Game Plan for Oct 20'

Now that everyone has had time to process what happened on Friday has anybody come up with a game plan for how to move forward for Oct. 2020 exam?

Are you going to take a couple months off or keep going but at a slower pace? There were a couple reference books that I was going to have a hard time becoming familiar with due to time constraints. I think I'm going to spend some quality time in those references now and speed things up again in July.

If you were taking a prep course how is that being handled by the company/instructor?

I am planning on taking a small break but still going to keep the morning stuff fresh because I was feeling so good about the material before the world had to shut down. Then I will focus on my afternoon references and make sure I know them as best as I can before the Oct Exam. It might only be 4 hours a weekend til summer but I also want this to be my last time!

daydreambeliever said:

Now that everyone has had time to process what happened on Friday has anybody come up with a game plan for how to move forward for Oct. 2020 exam?

Are you going to take a couple months off or keep going but at a slower pace? There were a couple reference books that I was going to have a hard time becoming familiar with due to time constraints. I think I'm going to spend some quality time in those references now and speed things up again in July.

If you were taking a prep course how is that being handled by the company/instructor?

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Im planning to keep studying a few nights a week, and probably do a practice exam each month just to stay in the zone. Im ready to have more time to look at references, but disappointed because I was going to be ready.

Zach is going to finish this session of classes and has been super generous and is letting us have an equal session for the october exam too. I really liked the class, and its given me a good schedule to keep up with cause im terrible with making my own schedule.

I took this weekend and yesterday off and its been great! Im ready for class tonight and getting motivated again!

speakeelsy said:

Im planning to keep studying a few nights a week, and probably do a practice exam each month just to stay in the zone. Im ready to have more time to look at references, but disappointed because I was going to be ready.

Zach is going to finish this session of classes and has been super generous and is letting us have an equal session for the october exam too. I really liked the class, and its given me a good schedule to keep up with cause im terrible with making my own schedule.

I took this weekend and yesterday off and its been great! Im ready for class tonight and getting motivated again!

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I'm in Zach's class this semester too Speak! I am motivated too! 

I'm still working on some practice exams just to make sure I don't forget them haha 

Then, there are some topics I want to review. For me, these topics include protection, paralleling of transformers, some single phase motors that I don't encounter a lot, and other items.

I also want to go through Justin Kauwale's Eng Pro Guides book in full. It seems more detailed than the Graffeo book I started, and has more examples and practice problems. I also purchased downloads of the April 2020 full exam and references exam.

That's what I have in mind so far. Along the way, I'm sure there are more specific topics or items I will need to review.

akyip said:

I'm still working on some practice exams just to make sure I don't forget them haha 

Then, there are some topics I want to review. For me, these topics include protection, paralleling of transformers, some single phase motors that I don't encounter a lot, and other items.

I also want to go through Justin Kauwale's Eng Pro Guides book in full. It seems more detailed than the Graffeo book I started, and has more examples and practice problems. I also purchased downloads of the April 2020 full exam and references exam.

That's what I have in mind so far. Along the way, I'm sure there are more specific topics or items I will need to review.

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Zach's section on paralleling transformers is fantastic if you have access to it. I spent 2 days on that section until it finally clicked!

How are you liking Eng Pro Guides' book? I bought the exams but not the book because I figured it would be a repeat of everything else, but the few pages I've seen look pretty helpful. (symmetrical components) I like his Codes/references Exam a lot! - probably going to reprint it and redo it closer to exam time. The Full exam was tough and had several items I hadn't seen yet, and I haven't done the Final exam yet.

Keep up the good work!

speakeelsy said:

Zach's section on paralleling transformers is fantastic if you have access to it. I spent 2 days on that section until it finally clicked!

How are you liking Eng Pro Guides' book? I bought the exams but not the book because I figured it would be a repeat of everything else, but the few pages I've seen look pretty helpful. (symmetrical components) I like his Codes/references Exam a lot! - probably going to reprint it and redo it closer to exam time. The Full exam was tough and had several items I hadn't seen yet, and I haven't done the Final exam yet.

Keep up the good work!

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Eng Pro Guides is longer but definitely more detailed than Graffeo. I feel that it will help me know more details about certain topics. Working through the specific examples and practice problems for the protection stuff right now.

Thanks for the tip about Zach Stone's materials on parallel transformers! I am considering maybe a 2 month subscription on his content over the summer.

Graffeo is outdated for the current standards. Having materials that follow the current exam spec is a good idea - which is what Zach & Justin both offered. 

LyceeFruit PE said:

Graffeo is outdated for the current standards. Having materials that follow the current exam spec is a good idea - which is what Zach & Justin both offered. 

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I took my exam back in '18 so I am a little dated at this point.  Graffeo was my most prized textbook resource on the exam and I'm sorry to hear it's not as applicable now.  I am assuming it's due to the greater emphasis on protection now?  Graffeo did cover it but not to the degree I imagine is required now.

I didn't use Zach's materials but I will vouch for Justin's practice tests being the closest to the real thing that I've encountered.  At least as the exam was formatted 2 years ago.

BirdGrave said:

I took my exam back in '18 so I am a little dated at this point.  Graffeo was my most prized textbook resource on the exam and I'm sorry to hear it's not as applicable now.  I am assuming it's due to the greater emphasis on protection now?  Graffeo did cover it but not to the degree I imagine is required now.

I didn't use Zach's materials but I will vouch for Justin's practice tests being the closest to the real thing that I've encountered.  At least as the exam was formatted 2 years ago.

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The exam spec changed for the April 2018 exam and Graffeo was outdated then. It was written in 2011/2012 and I believe the exam spec was updated for April 2015. The October 2019 exam did not really match the exam spec - it was very heavy in two categories and very light in others

I wrote up a plan and assigned a certain number of hours to each reference.  I doubt that I stick to it too closely but I just needed a plan to keep from being overwhelmed.  I can already tell that I'm going to need to spend more time in the NEC than I was originally planning.

I know quite a few people who have passed the exam before me and borrowed the Graffeo and Camera references to start with.  Camera has way too much pointless information so I didn't spend much time in it.  I've read a lot of great things about Graffeo but I honestly wasn't that impressed.  I still powered through the whole thing to see if that would change.  I ended up buying Eng Pro Guides and so far I feel like I'm getting a lot more out of it.  

Like speakeelsy, I'm planning on taking an practice exam each month.  I've never been great at studying so hopefully the next 6 months go well.