# Took Kaplan as a practice test-oh crap!



## eng.dork (Oct 8, 2007)

I took the Kaplan as a practice test this past weekend; general in the morning and power in the afternoon. I did not do very well at all. I am pretty stressed at this point. Anyone have any takes on this?


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## benbo (Oct 8, 2007)

eng.dork said:


> I took the Kaplan as a practice test this past weekend; general in the morning and power in the afternoon. I did not do very well at all. I am pretty stressed at this point. Anyone have any takes on this?


The Kaplan test is much harder than the actual exam. THe NCEES test is more representative. And, as people have pointed out, the Kaplan test has some errors. Don't let it stress you out. Retake the NCEES or Camara ("the other board") test to get some confidence and a better representation of the real exam.


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## Dark Knight (Oct 9, 2007)

benbo said:


> The Kaplan test is much harder than the actual exam. THe NCEES test is more representative. And, as people have pointed out, the Kaplan test has some errors. Don't let it stress you out. Retake the NCEES or Camara ("the other board") test to get some confidence and a better representation of the real exam.


^^^^ That is true!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


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## jdd18vm (Oct 9, 2007)

I havent taken it it per se, been working with it. Im with you Eng, hang in there. Home stretch...Keep pushing!

Im hoping these guys are right. I have more confidence in them than I do in me...lol

John


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## grover (Oct 10, 2007)

Also, don't forget to add in your statistical guesses! Lucking into 25% of the guesses can push a 60 to a 70  I never took this into account while practicing, but the scantron sure will.

Also, yes, the NCEES test is far easier than any of the practice tests from other authors. Like swinging a weighted bat, right?


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## jdd18vm (Oct 12, 2007)

eng.dork said:


> I took the Kaplan as a practice test this past weekend; general in the morning and power in the afternoon. I did not do very well at all. I am pretty stressed at this point. Anyone have any takes on this?


Well as a follow up, I took the "the other board" Sample Afternoon Power exam. Also didn't do great :brickwall: Got 24 of 40 ugh! Damn I missed some NEC ones I shouldn't have. Going back to the drawing board :reading: examine the ones I missed, see if I can pick up a few I guessed on..wtf is with Question 1? lol

Two weeks from this moment I plan to be very drunk!

John


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## benbo (Oct 12, 2007)

jdd18vm said:


> Well as a follow up, I took the "the other board" Sample Afternoon Power exam. Also didn't do great :brickwall: Got 24 of 40 ugh! Damn I missed some NEC ones I shouldn't have. Going back to the drawing board :reading: examine the ones I missed, see if I can pick up a few I guessed on..wtf is with Question 1? lol
> Two weeks from this moment I plan to be very drunk!
> 
> John


Don't let it get you down! Just review the mistakes. That isn't a bad score for the afternoon.


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## jdd18vm (Oct 12, 2007)

benbo said:


> Don't let it get you down! Just review the mistakes. That isn't a bad score for the afternoon.


Thanks, I went back, in less than 10 mins and not looking at the answers picked up 5 more...careless....and dang the short circuit one was a gimme! Just like the NCEES simple!

John


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## mudpuppy (Oct 13, 2007)

jdd18vm said:


> Thanks, I went back, in less than 10 mins and not looking at the answers picked up 5 more...careless....and dang the short circuit one was a gimme! Just like the NCEES simple!


It's those careless things that can really hurt on this exam, especially becuase they purposely figure out the answers you'll get with the common careless mistakes and give them as an answer choice. I had the same issue on the practice exams. I knew the material for the most part, but I was messing up the little stuff. The biggest thing I learned from taking the practice exams is it's important that you try to stay focused and not rush on the questions. I know it's difficult when you've got test anxiety, but it can mean the difference between a borderline score and a good score (and, BTW, 29/40 is a solid score).

This was probably the most difficult thing for me on the exam--to stay focused and careful for the entire 8 hours--it was mentally and emotionally draining. I even took a couple minutes in the afternoon to put my head down on the table to rest and clear my head.

Don't worry, you're doing good. Just don't let the pressure get to you and stress out too much.


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## Dark Knight (Oct 13, 2007)

One little detail that many takers overlook....READ THE DARN QUESTION BEFORE PLUGGING ANY NUMBERS!!!!!!!!!!!!

Half of the battle is knowing what they are asking. I hated when I was on a streak of correct answers and suddenly found a problem with two fudging paragraphs to read to answer a very simple question.

They do that a lot. Is like a pitcher throwing off speed pitches and then coming with a 99mph fast one down the middle of the plate.

Mudpuppy is right. Stay focus and turst your prep.

Good Luck!!!!!


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## eng.dork (Oct 13, 2007)

Thanks for the tips. After calculating my score for the afternoon Kaplan I got a 17/40...yikes! I went back and reviewed the problems and some of them were stupid mistakes. I need to keep reminding myself to read each question carefully...multiple times if I have to before I start the problem. 13 days and counting....


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## mudpuppy (Oct 13, 2007)

Yes, I totally agree with BIO. As you say, eng.--read carefully and then reread as many times as you need to get at what they're actually asking. As careful as I tried to be on the exam, I ended up spending way too much time on one problem calculating a value that I didn't even need to answer the question. Although it may take extra time to read the problems over, sometimes it can actually help you answer them faster.

I didn't use the Kaplan exam, so I couldn't say if 17/40 is bad or not, but given the comments above that Kaplan is harder than the other sample exams it may not be that bad a showing.


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## jdd18vm (Oct 13, 2007)

eng.dork said:


> Thanks for the tips. After calculating my score for the afternoon Kaplan I got a 17/40...yikes! I went back and reviewed the problems and some of them were stupid mistakes. I need to keep reminding myself to read each question carefully...multiple times if I have to before I start the problem. 13 days and counting....


I think thats pretty good Eng. As I said I used it more to work the problems. It was pretty challenging and laborious, I couldnt imagine I would get to all the problems. Hell I didnt get to all the Camara ones.

I don't know if you did this, but I read and marked the all questions 1-3 to start, and answered in that order. Now AFTER I found some were easier, but when I read them initially, I was like what the heck and put a 3 on it.

I don't know if this is good or bad, but one thing about Camara, the questions seem easier. Although I missed quite a few, having gone back after, there are very few I simply "dont get". Mud just cleared one up...there is a pun in there somewhere.

I am going to try to do the am part tomorrow, do NOT have a good feeling about that. Then although i worked a lot of NCEES problem that too.

GL

John


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