Sorry to hear the news PEoct. Just remember to stay focused and determined. You can do this.
As for a review course, have you taken any of the more common ones yet? If no, then I recommend GA Tech PE power review course. I really liked the format and accompanying material. Everyone learns different so there are likely other opinions for other courses, but I found the GA Tech course to be extremely helpful. If you check the electrical sub-forum, you can find a lot of good feedback (including some from me). However, my advice to you (I know it sounds easy for me to say), but take the remainder of this year off to spend with family/friends/etc. It will do wonders for your mindset. I realize it's in an engineer's nature to power through a problem until it's solved, but take some time away to recharge. You'll study harder and better for it. Just be ready to hit hard again after the holidays. You'll get there next time. Best of luck! :thumbs:
The most important thing in my opinion is to change up your study habits. It's evident that the method you are using may not be the most optimal for you. I had to make the realization also. Try thinking about some alternatives that could help you really hammer on the core concepts (highlighting, tabbing, note cards, etc.). Also start researching review courses. See which one sounds best suited for your learning abilities without looking at the cost.thank you all so much.
yeah actually i have all the standard references but i dnt know where i am lagging. i know all the complex imaginary problems by heart for 4 months i was just focussed on exam away from everyone. but i dnt know what to do how to improve , my only hope is taking up course but also i feel that in three month i time if i would be able to manage ,,,,,,,, !
congratulations to all fresh new PE's
please share your thoughts about how u planned and reference material u used.
thank you for sharing and have a happy holidays.
thank you so much. i am planning to not go for classes i will do the thorough study and work more hard, i will get Glover book.congratulations to all fresh new PE's
please share your thoughts about how u planned and reference material u used.
thank you for sharing and have a happy holidays.
Come back strong PEOct!
These are the references I used mostly:
- My notes and formula from references
- Power Systems Analysis and Design 5th ed. by Glover et. al
- Elements of Power System Analysis 4th ed. by Stevenson
- SPD Electrical Protection Handbook by Cooper Bussman
- Electrical Machines, Drives, and Power Systems 6th ed. by Wildi
- Earth Grounding Resistance by Fluke (Technical Article)
IMO, the PE-Power exam tests your basic knowledge/design. However, the way the questions asked were very tricky. Knowing the theoretical concepts eliminate the trick questions/answers. FWIW, this was my first attempt, so I don't have other scenarios of PE-Power exam to compare it with. Good luck next time!
thank you so much. i am planning to not go for classes i will do the thorough study and work more hard, i will get Glover book.congratulations to all fresh new PE's
please share your thoughts about how u planned and reference material u used.
thank you for sharing and have a happy holidays.
Come back strong PEOct!
These are the references I used mostly:
- My notes and formula from references
- Power Systems Analysis and Design 5th ed. by Glover et. al
- Elements of Power System Analysis 4th ed. by Stevenson
- SPD Electrical Protection Handbook by Cooper Bussman
- Electrical Machines, Drives, and Power Systems 6th ed. by Wildi
- Earth Grounding Resistance by Fluke (Technical Article)
IMO, the PE-Power exam tests your basic knowledge/design. However, the way the questions asked were very tricky. Knowing the theoretical concepts eliminate the trick questions/answers. FWIW, this was my first attempt, so I don't have other scenarios of PE-Power exam to compare it with. Good luck next time!
thank you so much. i am planning to not go for classes i will do the thorough study and work more hard, i will get Glover book.congratulations to all fresh new PE's
please share your thoughts about how u planned and reference material u used.
thank you for sharing and have a happy holidays.
Come back strong PEOct!
These are the references I used mostly:
- My notes and formula from references
- Power Systems Analysis and Design 5th ed. by Glover et. al
- Elements of Power System Analysis 4th ed. by Stevenson
- SPD Electrical Protection Handbook by Cooper Bussman
- Electrical Machines, Drives, and Power Systems 6th ed. by Wildi
- Earth Grounding Resistance by Fluke (Technical Article)
IMO, the PE-Power exam tests your basic knowledge/design. However, the way the questions asked were very tricky. Knowing the theoretical concepts eliminate the trick questions/answers. FWIW, this was my first attempt, so I don't have other scenarios of PE-Power exam to compare it with. Good luck next time!
thank you so much. i am planning to not go for classes i will do the thorough study and work more hard, i will get Glover book.congratulations to all fresh new PE's
please share your thoughts about how u planned and reference material u used.
thank you for sharing and have a happy holidays.
Come back strong PEOct!
These are the references I used mostly:
- My notes and formula from references
- Power Systems Analysis and Design 5th ed. by Glover et. al
- Elements of Power System Analysis 4th ed. by Stevenson
- SPD Electrical Protection Handbook by Cooper Bussman
- Electrical Machines, Drives, and Power Systems 6th ed. by Wildi
- Earth Grounding Resistance by Fluke (Technical Article)
IMO, the PE-Power exam tests your basic knowledge/design. However, the way the questions asked were very tricky. Knowing the theoretical concepts eliminate the trick questions/answers. FWIW, this was my first attempt, so I don't have other scenarios of PE-Power exam to compare it with. Good luck next time!
My 2-cents....if you have the Wildi book and Grainger/Stevenson book, you probably don't need to run out and buy another $150 text book. Everything in Glover is covered by Wildi and Grainger. My recommendation is to not buy this book because it sounds like it will be a waste of money and more importantly another reference will be a distraction from your studying.
Also a class such as School of PE will help you focus your studying on important topics. They are expensive, but ask yourself how much you will spend if you have to retake the test again. By the time you include test fees, application fees, transportation, hotel, food, a day off work, and all that time studying, $1k is easy to justify.
thank you so much. i am planning to not go for classes i will do the thorough study and work more hard, i will get Glover book.congratulations to all fresh new PE's
please share your thoughts about how u planned and reference material u used.
thank you for sharing and have a happy holidays.
Come back strong PEOct!
These are the references I used mostly:
- My notes and formula from references
- Power Systems Analysis and Design 5th ed. by Glover et. al
- Elements of Power System Analysis 4th ed. by Stevenson
- SPD Electrical Protection Handbook by Cooper Bussman
- Electrical Machines, Drives, and Power Systems 6th ed. by Wildi
- Earth Grounding Resistance by Fluke (Technical Article)
IMO, the PE-Power exam tests your basic knowledge/design. However, the way the questions asked were very tricky. Knowing the theoretical concepts eliminate the trick questions/answers. FWIW, this was my first attempt, so I don't have other scenarios of PE-Power exam to compare it with. Good luck next time!
My 2-cents....if you have the Wildi book and Grainger/Stevenson book, you probably don't need to run out and buy another $150 text book. Everything in Glover is covered by Wildi and Grainger. My recommendation is to not buy this book because it sounds like it will be a waste of money and more importantly another reference will be a distraction from your studying.
Also a class such as School of PE will help you focus your studying on important topics. They are expensive, but ask yourself how much you will spend if you have to retake the test again. By the time you include test fees, application fees, transportation, hotel, food, a day off work, and all that time studying, $1k is easy to justify.
That may be true in some aspects. However, I found that the Glover book has more examples and are easy to follow compared to my copy of 4th ed. Stevenson especially in Chapter 10. Additional references shouldn't make distraction from your studying; it should build your confidence and understanding of the concepts.
Well, it was way easier for me to justify spending $150 reference book than spending $1k for review class. To each his own.
I did almost the same exact things you listed (including not bringing a copy of NFPA 70E) and passed on the first attempt. I read the relevant chapters in Wildi, all of graffeo, Grainger's, Chapman, and the handbook of electrical power calculations before working any problems which seemed to help quite a bit. I also used the CI NEC drill book along with the 4 volumes of practice problems. I didn't care for the Camara book either until taking the test. It seems like I found at least 3-4 answers in that book alone.I'll add some personal experiences to what others have already said. Some of it may be a repeat so I apologize in advance if you find yourself reading something that has already been discussed.
I passed the first time, though frankly after the exam I wasn't very confident that I did. I spent a lot of hours preparing, it's tough to say how many exactly but if I had to put a number on it, I would guess about 250-300 hours. I didn't take a review course. I've always been a self motivated, independent study kind of person. I feel like while a class would benefit some, it would just slow me down. I do wish that I had the Georgia Tech binder though, it sounds like it was pretty helpful.
In terms of my study approach, I mostly used the Complex Imaginary (CI) questions as a starting point. I would use my reference books for each question to find and read as much as I could about the topic (a decent amount of this was theory behind the concept; though I feel like I could have spent a little more time on theory).
If the answer wasn't in one of my reference books, I would use Google to search for the answer and print whatever reference material I was able to find. The first time through the CI exam questions, I wasn't really worried about how long it took or if I got the right answer, I was more concerned with learning the topic. I say learning because I finished college 16 years ago so I felt like a lot of the topics I had to completely re-learn.
As I looked at the CI questions, I tried to ask myself how they could change the question and ask it another way. I feel like this helped me a great deal during the exam since the test questions were obviously not much like the CI questions. After I went through all four CI exams, I started working the NCEES sample questions. I then went back and did all of the CI exams again, this time more like a timed exam. About a week before the exam I did the same thing with the NCEES sample questions using a clock for timing to try to simulate exam conditions.
I had a large (~3") binder with my own reference material that I found while studying the CI exams. Examples include lighting, using the MVA method, NEMA enclosures, ground fault detection, circulating currents in transformers, etc. With that said, I still feel like there were some topics that I didn't have enough information on when it came time for the exam (e.g. adjustable speed drives, resistance grounding).
I wish that I had spent more time working NEC code type problems. I was pretty good answering the code related questions in the CI and NCEES sample exams, however my experience was that this didn't really help me answer the code questions on the actual exam. In fact, some of the code questions on the exam I couldn't even find the answer for and had to make an educated guess.
A lot of people have said the Camara book isn't very helpful, but I used it quite a bit on the exam. I also used an old textbook from college by Yamayee which I found very helpful, and I used a relaying book by Blackburn which was fairly handy as well. I had the Grainger / Stevenson book but didn't find it nearly as useful as others have. I used the Wildi book quite a bit. A late edition to my reference list was a book by Alex Graffeo. It would have been helpful to have this earlier. It helped me answer at least a couple exam questions, which could have possibly meant the difference between pass and fail.
Whatever references you use, I would say to know them very well. Mark them with tabs for important topics. I only had my NEC code book marked and in hindsight realized I should have tabbed my other books as well. This cost me some valuable time looking through my references when I should have just been able to flip directly to a topic. I could have used that time to answer other questions that I really needed to look up.
I didn't realize I needed a copy of the NFPA 70E on the exam. There was a question directly from one of the tables that I don't think would have been possible to answer without this book unless you were familiar with arc flash requirements from practical experience. I also could have used a reference on fluorescent light requirements. I was glad I brought a full copy of the NESC and not just the index as this helped me answer a question.
I feel like even though I started studying in July for the October exam, I should have started earlier so I could really dig into the concepts more. It wasn't until two months before the exam that I was really studying every day. I felt confident going into the exam and felt like I timed my studying well, but in hindsight I could have dug into the theory a little more in the July / August time which probably would have helped answer some of the questions that I struggled with.
Hopefully this helps, and best of luck!
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