Need to retake - courses worth it?

Hey

So it seems I failed the April Power exam - 60% which apparently is a fail!!!

I did a lot of study for it in leading up to April and am looking at doing a review course for the exam in October.

I thoroughly went through the EPRM book, the Chepalti vol1 book, EC&M cals book, some sections of the Wildi book, ncees sample exam and kaplan sample exam and some others.

I was thinking of doing the Irvine course but am wondering that seen as I have gone through the Chepalti book they use numerous times is there anything I can gain from the course.

I know they follow it and I found the book didn't have anywhere near the level of detail or the full subjects that came up in the exam. It was good to learn some stuff not good enough for the exam. I found the EPRM book to be closer matched but surprisingly found that I needed to go to Wildi book by far the most in the exam and to search through sections I hadn't covered.

Stevenson/Grainger book is badly and complexly written for me to give it priority over the others. Maybe I should focus more on that this time round.

There was some really sneaky **** questions in that April exam!

So would the Irvine course be a waste of money if they just go through the Chepalti book and the ncees sample exam considering I have exhaustively gone through them before?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Admittedly at the moment I'm pretty **** p-ed off and am frustrated that I am immediately back to that frame of mind where I can't just watch tv for the nagging thought in my head that I should be studying instead. Man I hate that.

Congrats to those who passed though!!

Also the pass rate for repeat exam takers is 28% and first time takers is 61%.

Why would the repeat exam takers percentage be so low? Surely it should be really high. Seems weird to me.

-Steven

Also the pass rate for repeat exam takers is 28% and first time takers is 61%.Why would the repeat exam takers percentage be so low? Surely it should be really high. Seems weird to me.

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Don't worry about this. Stick to your plan.

Most repeat takers are not like you - someone who studied and just barely missed it, and now plans to revamp and tweak their strategy.

A lot of repeat takers didn't study the first time, they didn't study the econd time, or the third, or on and on --

I know because I've worked with several people like that - they just keep winging it and never study. After a while, many of them pass too. But it takes some 7, 8 or more tries.

I know because I've worked with several people like that - they just keep winging it and never study. After a while, many of them pass too. But it takes some 7, 8 or more tries.

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wow... they must have lots of money. but anyway, great advice of keeping at it, 60% is mighty close, and you have the edge since you pretty much know the nature of the questions that are asked.

the pass rate of the repeat takers also puzzled me before I took the test, but dont get discouraged. Hopefully we see you back here again during winter with the good news

Thanks for the encouragement.

Is there a list of best study material broken out per topic? I searched the site but couldnt find anything like it. I think it would be a great idea and be extremely helpful.

Is this a good plan?

Spend time casually going through the stevenson and grainger book and the Wildi book through July and August. Also sign up for the Irvine course.

Then do a review of everything (including previous books i did for the first attempt) in September and October.

Should I even bother with the Irvine course?

Any other books that I should add to the study plan? Was thinking of getting the EPRM sample exam and sample questions books.

I know it sounds crazy to think that throwing loads of books and material at it will help but the exam had too many tricky things they put in to catch you out (like tapping off the center of a winding and giving situations where you use a formula and it seems it cant be used because two key parameters are missing) that the books didnt seem to explicitly cover. I am hoping the Grainger and Wildi books will just give me a greater understanding to recognize these and to adapt my answers.

I'd rather rely on knowledge than trawling through books in the exam - first open book exam I'd ever done and in a way it just felt like cheating.

I presume too the NCEES sample exam available now is just the same as before but with a nice new shiny cover.

What industry do you work in

Electrical Power - system analysis studies and protection studies

With previous history of some design and facilities electrical engineer

Hello xd-data-ii and welcome to EB.com. Sorry to hear that you didn't make it this time around. Keep your chin up and stay the course. Be focused and determined to drive it home on the next go-round. Don't dwell on not passing or on how much you missed it by. It's done and over with and time to move on. Also, as Benbo mentioned, try not to concern yourself with statistical percentages. Focus on the ultimate goal of passing. As to your questions, you have asked many of the same questions that were asked in this thread. Have a look there and you will see additional linked posts from me that discuss online review courses and recommended preparation materials used. I myself took the GA Tech online PE power review course and do recommend it. I've heard mixed reviews on the Irvine course but that was the runner up to GA Tech course. I feel I made the right choice. Changing up your study habits can also be a huge improvement in learning fundamental concepts. Good luck! :thumbs:

knight1fox3 said:

Hello xd-data-ii and welcome to EB.com. Sorry to hear that you didn't make it this time around. Keep your chin up and stay the course. Be focused and determined to drive it home on the next go-round. Don't dwell on not passing or on how much you missed it by. It's done and over with and time to move on. Also, as Benbo mentioned, try not to concern yourself with statistical percentages. Focus on the ultimate goal of passing. As to your questions, you have asked many of the same questions that were asked in this thread. Have a look there and you will see additional linked posts from me that discuss online review courses and recommended preparation materials used. I myself took the GA Tech online PE power review course and do recommend it. I've heard mixed reviews on the Irvine course but that was the runner up to GA Tech course. I feel I made the right choice. Changing up your study habits can also be a huge improvement in learning fundamental concepts. Good luck! :thumbs:

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Thanks very much for the reply.

I have read that thread and was interested in it but didnt seem to get a clear answer as to my exact question as it appears to be for someone who is taking the course first time or is going to review the Chelapati book first time.

I guess my question specifically is: If you extensively reviewed the Chelapati book and the NCEES sample exam before is there anything more to gain from the Irvine course?

It is unclear from other threads whether they just get you to open those two books and go through it - or if there is something more and more detail to the course.

Would be great to get clarification on this because its a big chunk of change to throw at the course and end up just being what have done already.

The GA tech course seems a good bit more expensive so will look into that and how much to be gained from it too.

thanks

xd-data-ii said:

I guess my question specifically is: If you extensively reviewed the Chelapati book and the NCEES sample exam before is there anything more to gain from the Irvine course?

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From others on this forum and IIT testomonials, I believe the course is more than just paging through the book along with the professor. Here is another thread on Chelapati as well.

xd-data-ii said:

The GA tech course seems a good bit more expensive so will look into that and how much to be gained from it too.thanks

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It is more expensive but it is also more personalized and geared toward NCEES-type problems. Another aspect that helped my decision was that the GA Tech course allowed students to view the course modules whenever they wanted and multiple times. I believe the IIT course had a specific time slot each week where students had to "attend" each class. Sometimes those time slots did not coincide with my personal schedule.

Hi,

I agree with what Knight1Fox3 said. Ignore statistics. I Pass in second try. First time I studied 250+ hours, took review course in Rutgers university. My Raw score was 47/80.

Second time from recommendation from this forum I took GA tech on line review course and put approx. 110+ hours of work and Passed.

I got very disappointed when I failed first time. I almost quit. It took 3 - 4 days to recover. Don't get discourage.

Good Luck.

sc57 said:

Hi,
I agree with what Knight1Fox3 said. Ignore statistics. I Pass in second try. First time I studied 250+ hours, took review course in Rutgers university. My Raw score was 47/80.

Second time from recommendation from this forum I took GA tech on line review course and put approx. 110+ hours of work and Passed.

I got very disappointed when I failed first time. I almost quit. It took 3 - 4 days to recover. Don't get discourage.

Good Luck.

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Hi sc57,

Is the GA tech online review course the same or brand new every year?

Also is the NEC section helpful because I just failed my Power exam at 48/80 at first try and i scored under 50% in code & standard, i really need help on the NEC.

I took Electrical Power and passed. Here is what I did.

1. Used Villa Nova online course in PE Review Electrical Power

2. Tried to thoroughly understand NCEES sample test in E. Power

3. Worked through some of the Camara and Schaum's outlines problems

4. Studied and worked problems from a couple of EE power course textbooks I had

5. Found a lot of helpful info on the Internet (e.g., protective relaying, ECM)

6. Got familiar with the first 4 chapters of the 2008 NEC (plus important tables ch. 9, Annex, etc.)

7. Worked NEC example problems from 2008 handbook, Mike Holt, etc.

8. Bought Tom Henry's index to the NEC

9. Used Ugly's Electrical Reference cross-referenced to NEC - saves time looking up stuff

10. Made my own (large) notebook of formulas and example problems from the NEC

I hope some of these suggestions can be of help to you.

Since you are working hard, I think you will have a very good chance of passing next time.

Hi Springaround,

My on line review course was I think two years (2009) old. You can call and talk to Dr. Callen he can help you. He is very nice person to talk to. When I called we talk for almost 20 minutes and then I decided to take course.

I also had low score (first time) on code. I think it was code part helped me pass (second time). Mr. Lambert teaches NEC as well as safety code. There were many questions on both.

Good luck.

I took the Power module and used the MGI EE PE readiness course along with the book list below.

The MGI course was the best prep for the Power module i've seen.

BOOK LIST

Computers

Schaum's Computer networking, Computer Architecture, Software Engineering and Operating Systems.

Also (these are more expensive):

Computer Engineering: Hardware Design

by M. Morris Mano

• ISBN-10: 0131629263

• ISBN-13:

Computer System Architecture

by M. Morris Mano

• ISBN-10: 0131755633

• ISBN-13: 978-0131755635

Software Engineering: Principles and Practice

by Hans van Vliet

• ISBN-10: 0471975087

• ISBN-13: 978-0471975083

Network Analysis, Architecture and Design

by James D. McCabe

• ISBN-10: 1558608877

• ISBN-13: 978-1558608870

Operating Systems: Internals and Design Principles

by William Stallings

• ISBN-10: 0131479547

• ISBN-13: 978-0131479548

ECC

ELECTRONICS

The Art of Electronics

by Paul Horowitz (Author), Winfield Hill (Author)

ISBN-10: 0521370957

ISBN-13: 978-0521370950

Schaums Electronic Circuits and Devices

COMMUNICATIONS

Modern Electronic Communication

by Jeff Beasley (Author), Gary M. Miller (Author)

ISBN-10: 0132251132

ISBN-13: 978-0132251136

Schaum's Outline of Electronic Communication

CONTROLS

Control Systems Engineering

by Norman Nise (Author)

ISBN-10: 0470169974

ISBN-13: 978-0470169971

Design of Feedback Control Systems

by Raymond T. Stefani, Bahram Shahian, Clement J. Savant, Gene H. Hostetter

ISBN-10: 0195142497

Schaum's Outline of Feedback and Control Systems

AM BREADTH

EERM - Probobly the best "Breadth" book out there.

Fundamentals of EE (By Bobrow) - Goes into the "depth" of the AM stuff that EERM does not, so it complements it perfectly. More than you'll care to know.

NCEES Electrical and Computer Study Guide

Schaum's Basic EE (or similar Schaums, there's 3 or 4)

One good text on Electronics (transistors, Op Amps), one Communications (basic) and one Digital (binary, hex, chips, micro, clock cycles, K-map).

EE Quick Reference (other board or Kaplan's Referenced Review by Bentley)

PM POWER Depth

Power Systems Analysis (Grainger)

Electric Machines, Drives and Power Systems (Wildi)

Schaum's Electric Power Systems & Schaum's Electric Machinery

NEC Code for Code questions.

"Public Lighting" & "IESNA Illumination Handbook" for lighting questions.

I also printed and bound lots of stuff from Wikipedia ranging from DC motors, Generators, Computers, load flow, etc.

I took the Irvine course and passed. It is definitely more than just the Chelipati book. Several of the topics are covered by notes made by the instructors. The main advantage I found to the course was efficiency in studying. However, the Irvine course does fall short in several areas. The two big ones on this exam were power electronics and special applications. Also, I found the female instructor to be quite good, but the male instructor not so much.

There seem to be good reviews about the GA Tech course as well. Perhaps since you are so familiar with the Chelapati book it would be best to take the GA Tech course. Good luck!

Oh, and until hard core study time, really troll this site. I found several threads that really helped, and I have seen some threads after the test that I wish that I would have seen before.

joshtrevino said:

I took the Irvine course and passed. It is definitely more than just the Chelipati book. Several of the topics are covered by notes made by the instructors. The main advantage I found to the course was efficiency in studying. However, the Irvine course does fall short in several areas. The two big ones on this exam were power electronics and special applications. Also, I found the female instructor to be quite good, but the male instructor not so much.
There seem to be good reviews about the GA Tech course as well. Perhaps since you are so familiar with the Chelapati book it would be best to take the GA Tech course. Good luck!

Oh, and until hard core study time, really troll this site. I found several threads that really helped, and I have seen some threads after the test that I wish that I would have seen before.

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For the GA Tech, after register, how long do we receive the folder (package) for study? Do they send us by mail or do we need to down load it from their web page? How come the course goes from Aug 12 to Nov 16 (after the exam day)??

Thanks,

bethy said:

For the GA Tech, after register, how long do we receive the folder (package) for study? Do they send us by mail or do we need to down load it from their web page? How come the course goes from Aug 12 to Nov 16 (after the exam day)??
Thanks,

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I signed up for the GA Tech online course on 8/25/2010 which was a bit later than most people since I was still deciding which online course to take. I received the course materials (via FedEx) from Dr. Callen on 9/2/2010. It is a very large 3-ring binder with a lot of material in it. I don't think it can be downloaded. I also thought it was strange that the course availability is well after the exam date. I believe it is standard procedure to do this for all online courses at GA Tech. It is a bit different for this since it is a review course and most people won't need to access the online material after the exam. But it would seem standard procedures still apply. And as others have mentioned, Dr. Callen is very responsive. If you have any questions, just email him directly.

xd-data-ii,

Since you studied,prepared for the test already and came so close to passing. My suggestion is simple, see the diagnostic provided to you and make sure you cover areas of weakness.

My areas of weakeness were "insulation testing, grounding testing, and motor drives" All those 3 areas were not cover in any of my study references. Not the Chelapi books, not on the PPI books and not on the sample test.

For your next exam make sure you review everything you already learned for this one and focus on doing more problems in your weak areas.

good luck for next time, I'm sure you will pass.