# Electrical PE Exam - Oct. 2013



## knight1fox3 (Oct 28, 2013)

For those who took one of the versions of the electrical PE exam this past weekend, how'd it go? Easier or more difficult than expected? What color was the pencil?

Also, as a friendly reminder, please be aware that you signed an agreement with NCEES not to discuss any specific content on the exam. NCEES monitors this forum regularly around exam time. Note a previous post below where one test-taker was close to revealing too much information. Don't let that happen to you. When in doubt, keep it to yourself. :thumbs:



Tim @ NCEES said:


> As a reminder, when you took the NCEES examination you signed an agreement that included the statement that you agreed you will not reveal in whole or part any exam questions, answers, problems, or solutions to anyone during or after the exam, whether orally, in writing, or any internet chat rooms, or otherwise. This agreement also stated that failure to comply with this could invalidate your exam results.
> 
> I was just reviewing a borderline post from this website with my Manager of Compliance and Security when it was edited by the poster. Please do not share exam content - we do not wish to invalidate your results.


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## Ship Wreck PE (Oct 28, 2013)

The Morning was good, but the afternoon was Brutal!

I am pretty sure I got like 80 to 85% correct in the morning, but the afternoon maybe 50 to 60%.

I think my pencil was red??


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## knight1fox3 (Oct 28, 2013)

Bummer! At least it's over and done with. Now begins the worrying/waiting on results! Oh and when I took the exam, a member on this board (electrical) posted his exam experience. And it was absolutely hilarious. I generally try to share it each exam cycle to try and help lighten the mood some. See below :lmao: :



bingcrosbyb said:


> 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.
> 
> ...


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## Blink (Oct 28, 2013)

Ship Wreck said:


> The Morning was good, but the afternoon was Brutal!
> 
> I am pretty sure I got like 80 to 85% correct in the morning, but the afternoon maybe 50 to 60%.
> 
> I think my pencil was red??


This exactly!!!! The afternoon was a completely different animal.

I got a red pencil that they made us turn in with out exams.


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## knight1fox3 (Oct 28, 2013)

Blink said:


> I got a red pencil that they made us turn in with out exams.


Ya, when I took the exam, they tried telling us the same thing. I laughed to myself and quietly tucked the pencil in my book bag. I invested too much time, money and effort to be told I couldn't take my "trophy" home with me.


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## Jabert (Oct 28, 2013)

I feel the same way... I had my way with the morning session, but the afternoon had its way with me!

Glad I wasn't the only one that found the afternoon brutal!

I found on some of the problems that once I figured out what the hell they were asking, I was ok... But I spent a lot of time deciphering what they were really asking for


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## daw4888 (Oct 28, 2013)

$265 isnt enough to cover buying the pencil, you only get to rent it.

I agree, the afternoon was a pain. Wish we could discuss content, because some of it is totally stupid and a waste of an Engineers time, mining information that any modern day engineer would PDF or google search to find in less then 5 seconds.


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## wattersa81 (Oct 28, 2013)

I didn't feel too bad after the AM but by the time the PM was over with my mind was pure mush. I actually saw a pebble flying at my before it hit my windshield on the way home. The part I hate is the next work day and everyone asking you if you passed and how it went. In all honesty I would be surprised if I passed the exam.

BTW, red pencil that I will use to study for April as shame for not passing the first time.


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## iahim (Oct 28, 2013)

The afternoon was harder than the morning part, but I didn't think it was brutal. Maybe the nap I took during the last hour of the morning exam helped.


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## danadiva81 (Oct 28, 2013)

What I found interesting was the whole “rank your question” strategy. It took me 15 minutes to read through the whole exam, ranking the problems in difficulty from 1 to 4, plus the NEC’s. Well, with the 1’s, I was spot on…But what was interesting was some of the 2’s and 3’s were actually 4’s….and some of the questions I originally ranked as 4’s---after cutting through the fluff---were actually only 1’s and 2’s. LOL. Talk about frustration!!!!!! :mad2:


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## jimee (Oct 28, 2013)

I actually felt the afternoon session to be easier than the morning session.

I am not an early morning person and maybe that had something to do with it. I had the same experience with the EIT. The morning was brutal and the afternoon seemed much simpler. Now I am wondering...if the afternoon was harder, maybe I completely blew it


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## shsweet28 (Oct 28, 2013)

I thought the morning was pretty easy and that the afternoon was more difficult. I spent a lot of time on some of the NEC problems!


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## eBreak (Oct 28, 2013)

Afternoon was brutal. Would be lucky if I got 50% correct in the PM. However, I felt really good about the morning session. My confidence was way up after the AM, however after 30 minutes into the PM session, I was feeling frustrated and probably wasted a lot of time looking in my references for that "magic" formula.

Also, 45 - 60 minutes into the exam; I noticed a fellow Power exam taker (saw his big red NEC 2011 handbook) packed his stuff and left the exam room. Not sure if he aced it or he just left out of frustration?


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## shsweet28 (Oct 28, 2013)

These posts have helped me out a bunch. I too had a ton of confidence after the morning session only to lose most of it 30 minutes into the afternoon one.


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## PE_2_Be (Oct 28, 2013)

For those that took the Electrical &amp; Electronics exam, did you need to reference the NEC or NESC codes? What about Engineering Economics? The exam specs on NCEES doesn't specifically say these things will be on the Electronics exam, but PPI says different.


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## floridamose (Oct 29, 2013)

Man, what a relief to hear all of you say the afternoon was brutal. I feel like I absolutely crushed the morning exam. I was done in under three hours and was able to review all of my answers and check my work for those dumb mistakes I constantly made on practice exams. The afternoon was some kind of disaster!!! I was feeling great until I got about three questions into the afternoon section. The wheels COMPLETELY came off and my anxiety went through the roof! How can they make a test so DRASTICALLY different than any review material that has been produced?! OUCH! I seriously feel like I knew less than half of the afternoon material. Depressing! You spend five months preparing and still don't feel good about it. I am just hoping that the sun was shining on me that day and I guessed extremely well. My baby is due about the time that the results are to be posted, so it could be a really, really happy time, or a jumble of mixed emotions. I am hoping for the really, really happy time! Good luck, everyone!


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## daw4888 (Oct 29, 2013)

PE_2_Be said:


> For those that took the Electrical &amp; Electronics exam, did you need to reference the NEC or NESC codes? What about Engineering Economics? The exam specs on NCEES doesn't specifically say these things will be on the Electronics exam, but PPI says different.






If you didnt have the NEC...You most likely didnt pass... I didnt take the NESC, only the table of contents, and I was fine.

After seeing a large number of a certain type of problems in the morning, I thought we were done with them. Then I opened the afternoon, and read the first question, and let out a quiet F bomb.. the Proctor laughed at me.


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## daw4888 (Oct 29, 2013)

PE_2_Be said:


> For those that took the Electrical &amp; Electronics exam, did you need to reference the NEC or NESC codes? What about Engineering Economics? The exam specs on NCEES doesn't specifically say these things will be on the Electronics exam, but PPI says different.




Econ is included on the General Power Engineering, Special Applications Part of the Test which NCEES shows as being 10% of the test. Reference Below.


I. General Power Engineering 30%
A. Measurement and Instrumentation 7.5%
1. Instrument transformers
2. Wattmeters
3. VOM metering
4. Insulation testing
5. Ground resistance testing
B. Special Applications 10%
1. Lightning and surge protection
2. Reliability
3. Illumination engineering
4. Demand and energy management/calculations
5. Engineering economics


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## rynan_4 (Oct 29, 2013)

I was shocked to see in a room of 30 I was the only person taking any form of the Electrical PE. I also took home my beautiful white/red pencil as a souvenir after neglecting my wife and kids for the past few months...

We had to wait for the afternoon session to start because some guy was stuck on the toilet letting out his frustrations...proctor was almost going to shut the doors but when they found he where he was - we waited...

congrats floridamose on your baby and hope you have great news on both fronts!


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## fetaker (Oct 29, 2013)

Morning session was good, but afternoon was something else! Nothing that I could have expected. I am starting to think that the afternoon session is going to drag down my score below the threshold. It is frustrating to go through all this after all those months of dedication.

But question becomes: if I need to sit for next round of preparation, and go through this once again what preparation materials should I be using? I’m thinking of taking one of the preparation courses PPI or GA Tech. What do you guys suggest?

How did people do the test who took PPI class vs. the ones who took the GA tech courses? Which one is test oriented?

Thanks.


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## knight1fox3 (Oct 29, 2013)

The GA Tech course gets my nod. If you search around here a bit, you'll find some pretty good reviews from other members (including me). I haven't seen as many good reviews for PPI.

EDIT: I should also note that the GA Tech binder was probably my primary resource during the exam.


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## danadiva81 (Oct 29, 2013)

fetaker said:


> Morning session was good, but afternoon was something else! Nothing that I could have expected. I am starting to think that the afternoon session is going to drag down my score below the threshold. It is frustrating to go through all this after all those months of dedication.
> 
> But question becomes: if I need to sit for next round of preparation, and go through this once again what preparation materials should I be using? I’m thinking of taking one of the preparation courses PPI or GA Tech. What do you guys suggest?
> 
> ...




I bought the PPI Passing Zone and Exam Cafe, and someone was kind enough to sell me their GA tech binder. The GA tech binder helped me out A LOT during the exam.....and for the PPI...I want my money back.


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## daw4888 (Oct 29, 2013)

Yes. I took the Gtech class and it is pretty good. I think that just getting the binder and working through it yourself would be almost as good, and save you $$.

On a side note, I have a Gtech Binder, CI Tests 1-4, NCEES Practice Test, and CI Electrical Code Drill Book for sale.


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## fetaker (Oct 29, 2013)

It might be little too early to buy or sell. Anyways, where do you have it on sale? How's "Electrical Code Drill Book"?


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## daw4888 (Oct 29, 2013)

fetaker said:


> It might be little too early to buy or sell. Anyways, where do you have it on sale? How's "Electrical Code Drill Book"?






Its not to bad. I did about half of them. It saved me some time on the test by realizing that the definitions at the front of the NEC can come in handy for a quick solution to a problem. Its good to teach you how the NEC is organized.


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## PE_2_Be (Oct 29, 2013)

daw4888 said:


> daw4888 said:
> 
> 
> > PE_2_Be said:
> ...


daw4888, you sound like you took the Power sub-discipline exam. I'm asking who specifically took the ELECTRONICS sub-discipline exam. The Electronics exam outline on NCEES doesn't mention the NEC code, NESC code, or Engineering Economics. But the instructions at the top of the outline say that some questions may include economics. I've been reading through this forum and PPI's website and find conflicting info about economics, NEC, or NESC on the Electronics exam.
Did anyone on here take the Electronics sub-discipline exam, or did everyone take Power. If anyone took Electronics, can you answer my questions?


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## GTOShoota (Oct 30, 2013)

Glad to hear I wasn't alone when looking at the first PM question.... Pretty much like everyone else, AM part felt great, PM @^$%#.


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## daw4888 (Oct 30, 2013)

PE_2_Be said:


> daw4888 said:
> 
> 
> > daw4888 said:
> ...


Sorry I didnt notice the Electronics part. I dont know anyone that took that sub-discipline part of the exam. Only people that took power. Sorry I cant be of any help.

If you can read a present value, future value table, and know how to apply it, you should be ok.


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## jardine121 (Oct 31, 2013)

I finished an hour early in the AM, went back and guessed on the 2 questions I had no idea on, then reviewed some of the questions I had some doubt on. Seeing some of them for a second time, it was easier to pick out the 'trick.'

Afternoon was definately tougher, well the first half of it anyway. Finished with 20 min left.

I took it last spring, and was suprised at the varying focus of the questions between the two tests. It seems like a crapshoot to me, you just need to get lucky with the questiosn they feel like putting on the test. It doesn't give me much faith in the process to be honest.


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## Mike in Gastonia (Oct 31, 2013)

jardine121 said:


> I took it last spring, and was suprised at the varying focus of the questions between the two tests. It seems like a crapshoot to me, you just need to get lucky with the questiosn they feel like putting on the test. It doesn't give me much faith in the process to be honest.




Are you saying they had different percentages of questions from what they published on their website? I've often wondered how they do that. They could ask an engineering econ question but it's comparing different variable speed drives or something. Do they "count" that as an econ question or a variable speed drive question? I guess it depends on what they're really asking. But then do examinees agree or do they say that there were more variable speed drive questions than they was expecting..........


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## jardine121 (Oct 31, 2013)

Mike in Gastonia said:


> jardine121 said:
> 
> 
> > I took it last spring, and was suprised at the varying focus of the questions between the two tests. It seems like a crapshoot to me, you just need to get lucky with the questiosn they feel like putting on the test. It doesn't give me much faith in the process to be honest.
> ...




I think the general breakdown is accurate, it's the sub-categories that seems to vary. Not sure if I should be saying much more than that.


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## ASG (Oct 31, 2013)

I know what you're saying. Take the example below

Special Applications 10% 
1. Lightning and surge protection 
2. Reliability 
3. Illumination engineering 
4. Demand and energy management/calculations 
5. Engineering economics

So you have 8 questions on any one of these topics. It can be 3 on economics, 2 on surge protection, 2 on iluumination engineering, 1 on demand and 0 on reliablity. Or any combination thereof. And engineering economics itself is a very large subject so the questions can be in different areas or 2 questions that are the exact same thing with different numbers.


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## kchinger (Oct 31, 2013)

Same feeling as everyone else. AM was pretty easy, finished with 2 hours left and then spent 45 minutes working it again. Found a couple errors and fixed them, probably got 90% or so on the morning. Then, there was the afternoon. Wow. Totally different feel, probably twice as hard. My prep didn't really prepare me adequately for the afternoon, but I feel like I got enough of them to pass. Just have to wait and see.


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## Jabert (Oct 31, 2013)

knight1fox3 said:


> FWIW, I made it a point on the actual exam to clearly underline/circle exactly what the problem was asking and made sure to read it in its entirety. I did that for every problem even if I had to skip it and come back to it later.


This was very helpful to me, saved me at least a few stupid mistakes! Thanks knightfox

And I hijacked that red pencil to frame with my certificate and calculator one day!


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## EEpowerOK (Nov 12, 2013)

I took the test in April too and felt like this test was much more difficult, although I was more prepared on this one. Got the feeling someone else created this test compared to the test 6 months ago. It had a different looks and feel. The afternoon was more difficult by 3-4 questions plus the fatigue. I was told I could keep my red pencil.


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## EEpowerOK (Nov 12, 2013)

knight1fox3 said:


> For those who took one of the versions of the electrical PE exam this past weekend, how'd it go? Easier or more difficult than expected? What color was the pencil?
> 
> Also, as a friendly reminder, please be aware that you signed an agreement with NCEES not to discuss any specific content on the exam. NCEES monitors this forum regularly around exam time. Note a previous post below where one test-taker was close to revealing too much information. Don't let that happen to you. When in doubt, keep it to yourself. :thumbs:
> 
> ...


Why do you ask about the color of the pencil?


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## knight1fox3 (Nov 13, 2013)

Kind of a tradition on this board to know what the color of the pencil for each exam cycle and how it changes.


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## Mike in Gastonia (Nov 15, 2013)

knight1fox3 said:


> Kind of a tradition on this board to know what the color of the pencil for each exam cycle and how it changes.




I thought you were obtaining data to perform a correlation study on the color of the pencil vs the difficulty of the exam and the perceived cut score. :rotflmao:


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## knight1fox3 (Nov 15, 2013)

^Shhhhhh. That's on a "need to know" basis. :Chris:


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## pittip (Nov 20, 2013)

I'm taking the exam in April. I've completed the Georgia Tech review course. Looking back, what books would you recommend using to prep for the type of questions seen on both the PM and AM exam? Also, would you mind listing the relevant books that you recommend taking into the exam?


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## knight1fox3 (Nov 20, 2013)

^ try searching the electrical forum specifically. There are already quite a few threads that discuss relevant exam prep materials. Post back if you have trouble finding them.


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## nasir (Nov 20, 2013)

Anybody knows when to expect scores out?? Second week of December?? or later?? when last year.....?


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## daw4888 (Nov 20, 2013)

I ask around, and it seems last year was around December 19th or so. So we might still have a few weeks, or almost a month.


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## knight1fox3 (Nov 20, 2013)

Here's a nice map of the October 2012 results: http://engineerboards.com/index.php?showtopic=20433&amp;page=8#entry7010844

It really depends on which state you are in. And hopefully you're not in PA...  :mail-296:


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