# April 2018 Power PE Difficultly Level



## PE-Apr2018-Power

Hi everyone,

This was my second time taking the Power PE exam and I thought the test was harder than last time.

I studied for more than 4 months and tried to focus on my weaknesses as much as possible but it didn’t seem to help. 

I wanna hear from other people’s experiences regarding the past exam, if it was your second time did you feel it was harder or easier?

Thank you.


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## Szar

First time taking the test.  I'm feeling fairly confident.

With that said... their was a particular question on the exam that I had noooooooooo idea how to be even begin approaching.  Like most others I could imagine how to approach but maybe was missing a reference.  Not that one...       

Edit.   And I have nothing more to say on that.   Lol.


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## 14kAIC

I agree, and it felt way harder than the NCEES practice exam. Code questions seemed more complex and some questions were on stuff I had never seen before, despite having studied for 4 months.

All in all, I guessed on about 7 in the AM session and 5 in the PM session. Felt pretty confident about 25 in the AM session and 30 in the PM session so hopefully that puts me at above 56/80...


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## Phenomenon083

Thank you guys for sharing your experience. Based on your recent experience what materials do you think would be most helpful to prepare for the exam?


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## tatyanam

I felt that i did worst than last time, I left morning session feeling that i did not get one question right.  Afternoon was easier for some reason.   That said, it is not technical difficulties, but lack of clarity in the questions and mixing bunch of topics in one question.


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## BirdGrave

I honestly don't know how to feel about the exam.  It's weird, contrary to popular opinion in this thread I felt the morning went better for me than the afternoon, but that could be mistaken perception on my part.  The test itself I thought was much harder than any of my practice material.  All in all I think I completely guessed on about 5-6 questions on the exam.  I don't know if that is reflective of how I did though, as I changed many of my answers upon revisiting questions a second time.

As to whether I passed?  Who knows.  I feel like it could go either way for me.  Some questions I knew like the palm of my hand, and others seemed like a foreign language to me.


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## tschnepf

First time taker here. The morning session was a bit brutal for me personally, quite a few questions that threw me for a loop even after ~4 months of study. I felt pretty confident about the afternoon though. Obviously I'm hoping to pass but in reality I wouldn't be surprised either way. I guess we will see how good I am at educated guessing.


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## EngrinSF

I agree. The exam was much harder than the practice exam and some of the questions were topics I had never seen before. I feel like I guessed on many of them. The morning session was terrible and the afternoon was better. I am just hoping for the best at this point.I have a master's degree and it was pretty useless for the exam.


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## bripgilb

I think it was harder than the Oct. 27th 2017 Exam.

That said, I'd say there were 3 problems that I had no clue on and probably had 6 in the morning and 6 in the evening that required guessing.

I felt the morning was more difficult than the afternoon.

Just crossing my fingers and praying.

And, also still gonna do one practice problem a day to keep it fresh until I get my results.


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## 14kAIC

bripgilb said:


> I think it was harder than the Oct. 27th 2017 Exam.
> 
> That said, I'd say there were 3 problems that I had no clue on and probably had 6 in the morning and 6 in the evening that required guessing.
> 
> I felt the morning was more difficult than the afternoon.
> 
> Just crossing my fingers and praying.
> 
> And, also still gonna do one practice problem a day to keep it fresh until I get my results.


Do you feel you scored higher than the last time you took it? Even if you missed all the ones you guessed, that's still a solid score of like 65-68.


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## BirdGrave

A harder exam likely means a lower scaled passing score.  Don't assume it's over until it's over, folks.


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## KatyLied P.E.

bripgilb said:


> I think it was harder than the Oct. 27th 2017 Exam.
> 
> That said, I'd say there were 3 problems that I had no clue on and probably had 6 in the morning and 6 in the evening that required guessing.
> 
> I felt the morning was more difficult than the afternoon.
> 
> Just crossing my fingers and praying.
> 
> And, also still gonna do one practice problem a day to keep it fresh until I get my results.


By all means do what works best for you regarding daily practice problems.  However, I'd recommend postponing problems until after you get your results.  starting again so soon can lead to second guessing and anxiety.  What's done is done.  Try to clear your ,mind and wait on your results.  I felt like I needed to start studying again the day after my exam.  A friend told me to hold off and I was glad I did.  Even if you don't pass this time the mental and emotional relief from a study break will put you in a better position the next.  Besides, you may have passed.


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## Trademark04

I took the test in April 2017 and did not pass... I felt this was perhaps easier than last time and I can confidently say I did not adequately prepare for this exam due to work (like nearly zero studying.) So perhaps I didn't know that I didn't know. 

That being said, I work in the consulting realm and felt perhaps this test leaned itself towards my profession more so than my previous attempt.


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## BirdGrave

So after doing some research, I've come to realize I got one wrong that I really shouldn't have gotten wrong, mostly because I was staring right at the resource that blatantly told me what the correct answer was but I was too fatigued with the exam to think clearly at that point.  Man, am I angry at myself for that.  I really could have used those gimme points.

Fingers crossed that I can keep it under 23 more wrong and make it a sure thing...


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## bripgilb

14kAIC said:


> Do you feel you scored higher than the last time you took it? Even if you missed all the ones you guessed, that's still a solid score of like 65-68.


I don't know if how I feel.

I feel like the test was more difficult, but I was also more prepared so to me that almost feels like a wash. haha


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## bripgilb

KatyLied P.E. said:


> By all means do what works best for you regarding daily practice problems.  However, I'd recommend postponing problems until after you get your results.  starting again so soon can lead to second guessing and anxiety.  What's done is done.  Try to clear your ,mind and wait on your results.  I felt like I needed to start studying again the day after my exam.  A friend told me to hold off and I was glad I did.  Even if you don't pass this time the mental and emotional relief from a study break will put you in a better position the next.  Besides, you may have passed.


Thank you for that KL... I think you may be on to something.  At least let my brain cool down for a bit and get back with the family some haha

And like you said... may have passed!!


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## EngrinSF

KatyLied P.E. said:


> By all means do what works best for you regarding daily practice problems.  However, I'd recommend postponing problems until after you get your results.  starting again so soon can lead to second guessing and anxiety.  What's done is done.  Try to clear your ,mind and wait on your results.  I felt like I needed to start studying again the day after my exam.  A friend told me to hold off and I was glad I did.  Even if you don't pass this time the mental and emotional relief from a study break will put you in a better position the next.  Besides, you may have passed.


Thank you for the encouraging words!


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## KatyLied P.E.

bripgilb said:


> Thank you for that KL... I think you may be on to something.  At least let my brain cool down for a bit and get back with the family some haha
> And like you said... may have passed!! [emoji14]


Exactly!! I shut myself off from my family for five months while studying. Time that I will never get back but you have to do what you have to do. Getting back in the groove was a welcome relief after all that exam prep.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## PE-Apr2018-Power

Wishing everyone good luck! Hopefully we won’t need to worry about the next time... but if we have to, we will try our best next time around!   :B


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## Surf and Snow

First time PE exam taker here. Overall I think I survived, but only time will tell.

Been averaging about 85% on last 10 practice exams (I've now taken a total of 16 (SIXTEEN!) full 8-hr practice exams at this point) and logged in somewhere between 200-250 hrs total of study/testing time since I started in January. Sure felt like I had prepared about as well as I could.

As for the exam on Friday, the night and day sessions felt like literally night and day. I feel like I took two completely different tests on Friday. Walked away feeling indifferent.

*The Morning Session: *I felt like I went 12 rounds with Mike Tyson while he was in his prime, but with my arms like T-rex size shortened, and one of them tied behind my back and with a blindfold on. Several questions were things I never saw a single time in the 16 practice exams I had taken to "prepare". Like I had seen apples and bananas 100 times and suddenly there were pomegranates being thrown at me. I screwed up on my time management and spent way too long on a few of the problems and by the time the 15 minute warning was called, I had 5 questions still that I hadn't even started. fml I had to hurriedly make WAGs and SWAG's on them by at least eliminating clearly wrong choices. Walked out to my truck for lunch feeling dazed and confused like "WTF just happened?" I walked away feeling like if I were only graded on the morning, I either failed or am right on the border.

Spent the lunch hour sitting in my truck clearing my mind. Didnt even want to google any of the things that were just thrown at me. Listened to some hard core rock to pump myself up and get back into the zone.

*The Afternoon Session:* Complete opposite of the bloodbath that was the morning. I felt great. I knew most of the material. Consistently and quickly arrived at clear answers confidently. Finished all 40 problems in about 3 hours and had an entire hour to go back and double check my work. I walked away feeling like I easily passed the afternoon half. Wish I were only graded on that. The question is when added together, did I make up enough from the morning?

*My shakedown assessment:* during the test I did what I've always done during my practice exams and assigned a rank to each question 3 = Confident that I have the correct answer,  2 = Pretty sure I'm right, or at least down to only two possible solutions (50/50 odds), and 1 = Total WAG or SWAG, I do not feel confident.

*Morning I had: **26x "3"**, **6x "2"**, and **8x "1"*

*Afternoon I had: **30x "3"**, **9x "2"**, and only **1x "1"*

Based on that breakdown, I _think _I landed enough points to pass, but not in the 85-90% range that I had been experiencing in the practice exams. Fingers crossed I'm a one and done on this experience. Best luck to us all as we try to remain sane waiting forever to find out....

How did the rest of you who tested on Friday feel about it? *(*****Without getting into specifics obviously!!!)*


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## PE-Apr2018-Power

Surf and Snow said:


> First time PE exam taker here. Overall I think I survived, but only time will tell.
> 
> Been averaging about 85% on last 10 practice exams (I've now taken a total of 16 (SIXTEEN!) full 8-hr practice exams at this point) and logged in somewhere between 200-250 hrs total of study/testing time since I started in January. Sure felt like I had prepared about as well as I could.
> 
> As for the exam on Friday, the night and day sessions felt like literally night and day. I feel like I took two completely different tests on Friday. Walked away feeling indifferent.
> 
> *The Morning Session: *I felt like I went 12 rounds with Mike Tyson while he was in his prime, but with my arms like T-rex size shortened, and one of them tied behind my back and with a blindfold on. Several questions were things I never saw a single time in the 16 practice exams I had taken to "prepare". Like I had seen apples and bananas 100 times and suddenly there were pomegranates being thrown at me. I screwed up on my time management and spent way too long on a few of the problems and by the time the 15 minute warning was called, I had 5 questions still that I hadn't even started. fml I had to hurriedly make WAGs and SWAG's on them by at least eliminating clearly wrong choices. Walked out to my truck for lunch feeling dazed and confused like "WTF just happened?" I walked away feeling like if I were only graded on the morning, I either failed or am right on the border.
> 
> Spent the lunch hour sitting in my truck clearing my mind. Didnt even want to google any of the things that were just thrown at me. Listened to some hard core rock to pump myself up and get back into the zone.
> 
> *The Afternoon Session:* Complete opposite of the bloodbath that was the morning. I felt great. I knew most of the material. Consistently and quickly arrived at clear answers confidently. Finished all 40 problems in about 3 hours and had an entire hour to go back and double check my work. I walked away feeling like I easily passed the afternoon half. Wish I were only graded on that. The question is when added together, did I make up enough from the morning?
> 
> *My shakedown assessment:* during the test I did what I've always done during my practice exams and assigned a rank to each question 3 = Confident that I have the correct answer,  2 = Pretty sure I'm right, or at least down to only two possible solutions (50/50 odds), and 1 = Total WAG or SWAG, I do not feel confident.
> 
> *Morning I had: **26x "3"**, **6x "2"**, and **8x "1"*
> 
> *Afternoon I had: **30x "3"**, **9x "2"**, and only **1x "1"*
> 
> Based on that breakdown, I _think _I landed enough points to pass, but not in the 85-90% range that I had been experiencing in the practice exams. Fingers crossed I'm a one and done on this experience. Best luck to us all as we try to remain sane waiting forever to find out....
> 
> How did the rest of you who tested on Friday feel about it? *(*****Without getting into specifics obviously!!!)*


It seems you did well, good luck! I didn’t get a chance to estimate my possible score based on how I did on each problem individually. I wish I could ... I barely managed to finish on time! For me the morning session felt harder as well, the afternoon felt much smoother! I was numb and disappointed after the test and even self doubting myself on the ones I possibly got right. Well we can’t do anything but waiting right now!


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## BirdGrave

Did anyone else find themselves referencing the FE Handbook a lot?  I found myself using it much more than I anticipated, especially given that I only brought it on a lark.


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## wvengineer

BirdGrave said:


> Did anyone else find themselves referencing the FE Handbook a lot?  I found myself using it much more than I anticipated, especially given that I only brought it on a lark.


I forgot to take it with me, so no.


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## blewis216

Surf and Snow said:


> First time PE exam taker here. Overall I think I survived, but only time will tell.
> 
> Been averaging about 85% on last 10 practice exams (I've now taken a total of 16 (SIXTEEN!) full 8-hr practice exams at this point) and logged in somewhere between 200-250 hrs total of study/testing time since I started in January. Sure felt like I had prepared about as well as I could.
> 
> As for the exam on Friday, the night and day sessions felt like literally night and day. I feel like I took two completely different tests on Friday. Walked away feeling indifferent.
> 
> *The Morning Session: *I felt like I went 12 rounds with Mike Tyson while he was in his prime, but with my arms like T-rex size shortened, and one of them tied behind my back and with a blindfold on. Several questions were things I never saw a single time in the 16 practice exams I had taken to "prepare". Like I had seen apples and bananas 100 times and suddenly there were pomegranates being thrown at me. I screwed up on my time management and spent way too long on a few of the problems and by the time the 15 minute warning was called, I had 5 questions still that I hadn't even started. fml I had to hurriedly make WAGs and SWAG's on them by at least eliminating clearly wrong choices. Walked out to my truck for lunch feeling dazed and confused like "WTF just happened?" I walked away feeling like if I were only graded on the morning, I either failed or am right on the border.
> 
> Spent the lunch hour sitting in my truck clearing my mind. Didnt even want to google any of the things that were just thrown at me. Listened to some hard core rock to pump myself up and get back into the zone.
> 
> *The Afternoon Session:* Complete opposite of the bloodbath that was the morning. I felt great. I knew most of the material. Consistently and quickly arrived at clear answers confidently. Finished all 40 problems in about 3 hours and had an entire hour to go back and double check my work. I walked away feeling like I easily passed the afternoon half. Wish I were only graded on that. The question is when added together, did I make up enough from the morning?
> 
> *My shakedown assessment:* during the test I did what I've always done during my practice exams and assigned a rank to each question 3 = Confident that I have the correct answer,  2 = Pretty sure I'm right, or at least down to only two possible solutions (50/50 odds), and 1 = Total WAG or SWAG, I do not feel confident.
> 
> *Morning I had: **26x "3"**, **6x "2"**, and **8x "1"*
> 
> *Afternoon I had: **30x "3"**, **9x "2"**, and only **1x "1"*
> 
> Based on that breakdown, I _think _I landed enough points to pass, but not in the 85-90% range that I had been experiencing in the practice exams. Fingers crossed I'm a one and done on this experience. Best luck to us all as we try to remain sane waiting forever to find out....
> 
> How did the rest of you who tested on Friday feel about it? *(*****Without getting into specifics obviously!!!)*


This was exactly how i felt last October, I use the boxing analogy everytime someone asks what the PE exam is like. I had a similar scoring system, mine was 90% for confident answers, 50% for 50/50 and 25% for guesses. I think I remember after the test calculating 78% on how I felt. Ended up with an 85. Looks like your score would have been around 75% by my scoring, I'd feel pretty damn good about this.


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## 14kAIC

Surf and Snow said:


> First time PE exam taker here. Overall I think I survived, but only time will tell.
> 
> Been averaging about 85% on last 10 practice exams (I've now taken a total of 16 (SIXTEEN!) full 8-hr practice exams at this point) and logged in somewhere between 200-250 hrs total of study/testing time since I started in January. Sure felt like I had prepared about as well as I could.
> 
> As for the exam on Friday, the night and day sessions felt like literally night and day. I feel like I took two completely different tests on Friday. Walked away feeling indifferent.
> 
> *The Morning Session: *I felt like I went 12 rounds with Mike Tyson while he was in his prime, but with my arms like T-rex size shortened, and one of them tied behind my back and with a blindfold on. Several questions were things I never saw a single time in the 16 practice exams I had taken to "prepare". Like I had seen apples and bananas 100 times and suddenly there were pomegranates being thrown at me. I screwed up on my time management and spent way too long on a few of the problems and by the time the 15 minute warning was called, I had 5 questions still that I hadn't even started. fml I had to hurriedly make WAGs and SWAG's on them by at least eliminating clearly wrong choices. Walked out to my truck for lunch feeling dazed and confused like "WTF just happened?" I walked away feeling like if I were only graded on the morning, I either failed or am right on the border.
> 
> Spent the lunch hour sitting in my truck clearing my mind. Didnt even want to google any of the things that were just thrown at me. Listened to some hard core rock to pump myself up and get back into the zone.
> 
> *The Afternoon Session:* Complete opposite of the bloodbath that was the morning. I felt great. I knew most of the material. Consistently and quickly arrived at clear answers confidently. Finished all 40 problems in about 3 hours and had an entire hour to go back and double check my work. I walked away feeling like I easily passed the afternoon half. Wish I were only graded on that. The question is when added together, did I make up enough from the morning?
> 
> *My shakedown assessment:* during the test I did what I've always done during my practice exams and assigned a rank to each question 3 = Confident that I have the correct answer,  2 = Pretty sure I'm right, or at least down to only two possible solutions (50/50 odds), and 1 = Total WAG or SWAG, I do not feel confident.
> 
> *Morning I had: **26x "3"**, **6x "2"**, and **8x "1"*
> 
> *Afternoon I had: **30x "3"**, **9x "2"**, and only **1x "1"*
> 
> Based on that breakdown, I _think _I landed enough points to pass, but not in the 85-90% range that I had been experiencing in the practice exams. Fingers crossed I'm a one and done on this experience. Best luck to us all as we try to remain sane waiting forever to find out....
> 
> How did the rest of you who tested on Friday feel about it? *(*****Without getting into specifics obviously!!!)*


Wow that is like exactly the breakdown I had. I remember leaving the morning having 28 I thought I got right and like 6 or 7 guesses, the rest 50/50. Afternoon I also finished in 3 hours with like 30 confident answers, 2 guesses, rest 50/50. 

Hopefully we pass, I figure if just get the confident one's right it should be enough right?


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## BirdGrave

wvengineer said:


> I forgot to take it with me, so no.


I'm wondering if that's why folks seemed to have trouble with the morning session as opposed to the afternoon, whereas for me the opposite seems to be true.  I know I wouldn't have been able to answer a lot of questions with the other resources I brought with had I not also had the manual.  Then again, I could just be delusional and scribbled down nonsense in complete confidence lol.


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## wvengineer

BirdGrave said:


> I'm wondering if that's why folks seemed to have trouble with the morning session as opposed to the afternoon, whereas for me the opposite seems to be true.  I know I wouldn't have been able to answer a lot of questions with the other resources I brought with had I not also had the manual.  Then again, I could just be delusional and scribbled down nonsense in complete confidence lol.


Your last sentence is where I'm at...lol  I thought the morning and afternoon were about the same level of difficulty.  Maybe the morning barely a touch harder.  I felt like the vast majority of it was covered by my references.  I didn't think it was more difficult than what I was expecting, but that now makes me nervous after reading what everyone else has to say. 

This just dawned on me, but when you say FE handbook are you talking about the formula book you got when you took the exam or some aftermarket study guide?  I still have the formula book from when I took the FE.  I was going to take it, but forgot it.  I don't think it would have benefited me greatly.


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## ME_VT_PE

BirdGrave said:


> I'm wondering if that's why folks seemed to have trouble with the morning session as opposed to the afternoon, whereas for me the opposite seems to be true.  I know I wouldn't have been able to answer a lot of questions with the other resources I brought with had I not also had the manual.  Then again, I could just be delusional and scribbled down nonsense in complete confidence lol.


I second your last sentence haha. I could have just been euphoric to have finished the exam when in reality I scribbled down nonsense.


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## ME_VT_PE




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## knight1fox3

And while awaiting your exam results, don't forget to be conscious of the (6) phases of the emotional roller coaster. :thumbs:


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## BirdGrave

wvengineer said:


> Your last sentence is where I'm at...lol  I thought the morning and afternoon were about the same level of difficulty.  Maybe the morning barely a touch harder.  I felt like the vast majority of it was covered by my references.  I didn't think it was more difficult than what I was expecting, but that now makes me nervous after reading what everyone else has to say.
> 
> This just dawned on me, but when you say FE handbook are you talking about the formula book you got when you took the exam or some aftermarket study guide?  I still have the formula book from when I took the FE.  I was going to take it, but forgot it.  I don't think it would have benefited me greatly.


I meant the formula book when you take the FE.  Without going into any detail there was more than one question I wouldn't have been able to answer had I not had it with me.  And I brought everything else; School of PE notes, EngProGuide manual, Wildi, Grainger, etc.


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## wvengineer

BirdGrave said:


> I meant the formula book when you take the FE.  Without going into any detail there was more than one question I wouldn't have been able to answer had I not had it with me.  And I brought everything else; School of PE notes, EngProGuide manual, Wildi, Grainger, etc.


That's the one I'm referring to.  I'm flipping through the book not really sure which problems you might be talking about and now I'm wondering what friggin' exam was I taking?


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## BirdGrave

wvengineer said:


> That's the one I'm referring to.  I'm flipping through the book not really sure which problems you might be talking about and now I'm wondering what friggin' exam was I taking?


I wish I could point you to a section, but I feel like that's coming too close to discussing specific questions (unless an authority figure tells me otherwise).  I'll just say they're subjects outlined in the practice exam syllabus.


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## EngrinSF

what's everyone doing to take their mind off the waiting game?


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## Vette388

EngrinSF said:


> what's everyone doing to take their mind off the waiting game?


Reading this forum, lol. Just kidding. Outside activity's for me.


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## Vette388

Hello, new to the forum and a first time PE taker. Been working at a engineering firm for two years as an intern and four years full time. I feel like I did not do well in the morning, maybe 25 that I had a good feeling about a few guesses, some I had never seen before and some 50/50. The afternoon seemed more practical. I feel I spent more time on the questions I knew instead of spending time trying to figure them out like I did in the morning. Afternoon felt a lot better. Fingers crossed for all of us.


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## Szar

EngrinSF said:


> what's everyone doing to take their mind off the waiting game?


Working mostly.  

Oh, and dreaming of the all the ways I'm going to spend the millions my company will now pay me for achieving the status of PE.


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## ME_VT_PE

EngrinSF said:


> what's everyone doing to take their mind off the waiting game?


Trying not to refresh my NCEES homepage like a madman. At least not until the 2nd week of May or  so...


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## Vette388

ME_VT said:


> Trying not to refresh my NCEES homepage like a madman. At least not until the 2nd week of May or  so...


:rotflmao: That's how I was with the FE lol


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## BirdGrave

I felt pretty confident that I'd cleared the passing grade threshold by a comfortable margin on the FE, so the wait there didn't both me as much as now.  This time I know it's really going to depend on where they scale the lowest passing grade.


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## blewis216

ME_VT said:


> Trying not to refresh my NCEES homepage like a madman. At least not until the 2nd week of May or  so...


nah, you're looking more like last week of may I'd bet. maybe the week before if they are quick about it... which they are not.


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## Xia

Already got the NCEES dreaded survey!! Does this mean anything because cant have already graded the exams right??????


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## ME_VT_PE

Xia said:


> Already got the NCEES dreaded survey!! Does this mean anything because cant have already graded the exams right??????


I got the survey as well. I think they are just automated a few days after the exam...


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## Szar

Nah, nothing to worry about. 

I'm sure they did not fast track your exam results... well...unless they did.


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## knight1fox3

Xia said:


> Already got the NCEES dreaded survey!! Does this mean anything because cant have already graded the exams right??????





ME_VT said:


> I got the survey as well. I think they are just automated a few days after the exam...


Yikes! Not good, statistically speaking.


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## EngrinSF

BirdGrave said:


> I felt pretty confident that I'd cleared the passing grade threshold by a comfortable margin on the FE, so the wait there didn't both me as much as now.  This time I know it's really going to depend on where they scale the lowest passing grade.


Exactly my thoughts. Just hoping the curve is in our favor. Also, if the exam is going to be this hard, I think NCEES should elevate the difficulty level on their sample exam too.


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## BirdGrave

Yea I got the survey as well.  While they might have scanned the sheets already I doubt they've already scaled the exam and analyzed all the questions.  At least that is what I'm telling myself as I rock in the corner of the room.


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## Xia

knight1fox3 said:


> Yikes! Not good, statistically speaking.


OH DEAR GOD


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## Szar

knight1fox3 said:


> Yikes! Not good, statistically speaking.


What did the board determine in the past? 

Something like 95% fail rate if you receive the Survey?


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## knight1fox3

Szar said:


> What did the board determine in the past?
> 
> Something like 95% fail rate if you receive the Survey?


The exact number escapes me but something along those lines. :thumbs:


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## Xia

knight1fox3 said:


> The exact number escapes me but something along those lines. :thumbs:


Trying to calm down and take it as a joke... But anxiety is kicking in overdrive and Yay to the remaining 8-10 weeks!


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## BirdGrave

Xia said:


> Trying to calm down and take it as a joke... But anxiety is kicking in overdrive and Yay to the remaining 8-10 weeks!


Try to not stress.  Looking at the Oct 2017 thread it seems like plenty of people who got the survey also passed the test.  Even if it might have once been just people who failed got it there's no guarantee that's still the case.  Plus I reiterate that I don't see them having determined grades the Tuesday after test day.


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## PE-Apr2018-Power

Xia said:


> Already got the NCEES dreaded survey!! Does this mean anything because cant have already graded the exams right??????






ME_VT said:


> I got the survey as well. I think they are just automated a few days after the exam...


NCEES Survey email freaked me out for a sec :huh:  for no reason!!! I’m not even joking ....


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## wvengineer

PE-Apr2018-Power said:


> NCEES Survey email freaked me out for a sec :huh:  for no reason!!! I’m not even joking ....


I got the survey email too.


----------



## 14kAIC

Just going to throw out there that it would be impossible for them to know the score by now. They score new exams with a board of engineers that determine the cut score after scoring each individual problem on difficulty. They also have to do a bunch of stuff like hand grading a random sample of tests to ensure Scantron grading accuracy etc. 

A good read on how NCEES figures out cut scores: http://ncees.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/2012_AM_Understanding_Exam_Dev.pdf


----------



## blewis216

I'm pretty sure it wasn't until maybe 4 weeks out that I got the survey... and I passed. Not sure about those who get early surveys but from what I read that's not a good thing.


----------



## Szar

I mean, take a look at this!



> Reviewing examinee guide and came across this tidbit...
> 
> Examinee Survey
> 
> NCEES will email you an online post-exam survey 7–10 days after the exam *upon early indications of a failing score*. This is your opportunity to provide feedback on the exam process and the exam site conditions. If you have feedback specific to an exam question, provide it immediately after the exam through your MyNCEES account.


----------



## Surf and Snow

Meh. I got the survey today too. We ALL did. It’s Automated. I wouldn’t stress about it. But I could see it being a fun way to taunt the new guys every test cycle.


----------



## Vette388

Surf and Snow said:


> Meh. I got the survey today too. We ALL did. It’s Automated. I wouldn’t stress about it. But I could see it being a fun way to taunt the new guys every test cycle.


agreed


----------



## wvengineer

Szar said:


> I mean, take a look at this!


----------



## Xia

Surf and Snow said:


> Meh. I got the survey today too. We ALL did. It’s Automated. I wouldn’t stress about it. But I could see it being a fun way to taunt the new guys every test cycle.






Szar said:


> I mean, take a look at this!






14kAIC said:


> Just going to throw out there that it would be impossible for them to know the score by now. They score new exams with a board of engineers that determine the cut score after scoring each individual problem on difficulty. They also have to do a bunch of stuff like hand grading a random sample of tests to ensure Scantron grading accuracy etc.
> 
> A good read on how NCEES figures out cut scores: http://ncees.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/2012_AM_Understanding_Exam_Dev.pdf






PE-Apr2018-Power said:


> NCEES Survey email freaked me out for a sec :huh:  for no reason!!! I’m not even joking ....


Anh logically I know its a stretch 1) to assume they would have scores by now  and 2) that they would select failed students for the survey specifically(NCEES i don't think has that much energy or time, else we wouldn't wait 8 weeks for results)

But I think logic was left at the exam hall when i left and everything makes me anxious now till I get the results.


----------



## helphere

I felt that the exam was fairly difficult. I am a recent college grad and studied probably 300-500 hours since January. I went into the exam 80-90% confident I'd pass and left thinking anything could happen. I managed to come up with an answer for probably 75/80 questions (doesn't mean I got 75 right though) and felt really unsure about 5 questions.

I took the entire 4 hours for the morning section and had to guess on 2-3 questions. I ate lunch feeling discouraged, mentally drained, and a little frustrated. Some of the questions on the morning section felt very foreign to me and just plain weird. 

The afternoon section went more smoothly for me. I finished the exam in about 3 hours and had to guess on only 1-3 questions.

Difficulty level wise, I'd rate:

NCEES practice test: *6/10 *

Engineering Pro practice test:* 7/10*

Actual PE morning section: *10/10*

Actual PE afternoon section:* 8/10*

Glad to know you guys thought it was difficult as well!


----------



## Xia

As for the Exam, I thought the morning session was difficult. I struggled with some questions to even figure out where to start. 

By the time lunch came i was mentally exhausted and ready to give up . some morning questions could have been attempted with FE handbook equations , So I  kicked myself a few times for not carrying the FE handbook! 

Afternoon was much better in that I at least knew how to start or attempt the problems. 

All in all I think I had to Completely guess about 10 in each session. About 5 in each I think I solved but I don't know how.

I think they need to update the NCEES practice exam because that is seriously outdated.


----------



## EngrinSF

Xia said:


> As for the Exam, I thought the morning session was difficult. I struggled with some questions to even figure out where to start.
> 
> By the time lunch came i was mentally exhausted and ready to give up . some morning questions could have been attempted with FE handbook equations , So I  kicked myself a few times for not carrying the FE handbook!
> 
> Afternoon was much better in that I at least knew how to start or attempt the problems.
> 
> All in all I think I had to Completely guess about 10 in each session. About 5 in each I think I solved but I don't know how.
> 
> I think they need to update the NCEES practice exam because that is seriously outdated.


I totally agree! The sample exam needs to be updated :|


----------



## BirdGrave

EngrinSF said:


> I totally agree! The sample exam needs to be updated :|


I think the sample exam does an okay job of giving you a sense of the breadth of the material.  The problem is the difficulty is nowhere near comprable to the actual exam, at least not this time.  As long as they scale the passing score to reflect that fact it shouldn't be a problem  (As long as they...).  But none of my practice exams, including the hardest which were the official NCEES and the EngProGuide Power exam, gave an accurate representation of the difficulty of this exam.  

I think a lot of it has to do with the change in priorities in the syllabus for this exam, which was the first instance of the realignment of number of questions for different topics.  Without going into specifics I think some of what would have been the more anticipated questions that had been represented in the practice exams were taken out and replaced by more difficult questions.


----------



## Mem_Elect_Engr

Same feeling here guys! I was fully prepared with a lot of practice and a lot of reading (about 4-5 months). But, I believe generally, the reference material in the market (practice exams and study books) is less complicated compared to the actual exam. I was really stuck in first 2-3 questions in the morning session and then realized I was wasting my time. The morning test was bit tricky and some questions were very complicated; never heard of them before. Afternoon session has some questions which  confused me a lot but i figured out better than morning. Last time, it was opposite; I was feeling confident in the morning and confused in the afternoon session.

This was my second attempt and feel like the this time it was more harder than last time; and I am not hesistant to say, I went blindly without a lot of practice/reading last time! But, this time I practice a lot and did pretty good (I believe) as a whole. That helped me a lot for the questions with calculations as well as reading helped me to figure out the conceptual questions. Hope to pass this time   but fingers cross


----------



## Mem_Elect_Engr

Szar said:


> *upon early indications of a failing score*. This is your


Dude, you freeked me out! The actual guide does not say this addition. Here is the actual guide definition. I think everyone gets the survey regardless of pass or fail.


----------



## ME_VT_PE

Mem_Elect_Engr said:


> Dude, you freeked me out! The actual guide does not say this addition. Here is the actual guide definition. I think everyone gets the survey regardless of pass or fail.
> 
> View attachment 11067


Dude, relaxxxxxxx


----------



## Mem_Elect_Engr

ME_VT said:


> Dude, relaxxxxxxx


 , this is my second time and if I fail, I will be literally pulling my hair!!


----------



## Szar

As we have not received scores yet, take this with a grain of salt and through a colored visor... but my opinion is as follows:

I agree with you the testing system is bad.  But the individual questions are actually _very_  easy *if* you know the specific angle they are coming from and have experience with it.  Will not get into more detail then that.      

The problem as I see it is the wide breadth of information that is required to be a component electrical engineer in the eyes of the PE Exam.  For instance, if you are doing building systems... you will never jump into Distribution / Transmission systems unless you change job positions.  Generation engineering is an entirely separate beast from all of the above.  They may or may not use the NEC depending on how badly the Gen/Trans/Dist utility wants to act on its Utility Exemption.  They are just completely different job descriptions, requirements and specialty codes and honestly your PE experience in one will not relate to your PE experience in the other.  Engineer's can completely specialize in System Studies and never see the inside of a building or open a code book. 

Keep in mind I am only talking about the time served at a particular job and not over their entire career, but realistically who isn't going to have to relearn this information after 10 years of not touching it?  And almost guaranteed the codes will be different, the type of work you do will be far more in depth then what the PE covers and you are still going to have to study more to become proficient at your new job.   

The test wants you to know the basics of _everything upfront._  And I agree that is not a bad strategy.  But where this really begins to grind my gears is the knowledge one needs to comfortable ACE the PE exam cannot be readily obtained from a single library or a limited set of experience.  The PE almost requires you to have worked in multiple  jobs across multiple industries due to the varied and vague listing of study topics.  I take a problem with the premise that there will be some questions you simply cannot answer because you didn't know you needed a specific material or reference.      

The other hardship as I see it is is not knowing the limits that test places on the knowledge base needed.  Similar to above, but whereas above I am talking about different industries, here I am talking about the nuts and bolts of a specific industry.  Take lighting systems for example and the study information from several authors for the PE sample test exams.  Some ask you questions about luminaire distribution types, others about color temperatures, others about wavelengths, others about the general calculations, others about ballast types, other about NEC code requirements, others about IES standards.  The single field of lighting is not exactly massive but it is pretty huge none the less and is noted a single line item on the syllabus.  How far we need to take this?  Do I search these topics in regards to Fluorescent and LED only?  What about LPS, HPS and Incandescent which are outdated technologies and no longer generally specified... but still prevalent in the field?  Do I need to research emergency drivers and egress lighting?  Are these questions _fair_ and will I expect them on an exam?   

Do not get me wrong.  I feel pretty strongly that I passed, but its frustrating when I see questions asked that I know no engineer would ever come across in the field.   

Anyways, end of my rant!


----------



## Mem_Elect_Engr

Szar said:


> Working mostly.
> 
> Oh, and dreaming of the all the ways I'm going to spend the millions my company will now pay me for achieving the status of PE.


aahhaaa that's good one!! I like it!!


----------



## bripgilb

14kAIC said:


> Just going to throw out there that it would be impossible for them to know the score by now. They score new exams with a board of engineers that determine the cut score after scoring each individual problem on difficulty. They also have to do a bunch of stuff like hand grading a random sample of tests to ensure Scantron grading accuracy etc.
> 
> A good read on how NCEES figures out cut scores: http://ncees.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/2012_AM_Understanding_Exam_Dev.pdf


I found slide 75/76 very interesting!

Does this mean they grade all the tests, double and some triple checked, within 2 days?!


----------



## Mem_Elect_Engr

By the way, is there any board in US that allow more than three times before asking to go back to shool? Just asking to be on the safe side :blink:


----------



## Szar

Mem_Elect_Engr said:


> By the way, is there any board in US that allow more than three times before asking to go back to shool? Just asking to be on the safe side :blink:


Some states will ask to submit documentation that you changed your study habits if you have failed 3 times. 

An example may be taking a paid study class or something similar.


----------



## Mem_Elect_Engr

Szar said:


> Some states will ask to submit documentation that you changed your study habits if you have failed 3 times.
> 
> An example may be taking a paid study class or something similar.


Paid study class for a particular course or PE exam? or any of that?


----------



## Szar

Mem_Elect_Engr said:


> Paid study class for a particular course or PE exam? or any of that?


That's more a question for your specific board. 

The language on my board's website was something to the effect of "demonstrate additional preparation" which typically inferred some type of paid class.


----------



## Mem_Elect_Engr

Guess what  , I talked to my collegue who wrote exam second time last year with me and said he got the same survey email both the time; so that is not necessary a sign for failure :laugh:


----------



## Surf and Snow

bripgilb said:


> I found slide 75/76 very interesting!
> 
> Does this mean they grade all the tests, double and some triple checked, within 2 days?!


FWIW: Those stats are for the SE exam, not the PE exam. And I doubt it


----------



## Vette388

Look back on previous threads, they do it to everyone to scare them. Got me too, all in good fun.  :rotflmao:


----------



## bobbilly

bripgilb said:


> I think it was harder than the Oct. 27th 2017 Exam.
> 
> That said, I'd say there were 3 problems that I had no clue on and probably had 6 in the morning and 6 in the evening that required guessing.
> 
> I felt the morning was more difficult than the afternoon.
> 
> Just crossing my fingers and praying.
> 
> And, also still gonna do one practice problem a day to keep it fresh until I get my results.


AM session was harder for me. I finished the PM session about an hour early and review my answers and then left about 20 mins early.


----------



## BirdGrave

So I'm recounting some of the problems I wasn't sure about and with the benefit of more than 6 minutes and the internet I'm finding I'm getting about 50% of them right.

I felt reasonably confident with about half of the questions on the test, so if I can get half of that remaining half I'm hoping it puts me around the 75% mark.

Hoping...


----------



## 14kAIC

BirdGrave said:


> So I'm recounting some of the problems I wasn't sure about and with the benefit of more than 6 minutes and the internet I'm finding I'm getting about 50% of them right.
> 
> I felt reasonably confident with about half of the questions on the test, so if I can get half of that remaining half I'm hoping it puts me around the 75% mark.
> 
> Hoping...


Haha I've been doing the same thing. Keeping a running count on paper of every problem I remember and if I feel I got it right. I've remembered 68 problems and can count 56 I'm pretty confident on so I feel a lot better about it now.


----------



## BirdGrave

14kAIC said:


> Haha I've been doing the same thing. Keeping a running count on paper of every problem I remember and if I feel I got it right. I've remembered 68 problems and can count 56 I'm pretty confident on so I feel a lot better about it now.


You remember 68 problems?  Jeez, your memory could have come in handy.  I only can recall like 5 or 6 now, with the correct numbers.


----------



## 14kAIC

BirdGrave said:


> You remember 68 problems?  Jeez, your memory could have come in handy.  I only can recall like 5 or 6 now, with the correct numbers.


I don't exactly remember all the numbers for all of them. I just meant I remember what the problem was about and if I was confident in my answer.


----------



## BirdGrave

14kAIC said:


> I don't exactly remember all the numbers for all of them. I just meant I remember what the problem was about and if I was confident in my answer.


Oh I see lol.  Yea I only remember specific figures for a select handful.  From what I can recall I'm averaging about 50% on what I'm researching.  I'm hoping that trend coupled with the ones I felt confident about gets me over the event horizon.  I hesitate to say I'm ever absolutely sure of my answers, because I feel that all too often could be a function of me not reading some mitigating detail in the question correctly.


----------



## Mem_Elect_Engr

BirdGrave said:


> Oh I see lol.  Yea I only remember specific figures for a select handful.  From what I can recall I'm averaging about 50% on what I'm researching.  I'm hoping that trend coupled with the ones I felt confident about gets me over the event horizon.  I hesitate to say I'm ever absolutely sure of my answers, because I feel that all too often could be a function of me not reading some mitigating detail in the question correctly.


That is true, sometimes they puzzle the questions with extra information and sometimes they tricked us with A reference to B, B reference to C and ask for relationship between A and C. I remember some questions were following that pattern but lot of questions were straight forward.

Yeah, I was surprised too by 68 remembered questions   ! I only remember 5-6 questions which I didn't have clue for. And honestly, I just remember what they were asking about not even what was given.

But, let's hope better, always be positive!


----------



## Szar

> Haha I've been doing the same thing. Keeping a running count on paper of every problem I remember and if I feel I got it right. I've remembered 68 problems and can count 56 I'm pretty confident on so I feel a lot better about it now.


If you could _really_ commit to memory all those questions over such a short time frame (flawlessly so that your at least second guessing yourself using correct figures and answers).... why didn't you just memorize everything prior to the test and ace that beast?   

I'd be careful about your accurate recollection of such a traumatic experience.


----------



## Owism

Enjoy the spam board my friends. Thats the best way to pass the time until June comes along. Workout to relieve your stress. Eat well. Sleep well. Only have to wait now. 

Goodluck all! You can do it!


----------



## Zhina

Hi all,

Planning to take the P.E ELectrical power exam for the first time on October/2018, need help to find a good online prep review course for P.E. Power?

thanks in advance.


----------



## Szar

Wouldn't waste your money...  Pick up the books mentioned in this forum and just study. 

Edit*

I say that because my experience with them on the FE was poor.


----------



## Reese

Zhina, not sure if I agree with Szar on this. I found the Electrical PE Review (http://www.electricalpereview.com/) extremely helpful in so many ways. Every topic covered was well developed and easy to understand. Also the Professor was incredible on the detailed response time for every question emailed to him. You may want to consider.


----------



## BirdGrave

Szar said:


> Wouldn't waste your money...  Pick up the books mentioned in this forum and just study.
> 
> Edit*
> 
> I say that because my experience with them on the FE was poor.


I never took a prep course for the FE, and in retrospect, I don't think it was necessary as the practice material was pretty similar to the actual exam.  Plus the notes you're allowed on the exam is the same for everyone, so everyone walks in with the same tools in the tool chest.

However, when it comes to the PE I am glad I took a prep course, if for no other reason that the class notes included things that I needed on the exam that it would have never occurred to me to write down.


----------



## Szar

BirdGrave said:


> I never took a prep course for the FE, and in retrospect, I don't think it was necessary as the practice material was pretty similar to the actual exam.  Plus the notes you're allowed on the exam is the same for everyone, so everyone walks in with the same tools in the tool chest.
> 
> However, when it comes to the PE I am glad I took a prep course, if for no other reason that the class notes included things that I needed on the exam that it would have never occurred to me to write down.


I took the FE exam 10 years out college.  That material was all foreign to me after that period of time so I thought it *&lt;edit&gt;* online prep corse *&lt;/edit&gt;* would be helpful.  I was mistaken but overcame none the less.

Whereas taking the PE exam after 10 years of work experience ( / cage fights), I only required studying on my own. 

*WIth that said, my experience was so bad with the FE exam prep course I took that not only did it almost derail me ever taking the FE exam in general, but:


When the anger wore off a few years later I took the FE exam, determined to pass it without using any outside resources

I swore I would never touch a Online prep course for the PE.

Buyer beware.


----------



## sayed

PE-Apr2018-Power said:


> Hi everyone,
> 
> This was my second time taking the Power PE exam and I thought the test was harder than last time.
> 
> I studied for more than 4 months and tried to focus on my weaknesses as much as possible but it didn’t seem to help.
> 
> I wanna hear from other people’s experiences regarding the past exam, if it was your second time did you feel it was harder or easier?
> 
> Thank you.


there used to be so many condescending comments on here

glad to see the board members have matured in the past year


----------



## Jackal301

Finally got around to creating an account on here to post. 

First time test taker here, I started studying in January everyday for 2+ hours after work and 5-8 hours a day on the weekends. I took a prep class (School of PE) and thought it was relatively worthless (the instructors were terrible). I also used Graffeo, CI, NCEES Practice Exam, PRM, Wildi, Grainger, Glover/Sarma, NEC Handbook, Tom Henry's (probably most used resource), NESC, other various standards, grad school notes, undergrad notes, standard handbook for EEs, a general Power Electronics book, and a Protective Relaying book. I am 3 years out of grad school, without doing barely a hint of real engineering at my job. I decided to take the Power PE because I focused on Power in Undergrad as well as grad school, however I have had zero experience in the power industry since graduating and had never cracked open the NEC or NESC before studying for the exam. I ultimately decided on the Power exam because I would like to secure a job at a utility or consulting firm someday. 

Prior to the exam: I felt pretty good about the test. I felt comfortable with the NEC and NFPA 70E. I was scoring in the 90's on all the practice exams I was taking. 

Morning exam experience: My initial thoughts were, "what the hell is this garbage"? At least 4 questions I had no idea how to answer and my 10+ reference books contained zero information on said questions. I felt like some of the questions asked were not fair exam questions (additionally the classic: the answer is MOST NEARLY what, with my calculated result being at least 15% from the nearest choice even though I was 100% confident I had calculated it correctly).  I left this section feeling depressed and defeated. I ate lunch in my car and just tried to collect myself. 

Afternoon exam experience: Much better. This is how I was originally expecting the entire exam to go. I finished with an hour remaining and spend that hour trying to find the answers to, again, 3-4ish problems that I had never seen or heard of before. I left this section feeling that I had scored a 90%. 

Overall: I left the exam site that day not knowing how to feel. I did not feel like I had passed, nor did I feel like I had failed. I guess I will find out here in the next few days. Those of you that took the same exam probably remember those few problems that I didn't know how to solve, to this day I am still frustrated and scratching my head over them. Maybe I feel this way because I am used to scoring in the 90's on exams, and when I don't I feel like I failed the exam. So hopefully a 58/80ish score is what I achieved (a passable score) and I feel this way because I simply did not "ace" the exam. 

Looking forward to the results being published in the next few days, good luck to all!


----------



## helphere

Jackal301 said:


> Finally got around to creating an account on here to post.
> 
> First time test taker here, I started studying in January everyday for 2+ hours after work and 5-8 hours a day on the weekends. I took a prep class (School of PE) and thought it was relatively worthless (the instructors were terrible). I also used Graffeo, CI, NCEES Practice Exam, PRM, Wildi, Grainger, Glover/Sarma, NEC Handbook, Tom Henry's (probably most used resource), NESC, other various standards, grad school notes, undergrad notes, standard handbook for EEs, a general Power Electronics book, and a Protective Relaying book. I am 3 years out of grad school, without doing barely a hint of real engineering at my job. I decided to take the Power PE because I focused on Power in Undergrad as well as grad school, however I have had zero experience in the power industry since graduating and had never cracked open the NEC or NESC before studying for the exam. I ultimately decided on the Power exam because I would like to secure a job at a utility or consulting firm someday.
> 
> Prior to the exam: I felt pretty good about the test. I felt comfortable with the NEC and NFPA 70E. I was scoring in the 90's on all the practice exams I was taking.
> 
> Morning exam experience: My initial thoughts were, "what the hell is this garbage"? At least 4 questions I had no idea how to answer and my 10+ reference books contained zero information on said questions. I felt like some of the questions asked were not fair exam questions (additionally the classic: the answer is MOST NEARLY what, with my calculated result being at least 15% from the nearest choice even though I was 100% confident I had calculated it correctly).  I left this section feeling depressed and defeated. I ate lunch in my car and just tried to collect myself.
> 
> Afternoon exam experience: Much better. This is how I was originally expecting the entire exam to go. I finished with an hour remaining and spend that hour trying to find the answers to, again, 3-4ish problems that I had never seen or heard of before. I left this section feeling that I had scored a 90%.
> 
> Overall: I left the exam site that day not knowing how to feel. I did not feel like I had passed, nor did I feel like I had failed. I guess I will find out here in the next few days. Those of you that took the same exam probably remember those few problems that I didn't know how to solve, to this day I am still frustrated and scratching my head over them. Maybe I feel this way because I am used to scoring in the 90's on exams, and when I don't I feel like I failed the exam. So hopefully a 58/80ish score is what I achieved (a passable score) and I feel this way because I simply did not "ace" the exam.
> 
> Looking forward to the results being published in the next few days, good luck to all!


This is almost exactly how I felt Jackal. Glad to know we're in the same boat!


----------



## Vette388

I feel the same way, afternoon went better than the morning, and there was those problems that I've never seen through out school, work and studying.


----------



## 14kAIC

Jackal301 said:


> Finally got around to creating an account on here to post.
> 
> First time test taker here, I started studying in January everyday for 2+ hours after work and 5-8 hours a day on the weekends. I took a prep class (School of PE) and thought it was relatively worthless (the instructors were terrible). I also used Graffeo, CI, NCEES Practice Exam, PRM, Wildi, Grainger, Glover/Sarma, NEC Handbook, Tom Henry's (probably most used resource), NESC, other various standards, grad school notes, undergrad notes, standard handbook for EEs, a general Power Electronics book, and a Protective Relaying book. I am 3 years out of grad school, without doing barely a hint of real engineering at my job. I decided to take the Power PE because I focused on Power in Undergrad as well as grad school, however I have had zero experience in the power industry since graduating and had never cracked open the NEC or NESC before studying for the exam. I ultimately decided on the Power exam because I would like to secure a job at a utility or consulting firm someday.
> 
> Prior to the exam: I felt pretty good about the test. I felt comfortable with the NEC and NFPA 70E. I was scoring in the 90's on all the practice exams I was taking.
> 
> Morning exam experience: My initial thoughts were, "what the hell is this garbage"? At least 4 questions I had no idea how to answer and my 10+ reference books contained zero information on said questions. I felt like some of the questions asked were not fair exam questions (additionally the classic: the answer is MOST NEARLY what, with my calculated result being at least 15% from the nearest choice even though I was 100% confident I had calculated it correctly).  I left this section feeling depressed and defeated. I ate lunch in my car and just tried to collect myself.
> 
> Afternoon exam experience: Much better. This is how I was originally expecting the entire exam to go. I finished with an hour remaining and spend that hour trying to find the answers to, again, 3-4ish problems that I had never seen or heard of before. I left this section feeling that I had scored a 90%.
> 
> Overall: I left the exam site that day not knowing how to feel. I did not feel like I had passed, nor did I feel like I had failed. I guess I will find out here in the next few days. Those of you that took the same exam probably remember those few problems that I didn't know how to solve, to this day I am still frustrated and scratching my head over them. Maybe I feel this way because I am used to scoring in the 90's on exams, and when I don't I feel like I failed the exam. So hopefully a 58/80ish score is what I achieved (a passable score) and I feel this way because I simply did not "ace" the exam.
> 
> Looking forward to the results being published in the next few days, good luck to all!


This was almost exactly my feelings as well.


----------



## Surf and Snow

Surf and Snow said:


> First time PE exam taker here. Overall I think I survived, but only time will tell.
> 
> Been averaging about 85% on last 10 practice exams (I've now taken a total of 16 (SIXTEEN!) full 8-hr practice exams at this point) and logged in somewhere between 200-250 hrs total of study/testing time since I started in January. Sure felt like I had prepared about as well as I could.
> 
> As for the exam on Friday, the night and day sessions felt like literally night and day. I feel like I took two completely different tests on Friday. Walked away feeling indifferent.
> 
> *The Morning Session: *I felt like I went 12 rounds with Mike Tyson while he was in his prime, but with my arms like T-rex size shortened, and one of them tied behind my back and with a blindfold on. Several questions were things I never saw a single time in the 16 practice exams I had taken to "prepare". Like I had seen apples and bananas 100 times and suddenly there were pomegranates being thrown at me. I screwed up on my time management and spent way too long on a few of the problems and by the time the 15 minute warning was called, I had 5 questions still that I hadn't even started. fml I had to hurriedly make WAGs and SWAG's on them by at least eliminating clearly wrong choices. Walked out to my truck for lunch feeling dazed and confused like "WTF just happened?" I walked away feeling like if I were only graded on the morning, I either failed or am right on the border.
> 
> Spent the lunch hour sitting in my truck clearing my mind. Didnt even want to google any of the things that were just thrown at me. Listened to some hard core rock to pump myself up and get back into the zone.
> 
> *The Afternoon Session:* Complete opposite of the bloodbath that was the morning. I felt great. I knew most of the material. Consistently and quickly arrived at clear answers confidently. Finished all 40 problems in about 3 hours and had an entire hour to go back and double check my work. I walked away feeling like I easily passed the afternoon half. Wish I were only graded on that. The question is when added together, did I make up enough from the morning?
> 
> *My shakedown assessment:* during the test I did what I've always done during my practice exams and assigned a rank to each question 3 = Confident that I have the correct answer,  2 = Pretty sure I'm right, or at least down to only two possible solutions (50/50 odds), and 1 = Total WAG or SWAG, I do not feel confident.
> 
> *Morning I had: **26x "3"**, **6x "2"**, and **8x "1"*
> 
> *Afternoon I had: **30x "3"**, **9x "2"**, and only **1x "1"*
> 
> Based on that breakdown, I _think _I landed enough points to pass, but not in the 85-90% range that I had been experiencing in the practice exams. Fingers crossed I'm a one and done on this experience. Best luck to us all as we try to remain sane waiting forever to find out....
> 
> How did the rest of you who tested on Friday feel about it? *(*****Without getting into specifics obviously!!!)*






Jackal301 said:


> Finally got around to creating an account on here to post.
> 
> First time test taker here, I started studying in January everyday for 2+ hours after work and 5-8 hours a day on the weekends. I took a prep class (School of PE) and thought it was relatively worthless (the instructors were terrible). I also used Graffeo, CI, NCEES Practice Exam, PRM, Wildi, Grainger, Glover/Sarma, NEC Handbook, Tom Henry's (probably most used resource), NESC, other various standards, grad school notes, undergrad notes, standard handbook for EEs, a general Power Electronics book, and a Protective Relaying book. I am 3 years out of grad school, without doing barely a hint of real engineering at my job. I decided to take the Power PE because I focused on Power in Undergrad as well as grad school, however I have had zero experience in the power industry since graduating and had never cracked open the NEC or NESC before studying for the exam. I ultimately decided on the Power exam because I would like to secure a job at a utility or consulting firm someday.
> 
> Prior to the exam: I felt pretty good about the test. I felt comfortable with the NEC and NFPA 70E. I was scoring in the 90's on all the practice exams I was taking.
> 
> Morning exam experience: My initial thoughts were, "what the hell is this garbage"? At least 4 questions I had no idea how to answer and my 10+ reference books contained zero information on said questions. I felt like some of the questions asked were not fair exam questions (additionally the classic: the answer is MOST NEARLY what, with my calculated result being at least 15% from the nearest choice even though I was 100% confident I had calculated it correctly).  I left this section feeling depressed and defeated. I ate lunch in my car and just tried to collect myself.
> 
> Afternoon exam experience: Much better. This is how I was originally expecting the entire exam to go. I finished with an hour remaining and spend that hour trying to find the answers to, again, 3-4ish problems that I had never seen or heard of before. I left this section feeling that I had scored a 90%.
> 
> Overall: I left the exam site that day not knowing how to feel. I did not feel like I had passed, nor did I feel like I had failed. I guess I will find out here in the next few days. Those of you that took the same exam probably remember those few problems that I didn't know how to solve, to this day I am still frustrated and scratching my head over them. Maybe I feel this way because I am used to scoring in the 90's on exams, and when I don't I feel like I failed the exam. So hopefully a 58/80ish score is what I achieved (a passable score) and I feel this way because I simply did not "ace" the exam.
> 
> Looking forward to the results being published in the next few days, good luck to all!


My EXACT experience!


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## PE-Apr2018-Power

Hiiii everyone, just found out I passed!!!! Good luck to you all.


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## Xia

Hiiii! 
Passed and relieved! Good luck to everyone still waiting!


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## stpitman

I passed! holy $h!t

Do they provide any detailed information on how you did other than a "pass" or "fail"?


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## knight1fox3

stpitman said:


> I passed! holy $h!t
> 
> Do they provide any detailed information on how you did other than a "pass" or "fail"?


Depends on which state you sat for the exam. I believe TX is one of the only jurisdictions that releases your passing score.


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## stpitman

knight1fox3 said:


> Depends on which state you sat for the exam. I believe TX is one of the only jurisdictions that releases your passing score.


Good thing I took it in Texas. They did something similar for the FE, and actually gave you your score out of 100. I don't remember if they mailed or emailed the results though.


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## 14kAIC

I passed as well! Seems like my estimates were about right.


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## va_gator

Congrats, to all the passers.

The description about the morning portion being more difficult and having a lot of curveballs compared to the afternoon session applies to the version of the exam I took back in '11. Keep at it and don't be discouraged


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## BirdGrave

I passed as well (according to the CTS website, it's not up for Illinois on NCEES yet).  A combination of Graffeo and tabbed notes from School of PE is what got me over the finish line.  I am certain I would have failed without them both.  

I leaned on Graffeo so much I actually can't imagine what test-takers did before that book was published lol.


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## tschnepf

BirdGrave said:


> I passed as well (according to the CTS website, it's not up for Illinois on NCEES yet).  A combination of Graffeo and tabbed notes from School of PE is what got me over the finish line.  I am certain I would have failed without them both.
> 
> I leaned on Graffeo so much I actually can't imagine what test-takers did before that book was published lol.
> 
> View attachment 11475


Congrats! 

Its funny you say that, during alot of my practice tests I used graffeo's book but during the actual test I picked up the engineering pro guides PDF (mostly the equation sheets) I printed out significantly more. Seemed to have worked though since I passed.


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## BirdGrave

tschnepf said:


> Congrats!
> 
> Its funny you say that, during alot of my practice tests I used graffeo's book but during the actual test I picked up the engineering pro guides PDF (mostly the equation sheets) I printed out significantly more. Seemed to have worked though since I passed.


Thank you for mentioning that, I completely forgot.  I think I had just done so many math problems at that point I memorized a lot of the formulas, and was speaking with respect to references for theoretical questions.

The Engineer Pro Guide notes were the best consolidated set of equations I found anywhere for exam reference.  They were so much more complete and better than my own compiled list of relevant equations.  Thank you again for your help, Justin.


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## Surf and Snow

Surf and Snow said:


> First time PE exam taker here. Overall I think I survived, but only time will tell.
> 
> Been averaging about 85% on last 10 practice exams (I've now taken a total of 16 (SIXTEEN!) full 8-hr practice exams at this point) and logged in somewhere between 200-250 hrs total of study/testing time since I started in January. Sure felt like I had prepared about as well as I could.
> 
> As for the exam on Friday, the night and day sessions felt like literally night and day. I feel like I took two completely different tests on Friday. Walked away feeling indifferent.
> 
> *The Morning Session: *I felt like I went 12 rounds with Mike Tyson while he was in his prime, but with my arms like T-rex size shortened, and one of them tied behind my back and with a blindfold on. Several questions were things I never saw a single time in the 16 practice exams I had taken to "prepare". Like I had seen apples and bananas 100 times and suddenly there were pomegranates being thrown at me. I screwed up on my time management and spent way too long on a few of the problems and by the time the 15 minute warning was called, I had 5 questions still that I hadn't even started. fml I had to hurriedly make WAGs and SWAG's on them by at least eliminating clearly wrong choices. Walked out to my truck for lunch feeling dazed and confused like "WTF just happened?" I walked away feeling like if I were only graded on the morning, I either failed or am right on the border.
> 
> Spent the lunch hour sitting in my truck clearing my mind. Didnt even want to google any of the things that were just thrown at me. Listened to some hard core rock to pump myself up and get back into the zone.
> 
> *The Afternoon Session:* Complete opposite of the bloodbath that was the morning. I felt great. I knew most of the material. Consistently and quickly arrived at clear answers confidently. Finished all 40 problems in about 3 hours and had an entire hour to go back and double check my work. I walked away feeling like I easily passed the afternoon half. Wish I were only graded on that. The question is when added together, did I make up enough from the morning?
> 
> *My shakedown assessment:* during the test I did what I've always done during my practice exams and assigned a rank to each question 3 = Confident that I have the correct answer,  2 = Pretty sure I'm right, or at least down to only two possible solutions (50/50 odds), and 1 = Total WAG or SWAG, I do not feel confident.
> 
> *Morning I had: **26x "3"**, **6x "2"**, and **8x "1"*
> 
> *Afternoon I had: **30x "3"**, **9x "2"**, and only **1x "1"*
> 
> Based on that breakdown, I _think _I landed enough points to pass, but not in the 85-90% range that I had been experiencing in the practice exams. Fingers crossed I'm a one and done on this experience. Best luck to us all as we try to remain sane waiting forever to find out....
> 
> How did the rest of you who tested on Friday feel about it? *(*****Without getting into specifics obviously!!!)*


My shake down assessment was right, I passed! 

So taking sixteen (16!!!) full 8-hr practice exams over 3 months is a recipe for success! (and exhaustion) But man that was a tough test! NCEES says only 57% of fist timers passed. That's LOW. And combining with repeat testers the combined is that out of 1691 engineers who tested for Power PE in April 2018, only 48% passed. That is a hard test folks. If you didn't make it, don't be too hard on yourself, as you are in the majority (52%), not the minority (48%).

Glad to see several of you who have been in this Power sub forum with me the last few months also made it. Congrats! And to those who didn't, hang in there, work the practice exams and you'll slay that dragon in October.

View attachment 11419


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## Szar

If anyone hadnt seen... This test was harder based on the published pass percentage for 2018 compared to other years.


----------



## Zach Stone P.E.

So far the results for students that studied with us for at least 4 months or more has been overwhelmingly positive.

Here's a look at some of the success emails we have gotten so far: Electrical PE Review - April 2018 *Results*

Good luck to anyone still waiting on results!


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## nishan

Surf and Snow said:


> My shake down assessment was right, I passed!
> 
> So taking sixteen (16!!!) full 8-hr practice exams over 3 months is a recipe for success! (and exhaustion) But man that was a tough test! NCEES says only 57% of fist timers passed. That's LOW. And combining with repeat testers the combined is that out of 1691 engineers who tested for Power PE in April 2018, only 48% passed. That is a hard test folks. If you didn't make it, don't be too hard on yourself, as you are in the majority (52%), not the minority (48%).
> 
> Glad to see several of you who have been in this Power sub forum with me the last few months also made it. Congrats! And to those who didn't, hang in there, work the practice exams and you'll slay that dragon in October.
> 
> View attachment 11419


Hi Surf and Snow,

Did you still have all of your reference notes and study materials? Please let me know if I can purchase or share with me as I am preparing for CBT exam. Thanks in advance.


----------

