So how was it?

[Jacob_PE]

Thanks for that response. I've been trying to get a grip on what to expect on test day and I think that'll be my last question on that issue.  And, That's a cool pic of you and your boy. 

To summarize what I've learned so far:   

Each person's PE exam experience is unique.

Success or failure is directly linked to preparation. 

You must be thoroughly familiar with your resources. 

Luck is a factor, you're unlucky if you see a lot of topics you didn't master during preparation. 

Question management is important, have to be able to recognize a question that will take too long and move forward. 

The ability to overcome anxiety and settle down quickly is crucial to success.  

Must be capable of focusing in on what is being asked and then select from pool of given info to arrive at the correct solution, all without making common mistakes. 

I need to focus more on problems and less on analyzing this stuff. 

 

[EnvEngineer]

Just one last thought that I think is helpfull, remember that the morning and afternoon are scored together. Dont make the mistake of thinking the morning was too easy to go back and check your work, you will probably have much more time in the morning, get all the points you can to help carry the tougher afternoon.

Good luck

 

[ptatohed]

Thanks for that response. I've been trying to get a grip on what to expect on test day and I think that'll be my last question on that issue.  And, That's a cool pic of you and your boy. To summarize what I've learned so far:   

Each person's PE exam experience is unique.

Success or failure is directly linked to preparation. 

You must be thoroughly familiar with your resources. 

Luck is a factor, you're unlucky if you see a lot of topics you didn't master during preparation. 

Question management is important, have to be able to recognize a question that will take too long and move forward. 

The ability to overcome anxiety and settle down quickly is crucial to success.  

Must be capable of focusing in on what is being asked and then select from pool of given info to arrive at the correct solution, all without making common mistakes. 

I need to focus more on problems and less on analyzing this stuff. 

Well said my friend.

 

[markS]

I agree. I think you can break down preparation into learning and practising for exam, though. You can learn the material, but to pass the exam it's really important to practise for the exam. Know what can be and what wouldn't be asked in the exam.

 

[efg]

EE - Power. "You sunk my battleship."

Preparation Time/Materials: 250 total hours. 5 textbooks, prep coursework notebook, 2 notebooks of graduate class material, calculators, snacks, rolling suitcase.

Money: ~$1,550.

General Observations: Arrived at my site 30 minutes prior to report time. Noticed that many others had literally libraries and libraries of books. Someone had a giant wagon with bungie cords holding all of the books together. Others just had a single piece of paper. Wild. I randomly started thinking of a national geographic special with narration by Morgan Freeman on PE test taking habits. I needed that laugh to clear my head.

AM Session: Felt the AM session was great. Only ended up with 6-7 that I didn't have a single solid answer or couldn't find it in my reference. I finished slightly early and checked only some of my work.

PM Session: Total unadulterated bloodbath. Couldn't seem to concentrate enough to find the equations I needed. Calculator was spitting out answers that were out of this world. Saw stuff that I barely covered in droves. About 2-3 hours into the afternoon, my brain felt like it had been through a dishwasher and I started hopping around from question to question. Not good. I will be lucky if I got a quarter to half right. I might as well have taken another discipline in the afternoon or gone to work. A monkey may have been able to do better.

Final Thoughts: As I left the exam area, I felt numb, dumb, and a little crushed. I felt like I blew the morning session out of the water. Then the PE got off a torpedo as I was heading to collect my stamp, promotion, and better life. I'm not very good at guessing and doing the math in my head all weekend I kept envisioning a percentage score in the upper 60s with an afternoon diagnostic that simply says "monkey". 6 months of neglecting my wife and family might be for nothing in the end except doing it all over again. I know the pass rate for repeaters is low, but what is the divorce rate?

Oh well. If I recall from a coworker, last years results were released in around 45-50 days following the exam. I think he got his in late May. We shall see. I guess the ultimate decision is now do I crack open another book....or another beer?

I took the EE PE Power exam as well and couldn't agree with you more regarding the afternoon session. I was left bleary eyed. In fact, I went back to verify that I had bubbled every question correctly and, much to my chagrin, I hadn't!!! I had misbubbled 3 questions. Fortunately, I had enough time to check them. So yes, it was a very hard afternoon.

 

[efg]

School of PE material for the EE Power Exam wasn't worth the paper its printed on. 

I would like to hear about what other thoughts of their training / prep material specially as it relates to the EE Power Exam. I spoke to a guy who sat two tables from me and he had the same feelings about the School of PE's EE Power material. Given how hard the afternoon part of the exam was, I'm wondering about the "Complex and Imaginary" material which I didn't get a chance to buy. Was it worth it? Also, if you took a course that you really liked, please let me know. Thanks!

 

[Opisthenar PE]

School of PE material for the EE Power Exam wasn't worth the paper its printed on. 

I would like to hear about what other thoughts of their training / prep material specially as it relates to the EE Power Exam. I spoke to a guy who sat two tables from me and he had the same feelings about the School of PE's EE Power material. Given how hard the afternoon part of the exam was, I'm wondering about the "Complex and Imaginary" material which I didn't get a chance to buy. Was it worth it? Also, if you took a course that you really liked, please let me know. Thanks!

I would say CI was worth it. The CI practice exams do have some obscure topics that you might not see on other exams. I remember a question that was very similar to CI that people may not have focused on much, but it was worded differently. Plus there are tons of problems on CI that focuses on the basics, which will really test your understanding.

I did the CI (all four volumes) two times. At times, it does get repetitive, but I believe this repetition really gave me 'gimme points' on this years Power PE Exams, meaning I knew exactly how to solve the problem without going to any reference. This saved me a lot of time to answer questions that were very different than what i studied for doing practice exams. I also had the CI NEC problems book that they sell, and it really gave me practice on how to look up random topics in the NEC in a quick manner. There's about 200 NEC problems in the drill book. I did about 100.

I'm still not 100% confident I passed, but I believe I do have a good chance. 

 

[ptatohed]

I took the EE PE Power exam as well and couldn't agree with you more regarding the afternoon session. I was left bleary eyed. In fact, I went back to verify that I had bubbled every question correctly and, much to my chagrin, I hadn't!!! I had misbubbled 3 questions. Fortunately, I had enough time to check them. So yes, it was a very hard afternoon.

You bumped a 6 year old thread to tell us this?

 

[JHW 3d]

Actually, the "you sunk my battleship" post is a classic. I always wondered where it came from! Even better knowing that guy passed.