don't let all those numbers get you down and discourage about take the PE. Just take it one day and week at a time and you'll be ready in no time.
Let Yourself Get Frustrated
Look I get it. I've been there before myself. Once you get results that you didn't pass you are frustrated as all get out. You've spent a ton of time, quite a bit of money, and everyone has sacrificed to get you to this point only to find out you didn't pass. Let me be the first to give you permission to be frustrated, get mad, and let off a little steam. It's totally understandable.
I personally remember the first time I took the PE exam I was in Phoenix, AZ waiting in the hallway for the time to enter the massive exam room. I started talking with those around me and found out quickly that this wasn't their first rodeo.
Some of these guys had not passed 2, 3, 5 or more times! I started to think my chances of passing were way down (and they were, as I quickly found out I was way under-prepared).
It was a bit discouraging to find out that others were all repeat takers. I for sure didn't want to be one but I knew that if I didn't pass that it was because I just wasn't prepared. I had taken a quick review course from the local ASCE chapter, worked some problems, and off I went. It wasn't at all what I really knew I needed to do. So I failed and maybe if you're reading this you failed too.
That's okay. Find your way of forgetting about the exam for a bit. Get exercising, spend more time with family, play some games, do what you need to do to forget about the exam for the next little while. It's okay.
Just know that failing this exam doesn't make you a failure as a person or as a civil engineer. This is a temporary setback. Simple as that. Keep an optimistic attitude and it will pay huge dividends.
"I can accept failure, everyone fails at something. But I can't accept not trying." - Michael Jordan
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Get Back On The Horse
You've now let yourself release your frustrations. You've put off doing anything with the test for 2 months or so and now you're ready to get back on the horse. Don't let the failure of the past deter you from trying again on the immediate exam coming up.
I think it's a absolute mistake to let the exam slip away until another year or longer. The reason for this is because of your vast experience now.
You know what's on the exam, you know the flavor of the problems, and you are more prepared than ever to simply keep the habit going.
So that's my advice to you. Take the next exam that is coming up in the next 6 months. Focus on the areas that you know you struggled with, take more practice exams, try new material that you haven't tried before. You need to gain the exposure to more problems so that you can get a wider variety.
Also, don't "switch it up." Stick to the depth section you originally felt comfortable with. If that's not what you did the first time then make the course correction and do it now. You don't want to bounce around between the construction, and then transportation, then geotech, and then water...stop it. It won't help you and your chances won't improve.
I failed the geotechnical depth exam and immediately started looking for more books that really hit the areas that I struggled with. I found depth specific practice exams and depth specific books that covered the topics I need. My mind though about switching but I knew that I'd lose what I already knew and that just wasn't worth it to me.
You should do the same. Find additional material that is new and expands in the areas you know you struggled with. You've got this. I'm here to cheer you on. Get back on the horse and get motivated to pass this the next time.
"Failures are finger posts on the road to achievement." - C. S. Lewis
A Course Correction
You need to ask yourself some questions:
"What is something that I can do to make my study more effective this time?"
"What areas did I really struggle with and need help on?"
"Where should I go if I do need help?"
"How should I adjust my course so that I can ace this test properly?"
Some of the answer to those questions are simple course corrections. Some might take additional work to find someone that can help you get where you need to go. If you have the right motivations you can probably make the course corrections yourself.
If not, then maybe it's worth it to pay a little bit to get the help you need. Review courses are a great option for that. If you haven't checked out the course we made then please do, a lot of people have given it high ratings! Or check out the course that PPI2PASS has made, it's great too!
I know that when I failed I felt I was missing some direction. I wanted to learn from someone that was familiar with the look and feel of the exam already and knew how best to help me. This is why I created the review course! I wanted to help people and give them advice from someone that's been in the trenches before. We cut the clutter and just focus on the stuff you need, which is a lot of practice. There's lectures sprinkled in there too, but there's a lot of practical application.
Check out the course we made HERE.
Maybe you simply didn't get enough practice problems in. Practice is the key to passing. You know that. If all you need is more problems then make sure to check out all ppi2pass has to offer and use the discount code of CEA10 to get 10% off any book order.
You can also review the material we have made here and get an exam if you haven't already. Check that out HERE.
If they don't have what you want then do a Amazon search or Google search and find more depth exam type problems.
My own brother, who is a mechanical engineer, struggled with taking the FE exam. It wasn't until he could sit down with someone and be held accountable that he really took it serious and aced it. My course and the options I've described above should help you with that.
You can also simply drop me a line on my contact page and I'm more than willing to help where I can. Head on over to the contact page and let me know!
Conclusion
You always hear about that one guy that hardly studied at all and took and passed the PE exam the first time. I know that's frustrating, and it's most likely not true. The truth is that anything worth value is hard work and the civil PE exam is no exception.
The test is hard and you don't need to make it harder on yourself after you've failed it once or more. Keep going at it. Find the areas you've struggled with and study those more. Find help when you get stuck, and don't hesitate to contact us on our contact or Facebook page.
Because the NBA season is upon us, and I'm an avid Utah Jazz fan, I'll leave you a quote from the greatest player to play in the game, and the Utah Jazz's nemesis, Michael Jordan. 🙂
“I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.”
So whether it's your first time or your fifth time taking the civil PE exam, keep going and you'll ace it. I promise it's worth it.
Isaac
Thank you for this post. I just found out I failed the civil PE (structural depth) exam and needed some words of wisdom. Bleh. THANK. YOU.