CA Survey Exam - 3 Attempts

Over the past year, I’ve taken the CA Survey exam three times and unfortunately have not passed. I’ve been using CPESR to prepare and I’ve watched all the videos and completed about 85% of the question bank. I consistently score between 80–87% on the timed practice exams, and never score below 75%.

My biggest issue on the actual exam seems to be time management. I know that’s common, but what confuses me is that I don’t struggle with timing during the CPESR practice exams. On the real test, though, there’s just enough difference or unfamiliarity in how problems are presented that each one takes me a bit longer to process.

This is the first exam in my career that I’ve really struggled with. I passed the EIT on my first attempt and the PE on my second. I actually enjoy the survey material and feel like I understand it well while practicing. But during the real exam, the pressure combined with having just over two minutes per problem makes it tough. If I can’t solve something within a minute or two, I’ll skip or make an educated guess but those skipped questions and small time losses seem to add up, and by the end I don’t have enough time left for problems I probably could solve with just a little more time.

Is anyone else in a similar situation? Did you change your prep strategy before retaking it, or stick with what was working and just try again?

Appreciate any insight or similar experiences.