# # Correct



## lowcountrygamecock (Jan 31, 2008)

I know there isn't a magic number but does anybody have a gut feeling on how many correct answers I need to be shooting for to feel good about passing? I am using a couple practice tests to gauge where I am and what I need to study and I would feel a heck of a lot better if I knew how close I was. Anybody have any thoughts?


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## roadwreck (Jan 31, 2008)

12


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## roadwreck (Jan 31, 2008)

This thread has diagnostics of people who didn't succeed this time around.

http://engineerboards.com/index.php?showtopic=3347

Like you said, there is no magic number but it really seems like you want to shoot for at least 70%


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## nst0589 (Jan 31, 2008)

I would say that the cutoff is somewhere between 45-52



lowcountrygamecock said:


> I know there isn't a magic number but does anybody have a gut feeling on how many correct answers I need to be shooting for to feel good about passing? I am using a couple practice tests to gauge where I am and what I need to study and I would feel a heck of a lot better if I knew how close I was. Anybody have any thoughts?


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## benbo (Jan 31, 2008)

nst0589 said:


> I would say that the cutoff is somewhere between 45-52


Nobody knows, and it depends on the test, but it seems from the failing diagnostics I've seen on this site that the actually number is higher than that. I'd shoot for 53-56.


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## ee_4_pe (Feb 1, 2008)

From personal experience, the diagnostic is a great tool but I did not get many questions right when I did it and I passed the PE exam. What I would do is try to understand the material of each question. If I got the answer right, great. If not I would try to understand what the right answer is and how to do it. I once spent over 4 hours trying to understand 1 of the questions on the NCEES practice exam. By trying to understand the solution, looking up relevant material, asking questions on this board, I picked up alot of material on my journey. The final result was a familiarity of WHERE to find the solution for that questions and others similar to it.

My point, use the practice test as a learning tool more than as a diagnostic. If you did not get enough questions right, it will only scare you. It does not necessarily mean you should think about pushing off the exam.

Best of luck with your studies.


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## Dark Knight (Feb 1, 2008)

ee_4_pe said:


> My point, use the practice test as a learning tool more than as a diagnostic. If you did not get enough questions right, it will only scare you. It does not necessarily mean you should think about pushing off the exam.


Excellent post EE4.


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## jtucker (Feb 1, 2008)

lowcountrygamecock said:


> I know there isn't a magic number but does anybody have a gut feeling on how many correct answers I need to be shooting for to feel good about passing? I am using a couple practice tests to gauge where I am and what I need to study and I would feel a heck of a lot better if I knew how close I was. Anybody have any thoughts?


I passed the Electrical PE (Power) this October on my first try. Based on feedback from others and how i felt leaving the test, I think that the cut score is between 52 and 56 questions answered correctly. Like everyone else, I would love to know what my score was and how close I was to not making it.

As many have stated, the key to passing this test is to SMOKE the morning session. I would be shooting for 30+ questions right in the morning part. When you get to the afternoon session, you will see why. The afternoon session is tough to do really well on as the questions cover such a wide range of topics and they are much more in depth. I have been working in the power industry for 15 years and feel like I probably only got around 25 correct. (maybe a few more with guesses) It is also real easy to "overthink" the afternoon questions and make stupid mistakes. ANy one who gets more than 30 right on the afternoon sessions is either really smart or has a ton of experience. In general, the morning session was much easier than I thought it would be and the afternoon session was much harder.

The morning session is very much like the NCEES practice exam. Study it thouroughly. I was amazed at how close the actual test problems were to the practice test. Also if you still have them, study your circuit theory and elctronics books from college. This helped me a lot too.


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## ee_4_pe (Feb 1, 2008)

BringItOn said:


> Excellent post EE4.


Thanks. I got alot of great advice on this forum when I was studying. The advice I got here definitely made the difference for me. (Your advice in particular was always great.)


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