# Practice exam



## Nashi (Oct 12, 2018)

I just took the morning session Eng Pro Guide exam and I want to cry. It was so hard! Im hoping the afternoon test I do better in. 

How does everybody else feel? 

The NCEES practice exam I did better on.


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## Drewism (Oct 12, 2018)

I feel like crying too at this point.  Whenever I don't get a problem right after 6 months of studying I feel like kicking myself in the teeth. The Eng Pro Guide Exam is difficult and probably on-par with the actual exam in terms of steps and difficulty of problems. However, it all comes down to concepts. Nearly all of the concepts can be applied to answer the questions in the practice exam. Sometimes one concept or multiple concepts. Just have to make a positive effort.

I have been doing School of PE practice problems and they're even more harder but I think they're just used to instill concepts and they're not reflective of actual problems you'd see on the exam. Some require extensive multiple steps not seen in a 6-minute problem.

Keep on climbing. We have two weeks left. Just stay positive and hopeful and relax. Whatever will be, will be. It's just an 80-question multiple choice test. There are way worse things in life. Just feel the flow.


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## daydreambeliever (Oct 12, 2018)

I'm in the same boat. I'm going to use the rest of the time we have to drill through problems to try to identify any weak areas I have. I'm just ready for it to be over!!!!!

I haven't booked a room yet and I'm debating on if I want to book an extra night for Friday as well. I have an almost 3 hr drive to the testing location. I'm sure I'll really want to get back home to my husband and kiddo but I'll also want to sit down with a glass of whiskey/beer/wine or all of the above then sleep for a solid 12 hours.


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## DLD PE (Oct 12, 2018)

Yes don't panic, but what do I know?  I'm a first time test taker so I don't know what to expect either.  I've taken the NCEES practice exam three times and just getting to where I'm in the 80% range so don't feel bad.  Yes I have the Eng Pro Guide practice exam and those are harder questions so I'm getting ready to take that one in the next few days.  Just make a list of ones you missed and try to learn why you missed them.  I had one the other day I SWORE I had done right but I used the wrong formula, for example.

No matter how well you prepare, you're going to come across at least a few questions you'll have no clue how to do.


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## a4u2fear (Oct 12, 2018)

Eng pro guides is on par with the exam.  Complex Imaginary is not.


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## BirdGrave (Oct 12, 2018)

[No message]


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## BirdGrave (Oct 12, 2018)

a4u2fear said:


> Eng pro guides is on par with the exam.  Complex Imaginary is not.


Second this.

Also, bring the NCEES FE Handbook with you and tab the Electrical Engineering and Engineering Economics sections.  It was good for several correct answers that I wouldn't have had a reference for in the other 12 books I brought to the exam.


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## DLD PE (Oct 12, 2018)

BirdGrave said:


> Second this.
> 
> Also, bring the NCEES FE Handbook with you and tab the Electrical Engineering and Engineering Economics sections.  It was good for several correct answers that I wouldn't have had a reference for in the other 12 books I brought to the exam.


I have the handbook and tabbed this section.  Thanks for mentioning it.


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## Phenomenon083 (Oct 12, 2018)

So, can I totally avoid CI problems and just focus NCEES and Engproguides problem for my preparation?


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## BirdGrave (Oct 12, 2018)

Phenomenon083 said:


> So, can I totally avoid CI problems and just focus NCEES and Engproguides problem for my preparation?


I wouldn't say that.  CI problems are very good at drilling in the fundamentals of power mathematics and engineering.  Knowing how to do them and do them quickly is to my mind a prerequisite for doing well on the exam.  Just don't expect the difficulty of the CI problems to be reflective of what is on the actual exam.  It will be closer to the NCEES Practice Exam, or even closer still the EngProGuides exam (at least in the case of the April 2018 version).


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## a4u2fear (Oct 12, 2018)

Phenomenon083 said:


> So, can I totally avoid CI problems and just focus NCEES and Engproguides problem for my preparation?


i think you'll be extremely lucky to pass just focusing on these three items only.


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## chener16 (Oct 12, 2018)

Practice (CI tests) + learning from mistakes + practice (EngProGuides Exam) + learning from mistakes + practice (Graffeo) + learning from mistakes + practice (NCEES practice exam) + learning from mistakes + practice (NEC code problems) + reading Wildi + YouTube videos = My preparation.


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## BirdGrave (Oct 12, 2018)

chener16 said:


> Practice (CI tests) + learning from mistakes + practice (EngProGuides Exam) + learning from mistakes + practice (Graffeo) + learning from mistakes + practice (NCEES practice exam) + learning from mistakes + practice (NEC code problems) + reading Wildi + YouTube videos = My preparation.


Graffeo was my most useful non-NEC reference during the exam, far and away.  It's where I went first whenever I had a conceptual question, and half the time it provides enough information to give you confidence in your answer.  The mathematical questions in the back of the book are again good practice and necessary to know how to do but don't expect them to be as difficult as the real thing. 

The other book that really helped was Tom Henry's Keyword Index for the NEC

https://www.amazon.com/2017-Key-Word-Index-Henry/dp/B01N41UM2M/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;amp;qid=1539371465&amp;amp;sr=8-1&amp;amp;keywords=tom+henry+keyword

This was an absolute *must* for me in navigating the NEC quickly enough to answer all the questions in time.


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## Drewism (Oct 12, 2018)

a4u2fear said:


> i think you'll be extremely lucky to pass just focusing on these three items only.


There's really not much else, though. All I could do was CI, Spin-Up, Graffeo, EngProGuides and the NCEES practice exam. The rest is just reading through concepts and theory and knowing my references.


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## BirdGrave (Oct 12, 2018)

Drewism said:


> There's really not much else, though. All I could do was CI, Spin-Up, Graffeo, EngProGuides and the NCEES practice exam. The rest is just reading through concepts and theory and knowing my references.


I did School of PE as well.  The courses were hit or miss but I thought the notes provided were helpful.  I've also heard good things about the Georgia Tech course.


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## Drewism (Oct 12, 2018)

BirdGrave said:


> I did School of PE as well.  The courses were hit or miss but I thought the notes provided were helpful.  I've also heard good things about the Georgia Tech course.


Me too. I did the workshop problems. However, they're really not representative of actual test type questions. Some are very long with multiple steps and some are repeats of the NCEES practice exam. I guess it's good for drilling in concepts. I do like the notes. They include a lot of good information.

I can't speak for Georgia Tech. I probably should have taken that course.


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## Phenomenon083 (Oct 12, 2018)

a4u2fear said:


> i think you'll be extremely lucky to pass just focusing on these three i﻿tems only.


Obviously not, i will be surprised as well. Obviously anyone needs to know the underlying theories very well to pass it. 

I do understand CI, Spin-Up and Graffeo practice problems are good for drilling in concepts but the difficulty level of these problems are not close to the real thing. Everyone says NCEES and especially engproguides exam are closest to the real thing. So i was just wondering, what if I practice NCESS and engproguides exams repeatedly (like 5/6 times) and know the underlying theories to solve those problems like back of my hand? This might just help me to pass.


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## RadioBox (Oct 12, 2018)

Phenomenon083 said:


> Everyone says NCEES and especially engproguides exam are closest to the real thing. So i was just wondering, what if I practice NCESS and engproguides exams repeatedly (like 5/6 times) and know the underlying theories to solve those problems like back of my hand? This might just help me to pass.


interesting statement. Anyone who has passed can you please shed some light into this


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## ME_VT_PE (Oct 12, 2018)

RadioBox said:


> interesting statement. Anyone who has passed can you please shed some light into this


Theres no point in memorizing problems. Doing the same exam 10 times is pointless. Someone posted before the April exam that they would read the first sentence of the problem and be able to answer the question. Whats the point? You aren't going to get questions you've seen before on the exam.


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## Phenomenon083 (Oct 12, 2018)

ME_VT_PE said:


> Theres no point in memorizing problems. Doing the same exam 10 times is pointless. Someone posted before the April exam that they would read the first sentence of the problem and be able to answer the question. Whats the point? You aren't going to get questions you've seen before on the exam.﻿


I don't think you need to practice NCEES or Engproguides exam more than 3 or 4 times. By that time you'll know in and out of all those problem. The idea is to make sure you know the underlying theory very well so that you can solve any problem no matter how many different ways they throw those problems to you.


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## Surf and Snow (Oct 16, 2018)

Phenomenon083 said:


> Obviously not, i will be surprised as well. Obviously anyone needs to know the underlying theories very well to pass it.
> 
> I do understand CI, Spin-Up and Graffeo practice problems are good for drilling in concepts but the difficulty level of these problems are not close to the real thing. Everyone says NCEES and especially engproguides exam are closest to the real thing. So i was just wondering, what if I practice NCESS and engproguides exams repeatedly (like 5/6 times) and know the underlying theories to solve those problems like back of my hand? This might just help me to pass.






RadioBox said:


> interesting statement. Anyone who has passed can you please shed some light into this


Negative. You need to diversify. I took 16.5 full practice exams before I took the PE in April 2018. Passed the first try. I’d seen so many different problems it was VERY helpful. 



ME_VT_PE said:


> Theres no point in memorizing problems. Doing the same exam 10 times is pointless. Someone posted before the April exam that they would read the first sentence of the problem and be able to answer the question. Whats the point? You aren't going to get questions you've seen before on the exam.


Exactly. I think if all I focused on was the NCEES practice exam and eng pro guides, I would not have passed. Simply memorizing a small set of problems is not a good recipe imo. The actual exam covered many topics and problems that were not in that small set. You want to be ready for a broader range of problems. But that’s just my experience. 

Ymmv

Nonethess, good luck to you all. Hope you nail it! Keep focused. Keep working as many problems as you can. You’re in the home stretch! Plan a relaxing weekend afterward! You’ll have earned it!


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## Nashi (Oct 16, 2018)

I did much better on the afternoon session of the Engineering Pro Guide Practice Exam so I felt hopeful.

I keep doing more and more problems. When I reviewed the second half of the exam I found myself marking most of the question with a one knowing I can answer them pretty quickly. I need to go back over the first half and conquer those problems.


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## Drewism (Oct 16, 2018)

The practice exams are supposed to provide you with an idea of the concepts and what to consider in a problem given. I guess we'll see on Friday if the concepts have stuck with me. Just got to know where to apply them. If you get stuck on a problem then just revert back to your references.

To expedite the exam process, I have memorized some key equations and how they're applied to a problem. Kind of like muscle memory. I'm only going to use my references if I need to. Hopefully that works...


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## DLD PE (Oct 17, 2018)

As I do more practice exams, I realize I'm not looking up equations as I've started to remember most of them, given all the problems I've worked on.  I used to keep the equations I used most organized by section in the front of one of my binders along with the Eng Pro Guides cheat sheet.  Now I'm not looking at equations, but instead going more to references to see different ways of approaching problems, and I'm making sure I tab key areas that help me the most.


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## Drewism (Oct 17, 2018)

MEtoEE said:


> As I do more practice exams, I realize I'm not looking up equations as I've started to remember most of them, given all the problems I've worked on.  I used to keep the equations I used most organized by section in the front of one of my binders along with the Eng Pro Guides cheat sheet.  Now I'm not looking at equations, but instead going more to references to see different ways of approaching problems, and I'm making sure I tab key areas that help me the most.


Sounds like a good approach. You definitely don't want to spend time looking up the smallest formula that can be easily remembered. My binder is setup the same way. Equations and index at the front, then the Eng Pro Guide study guide. The equations are from the EngProGuide cheat sheet and from Graffeo. I think it's a good compilation of equations. At the end of each section I have printouts of the recommended references given by EngProGuides. It's tabbed with numbers and colors according to section. I'm only only trying to use my references for the really insane questions. The basic stuff for each subject is pretty much memorized at this point.


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## DLD PE (Oct 17, 2018)

I have class notes in one binder, and started a second binder with example problems arranged by topic.  I'm grouping all my worked out example problems from the NCEES practice exam, Eng Pro Guides, online quiz and homework problems, ALL grouped together by topic so I have a place to go if I get stuck.  

Since NEC and protection are weighted so heavily I put them in separate binders.  NEC because during my practice runs I do the "easy" problems in the first run, the NEC problems in the second run, and the medium then hard ones on a 3rd and 4th pass.  If I have any time left over I check or guess on questions I have no clue on or guess between 1-2 problems after eliminating any obvious incorrect choices.  

I have all my NEC example problems in a separate binder since I'll be going through the NEC problems in a single pass (that's the plan anyway).  

I just found out my supervisor will be out all next week and since we have no pending projects going out or "fires" to put out, that will give me extra study time to review, do a couple more practice exams and organize!  I had already planned on being out Thursday and Friday but this gives me an extra day or two so I'm excited!


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