# 100 days...



## Kovz (Jan 8, 2015)

We are officially 100 days out from the April '15 exam. Who feels like they are ready to take the exam?

I've been studying since August but still feel like I have a lot more studying to do. These next 3 months are going to be brutal. Crunch time!


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## The Wizard (Jan 8, 2015)

Good job. How many hours do you estimate that you've put in so far?


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## P-E (Jan 8, 2015)

Kovz said:


> We are officially 100 days out from the April '15 exam. Who feels like they are ready to take the exam?
> 
> I've been studying since August but still feel like I have a lot more studying to do. These next 3 months are going to be brutal. Crunch time!


Hope you can remember what you studied in August. I can't remember what I had for lunch yesterday.


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## Kovz (Jan 8, 2015)

The Wizard said:


> Good job. How many hours do you estimate that you've put in so far?


I haven't really been keeping track. I've had a lot of downtime at work the past few months so I've been studying there when I get the chance. Doing some mild reading on topics before bed at night and a couple hours of practice problems on the weekends. I'd estimate maybe in the 200-250 hour range. Work is starting to pick up though so I am going to have to dedicate more time at home, especially on the weekends.



power-engineer said:


> Kovz said:
> 
> 
> > We are officially 100 days out from the April '15 exam. Who feels like they are ready to take the exam?
> ...


Haha ain't that the truth. I had to get an early start on studying though because of limited time to crunch it all in 3 months leading up to the exam. Working full time, 21 month old at home, wife works full time and attends night school for masters.


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## Blue 8 (Jan 8, 2015)

I will start studying on Monday. Gathering up the last of my material.


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## cnata001 (Jan 8, 2015)

Are you taking a review course? If so, I'd concentrate efforts on Depth studying before the course begins.


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## Blue 8 (Jan 8, 2015)

cnata001 said:


> Are you taking a review course? If so, I'd concentrate efforts on Depth studying before the course begins.


Not sure if this question is directed to me. If so, I am taking a review course. Starts in March. For the environmental exam there isn't a depth or breadth breakout. Wait at least I don't think there is ?


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## Kovz (Jan 8, 2015)

cnata001 said:


> Are you taking a review course? If so, I'd concentrate efforts on Depth studying before the course begins.




I took the GA Tech online review course for Electrical Power.


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## aggieman_09 (Jan 27, 2015)

Can anyone suggest a good set of problems for the power exam? I have done the Complex Imaginary set but they seem far too easy. The NCEES Practice Exam seems ok but not overly in depth on anything.


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## knight1fox3 (Jan 27, 2015)

"Spin-up" seems to be another popular set of practice problems recommended by others on this forum.

http://engineerboards.com/index.php?showtopic=24642


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## Kovz (Jan 28, 2015)

aggieman_09 said:


> Can anyone suggest a good set of problems for the power exam? I have done the Complex Imaginary set but they seem far too easy. The NCEES Practice Exam seems ok but not overly in depth on anything.




I agree, I used the Spin-Up practice problems. Although I felt those were even easier than the Complex Imaginary problems. It was a good confidence builder to begin studying with.

If I were you, I'd do the CI exams a few times and the NCEES exam several times. I've heard the real exam is very similar difficulty level to the NCEES practice exam.


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## salsill (Feb 11, 2015)

I started studying three weeks ago. Gradually increasing the amount of time I spend studying, it takes time to get into the habit of studying again. I have a lot of studying to do but hopefully I'll get there. Good luck to all.


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## Blue 8 (Feb 11, 2015)

Good luck to you as well salsill.


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## iwire (Feb 11, 2015)

ya..good luck to all. but don't get burn out by over studying...remember quality is better than quantity.. (wish i learned back in college)


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## Kovz (Feb 17, 2015)

2 months from today....

I feel confident and ready to take the exam. I've been scoring in the 80%+ range on all my practice exams. Another 2 months worth of practice problems should be enough preparation... I hope!


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## John QPE (Feb 17, 2015)

The more I study, the more I feel there is so much I don't know ......


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## Ken PE 3.1 (Feb 17, 2015)

John Q said:


> The more I study, the more I feel there is so much I don't know ......


That just means that you are getting close.


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## NB15 (Feb 17, 2015)

John Q said:


> The more I study, the more I feel there is so much I don't know ......


I'm right there with you...


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## Blue 8 (Feb 18, 2015)

Plus 2.... John Q and NB15. But I like Kens statement!


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## The Wizard (Feb 19, 2015)

John Q said:


> The more I study, the more I feel there is so much I don't know ......


Yup, I felt the same way studying for Transpo. So glad it's over!


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## NB15 (Mar 3, 2015)

How is everyone's studying coming along?

I am feeling a little better in that now I've at least tried problems in all the main topics in the NCEES spec. I know I have to do more practice problems in the breadth portion, but I think I'm at the point where with that remaining practice, even if I'm not strong in the subject, I will know where to find the info and how to use the formulas on exam day.

I still have a lot of work to do for my depth, but we have about 6 weeks until the exam and think it's doable. I got over the fear of admitting how much I don't know in my depth area by just trying to answer the problems without studying, getting them right or wrong...and being ok with that. Getting it wrong now still counts as studying if I learn why I got it wrong. With that pride hurdle aside, I'm ready to jump into it the remaining core subtopics of my depth section.

I also learned I really need to work on answering the questions more efficiently. It doesn't help that I got the right answer if it happens 2 hours after the exam's already ended. I realize that I'm writing out the solutions neatly and noting equations and thought processes so I can follow the steps during the exam. During my next practice exam runs, I'll treat it like the real exam and use some of the time-saving tips I've been reading (knocking out the easier problems first, eliminating obvious wrong answers, using the four answer options in formulas and back-solving to see which one is correct if stuck, etc.).

We can do this...


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## Ramnares P.E. (Mar 4, 2015)

Just a quick note of caution NB15, while you certainly don't want to lose time writing your solution neatly and annotating equations and thought process etc., you also don't want to be overly sloppy either. You will have more than enough room in the booklet to work through the problem so you should attempt to keep it somewhat neat. I worked through the entire exam once (no identifying problem difficulty and jumping around) and marked the problems that I felt I wasn't very confident on (put an asterisk next to the problem number). However, on the first pass-through I did start working through the problem, and on my second pass-through, the equations and process were still there so I could quickly check to see if I had done something incorrectly the first time. A few of the problems I ended up changing answers on were because I had missed a conversion on a component of an equation, or simply forgot to enter that variable.


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## matt267 PE (Mar 4, 2015)

^ I'm struggling with the same thing when it comes to units. It takes time to write the units and make sure everything cancels, but it's worth it. I found with the civil/wre practice exam that almost ever afternoon problem needed a conversion. Without tracking the units, that could be difficult.


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## Ken PE 3.1 (Mar 4, 2015)

Hang in there, it will be worth the effort when you pass.


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## Blue 8 (Mar 4, 2015)

Studying is steady and this School of PE class is helping tremendously and we're only on the third day. No, I didn't get paid to say that either.  Something that had been hounding me for months clicked tonight thanks to the Prof. Environmental is so broad that it is hard to know everything. I'll just continue to do problems (although I find the Linderberg/Schneiter problems seems so much harder than the School of PE problems)... get my references tabbed up well and put together my binders. Just keep pushing.


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## Ramnares P.E. (Mar 6, 2015)

matt267 said:


> ^ I'm struggling with the same thing when it comes to units. It takes time to write the units and make sure everything cancels, but it's worth it. I found with the civil/wre practice exam that almost ever afternoon problem needed a conversion. Without tracking the units, that could be difficult.




Exactly this. It's good to get in the habit of noting what units the answers are in so that you know what you are ultimately working toward. For the vast majority of the problems I wrote down the equations I used, filled in the variables (with units), and made sure my final answer was in the units I needed. The Lindeburg conversion manual is a must have - it WILL save you a lot of time and headache.

I've heard stories of people who are more comfortable in SI / US Customary converting all the units to the system they are more comfortable with. I think you need to work enough problems that you are confident working in either sets of units. You don't want to be thrown off your game plan by something as fundamentally simple as units.


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## iwire (Mar 6, 2015)

oh..i can sense the excitement as it get closer but remember not to get burn out on studying, don't cramp all at once..spread it out. Also, take a break a couple on the weekend (drink, movies, sex, exercising, park, camping etc)...help to ease the mind!

Also, organized your material and learn how to use the calculator to your advantages!


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