# New Exam Format



## 3dB down (Dec 24, 2008)

Does anyone have a line on the new electrical exam in April or are we all going to be the guinea pigs? I know the board has some info out there. Just wondering what anyone had seen. Thanks.

P.S. Please forgive me if I missed this being covered in another area.


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## Texass (Dec 26, 2008)

the best advice I could give anyone taking the exam is ........

1. completely study &amp; understand all of the electrical FE exam questions from FERM

2. get offical NCEES sample exam and solve every problem in the boook

3. re-word all of the questions in the sample exam &amp; solve.

for example, if the sample exam gives voltage &amp; wants to know the current, make up a similar question and let the given be current &amp; solve for voltage. This is a simplied example but you get the idea. the questions on the exam are the same as the sample exam, but always ask for what was given on the sample. Just know how to solve all of the problems with any givens. solve the questions for delta &amp; wye connections if taking power, etc.

good luck, its not that hard


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## benbo (Dec 26, 2008)

Texass said:


> the best advice I could give anyone taking the exam is ........ 1. completely study &amp; understand all of the electrical FE exam questions from FERM
> 
> 2. get offical NCEES sample exam and solve every problem in the boook
> 
> ...


How do you know it's not that hard? Have you seen the new exam? Or are you just making an assumption?

BTW - not saying your assumption is wrong, just wondering if you have some sort of inside information here.


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## rancam (Dec 31, 2008)

Because they normalize the tests to make them equal even if it was hard it shouldn't matter. You just need to be in the top 2/3 of the people taking the test. Historically 65-70% of the people pass. So even if the test was amazingly hard you should be ok still.

rancam


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## FairhopeEE (Dec 31, 2008)

benbo said:


> How do you know it's not that hard? Have you seen the new exam? Or are you just making an assumption?
> BTW - not saying your assumption is wrong, just wondering if you have some sort of inside information here.


I took the exam for the first time this past October and was fortunate enough to pass; I think it is more accurate to say that the problems do not involve really long, intense calculations. The NCEES sample exam was very representative in terms of difficultly of the problems. If you find yourself doing complicated math to get a solution, you're probably over-thinking it.

My advice: know your references like the back of your hand (and don't try to bring in too many), work as many practice problems as possible, and stay positive.


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## 3dB down (Jan 2, 2009)

Hopefully, I won't have find out what the new exam is like. I took the exam in Oct and am now just waiting for California results. I should know in a couple more weeks. If I didn't pass, there is another poor bastard in my office that is going to take the exam in April so I'll have a study partner.


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## benbo (Jan 3, 2009)

FairhopeEE said:


> I took the exam for the first time this past October and was fortunate enough to pass; I think it is more accurate to say that the problems do not involve really long, intense calculations. The NCEES sample exam was very representative in terms of difficultly of the problems. If you find yourself doing complicated math to get a solution, you're probably over-thinking it.
> My advice: know your references like the back of your hand (and don't try to bring in too many), work as many practice problems as possible, and stay positive.


Your advice is reasonable but I don't think it answers this person's specific question. Since the exam is new it will require different topics and different references than the old style.

Do you people who are answering here even understand the question the person is asking? Are you aware there is going to be an entirely new exam format the next administration?

http://www.ncees.org/exams/professional/pe...rical_exams.php

THere is not going to be any more general section in the AM, so how anybody could know anything about the difficulty of the exam is beyond me, since nobody has taken an exam similar to it. That is what this question is about. I also took and passed an exam with an easy AM section. I have no idea how I would fare on the new format.

When a new format comes in it has got to be harder to normalize, and that is what the person is asking about. I think assuming anything about it is risky. Also, they do not use a curve, per se. It is equating, and it turns out that the percent of people who pass can vary substantially. It is generally less than 2/3 because more repeat takers drive down the pass rate. In California the overall pass rate is generally around 50% (and as I said before, this is on the old style exam).

http://www.pels.ca.gov/applicants/exam_statistics.shtml


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## 3dB down (Jan 6, 2009)

Dapper Dan,

Couldn't you have let me live in my fantasy world of a 66% passing rate a little longer before you poured the cold reality on my head? : ) "We who are waiting" need all the fantasies we can get.


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## benbo (Jan 6, 2009)

3dB down said:


> Dapper Dan,Couldn't you have let me live in my fantasy world of a 66% passing rate a little longer before you poured the cold reality on my head? : ) "We who are waiting" need all the fantasies we can get.


I don't think you'll have any problems passing. I just have a feeling.

Anybody who chooses the half-power point for their handle has to have better than average odds.


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## Deadbeat_Mike (Jan 7, 2009)

benbo said:


> Your advice is reasonable but I don't think it answers this person's specific question. Since the exam is new it will require different topics and different references than the old style.
> Do you people who are answering here even understand the question the person is asking? Are you aware there is going to be an entirely new exam format the next administration?
> 
> http://www.ncees.org/exams/professional/pe...rical_exams.php
> ...


Harumph, harumph. Here, here. Well stated.

I have to say that I find i peculiar that the breakdown doesn't seem to imply that there will be ANY separation of "topic" questions on the new exam. That tells me that the only difference in the AM and PM sections could be the time on your watch. That could prove to be a stress point or encouragement when you return from scarfing down your PB&amp;J in the car at lunch!

Luckily, for me at least, it seems that I am not going to be eligible for the PE exam until spring 2011 unless there is someone at my last workplace that was PE so I can take it in Oct 2010. Either way, I have plenty of time to monitor feedback on the new format and pay for the new editions of the prep books.

I am a little surprised that these changes would be rolled out so quickly. Preparation topics and techniques are mapped out pretty far in advance so I would have thought they would announce for Oct. 2009. Shows what I know.


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## FairhopeEE (Jan 9, 2009)

benbo said:


> Do you people who are answering here even understand the question the person is asking? Are you aware there is going to be an entirely new exam format the next administration?
> [


Yes and yes.

I did not intend to offend you by going off on what I thought was the slightest of tangents. If I had to re-take the exam in the new format, my approach would be the same. There will still be 80 questions on the new exam to be answered in 8 hours, so I could not see the problems being more computationally intense than in previous years. Whether the new exam is more difficult would be in the eye of the beholder. I had actually considered waiting for new format to take the exam due to my uncertainty about the general section and thought it might be better to not have to worry about BJT's, bode plots, signal modulation, K-maps and other stuff I haven't done since college.


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## benbo (Jan 9, 2009)

FairhopeEE said:


> Yes and yes.
> I did not intend to offend you by going off on what I thought was the slightest of tangents. If I had to re-take the exam in the new format, my approach would be the same. There will still be 80 questions on the new exam to be answered in 8 hours, so I could not see the problems being more computationally intense than in previous years. Whether the new exam is more difficult would be in the eye of the beholder. I had actually considered waiting for new format to take the exam due to my uncertainty about the general section and thought it might be better to not have to worry about BJT's, bode plots, signal modulation, K-maps and other stuff I haven't done since college.


That's fine, it didn't "offend" me.

My *assumption* is that it will be a mix of simple AM type questions, and more difficult PM type questions, but all in the same discipline. But they could assume that since people are specializing they can give much more difficult questions, and more calculations. Nobody knows.

I didn't really have a big issue with what you wrote anyway. I more objected to the person who wrote "it's not that tough" or something like that. I have no idea how they could know that.


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## FairhopeEE (Jan 10, 2009)

benbo said:


> I more objected to the person who wrote "it's not that tough" or something like that. I have no idea how they could know that.


I guess the bottom line is that no one will really know until April; I'm just happy that I'll have to let someone else fill me in 

Would be interested to know if there is any difference in the level of difficulty in the a.m. and p.m. sessions. I can't really say if that was the case on my exam; I was so worn out that I just wanted to get home and crash. No worries about me violating the NCEES agreement; hell, I can't remember any of it!


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## Deadbeat_Mike (Jan 31, 2009)

It seems that PPI has basically reissued EERM with the new exam objectives/format and NEC 2008 as the new standard.

I look forward to hearing if there is any difference in focus or question types within the selected exam topic (power, elec, comp) between am and pm sessions.


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