How it Feels to Fail a Professional Licensing Exam
Disappointment doesn’t even cut it
After spending over $1,000 on study materials and test fees, over 120 hours of preparation, and a lot of wondering and waiting, I finally have the results of my attempt of the Principles and Practice of Engineering exam.
I failed.
I’m frustrated with the national administering council for making such a difficult test. Let alone the fact that a large portion of what’s on the test I will never use in my entire engineering career.
It’s frustrating when a purely academic gauge of your intelligence is entirely incapable of detecting good engineering judgment. The exam doesn’t test your skills as an engineer; it tests your abilities as a test taker.
It’s more about solving the problem of “which answer choice is a trick and which isn’t” rather than “how can I be a good engineer?”
Which is ultra frustrating to someone who just wants a license, even though I understand you have to have some regulations in place for who does and doesn’t get to be a Professional Engineer.
I’m even frustrated for my friends who took it with me, none of which passed the exam.
