I would imagine also that some company’s might put more emphasis on one score or the other. Does what I thinking make sense to anybody else but me?
No offense intended here, but I think you're over analyzing the situation. I've taken the POSS twice for the same company. The 1st time was during pre-employment testing and my score got me the job. The second time was 14 years later when I went from a fleet garage to the nuke plant. I was told that there was a 7 year window that they gave to the test score and that after that you had to retake it if you were going to a job that required a higher score than was required at the job you were leaving.
After I passed it again I did quite a bit of questioning regarding the test and what they look for. We were told prior to testing that they DO NOT expect anyone to finish all of the questions. They are looking for a percentage to be finished in each section and then at the score of those finished. Your score on the overall test is based on your total percentage score. However,
if you flunk a section of the test you flunk the entire test. You said that you could have bombed the mechanical concepts & assembly portions of the test. This will cause you to flunk the POSS.
I was not allowed to see my test to know my exact score and which particular questions I missed and I don't believe any company will allow that to happen either. I was told that I did well on all sections. My company had one score at that time which was the minimum to get into the fossil system, another (higher) which would get you into the nuke, and a third (higher yet) which made you eligible to bid into operations at the nuke plant. A co-worker and I tested at the same time and one of us was told that he could get into the nuke plant but not operations without taking the test again. The other was told that he could bid into operations at the nuke plant if he so desired based on his score.
Ask Entergy which areas you did well on and what areas you have for improvement. Please take my next statement as the constructive analysis it is intended so that you might improve your score and chance of employment in our industry. Instead of going on the assumption that you scored too high or over analyzing and assuming how the test is scored accept the fact that they did not accept you based on your POSS score. This is their way of saying that you did not pass it on your overall score. I'm sure you've already done quite a bit of searching in the time you've already been on the site and you may have already searched the POSS threads. If not that is the best place to start. Get the ARCO book on spatial relations found here:
http://www.amazon.com/Mechanical-Aptitude-Spatial-Relations-Tests/dp/0768907098 (You can even use the Amazon search on the home page and a percentage helps support Nukeworker) .
Go to this page:http://www.nukeworker.com/study/POSS.shtml and take the practice tests available there. You may not be able to get any information as to where you need to improve from Entergy as they may choose not to share it and by now they may not ever have any more in their file than you didn't pass. Practice, practice, practice. When you get done there it's lather, rinse, repeat and then get yourself another offer to take the test again either there or at another company.
If you have any areas that are of particular trouble or concern don't hesitate to search to find out if the answer is already here and then post if it isn't already answered. The knowledge that exists here among the members and the threads already posted will get you through the POSS if it's possible. The key is to do as good on it as you can and not shoot for a certain score that isn't "too high." Taking the practice tests should give you a picture of how prepared you are for the test and any areas for improvement. After that you can study, practice, and improve so that the next time you take the test you'll be telling us about getting a job offer because you passed the POSS.