# October 2014 Electrical Power Exam was Tough



## maverickPEPower

Gals n Guys do you agree? I asked people who took 2 or 3 times before. They concur that this was the toughest. More theoretical than problematic. Let us know what you all thought?


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## engmc

where did you take the exam?


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## maverickPEPower

Houston.


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## engmc

Theoretical questions on I am a Gigantic DoucheBag


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## maverickPEPower

Everything. Did you take the exam? Please read forum rules we are not supposed to talk specifics about questions.


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## eksor_PE

I took the exam as well. I thought I was the only one suffering from that AM and PM exams. Like you, I talked to a guy who has taken it 3 times and told me that this time was the hardest.


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## ronbo

This is my second time taking the exam...first time was in Apr 2012. Yesterday's exam didn't seem too hard, but I certainly was surprised about the variety of topics covered. This time around I practiced exams from CI, Spinup, and NCEES and really hoped the exam yesterday would be more similar...but it wasn't. Oh well...we'll see what happens


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## maverickPEPower

I totally agree @ronbo. I did CI, Spinup and NCEES score closed to 85% in all but this exam was tough.


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## knight1fox3

Every exam session is hard. There's no measure of how they compare though.


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## Submarine Guy

A few insights from the exam, without discussing specifics of questions:

- I thought the morning session was extremely difficult, the afternoon was a little closer to what I expected based on the CI, Spin Up, and NCEES questions available.

- I'm glad I brought a copy of NESC; I thought I may only need the index but that wasn't the case.

- Didn't realize I would need a copy of NFPA 70E (Electrical Safety in the Workplace). I'll pick one up if I have to retake the exam.

- Most NEC questions were straight forward but there were a couple of obscure ones, one of which I never quite found the answer to and had to guess.

- I felt like walking out after only being able to answer about three of the first twelve questions. After the morning session I really didn't want to come back for the afternoon. It's been a long week at work dealing with an audit from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. I wish the exam were on a Saturday so I could have a day to recharge a little before hand.


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## knight1fox3

Don't think you really need a copy of 70E, but to each their own.

LOL @ NRC audit. Not my favorite.


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## maverickPEPower

I was able to solve the problem using 70E. If I didn't bring i would not be able to solve. Its not required but when u didn't pass by 1 point don't u wish u had that book.


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## maverickPEPower

@submarine I totally agree morning was very difficult. Evening was little easy. Lets see how this pans out in 6 weeks. I am glad I am not the only one who felt it was a tough exam. I talked with some mechanical folks. It was easy for them.


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## Submarine Guy

I don't know about "to each their own", I think that kind of minimalizes the fact that you needed the book to answer the question. I don't have tables from the NFPA 70E memorized.

Without getting specific, a question states "in accordance with NFPA 70E", then asks a question that requires you to look at a table for a specific value.

I came home and looked it up because I wasn't really familiar with what NFPA 70E is. Sure enough, the answer was in there.

I only bring it up so that others know they may need a copy of NFPA 70E in the future. NCEES may not have asked questions on this in the past, but they certainly did yesterday.


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## knight1fox3

Well to lighten the mood a little for you recent test takers, have a look below at one of my favorite exam recaps from another forum user. Very funny in my opinion.



'bingcrosbyb said:


> EE - Power. "You sunk my battleship."
> 
> *Preparation Time/Materials:* 250 total hours. 5 textbooks, prep coursework notebook, 2 notebooks of graduate class material, calculators, snacks, rolling suitcase.
> 
> *Money:* ~$1,550.
> 
> *General Observations:* Arrived at my site 30 minutes prior to report time. Noticed that many others had literally libraries and libraries of books. Someone had a giant wagon with bungie cords holding all of the books together. Others just had a single piece of paper. Wild. I randomly started thinking of a national geographic special with narration by Morgan Freeman on PE test taking habits. I needed that laugh to clear my head.
> 
> *AM Session:* Felt the AM session was great. Only ended up with 6-7 that I didn't have a single solid answer or couldn't find it in my reference. I finished slightly early and checked only some of my work.
> 
> *PM Session:* Total unadulterated bloodbath. Couldn't seem to concentrate enough to find the equations I needed. Calculator was spitting out answers that were out of this world. Saw stuff that I barely covered in droves. About 2-3 hours into the afternoon, my brain felt like it had been through a dishwasher and I started hopping around from question to question. Not good. I will be lucky if I got a quarter to half right. I might as well have taken another discipline in the afternoon or gone to work. A monkey may have been able to do better.
> 
> *Final Thoughts:* As I left the exam area, I felt numb, dumb, and a little crushed. I felt like I blew the morning session out of the water. Then the PE got off a torpedo as I was heading to collect my stamp, promotion, and better life. I'm not very good at guessing and doing the math in my head all weekend I kept envisioning a percentage score in the upper 60s with an afternoon diagnostic that simply says "monkey". 6 months of neglecting my wife and family might be for nothing in the end except doing it all over again. I know the pass rate for repeaters is low, but what is the divorce rate?
> 
> Oh well. If I recall from a coworker, last years results were released in around 45-50 days following the exam. I think he got his in late May. We shall see. I guess the ultimate decision is now do I crack open another book....or another beer?


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## sid

the exam was tough...good luck to all.. I think that the results should be out by the first week of December maybe earlier


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## Superbiker PE

1st time test taker, but glad I'm not the only one that thought the AM was tougher then the PM.

5-6 AM questions that none of my material prepped me for. The 70E was definitely required. After the AM, I was already checking to see when the next test would be offered.

PM portion was either easier, or I did a good job coming up with the correct "wrong" answer, because almost all of my answers were listed as options in the multiple choice.

2 PM questions I had no clue, and it wouldn't have mattered if I had another 4 hrs to try.

Maybe they'll grade in a curve. Lol


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## PEoct

omg same here, i studied so hard , but the exam was not even % closer to what was expected,

i remember last time i didnt prepared well but exam was so straight forward. but this time i almost cried ,,,,,,,,,,,, it was most unexpected problems

very very sad and disappointed.

good luck to all.


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## dayrongarcia

Same here, did the CI tests, the one from NCEES and read some books. I was hoping to use the calculator a little bit more but found myself looking at textbooks most of the time. The wording of the problems were not similar in anyway to the actual practice tests.


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## maverickPEPower

Let's just hope the exam was tough for everyone. May be thy he passing score will be lower this time.


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## nbrabson

I made a lot of simple mistakes on the AM. The PM was definitely easier that the AM. Hoping the PM will carry my score! Can't stop doing the math in my head to come up with the magic "56" passing (hopefully) number.


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## Captain America

I thought the morning was really harsh. The evening was slightly better than the morning but it was tough as well. This was the first time I took the test. I thought the NCEES sample test would give me a good example of the actual test, but it wasn't. Not even close. I needed to pass this to get a promotion, but ill be back studying again. SMH!


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## panna1

I made a total of 5 blunders in the exam ,even after came/found the correct answer. I was in doubt of my work and chose the wrong answers (2 problematic and 3 theoretical). I hope somehow I can get to the passing mark. I am damn sure on 54 questions that were right and 21 wrong. (yesterday 53 right and 19 wrong. please don't ask me about the answers as I am not supposed to talk on any forums about the questions asked in the exam). I still cant find a specific answer for 5 questions.


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## panna1

I am still dreaming about the exam and having sleepless nights due to my blunders. I am praying god that they make 50 or lower as the passing score.


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## Ken PE 3.1

It would be funny to read some of the comments that will be put on the survey when it comes out.

And to top off my day, the lighting was horrid in the room we were in, and the heat was up waaaaaay too high.

Good luck to all, I am not hopeful.


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## poosri

yes, the am session was just horrible...it was all like greek and latin and nothing related to what was expected and prepared though several days.....very disappointing/sad and hurt about not being to crack the questions...but have to agree that the exam was very good in terms of how they framed the questions...guess someone who has good experience in variety of fields would find it easy??? pm was little better but who knows....i thought i was the only one who felt this way and that i didnt prepare enough...feel better knowing everyone felt more or less same....


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## EEgator PE

This was my first time taking the test and I agree, it was much more difficult than I had expected. On average, the level of difficulty in the questions was well beyond what I had prepared for while studying. I spent about 5 months preparing for the test and it felt like I didn't prepare at all. I was in the books looking for info on about 85% of the questions.

I studied the NCEES practice test and all 4 volumes of the Complex Imaginary to prepare for the test as well as reading most of the related chapters in the Wildi, Chapman, and Grainger books. The practice NCEES questions seemed close to what was on the test, but not real helpful and the the Complex Imaginary stuff wasn't nearly complex enough to be helpful.

The NEC code questions seemed a bit easier than what I practiced so that was a bit of a bonus and it seemed like there was a lot of NEC on the test. I would have liked to have known about the 70E because I likely missed that question simply because I didn't have that material with me. Hopefully that question falls out as an outlier and is not counted in for the overall results if everyone missed it.


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## PEoct

EEGator said:


> This was my first time taking the test and I agree, it was much more difficult than I had expected. On average, the level of difficulty in the questions was well beyond what I had prepared for while studying. I spent about 5 months preparing for the test and it felt like I didn't prepare at all. I was in the books looking for info on about 85% of the questions.
> 
> I studied the NCEES practice test and all 4 volumes of the Complex Imaginary to prepare for the test as well as reading most of the related chapters in the Wildi, Chapman, and Grainger books. The practice NCEES questions seemed close to what was on the test, but not real helpful and the the Complex Imaginary stuff wasn't nearly complex enough to be helpful.
> 
> The NEC code questions seemed a bit easier than what I practiced so that was a bit of a bonus and it seemed like there was a lot of NEC on the test. I would have liked to have known about the 70E because I likely missed that question simply because I didn't have that material with me. Hopefully that question falls out as an outlier and is not counted in for the overall results if everyone missed it.


same here ! now i have prepared my self that i am going to fail. but i m more worried how to change my study strategy if they continue to follow the same difficulty level. i prepared just like u i started in june,,,,,,,, i guess that is the part of reason i am feeling bad, but not terribly bad becasue i could have not changed a single thing to regret.

but now i dnt what to do


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## PEoct

but i am so very glad that we all feeling the same , i have read all the threads from this web site since 2007 and i never EVER CAME ACROSS THIS KIND OF after exam feeling, that it was tough, this is the first time in the history i actually heard PE is tough.

i will pray for best for everyone


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## Kovz

Thanks all for the feedback. I hope you all passed. I am taking the test for the first time in April '15.

If anyone would like a free copy of the NFPA 70E, I can email it to them. I have the PDF that is 3.23MB. You're on your own for printing and binding it though.


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## maverickPEPower

If we all scored poorly do you guys think that they will reduce the passing score below 70% or they will stick it to us all?


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## Dark Knight

maverickPEPower said:


> If we all scored poorly do you guys think that they will reduce the passing score below 70% or they will stick it to us all?




They will do both.


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## Ken PE 3.1

maverickPEPower said:


> If we all scored poorly do you guys think that they will reduce the passing score below 70% or they will stick it to us all?


They will adjust the passing score to your score lusone: . :bag:

It's going to a long 8 weeks.


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## poosri

Kovz said:


> Thanks all for the feedback. I hope you all passed. I am taking the test for the first time in April '15.
> 
> If anyone would like a free copy of the NFPA 70E, I can email it to them. I have the PDF that is 3.23MB. You're on your own for printing and binding it though.


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## brianbui

Hi Kovz,

Would you kindly email to me the copy of NFPA 70E for my next exam.

Thanks,

Best regards,

Brian

[email protected]


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## Kovz

Poosri, did you mean to link your email in that quote?

Brianbui, no problem. Sent.


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## Powergirl

I agree with you all. Friday's exam was very tough and will cause a certain level of stress for me over the next 8 weeks. I have a buddy who sat for the exam April and October 2014, and he agreed that the October exam was more difficult. I'm torn as to whether or not I should pull out my books (in preparation for April 2015) and continue studying as if Friday never happened!

Any suggestions for getting through the next 8 weeks would be greatly appreciated! Good luck to all.


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## Ken PE 3.1

Powergirl said:


> I agree with you all. Friday's exam was very tough and will cause a certain level of stress for me over the next 8 weeks. I have a buddy who sat for the exam April and October 2014, and he agreed that the October exam was more difficult. I'm torn as to whether or not I should pull out my books (in preparation for April 2015) and continue studying as if Friday never happened!
> 
> Any suggestions for getting through the next 8 weeks would be greatly appreciated! Good luck to all.




Beer. Lots and lots of beer.


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## snickerd3

Powergirl said:


> I agree with you all. Friday's exam was very tough and will cause a certain level of stress for me over the next 8 weeks. I have a buddy who sat for the exam April and October 2014, and he agreed that the October exam was more difficult. I'm torn as to whether or not I should pull out my books (in preparation for April 2015) and continue studying as if Friday never happened!
> 
> Any suggestions for getting through the next 8 weeks would be greatly appreciated! Good luck to all.


do not pull the books back out. you need to recharge!!! drink and be merry for the next 8-10 weeks..then only if needed dust them off and start again


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## PEoct

Ken 2.0 said:


> Powergirl said:
> 
> 
> 
> I agree with you all. Friday's exam was very tough and will cause a certain level of stress for me over the next 8 weeks. I have a buddy who sat for the exam April and October 2014, and he agreed that the October exam was more difficult. I'm torn as to whether or not I should pull out my books (in preparation for April 2015) and continue studying as if Friday never happened!
> 
> Any suggestions for getting through the next 8 weeks would be greatly appreciated! Good luck to all.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Beer. Lots and lots of beer.
Click to expand...

honestly, the best thing to do is to not to think about it, i know we all worked hard but thinking about it and feeling bad is not going to change anything, so just relax and just be prepared for the worst , i have made my mind set that i am going to fail. so nothing worst than this can happen. and after one month break i am going to start over again. i am just not thinking about it , because all these four months i did my best and worked hard as much as i can no regrets , because with the kind of exam i think i need more resources and tons of books ,which we all had no clue about.

good luck and stay positive and relax


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## maverickPEPower

Thanks @Ken 2.0 that helps.


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## Ken PE 3.1

Just trying to be helpful, in case you were unfamiliar with the grading styles and complexities of the format.


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## iwire

Powergirl said:


> I agree with you all. Friday's exam was very tough and will cause a certain level of stress for me over the next 8 weeks. I have a buddy who sat for the exam April and October 2014, and he agreed that the October exam was more difficult. I'm torn as to whether or not I should pull out my books (in preparation for April 2015) and continue studying as if Friday never happened!
> 
> Any suggestions for getting through the next 8 weeks would be greatly appreciated! Good luck to all.


Don't...regardless what's the results..you need to take a break mentally and physically. It's a very draining process....take a couple weeks off then come back again if you feel like it


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## Powergirl

Thanks for the advice..you guys are right! I traveled for work today and it honestly feels great to not have to drag around the NEC Handbook in my luggage!


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## brandzimm

Wow. What a test. It was my first time taking the PE and it was the first test in a long time I wasn't nervous going into because I felt so prepared. I like other skimmed through the first 12 problems before getting to one I knew easily to get my confidence going. The AM was brutal. While I never had to make a blind guess, I felt alot of my answers were very educated guesses. The PM was almost the exact opposite. I finished the first 12 problems in about 25 minutes and finished the PM section about an hour early. Not sure if it will be enough to offset the AM but I hope it is. What a mentally draining exam.

There were certainly a few things mentioned in the NCEES Sample exam that weren't discussed much in any course given or on any sample exams that I saw a TON on the actual exam. Was thrown off by that. If you took the exam, you know what type of problems I'm talking about. I feel confident I didn't get any of the calculated problems wrong but there were few of them. Majority of the test was theory based.

I also had one question that I had an exact example from the GT course and I worked it exactly the way the course did and the answer wasn't an available choice.


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## Kovz

Kovz said:


> If anyone would like a free copy of the NFPA 70E, I can email it to them. I have the PDF that is 3.23MB. You're on your own for printing and binding it though.




I also have the NESC 2012 in PDF form (free download). It is 7.5MB though so probably too large to email. I have uploaded both files to dropbox so if anyone messages me, I can provide the link to one or both. Several have already messaged me and I emailed them the NFPA 70E.


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## iwire

Kovz said:


> Kovz said:
> 
> 
> 
> If anyone would like a free copy of the NFPA 70E, I can email it to them. I have the PDF that is 3.23MB. You're on your own for printing and binding it though.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I also have the NESC 2012 in PDF form (free download). It is 7.5MB though so probably too large to email. I have uploaded both files to dropbox so if anyone messages me, I can provide the link to one or both. Several have already messaged me and I emailed them the NFPA 70E.
Click to expand...

That was I did when i took it back in April, printed it out 4 pages per page double sided..you can reduced the thickness!


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## J-Dubbs

I'm glad to see I'm not alone in thinking this exam was a monster. This was my first time taking the PE exam. I had taken the Testmasters course (about 75 hours of classroom training) and studied probably an extra 100 hours on my own. Despite all this, I did not feel at all prepared for this test. Maybe I'm being too hard on myself, or maybe my memory is only recalling the questions I had a tough time with, but it feels like I was only 100% positive on maybe 25% of the total number of questions. The rest of them I either got an answer I wasn't confident with, or I was unsure if I was taking the right approach, or I just had no clue and had to take a guess.

I know I was prepared enough based on all indicators before. I saved the official NCEES practice exam until about two days before just to gauge where I was, and I ended up getting something like 68/80 questions right on it using only the study materials I would bring into the exam with me. But the exam felt absolutely nothing like the sample exam or any of the other practice problems from the course or various books that I worked through. I know we can't go into details on specific questions, but I was astounded at the number of esoteric and obscure questions that were on there.

I'm not dumb. I know how to do this stuff. But I do feel a bit cheated in terms of what we were led to believe would be on the exam and what was actually there. But anyway, enough ranting, I know it won't matter anyway. Time to just suck it up like a man and prepare myself for the April exam.

By the way, I've heard from several mechanical and civil discipline people who took those exams say that the morning session was more general and that the afternoon was harder because it was more specific. Does the Power exam not follow this same principle? The types of questions we saw seemed to be pretty evenly distributed across the morning and afternoon sessions in terms of scope and difficulty. Is there not a "general" session for Power like there is for other disciplines?


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## KatyLied P.E.

It's my understanding, and my experience, that the Power PE is not divided up between general and specific. Years ago, when the exam was "show your work" I recall it being "breadth and depth" but no more currently.


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## yccyccy

First time exam taker. Started to prepare for the exam from beginning of September, after kids back to school from crazy summer. Skimmed through EERM (borrowed from coworker who took test long time ago) and did NCEES/CI twice. no review course.

At test, saw other people have recent Power Reference Manual from PPI first time and wish I had one. I only printed out table of content of NESC and hope I have brought the whole code. That is a easy point to lose.

Totally astonished by the contents for the exam, the CI practice exam is not even close to the real test. How should we know what to prepare? Finished first round of morning test in 2 hours and did it again in the remaining 2 hours, find some easy miss points. In the afternoon, finished first round in 2.5 hours and reviewed the answers in the remaining time. Quite a lot of guess on questions have no clue at all. Hope I can reach the pass score.

If I need to take it again, will put more time on the motors and generators.

There is a guy in my place bring a iPad in his box, although he did not use it during the test, he take it out during lunch break. Then he is not allowed to come back in afternoon test.


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## panna1

I don't know what to expect, but my buddy who took the exam back in april and got 52 marks and failed is saying that October exam was very easy to him. he is very confident that he is going to score no less than 68 and he is already started celebrating. I have no idea how to react to him, when I am expecting to score around 56 and barely pass the exam.


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## maverickPEPower

@J-Dudds exactly what feel like. I did solve ncees two days before. Scored the same and don't feel that confident if I will pass.


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## Kovz

KatyLied said:


> It's my understanding, and my experience, that the Power PE is not divided up between general and specific. Years ago, when the exam was "show your work" I recall it being "breadth and depth" but no more currently.




You're correct. Straight from NCEES website:

If you are taking either the *PE Civil* or *PE Mechanical *exam, you will be asked to select an afternoon module during registration. Your answer sheet will be scored based on the module you selected when registering.


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## J-Dubbs

Well that's interesting, I guess I never noticed that. Everyone I've talked to that has a "general" morning session (Civil or Mechanical apparently) has said that the morning portion was fairly easy. Kind of bums me out that we don't get a similarly easy morning session. I feel like we just got two difficult afternoon sessions instead. 

Oh well, so is life. Best we can hope for is a low cut score I suppose.


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## brianbui

Hi Kovz,

Can you kindly email me the NESC 2012 for my next exam reference.

Thank in advance.

Brian

[email protected]


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## Kovz

brianbui said:


> Hi Kovz,
> 
> Can you kindly email me the NESC 2012 for my next exam reference.
> 
> Thank in advance.
> 
> Brian
> 
> [email protected]




I will PM you the dropbox links. Check your inbox.


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## Captain America

Did anyone out there feel good about the power exam for October 2014. If so, can you please explain how you prepared because I'm kinda confused on how to prepare for the next test.I only say that because I spent over 500 hours studying, plus I took a prep course. I don't want a handout, I just want to know how to prepare enough to pass


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## grant

I didn't it was the small oddities that got me that I thought I was above/too smart to learning ...IMO I would go back and tab out each of the the 40 or so exam sections and google each item and do basic search for basic theory, fundamentals and applications even though most of leg work is already done with prep course..(of course this will take a lot time if your working full time so get started now)..the prep courses is assuming you understand majority of theory and small basic info that you wouldn't need know to pass but helps out in long run to answer problems. the prep course doesn't start at beginning they start at midway point.... Oct exam was based heavily of theory and basic industry stuff that the average young engineer wouldn't know off top of the head or should I say make you think twice. Plus when your studying you kinda get lost in doing problems every which way you forget to understand the fundamentals first over the long transmission line equations for example.......if that make any sense just my five cents I will be doing the same for april exam....the trick will be trying to understand year one 1 theory stuff vs remember how to do various calculation


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## panna1

Hi Grant,

did you do any silly/dumb mistakes like me? I did 5 dumb mistakes.

I talked to couple of friends who were in the utilities industry and for them oct 2014 power exam was very easy. one of the friend is confident that he got more than 68 correct and the other one who is taking the exam for the first time is confident that he will get more than 70. the second person started preparing from mid September only, but he mentioned that he came across the majority of the theoretical questions on job, and he uses NEC almost every week for design. I am praying god that somehow I pass the exam.

thanks,

Panna


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## Captain America

Thanks Grant. I'll follow that strategy. The only thing is that those are the hardest text to prepare for.I did go through every sample problem for the ncees exam and tried to research each question. Maybe I'll do it again. I started back in wildi's machinery book Saturday. Two weeks is enough of a break for me.


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## grant

yup same feeling, the exam in my opinion was fairly easy, it so easy I remember like 60 to 70 of the problems, so I didn't throw me off my game but like you said I literally gave that same away b/c I missed 8 gimmies, I literally got out the exam and read the problem word for word in one my books later on after exam. of course if I knew my books like I knew most the mathematical problems I would of pick those up so I little upset I missed so many theoretical questions.....but then again it make sense for overall perspective of exam

same here iam can't confidently say I got 70 percent but I can say at least got 40 out of 40, the rest is up in the air. minus the 8 gimmies


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## Captain America

Did you mean 40 out of 80 Grant.


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## grant

lol yeah 40 out 80


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## Captain America

It's a tricky test. But its a very broad test.So this test and Aprils test could be night and Day.It just seems like if you work in certain areas and have many years of experience, then you have a clear advantage over someone who has 4 or 5 years experience and studied for 6 months like me. I spent most of the time looking in the gazillion books I had. I didn't feel good after the test.Kinda felt like a scavenger hunt. I want to be prepared. I'll follow your advice Grant.


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## Kovz

Did working Spin Up, Complex Imaginary, and NCEES Sample exams help anyone feel good about the exam? I feel like working through those problems over and over again and getting extremely familiar with your references would help. If you can't find it in your reference books, look it up online and print it out and add to your custom made binder.

But I have no idea... I haven't taken the exam yet.


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## Captain America

Kovz I also had Graffeo book and Kaplan pe book.Plus my stuff from the GT class.Graffeo book is better than Cameras stuff. I see that now.


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## KatyLied P.E.

Kovz said:


> Did working Spin Up, Complex Imaginary, and NCEES Sample exams help anyone feel good about the exam? I feel like working through those problems over and over again and getting extremely familiar with your references would help. If you can't find it in your reference books, look it up online and print it out and add to your custom made binder.
> 
> But I have no idea... I haven't taken the exam yet.




That, along with adding the Graffeo book, was a signifiant portion of my preparation for April 2014. I also took the GA Tech course which I found to be very helpful. There were a few questions on April's test which would have been tough if you did not have daily electric utility experience. I was fortunate enough to know those and pass but I also have over 27 years experience in the electric utility industry. From what I've seen in random posts it appeards that October's test had an even heavier focus on practical work experience. I posted the names of several resources which might be helpful to those who may not have as much of that practical experience. I'll see if i can copy them over in this forum.


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## EEgator PE

I didn't really care for the Camara book until I got into the exam. It was useful on about 5 of the problems for general look up reference data so I was glad that I had it with me. Graffeo was really useful too.


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## KatyLied P.E.

Ok. here are those resources.

Listed below are references for your reading pleasure. Some of these might prove useful if you have limited experience in the actual design/maintenance of a utility electric grid:

*Electrical References Transformers and Power Equipment - Anthony Pansini * - Excellent, practical info on power equipment (transformers, breakers, fuses, meters, relays, etc.). As I'm looking I realize I'd forgotten how good this book is. Most of this stuff I know from having worked around it but if I'd remembered I would have taken this book in the test for moral support. Pansini has other good books too. His titles are worth Googling or Amazoning.

*A Guide to Transformer Maintenance - J.J. Kelly, S.D. Myers, R. H Parrish* - The bible of transformer maintenance. if you were marooned on a desert island, surrounded by the natives, their test equipment, and associated instruction manuals you would have no trouble in setting up their transformer maintenance program. I don't even know if they publish the book anymore but S.D Myers (the company) has a website devoted to transformer training.

*Electric Power Engineering handbook/Leonard Grigsby and Electric Power Transformer Engineering/James Harlow *- These are published by CRC Press. Their site is worth investigating for several other good titles also.

If I only bought one it would be the Pansini book. Supplement that with internet searches. In fact, if there are exam questions that stumped you I'd Google the heck out of them. The other books are good but, aside from building up your personal library, might be TMI. Your choice. To quote Edward R. Murrow, "Good night and good luck". (Google if you don't know who I'm talking about. His story is worth reading.)


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## knight1fox3

I recently purchased the Pansini book from Amazon. Certainly a good book to add to a well-rounded library if not only for studying. It was $45 when I bought it Price seems to have jumped.


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## Kovz

I agree with you guys about the Graffeo book. It's great and my go-to reference when working through example problems. Of course it doesn't have everything, but that's what your other references are there for. And if you can't find it in them, go find it online and print it.

The Camara book is junk. Don't get me wrong, I do use it occasionally for a few questions while working practice problems, and I will certainly bring it to the test, but for as expensive as it is, it's not a great book for preparing for the PE.

Thanks for the recommendations on those books, KatyLied. I work in the industrial design business (construction) and feel pretty good about my experience for only having 6 years. I'm hopeful that will help me pass the exam on the first time.


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## ronbo

No guarantee that I passed, but the Oct 2014 exam felt a lot easier for me than the last time I took it (April 2011). I studied pretty hard for this last exam (over 300 hours) and was ready for any fault current, voltage drop, or symmetrical current question they could throw at me, but ended up relying more on my 30 years of practical experience as a high voltage electrician (8 years), instrument mechanic (8 years) and a EE (14 years) instead of my recent efforts studying.

As for preparing for the April 2015 exam (maybe myself included), I don't think there's much I would do differently. I'd probably spend most of my time practicing SU, NCEES and CI exams to make sure I'm 100% ready for those types of questions. The rest of the questions require an understanding of principles and being able to "connect the dots". Hopefully I was able to get enough of those questions correct this last time around.

Good luck to all.


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## Captain America

This is what i did. I had CI,Spin ups,camera,graffeo,ncees exam,and kaplan SAMPLE EXAM. My preparation was problem solving heavy.I practice each exam probably 5 times each. The problems i missed i researched via internet or old electrical books. It probably still wasn't enough to pass but next time ill put more time into theory.GT Prep courses put more emphasis on problem solving with some theory. I based my prep off the ncees sample exam and the specification guide. I wont make that mistake again. I WILL NOT OPEN THE NCEES SAMPLE EXAM. Next time, ill be a theory machine.


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## poosri

Anyone here receive their results yet?


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## Ken PE 3.1

Yes, the results threads turn more state specific around this time.


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## dayrongarcia

Yup, failed.


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## eksor_PE

Yes. I passed. Electrical-Power. First time.


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## Ken PE 3.1

Congrats


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## maverickPEPower

Passed. Didn't expect I would pass with 91%. However I will still stick to my original post. This exam was tough so if u didn't make it, April will be easy You will only do better.


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## dayrongarcia

Maverick

I was one of the unlucky ones who did not pass the electrical power exam. Can you share your notes via electronic form or tell me the books you read, materials, etc. In order for me to do better in April.

Thank you very much.


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## poosri

Me too...Failed  Maverick and Ken, can you please share any specific books/notes that helped you pass? esp. to tackle design type problems? It would be greatly appreciated.


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## eBreak

maverickPEPower said:


> Passed. Didn't expect I would pass with 91%. However I will still stick to my original post. This exam was tough so if u didn't make it, April will be easy You will only do better.




Wow, maverick... you pretty muched aced this exam! 91%? that's a pretty high score.


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## InfluenzaRemix

There is no way to know the score Maverick got. It just says "Pass" if you Pass.

Some advice from my experience:

1. Try to get involved with actual electrical designs/plans being submitted. Real world experience is surprisingly helpful.

2. Look up specific references for individual topics listed. Make a good binder of printed references and know it. I wish I had done this more, even though I did pass. For example, it says you should know about power factor correction, so I included a section on using capacitors and synchronous condensers.

3. The problems in Spin-Up were too easy, IMO. I would just do them once early on in studying, to find out more areas you need to study. I think working the NCEES practice more times was significantly more helpful.

4. Study things that aren't covered in the NCEES practice test. Without getting into specifics (because let's be real, I can't remember very much), much of the October 2014 test was on subjects not even mentioned in the practice test. However the NCEES practice test gives a great idea of the types and difficulty of questions you're likely to find on the test.


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## eBreak

InfluenzaRemix said:


> There is no way to know the score Maverick got. It just says "Pass" if you Pass.




Texas gets a scaled score. I assume he/she is located in Texas.


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## J-Dubbs

I passed the Power exam as well in Texas with a 90%. First attempt.

I do agree though and hold to the opinion that it was a very hard exam. I have no idea how I scored that high, but I'm guessing some of it was insecurity in myself and probably also had a few of fhe guessed questions swing my way. I think anyone who didn't pass should definitely try again in April and will likely fair better.

I don't really have any specific advice or notes that would help. I took the Testmasters course in Houston and honestly didn't feel like it prepared me as well as I hoped it would. Much of the content on this exam was not covered in much depth in the Testmasters course. That said, the notes the course gave you were pretty useful in the exam, and it got me in the habit of working through as many problems as possible. If there's any advice I would give, that's it. Just work as many problems as you can. Don't just read and study a textbook or the NEC. Find a good study book with lots of practice problems and burn through them, multiple times if necessary.

Good luck guys, and congrats to those who passed!


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## maverickPEPower

InfluenzaRemix said:


> There is no way to know the score Maverick got. It just says "Pass" if you Pass.
> 
> Some advice from my experience:
> 
> 1. Try to get involved with actual electrical designs/plans being submitted. Real world experience is surprisingly helpful.
> 
> 2. Look up specific references for individual topics listed. Make a good binder of printed references and know it. I wish I had done this more, even though I did pass. For example, it says you should know about power factor correction, so I included a section on using capacitors and synchronous condensers.
> 
> 3. The problems in Spin-Up were too easy, IMO. I would just do them once early on in studying, to find out more areas you need to study. I think working the NCEES practice more times was significantly more helpful.
> 
> 4. Study things that aren't covered in the NCEES practice test. Without getting into specifics (because let's be real, I can't remember very much), much of the October 2014 test was on subjects not even mentioned in the practice test. However the NCEES practice test gives a great idea of the types and difficulty of questions you're likely to find on the test.


I don't care if you believe or not what my score is however for everyone else, Texas do list our score. I am very willing to help you guys. Let me compose a list of documents I read and if possible I can send some documents I downloaded online.


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## maverickPEPower

J-Dubbs said:


> I passed the Power exam as well in Texas with a 90%. First attempt.
> 
> I do agree though and hold to the opinion that it was a very hard exam. I have no idea how I scored that high, but I'm guessing some of it was insecurity in myself and probably also had a few of fhe guessed questions swing my way. I think anyone who didn't pass should definitely try again in April and will likely fair better.
> 
> I don't really have any specific advice or notes that would help. I took the Testmasters course in Houston and honestly didn't feel like it prepared me as well as I hoped it would. Much of the content on this exam was not covered in much depth in the Testmasters course. That said, the notes the course gave you were pretty useful in the exam, and it got me in the habit of working through as many problems as possible. If there's any advice I would give, that's it. Just work as many problems as you can. Don't just read and study a textbook or the NEC. Find a good study book with lots of practice problems and burn through them, multiple times if necessary.
> 
> Good luck guys, and congrats to those who passed!


Totally agree with you J-Dubbs. I took the test masters too in Houston. However it might not have helped me completely but it helped me keep going and keep up with the topics.


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## maverickPEPower

[SIZE=10.5pt]I didn't start studying that early however I already went through the topics of what need to be covered and put together all my college books covering those topics. I went with my college books instead of popular books recommended here because I am most familiar with those books and they are the books that I learnt stuff from. However you can always read books like Wildi, Grainger. My favorite book from college was B.L Theraja (electrical machines). This book also talks about transformers too. You can find pdf online however I have hard copy. I again stress the fact that if you still have your college text books read from that instead of buying a new one. It will help you to have good strong basics. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.5pt]I took all the standards to the exam. People say just print the index from some however it helped to take the entire standards. Print on two sides and two pages per sheet. That way you save paper and you don’t have to carry huge binders. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.5pt]I seriously started studying from August. I completed major topics before the test masters classes started. I just skimmed through NCEES problems but didn’t solve any problems until the start of test masters class.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.5pt]· [/SIZE][SIZE=10.5pt]Very very important. This helped increase my morale: ABC method of shirt circuit. You should be able to find it easily online. It’s an old pdf document by Moon H. Yuen.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.5pt]· [/SIZE][SIZE=10.5pt]Formula sheet: Very important. I took test masters. Every day I use to go home after class and write down the formulas or you can write them with in the class if you have time. Divide by topic that way it’s easier to find.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.5pt]· [/SIZE][SIZE=10.5pt]Important: Watch all the YouTube videos by complex imaginary. This will help you big. Do this before you start taking classes[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.5pt]· [/SIZE][SIZE=10.5pt]Power factor correction: There are several documents online. Read carefully and become familiar with every kind of problem they can ask. If you understand the basics behind this you will be able to solve any problem. I was really good at these problems[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.5pt]· [/SIZE][SIZE=10.5pt]Even though I didn’t study much protection. They did ask lot of protection questions. So go through a good book.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.5pt]· [/SIZE][SIZE=10.5pt]I did print all these topics from online sources: Batteries, parallel operation of alternators, Introduction to PLCs, Energy cost calculations, NEC mike holts index [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.5pt]· [/SIZE][SIZE=10.5pt]If you can I would recommend test masters classes. Also I am aware they don’t give these classes everywhere however I recommend you take some sort of class if possible.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.5pt]After I go home tonight, I will add more points to this from my notes. I am sure that will be helpful too. In the mean time let me know if you have any questions.[/SIZE]


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## maverickPEPower

I did solve all the problems from Spin-up, Complex imaginary and NCEES. I took the camara manaul (this will help). Also NEC code book is very important. Put tabs on important topics.


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## Ken PE 3.1

4th and thankfully final attempt. This was, by my own experience, the hardest of the tests.

I guess the difference to me was I was methodical in my approach, and even after I was ready to give up at lunch, the afternoon portion wasn't bad.

Stay focused and determined.


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## eksor_PE

Ken 3.0 said:


> 4th and thankfully final attempt. This was, by my own experience, the hardest of the tests.
> 
> I guess the difference to me was I was methodical in my approach, and even after I was ready to give up at lunch, the afternoon portion wasn't bad.
> 
> Stay focused and determined.




Congrats, Ken! Cheers! :beerchug:


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## Ken PE 3.1

eksor_PE said:


> Ken 3.0 said:
> 
> 
> 
> 4th and thankfully final attempt. This was, by my own experience, the hardest of the tests.
> 
> I guess the difference to me was I was methodical in my approach, and even after I was ready to give up at lunch, the afternoon portion wasn't bad.
> 
> Stay focused and determined.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Congrats, Ken! Cheers! :beerchug:
Click to expand...

Same to you. Still in a bit of a daze.


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## reyit0

I'm from Puerto Rico.

I left the exam site on October with a tear on my eye, I really though that I would not make since it was awfully harder than April-14(my first attempt). But this morning I received my score notification today and passed!!! I really used a lot of information on this forums. And it helped for sure!!!

Thanks a lot and I guarantee that this forum is an excellent resource for exam takers!

Merry christmas and happy new year for all of you!


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## maverickPEPower

reyit0 said:


> I'm from Puerto Rico.
> 
> I left the exam site on October with a tear on my eye, I really though that I would not make since it was awfully harder than April-14(my first attempt). But this morning I received my score notification today and passed!!! I really used a lot of information on this forums. And it helped for sure!!!
> 
> Thanks a lot and I guarantee that this forum is an excellent resource for exam takers!
> 
> Merry christmas and happy new year for all of you!


Congrats. Happy holidays.


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## seandapaul24

panna1 said:


> I made a total of 5 blunders in the exam ,even after came/found the correct answer. I was in doubt of my work and chose the wrong answers (2 problematic and 3 theoretical). I hope somehow I can get to the passing mark. I am damn sure on 54 questions that were right and 21 wrong. (yesterday 53 right and 19 wrong. please don't ask me about the answers as I am not supposed to talk on any forums about the questions asked in the exam). I still cant find a specific answer for 5 questions.


dude that like 4 + 1 blunders...haha


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## iwire

reyit0 said:


> I'm from Puerto Rico.
> 
> I left the exam site on October with a tear on my eye, I really though that I would not make since it was awfully harder than April-14(my first attempt). But this morning I received my score notification today and passed!!! I really used a lot of information on this forums. And it helped for sure!!!
> 
> Thanks a lot and I guarantee that this forum is an excellent resource for exam takers!
> 
> Merry christmas and happy new year for all of you!


congrats..considered donating to the forum as well


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## Cityking007

I failed the exam on my first attempted due to the same reason. However, I took a review course in nyc. And the first thing they made me do is to buy and tag Wilidi book. I would say at least 8 questions were directly from Wilidi book. So for theory problem ( motor, generator, VFD, electric rate, transmission and transformer) you must have the Wilidi book. Schoolofpe.com and Saamce.com both use the same book notes.


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