Failed April 2016 Power PE Exam - again

Typical enough, I just failed for the third time and thought I had all the right resources.  I don't know what to do now. I feel thoroughly demoralized and like a complete idiot that needs to will never pass this exam. I studied harder and longer for this attempt than any other of the previous attempts and somehow did my worst work.  The diagnostics are useless to me as each test looks different.  The theoretical stuff got me this time and I knew it.

Any help or advice anyone can give on what I'm missing, please do tell, especially when it comes to formula sheets/organization.  I know that is a major part of what is screwing me over. I wish there was a good formula sheet to use.  All this stuff...I'm seriously debating whether or not to even take this examination again and just go do something else.

Hey man, sorry to see that you didnt make it this time. But hey, keepmovingforward.com .  Seems like, you were close though!  Are you planning on taking it again in October - where are you located? 

Sorry to hear about you not passing the test. Can you please describe what you used for materials and method of studying for the exam? Hang in there! You can pass this exam!!

phatman492 said:

Typical enough, I just failed for the third time and thought I had all the right resources.  I don't know what to do now. I feel thoroughly demoralized and like a complete idiot that needs to will never pass this exam. I studied harder and longer for this attempt than any other of the previous attempts and somehow did my worst work.  The diagnostics are useless to me as each test looks different.  The theoretical stuff got me this time and I knew it.

Any help or advice anyone can give on what I'm missing, please do tell, especially when it comes to formula sheets/organization.  I know that is a major part of what is screwing me over. I wish there was a good formula sheet to use.  All this stuff...I'm seriously debating whether or not to even take this examination again and just go do something else.

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Don't give up. It took me 4 attempts to pass. Just take a breather and then refocus your efforts.

It may be time for you to rethink your study habits. Have you done the exact same thing 3 times in a row without success? I switched things up on my 4th try and succeeded. Good luck. Stay positive!

I hate tapatalk

I'm sorry to hear that.The exam was very hard indeed and you were right about the theoretical stuff portion of the exam.If you are near or here in Houston area I can lend you the materials I used or we can compare notes.I still have most/some of the materials esp. the theoretical type questionnaire.Let me know or PM me.Don't give up.

Hey man, I feel your pain.

Let me tell you what got me through.  Just passed the Power PE in Florida on the 3rd time.  

What I did differently from the first 2 attempts.

1.  School of PE was very helpful since it put some magnification on what I didn't know.  

2.  Do lots of practice problems.  Understand why you are doing what you're doing while solving the problem.  Don't just jump into doing calculations without analyzing first.

3.  This is what made me pass.  I kept Calm Cool and Collected.  I think I got that from a Youtube video about how to pass the PE.  There were problems on the exam I had no clue how to solve. Take a breath, drink some water  and keep calm, cool and collected.  Relax, read the problem again and typically on the PE exam you'll find that what they really are asking isn't nearly as hard as the problem initially reads.  That happened to me on several problems.  

4.  I made my own formula sheets using Graffeo's book and using data from the SOPE classes.  I also made a formula sheet for equations in my calculator (HP 35S) which is really helpful for solving tedious problems such as symmetrical components where the problem is easy but the calculations are error prone.

Keep your head up man, you'll get it and when you do the victory will be sweet.

Hi phatman,

I want to share you how I studied for the theoretical portion of the PE exam.In the CI and the NCEES Sample exams everytime I do the problems,I also asked myself what kind of theoretical question reference to this mathematical problem.Without going into specifics,they can ask so many questions from that one problem alone.In this way ,I can also answer both theoretical and mathematical.I did these to most all the problems in the CI and the NCEES sample exams.We as an Engineers love to crunch numbers and sometimes overlook the reason why those numbers and equations work and how the answers came out right.

There was a post here before that says "the solutions in the back are not your friend" is true and I can say most of us are guilty on that too.Hang in there,We here at EB will pitch in and will try to help one way or another.

Pinoy, PE

I agree, I failed for the second time. I depended on solutions in the back. Could you go over some specifics? Feel free to email me: [email protected]. 

Thank you.

I failed my first attempt and completely restructured my prep and test taking (per advice from other on this board):

PREP: The 2 most helpful things I did this time around were 1: purchase the Tom Henry Keyword Index and 2: hand wrote out all of my equation sheets and used them repeatedly during my studying. Even the things that I knew I would remember. I also noted which pages of the code book I referred to most (cable ratings, motor size) and put these tables in the book as well. I brought the book to work with me and took notes in it and used it as my primary resource. Knowing my notebook like the back of my hand was the most helpful thing for me personally. Everyone is different, but that was extremely helpful to me. I also NEVER allowed my study to go on more than 2 hours on a weekday. After 2 hours I was just spinning my wheels and getting frustrated. This thread is the first time I have heard the phrase "the solutions in the back are not your friends," and that should be printed on the cover of every book. I worked every practice problem backwards with the final solution and found each variable (where applicable). Really read and study the theory of all the equations. I was learning more when I spent a full 2 hours on a problem truly understanding it than I was when I was hammering through problems that I knew through repetition.

TEST DAY: I used the same 2-hour logic on the test day and it helped. Every hour or so i sat back for a couple of minutes and just took a breath. It is amazing how much simpler some problems become when you just clear your mind. I also allowed 5 minutes at the end to make sure all of my solutions were filled in with the letter I intended. I found 2 where I didn't fill in the right bubble. I think the key during test day was taking my time, and just calmly using my equation book. I also answered all the theory questions I knew on the first try, and marked the rest wand saved them for the end. I figured if I wasn't familiar with the concept when I sat down for the exam, odds are I wasn't going to learn it during the 4-hour test.

Don't give up on the test - take some time to decompress then try again. If you have any questions, feel free to DM me. This board was extremely helpful to me, and I would like to return the favor and be helpful if I can.

Don't worry. I know a person who failed 3 times in power and passed on the 4th attempt. keep yourself calm and can pass the exam.