# April 2019 Power PE Exam



## StrugglingEngineer

Three days after taking this exam. What are everyone's thoughts on it? I took it again after a 1.5 year hiatus and while I expected the increase in Protection type questions due to the change in the specifications since my last attempt; there were some questions in the PM section that left me scratching my head. Never seen those type of problems before in my previous attempts or during my studying using the usual references and study guides (Graffeo, Wildi, NCEES, etc.) 

Overall, I think the AM went fairly well, however PM portion definitely kicked my butt. I may have guess on ~10-12 questions in the PM. I felt pretty prepared coming into the exam (3rd time taking the test) and probably spent 300 - 400 hours studying in the last 4 months. Anyways, not sure what to expect from my results. I hope my performance during the AM session will be my saving grace; here's hoping for the best.


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## ItsStudyTime!

I did not take the exam this year, FYI. I'm piping in with my experience around this topic. Fretting over how you did is exhausting! Ugh. During my exam, I used a '1, 2, 3' method tracking how I felt about each question, and calculated a likely score for myself at the end of the exam. This was only so helpful, since passing score isn't published, but it gave me some peace of mind to feel like I was in the low 70's (likely) for score. I still fretted constantly though, let's be honest.

The text below elaborates on the '1,2,3' thing. It is copied from a little website I wrote up about my study method, so formatting here may not be great, sorry. This is probably more useful to people who are reading this that will be taking the exam in the future. Hopefully that is NONE OF YOU who just wrote the exam Friday =).

''I used a ‘1-2-3’ method while taking the exams. I used to do this in college - it helps identify which questions to return to at the end, and lets you estimate how you did on the exam (so you can spend less time worrying afterwords.) While working on the questions, annotate each one with a ‘1, 2, or 3’ on the far right margin of the page.

1 = I’m sure I got this right.

2 = I was able to narrow it down to 2 answers (of a possible 4) and I had to ‘guess’ a little between those two.

3 = No better than a monkey, I guessed.

When you get through the exam once, you can go back and work on the ‘2’ or ‘3’ questions. If you work on a ‘2’ and decide you got it right, you scratch out the ‘2’ and replace it with a ‘1’. When you have only a few minutes left, you tally up how many of each number you have. Do some quick math, and estimate how you did.

(quantity of ‘1’ questions) * (0.9) = A

(quantity of ‘2’ questions) * (0.5) = B

(quantity of ‘3’ questions) * (0.25) = C

Add A+B+C, and then divide that sum by the total number of questions (40 per section) to get a ‘percentage’ of how you did.

For example, say you had 30 questions marked as '1' (A=30), 30 questions marked as '2' (B=2) and 20 questions marked as '3' (C=20) out of the total 80 questions. That would be (30*0.9)+(30*0.5)+(20*0.25) = 47. So your estimate is that you got 47 out of 80 questions right, or 58.75%. When I did this on my first practice exam, my estimate was that I got a 33% (true answer was 38%). When I did this on the actual exam, my estimate was a 74% (and I passed - but I don't know what a passing grade is on the exam). I lean on the conservative size while doing this exercise, so some of my '2' answers may be closer to a '1' - but I'd rather come up with my 'lowest possible score' during this exercise.''


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## RadioBox

This is my second time and hopefully my last.  This exam overall was doable and fair and was nothing like the October 2018 exam.  I guarantee you that the pass rate for this exam is going to be higher than last year.  The protection problems for this exam were on par, and I got all the code questions right.


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## ndekens

This is about my 17th (Yes I mean '17'TH') time taking this exam. The AM portion except for the code questions were a bit unexpected for me. I took almost the whole 4 hours to complete. The PM portion was easier for me. I was done about 45 minutes early. Haven't seen the battery stuff before on one of these exams....at least from what I remember.

I think the majority of the difficulty with this exam was the unexpected questions that my have not been used before.


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## RadioBox

ndekens said:


> This is about my 17th (Yes I mean '17'TH') time taking this exam. The AM portion except for the code questions were a bit unexpected for me. I took almost the whole 4 hours to complete. The PM portion was easier for me. I was done about 45 minutes early. Haven't seen the battery stuff before on one of these exams....at least from what I remember.
> 
> I think the majority of the difficulty with this exam was the unexpected questions that my have not been used before.


Good luck, ndekens. We got this. We will pass.


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## RadioBox

ndekens said:


> This is about my 17th (Yes I mean '17'TH') time taking this exam. The AM portion except for the code questions were a bit unexpected for me. I took almost the whole 4 hours to complete. The PM portion was easier for me. I was done about 45 minutes early. Haven't seen the battery stuff before on one of these exams....at least from what I remember.
> 
> I think the majority of the difficulty with this exam was the unexpected questions that my have not been used before.


Have you seen some of the same questions? Or has each exam been completely different and new each time?


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## ndekens

RadioBox said:


> Have you seen some of the same questions? Or has each exam been completely different and new each time?


Yes they reuse questions, sometime word for word but most of the time reworded. However I don't see them reused in a noticeable way a lot. They use a lot of the same type of questions.


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## tpkjr2006

RadioBox said:


> This is my second time and hopefully my last.  This exam overall was doable and fair and was nothing like the October 2018 exam.  I guarantee you that the pass rate for this exam is going to be higher compared to last year.  The protection problems for this exam were on par and I got all the code questions right.


What what they made it easier.....


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## RadioBox

tpkjr2006 said:


> What what they made it easier.....


The majority of questions in october 2018 were so left field and impossible to answer, at least for me. 

This April exam the questions asked I felt were more forgiving and straightforward even the hard ones.

Anyone else who took in October please chime in. I would like to know if everyone who took it last year as well feels the same was as I do.


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## tpkjr2006

@RadioBox i passed in october. I strongly remembering feeling the same thinking with the questions.


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## daydreambeliever

RadioBox said:


> I guarantee you that the pass rate for this exam is going to be higher compared to last year.


I agree. Oct. 18 was brutal. Some of the questions were so out there that I didn't even know where to begin. 

This time I feel like I killed the AM session. PM was a different story but with some legwork I feel like I was able to get through most of them. Will it be enough......I'll let you know in approx. 6 weeks. NCEES is really good predicting common mistakes so just because I feel ok about the test doesn't mean I didn't fall into their traps.


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## Nashi

RadioBox said:


> The majority of questions in october 2018 were so left field and impossible to answer, at least for me.
> 
> This April exam the questions asked I felt were more forgiving and straightforward even the hard ones.
> 
> Anyone else who took in October please chime in. I would like to know if everyone who took it last year as well feels the same was as I do.


Yes I took it in October 2018 and I felt the same way. Maybe its because I was more prepared this time that I feel differently.

However, there were questions on this one that I had no resources for to make a good guess.


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## LyceeFruit PE

RadioBox said:


> The majority of questions in october 2018 were so left field and impossible to answer, at least for me.
> 
> This April exam the questions asked I felt were more forgiving and straightforward even the hard ones.
> 
> Anyone else who took in October please chime in. I would like to know if everyone who took it last year as well feels the same was as I do.


April 2019 was  more forgiving than April 2018 &amp; October 2018. 

I left feeling like there were less questions out of left field. There were still a couple but April 2018, I felt awful about it.

I study 150 hours for this exam cycle and had the knowledge from my previous attempts (which pre-date April 2018 as well but weren't as dedicated &amp; focused as this one cycle)


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## StrugglingEngineer

ndekens said:


> This is about my 17th (Yes I mean '17'TH') time taking this exam. The AM portion except for the code questions were a bit unexpected for me. I took almost the whole 4 hours to complete. The PM portion was easier for me. I was done about 45 minutes early. Haven't seen the battery stuff before on one of these exams....at least from what I remember.
> 
> I think the majority of the difficulty with this exam was the unexpected questions that my have not been used before.


Wow, good luck to you! I hope you pass this go around. Which state have you taken it in if you don't mind me asking? I was under the impression that you are only limited to 3 or 4 attempts in most states. Are there some states that allow multiple (more than 4 tries)? If so, I may need a list of those states just in case it doesn't work out for me in my home state.

I felt like like there were way more battery questions on this cycle than previous ones I was expecting one question on the topic but there were multiple.


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## LyceeFruit PE

StrugglingEngineer said:


> Wow, good luck to you! I hope you pass this go around. Which state have you taken it in if you don't mind me asking? I was under the impression that you are only limited to 3 or 4 attempts in most states. Are there some states that allow multiple (more than 4 tries)? If so, I may need a list of those states just in case it doesn't work out for me in my home state.
> 
> I felt like like there were way more battery questions on this cycle than previous ones I was expecting one question on the topic but there were multiple.


VT doesn't have a limit. Yet.

The application is only good for 2 years, which is basically 4 exams. 

April 2019 was Attempt #6 for me.


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## ndekens

StrugglingEngineer said:


> Wow, good luck to you! I hope you pass this go around. Which state have you taken it in if you don't mind me asking? I was under the impression that you are only limited to 3 or 4 attempts in most states. Are there some states that allow multiple (more than 4 tries)? If so, I may need a list of those states just in case it doesn't work out for me in my home state.
> 
> I felt like like there were way more battery questions on this cycle than previous ones I was expecting one question on the topic but there were multiple.


California; You only apply to the CA state board after you pass.......we are going to have a bunch of registered green engineers in like 2 years might not be such a good thing.


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## Mercy

I was expecting a bloody battle but found the test to be fair. Can I say with confidence that I passed? Absolutely not. I reviewed a few references after the exam exam and noticed I made mistakes/picked the wrong answer (especially NEC). I never used NEC before, I studied whatever material I could find, watched YouTube videos etc. I learned a lot but I was not as fast as I needed to be (finding relevant information etc). 


 
Also, I spent very little time studying one subject. I recall at least 4-5 questions on the test. Sad part is, I actually spent $$ on a reference book but didn’t have time to review it prior to the exam and didn’t have time during the test to look for the information (unfamiliar with the bloody book).  I did what I could based on my limited knowledge.



 
I wish everyone the best. Please be kind to yourself.


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## Mercy

ndekens said:


> This is about my 17th (Yes I mean '17'TH') time taking this exam. The AM portion except for the code questions were a bit unexpected for me. I took almost the whole 4 hours to complete. The PM portion was easier for me. I was done about 45 minutes early. Haven't seen the battery stuff before on one of these exams....at least from what I remember.
> 
> I think the majority of the difficulty with this exam was the unexpected questions that my have not been used before.


Good luck, I hope you pass. I really respect you and all the others who chose to give it another shot. I am so exhausted mentally &amp; physically, I am thinking of taking a break before signing up for another attempt. I can’t imagine putting my family through another round of this. The whole process is painful.


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## Saul Good

I took it for the first time in October 2018. I failed with a 47/80.  So I think I was close to passing last time. Overall I felt about the same coming out of both tests. I didn’t think I passed in 2018 and I don’t feel too confident this time around either.  This was my 4th test in 14 months including two FE tests and all I know is I am done for now regardless of the result.  I gave it all I had (probably 300-400 hours of studying between the two attempts, and that doesn’t even include the time studying/relearning material for the two FE attempts) and this was more of a personal goal for me.  I may pick it back up in the future if I get the itch again.  All I know is that is one hard test.


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## daydreambeliever

Mercy said:


> I am thinking of taking a break before signing up for another attempt






Saul Good said:


> I may pick it back up in the future if I get the itch again.﻿


Stay positive guys. Hopefully you both passed it!!! I'm a multiple time test taker as well and yeah it's definitely ruff on the family. My daughter was over my excuses by the weekend before the exam.  :laugh:

I'm just keeping my fingers crossed that I got it this time.


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## roy167

I was prepared on much tougher side. The exam had not really difficult questions except few  but tricky enough to the point I have to say I am not sure If I will pass. Lucky if I did. 

Whether I put in 500 hours or( 200 hours on basic stuff) the outcome would be same in my case is what I think.  People who are good in eliminating wrong answers, they can get many questions right on this exam.


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## Messi

It was my first attempt for the PE exam and I started preparing back in December. I think i have put around 400 hrs since then. Everything was going well and i was pretty confident about the exam. I got laid off along with others , a day before the exam as my company shut down the office due to downturn in business. That did affect my mental status going into the exam but I am not sure to the extent that I will fail because of it.

I did straight guesses for 7 questions in the morning and around 6 in the afternoon. I agree with most of you above that the questions weren't tough but needed some critical thinking to eliminate the wrong answers. I think I will pass if my educated guesses end up being correct.


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## daydreambeliever

roy167 said:


> People who are good in eliminating wrong answers, they can get many questions right on this exam.


I wouldn't really say that typically I'm good at eliminating answers but this time around I did that in many cases. I was able to read through a problem and scratch 2 choices out. Again doesn't mean I didn't fall for the NCEES traps. But in all my past attempts I didn't feel like process of elimination was as easy as it was this time.


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## ashmur90

Second time test taker. 

Felt it was better than last April for sure. Of course there were still way more wtf questions but I could narrow it down to a few. 

So I either did decent or bombed miserably.


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## fyrfytr310

I know I didn’t blow it out of the water but I’m not yet convinced I failed.  Handful of face-palms upon exiting the exam and rethinking my approach or answers.....


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## StrugglingEngineer

ndekens said:


> This is about my 17th (Yes I mean '17'TH') time taking this exam. The AM portion except for the code questions were a bit unexpected for me. I took almost the whole 4 hours to complete. The PM portion was easier for me. I was done about 45 minutes early. Haven't seen the battery stuff before on one of these exams....at least from what I remember.
> 
> I think the majority of the difficulty with this exam was the unexpected questions that my have not been used before.






ndekens said:


> California; You only apply to the CA state board after you pass.......we are going to have a bunch of registered green engineers in like 2 years might not be such a good thing.


Thanks for the info! I'll keep it in my back pocket just in case. Still have one one more try in my state.

Hopefully, we'll get good results in 6 weeks. I will remain positive, but it is very difficult especially when you start recalling some of the problems and then doubting the answer choices that were made during the exam.


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## BirdGrave

Messi said:


> It was my first attempt for the PE exam and I started preparing back in December. I think i have put around 400 hrs since then. Everything was going well and i was pretty confident about the exam. I got laid off along with others , a day before the exam as my company shut down the office due to downturn in business. That did affect my mental status going into the exam but I am not sure to the extent that I will fail because of it.
> 
> I did straight guesses for 7 questions in the morning and around 6 in the afternoon. I agree with most of you above that the questions weren't tough but needed some critical thinking to eliminate the wrong answers. I think I will pass if my educated guesses end up being correct.


I'm sorry to hear about your job.  What a terrible variable to throw into your test day.  But let us be confident that it only made you more determined to pass!


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## BirdGrave

I'm glad to read the consensus seems to be it was better on the test takers than the last couple of sessions.  I can't believe it has been a full year since I put myself through that meat grinder.


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## P.U.18

Am session was good for me, might guessed Couple of problems, PM session was hard, gussed 7 questions. I'm 75% confident.


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## Phenomenon083

Messi said:


> It was my first attempt for the PE exam and I started preparing back in December. I think i have put around 400 hrs since then. Everything was going well and i was pretty confident about the exam. I got laid off along with others , a day before the exam as my company shut down the office due to downturn in business. That did affect my mental status going into the exam but I am not sure to the extent that I will fail because of it.
> 
> I did straight guesses for 7 questions in the morning and around 6 in the afternoon. I agree with most of you above that the questions weren't tough but needed some critical thinking to eliminate the wrong answers. I think I will pass if my educated guesses end up being correct.


Sorry to hear your job situation. About the exam I think I had a similar sorts of experience. Had to guess couple in the morning and afternoon.


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## nyeit

Messi said:


> It was my first attempt for the PE exam and I started preparing back in December. I think i have put around 400 hrs since then. Everything was going well and i was pretty confident about the exam. I got laid off along with others , a day before the exam as my company shut down the office due to downturn in business. That did affect my mental status going into the exam but I am not sure to the extent that I will fail because of it.
> 
> I did straight guesses for 7 questions in the morning and around 6 in the afternoon. I agree with most of you above that the questions weren't tough but needed some critical thinking to eliminate the wrong answers. I think I will pass if my educated guesses end up being correct.


Where are you located?  There are so many recruiters looking for Electrical engineers in my area.


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## tpkjr2006

Messi said:


> It was my first attempt for the PE exam and I started preparing back in December. I think i have put around 400 hrs since then. Everything was going well and i was pretty confident about the exam. I got laid off along with others , a day before the exam as my company shut down the office due to downturn in business. That did affect my mental status going into the exam but I am not sure to the extent that I will fail because of it.
> 
> I did straight guesses for 7 questions in the morning and around 6 in the afternoon. I agree with most of you above that the questions weren't tough but needed some critical thinking to eliminate the wrong answers. I think I will pass if my educated guesses end up being correct.


Messi chin up! Since you are an electrical engineer there is plenty of jobs out there. Hopefully you passed.


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## a4u2fear

Hate to be that guy, but if everyone thinks it was "easier" then you can surely expect the passing grade to go up?


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## a4u2fear

did anyone get the dreaded survey after the exam?  it almost certainly means you failed - NCEES looks to gather info from the non-passing test takers.

the one time i failed i got it, when i passed i didn't receive it.  hopefully none of you already failed.


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## daydreambeliever

a4u2fear said:


> did anyone ﻿get the dreaded survey after the exam?


My brother's girlfriends uncle said that surveys wouldn't be sent out this test cycle.


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## ndekens

a4u2fear said:


> did anyone get the dreaded survey after the exam?  it almost certainly means you failed - NCEES looks to gather info from the non-passing test takers.
> 
> the one time i failed i got it, when i passed i didn't receive it.  hopefully none of you already failed.


fake news


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## Messi

nyeit said:


> Where are you located?  There are so many recruiters looking for Electrical engineers in my area.


I am located in the Chicago area.


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## SargeLausage

daydreambeliever said:


> My brother's girlfriends uncle said that surveys wouldn't be sent out this test cycle.


Just got mine.


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## StrugglingEngineer

SargeLausage said:


> Just got mine.


Got mines as well =(


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## daydreambeliever

SargeLausage said:


> Just got mine.


It was just a joke. I got mine this morning also. Don't read anything into it. Just fill it out and keep waiting like everyone else for that result notice email.


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## Zach Stone P.E.

a4u2fear said:


> did anyone get the dreaded survey after the exam?  it almost certainly means you failed - NCEES looks to gather info from the non-passing test takers.
> 
> the one time i failed i got it, when i passed i didn't receive it.  hopefully none of you already failed.


This is false. Please don't give anyone a reason to be any more fearful then they have to be. Everyone in this thread has already been through enough as it is. 

I hope everyone is enjoying having their personal time back now that they can take a break from studying. Results will be out soon enough, try to enjoy the extra quiet time and don't get too wrapped up into "woulda shoulda coulda's"


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## ME_VT_PE

Zach Stone said:


> This is false. Please don't give anyone a reason to be any more fearful then they have to be. Everyone in this thread has already been through enough as it is.
> 
> I hope everyone is enjoying having their personal time back now that they can take a break from studying. Results will be out soon enough, try to enjoy the extra quiet time and don't get too wrapped up into "woulda shoulda coulda's"


Dude, you're doing it wrong


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## fyrfytr310

ME_VT_PE said:


> Dude, you're doing it wrong


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## GPBurdell_91

This was my first time taking it (April 2019) after being out of school for roughly 28 years.  My work experience is 100% on the Utility side of Power, so no prior background with NEC.  My personal take is that the morning session was rougher than the afternoon, but maybe we don't all get these in the same order.  Did not manage my time well on the AM session, but finished early on the Afternoon session and had time to go back and review.  Hopefully, that balances out.  I think they far exceeded their published percentage of NEC-related questions on this exam, but that's not all bad, if you learn where to look.  I'm curious if anyone else feels like the AM was the more challenging portion of the exam and if topics covered in the AM/PM sessions are the same at all testing locations.  I'd also agree with other comments that there were some topics that were completely unpredicted.  Not a lot, but a few that were not in any practice or review classes that I took.

Good Luck to everyone waiting on April Results!


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## LyceeFruit PE

GPBurdell_91 said:


> This was my first time taking it (April 2019) after being out of school for roughly 28 years.  My work experience is 100% on the Utility side of Power, so no prior background with NEC.  My personal take is that the morning session was rougher than the afternoon, but maybe we don't all get these in the same order.  Did not manage my time well on the AM session, but finished early on the Afternoon session and had time to go back and review.  Hopefully, that balances out.  I think they far exceeded their published percentage of NEC-related questions on this exam, but that's not all bad, if you learn where to look.  I'm curious if anyone else feels like the AM was the more challenging portion of the exam and if topics covered in the AM/PM sessions are the same at all testing locations.  I'd also agree with other comments that there were some topics that were completely unpredicted.  Not a lot, but a few that were not in any practice or review classes that I took.
> 
> Good Luck to everyone waiting on April Results!




I personally thought the AM was easier. I work with utilities but don't reference any of the codes too often. But I also basically hoped for code questions since that's historically been a strong section for me.


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## Takk90

GPBurdell_91 said:


> This was my first time taking it (April 2019) after being out of school for roughly 28 years.  My work experience is 100% on the Utility side of Power, so no prior background with NEC.  My personal take is that the morning session was rougher than the afternoon, but maybe we don't all get these in the same order.  Did not manage my time well on the AM session, but finished early on the Afternoon session and had time to go back and review.  Hopefully, that balances out.  I think they far exceeded their published percentage of NEC-related questions on this exam, but that's not all bad, if you learn where to look.  I'm curious if anyone else feels like the AM was the more challenging portion of the exam and if topics covered in the AM/PM sessions are the same at all testing locations.  I'd also agree with other comments that there were some topics that were completely unpredicted.  Not a lot, but a few that were not in any practice or review classes that I took.
> 
> Good Luck to everyone waiting on April Results!


I felt the same. Morning session was more challenging compared to the afternoon session. Did not expect to see so many NEC questions.


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## nyeit

sritakkallapalli said:


> I felt the same. Morning session was more challenging compared to the afternoon session. Did not expect to see so many NEC questions.


I guess everyone's background is different even though we are all electrical.  I find the morning to be easier compared to the afternoon.  Certain there are some afternoon questions that I never studied so I had to look at my reference books to understand the topic before I can make informed guesses.  I just wish that I know the result by now.


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## RadioBox

The morning session was definitely  easier compared to the afternoon.  When it comes to the code those are the questions not to miss points on. You have to really study it in depth before taking the exam so you can attain as many easy points that you can get. When I saw people carrying the regular NEC book,  and not the current handbook I automatically assumed that they did not due their due diligence and they will fail that topic if not the exam.


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## RadioBox

Results should be posted second week of may.


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## daydreambeliever

RadioBox said:


> When I saw people carrying the regular NEC book,  and not the current handbook I automatically assumed that they did not due their due diligence and they will fail that topic if not the exam.


I work with people who can find things faster in the codebook than I can in the handbook. They have 15+ yrs experience on me but still.


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## fyrfytr310

RadioBox said:


> The morning session was definitely  easier compared to the afternoon.  When it comes to the code those are the questions not to miss points on. You have to really study it in depth before taking the exam so you can attain as many easy points that you can get. When I saw people carrying the regular NEC book,  and not the current handbook I automatically assumed that they did not due their due diligence and they will fail that topic if not the exam.


I was an electrician for years before getting into engineering.  I can more easily navigate the standard book than the handbook and do not need all the examples offered in the latter.  I had no issues with the code questions.  I would say your automatic assumption is false.


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## fyrfytr310

I felt the morning was harder than the afternoon but not drastically so.  There was one really odd ball question in the morning that took me aback but I felt all the others were fair.  Don't confuse that with confidence....  I just said the questions were fair not that I got them right.


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## RadioBox

fyrfytr310 said:


> I felt the morning was harder than the afternoon but not drastically so.  There was one really odd ball question in the morning that took me aback but I felt all the others were fair.  Don't confuse that with confidence....  I just said the questions were fair not that I got them right.


I get the sense that you failed this exam cycle. Brace for the bright red logo in a couple of weeks. Heheheh


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## Bmacklin

RadioBox said:


> When I saw people carrying the regular NEC book,  and not the current handbook I automatically assumed that they did not due their due diligence and they will fail that topic if not the exam.


I'd be willing to wager those carrying the code book were much more knowledgeable than you.  The handbook has a lot of extra fluff that will slow you down.  If you dont reference the NEC regularly, sure, you would likely be better off bringing the handbook along.  If you use NEC regularly, no need for the handbook.


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## LyceeFruit PE

RadioBox said:


> The morning session was definitely  easier compared to the afternoon.  When it comes to the code those are the questions not to miss points on. You have to really study it in depth before taking the exam so you can attain as many easy points that you can get. When I saw people carrying the regular NEC book,  and not the current handbook I automatically assumed that they did not due their due diligence and they will fail that topic if not the exam.


The codes &amp; standard section of the exam has been my strongest area each time I've taken the test. Using the code book. My company buys the code book, not the handbook. 

I wouldn't make assumptions about people's due diligence.


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## roy167

Code book has less pages, easy to navigate/handle.  Graphics in handbook wasn't much helpful at least for the exam I took in 2019. If you are some what familiar, which everyone should be familiar before going in for PE exam, I think code book or hand book makes no difference. In fact, due to less volume, code book may be easy to navigate. On an exam day, you are looking to answer 10-12 questions. As long as you can do that quickly and efficiently then that's all that matters. Only issue I have with code book is printing is not the greatest/sharp. So if your eyes are sharp then this is non issue. 

I bought handbook based on the recommendation but in hindsight, could get the same result with code book. 

I have the code book in my office, that's how I know.


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## pcanning87

roy167 said:


> Code book has less pages, easy to navigate/handle.  Graphics in handbook wasn't much helpful at least for the exam I took in 2019. If you are some what familiar, which everyone should be familiar before going in for PE exam, I think code book or hand book makes no difference. In fact, due to less volume, code book may be easy to navigate. On an exam day, you are looking to answer 10-12 questions. As long as you can do that quickly and efficiently then that's all that matters. Only issue I have with code book is printing is not the greatest/sharp. So if your eyes are sharp then this is non issue.
> 
> I bought handbook based on the recommendation but in hindsight, could get the same result with code book.
> 
> I have the code book in my office, that's how I know.


I typically use the handbook at work, but brought both (I know there really wasn't much need for that). My company has a bunch of each and didn't mind me taking them for a day. I'm lucky on the code sections in that I work with the NEC regularly. But I still had to study a decent amount for motors and other sections that I don't use at work, especially since my field (PV) is relatively narrow and specialized. There were also at least one or two off-the-wall code questions that I feel there was no way to prep for besides knowing the overall structure of the NEC.


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## fyrfytr310

pcanning87 said:


> There were also at least one or two off-the-wall code questions that I feel there was no way to prep for besides knowing the overall structure of the NEC.


This is it right here.  When I was taking multiple journeyman tests back in my electrician days, knowing the structure and keywords meant absolutely everything for passing.  No different with the code section of the PE.


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## RadioBox

RadioBox said:


> I get the sense that you failed this exam cycle. Brace for the bright red logo in a couple of weeks. Heheheh


Obiviously, I'm joking. I'm rooting for all of us.


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## RadioBox

I am not an electrician, and in my opinion the handbook is better for P.E. type questions. First time test takers take my advice and use the handbook


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## nyeit

Hoping NCEES will email today, maybe?


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## roy167

nyeit said:


> Hoping NCEES will email today, maybe?


What makes you think today?  That would be too early?


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## daydreambeliever

roy167 said:


> What makes you think today?  That would be too early?


Today is day 34. It could be today!!!


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## fyrfytr310

Hey.  Y'all remember that one question?  That was a real doozy.  That other one was pretty easy though.


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## roy167

daydreambeliever said:


> Today is day 34. It could be today!!!


Tomorrow or next friday.


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## roy167

Come on people someone say they got the e-mail. Looks like it is going to be next Friday.


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## fyrfytr310

roy167 said:


> Come on people someone say they got the e-mail. Looks like it is going to be next Friday.


Enjoy the weekend I guess.


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## alEE

Alabama has Posted Results


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## StrugglingEngineer

OMG!!!! I passed!

Alabama results are in. Good luck everyone!


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## darebuck

North Dakota results are in.


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## GPBurdell_91

NC Results (for me) posted, today.  I did not expect them until the first week of June, at the earliest.  I have no idea if they provide everyone's results at the same time or not.  Nonetheless, I just learned that I passed.  I am still in shock.  Took the test after 28 years since graduating.  Let this an encouraging fact for anyone else in the same position.  It CAN be done.  I thought this would be a "practice", but I miraculously passed.  I used School of PE and lots of self-study.  I have worked in the Electric Utility business for my entire career, so that may have helped as well, but the NEC code is not something I ever studied before going after this exam.  It's just not part of the utility business that I work with.  The NEC was a much larger topic than I expected throughout the April 2019 exam.  My biggest recommendation is to not put it off as long as I did.  If you do, study hard.  Dedicate time.  Clear your evening schedules.  Work practice exams.  Good luck to everyone!


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## PDX-EE

GPBurdell_91 said:


> This was my first time taking it (April 2019) after being out of school for roughly 28 years.  My work experience is 100% on the Utility side of Power, so no prior background with NEC.  My personal take is that the morning session was rougher than the afternoon, but maybe we don't all get these in the same order.  Did not manage my time well on the AM session, but finished early on the Afternoon session and had time to go back and review.  Hopefully, that balances out.  I think they far exceeded their published percentage of NEC-related questions on this exam, but that's not all bad, if you learn where to look.  I'm curious if anyone else feels like the AM was the more challenging portion of the exam and if topics covered in the AM/PM sessions are the same at all testing locations.  I'd also agree with other comments that there were some topics that were completely unpredicted.  Not a lot, but a few that were not in any practice or review classes that I took.
> 
> Good Luck to everyone waiting on April Results!


I also came from the utility sector, also out of school for a long time (14 years), and also had the exact same take on the test as you did.

Found out today I passed! Hopefully you (and all the folks commiserating on the forum) did as well. 

Edit: just saw you passed! Congrats!


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## EE-Peach

Update. I failed 46/80.

I studied for 8-9 weeks. Mon-friday 4-9 and about 9am-10pm on weekends skipping a day or so here and there. I feel like studying was the hardest part.  My study material included School of PE problems &amp; solutions, Power PE engineering program guides practice test, nec code, nec handbook, nesc , NFPA..and nCEEs practice exam. I studied these all 2-3 times. Making a reference sheet the 2nd or 3rd time around.  I took all of the above plus Graffeo practice test, power PE reference book, power PE study guide, power PE formula book, wildi electrical machines drives &amp; power systems. The uglys references were a waste. I wasn't able to review them. I didn't HV time to review Graffeo but feel lots of the questions were the same as school of PE &amp; engineering pro guides.

All &amp; all I feel like I prepared myself but could HV done better in the first half. I finished early the second half and was able to go through and figure some problems out.  I was pressed for time in the first half so couldn't review problems as much but all &amp; all I feel I had to atleaat make low 70s. Good luck to us all. If I were to do anything different, I would HV started about 1-2 months earlier just so I could skim through all of the school of PE material. I didn't study reliability at all and there were two reliability problems in the second half tht I ended up figuring one out but missed the other one.  Turned out to be very simple answer.  Missouri results are in as of today 5-14-19 but I took in Illinois and hadn't received.

Also Illinois test site (hotel) didn't have any visible clocks!!!! Bring a watch no matter what!

Good luck to us alllllllll


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## stephan11

Did anyone who passed the April 2019 PE Power Exam got their license and certificate yet?


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