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I took the CBT exam yesterday. I was not allowed to go onto the floor until 7:30, not 7:15 as was previously mentioned. So by the time I got up to the floor and they got to checking everyone in including me, it was like 8:15 when I finally got to the exam. Maybe it was because I was at a temporary Pearson center. 

Anyway, the exam actually went relatively quickly for each part. The first part was 42 questions that I completed in about 2.5 hours, and the second part was 38 questions that I completed in about 2 hours. I took the 50 minute break to quickly walk to Panera Bread, ate a quick lunch, and went back. 

In the morning I felt like the references pdf was very slow to go from page to page. But I think the computer restarted during my break and it loaded the pages much better in the afternoon. Being able to flag questions and go back to them was great. The exam stopped at each half with a review sheet that gave you options to review unanswered questions, review flagged questions, and review all questions. I only needed about 3 pages of the 11 or so pages in the erasable notepad they give you (it's 6 pages I think but you can use both sides except for the first one).

I felt more confident in the first part than the second part. There were more qualitative questions than quantitative questions and the code reference questions were almost evenly distributed on both parts of my exam. That's all I will say on that. I feel like it might not have passed but time will tell. 

Looking back, I probably should have taken more advantage of the notepad where possible to draw diagrams and such and maybe tried a bit more searching of the references with all of the extra time I had on questions I wasn't positive on. 

To prepare for the exam I used: electricalpereview on-demand and live classes as well as the practice exam, engineerproguides full exam and reference practice exam, graffeo book and practice exam, NCEES practice exam, and a few other books that I originally purchased for the October exam. 

 
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Dothracki said:
I took the CBT exam yesterday. I was not allowed to go onto the floor until 7:30, not 7:15 as was previously mentioned. So by the time I got up to the floor and they got to checking everyone in including me, it was like 8:15 when I finally got to the exam. Maybe it was because I was at a temporary Pearson center. 

Anyway, the exam actually went relatively quickly for each part. The first part was 42 questions that I completed in about 2.5 hours, and the second part was 38 questions that I completed in about 2 hours. I took the 50 minute break to quickly walk to Panera Bread, ate a quick lunch, and went back. 

In the morning I felt like the references pdf was very slow to go from page to page. But I think the computer restarted during my break and it loaded the pages much better in the afternoon. Being able to flag questions and go back to them was great. The exam stopped at each half with a review sheet that gave you options to review unanswered questions, review flagged questions, and review all questions. I only needed about 3 pages of the 11 or so pages in the erasable notepad they give you (it's 6 pages I think but you can use both sides except for the first one).

I felt more confident in the first part than the second part. There were more qualitative questions than quantitative questions and the code reference questions were almost evenly distributed on both parts of my exam. That's all I will say on that. I feel like it might not have passed but time will tell. 

Looking back, I probably should have taken more advantage of the notepad where possible to draw diagrams and such and maybe tried a bit more searching of the references with all of the extra time I had on questions I wasn't positive on. 

To prepare for the exam I used: electricalpereview on-demand and live classes as well as the practice exam, engineerproguides full exam and reference practice exam, graffeo book and practice exam, NCEES practice exam, and a few other books that I originally purchased for the October exam. 
Click to expand...
Hope it goes well. Can you compare the difficulty to any of the practice exams you took? I have all the same material so just want a gauge. I feel like Zach's test is brutal but filled with so much good info

 
DarkLegion said:
Hope it goes well. Can you compare the difficulty to any of the practice exams you took? I have all the same material so just want a gauge. I feel like Zach's test is brutal but filled with so much good info
Click to expand...
Zach (electricalpereview) and Justin (engineerproguides) both put together very good practice exams that are more on the difficult side, often with multiple step problems, but that is meant to better prepare you and identify weaknesses and strengths. Not to mention that they are continuously working to improve and add materials to their already successful programs.

The graffeo book was a decent practice exam, moderately difficult, but it is a little dated. It is a great price for a full reference book and practice exam, but it definitely needs some supplemental materials. 

 
DarkLegion said:
Hope it goes well. Can you compare the difficulty to any of the practice exams you took? I have all the same material so just want a gauge. I feel like Zach's test is brutal but filled with so much good info
Click to expand...
I have not yet taken the actual PE Power exam, so I can't fully answer your question.

But I will try to rank the difficulties of the various practice exams that I took...

In my opinion, from hardest (1) to easiest.

1. Cram for Exam Volumes 1 thru 4 (80 questions each volume) - various quantitative questions of decent to hard difficulty, and also many qualitative/conceptual questions that are pretty tough. They also have a good amount of topics not covered by the NCEES handbook. I memorized and committed to memory a good amount of things I learned from these exams.

2. Electrical PE Review

3. Engineering Pro Guides (I would say Electrical PE Review and Eng Pro Guides are about the same level in difficulty, actually.)

4. PPI PE Power Exams (IMO there are some good fair-game questions of decent difficulty I think might be on the actual exam, but then also they cover more than what I would think the exam would actually have. For example, they have questions about cross vectors and determinants, which we wouldn't think would be on the actual exam.)

5. Shorebrook PE Power Exam

6. Complex Imaginary Exam Practice Book (4 practice exam sets: each set is 80 questions)

7. NCEES PE Power practice exam

8. A.S Graffeo Practice Exam (as Dothracki said above, it is rather outdated at this point... But I still use it for practice.)

9. Spin-Up PE Power Exam practice sets (many of their quantitative problems are way too easy, but I feel they do have a couple of good conceptual/qualitative problems regarding power system stability and a few other uncommon topics)

This is my opinion on the various PE Power practice exams I have used to prep up.

 
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akyip said:
I have not yet taken the actual PE Power exam, so I can't fully answer your question.

But I will try to rank the difficulties of the various practice exams that I took...

In my opinion, from hardest (1) to easiest.

1. Cram for Exam Volumes 1 thru 4 (80 questions each volume) - various quantitative questions of decent to hard difficulty, and also many qualitative/conceptual questions that are pretty tough. They also have a good amount of topics not covered by the NCEES handbook. I memorized and committed to memory a good amount of things I learned from these exams.

2. Electrical PE Review

3. Engineering Pro Guides (I would say Electrical PE Review and Eng Pro Guides are about the same level in difficulty, actually.)

4. PPI PE Power Exams (IMO there are some good fair-game questions of decent difficulty I think might be on the actual exam, but then also they cover more than what I would think the exam would actually have. For example, they have questions about cross vectors and determinants, which we wouldn't think would be on the actual exam.)

5. Shorebrook PE Power Exam

6. Complex Imaginary Exam Practice Book (4 practice exam sets: each set is 80 questions)

7. NCEES PE Power practice exam

8. A.S Graffeo Practice Exam (as Dothracki said above, it is rather outdated at this point... But I still use it for practice.)

9. Spin-Up PE Power Exam practice sets (many of their quantitative problems are way too easy, but I feel they do have a couple of good conceptual/qualitative problems regarding power system stability and a few other uncommon topics)

This is my opinion on the various PE Power practice exams I have used to prep up.
Click to expand...
That's an awesome list! thanks. I'm gonna try to get the Cram for Exam and EngineeringProGuide exams based of this

 
image.pngJust came in!!. Huge shout out to this forum for all the help!! Also, a big thank you to Zach's, Engineering Pro Guides and Grafeo's practice tests. And not to forget, the awesome videos on Zach's youtube channel. All of these were monumental in getting me through this exam!!

I found the questions in the exam much easier than Zach's and Engineering Pro Guides practice tests. Grafeo was much closer for me. Also, there were a lot of qualitative questions as everyone has already mentioned and Camara's practice tests have some which come real close to them!

All the best to everyone taking the exam! 

 
Cuseman17 said:
View attachment 20136Just came in!!. Huge shout out to this forum for all the help!! Also, a big thank you to Zach's, Engineering Pro Guides and Grafeo's practice tests. And not to forget, the awesome videos on Zach's youtube channel. All of these were monumental in getting me through this exam!!

I found the questions in the exam much easier than Zach's and Engineering Pro Guides practice tests. Grafeo was much closer for me. Also, there were a lot of qualitative questions as everyone has already mentioned and Camara's practice tests have some which come real close to them!

All the best to everyone taking the exam! 
Click to expand...
Congrats!

 
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Hey guys,

I have a quick, silly question to those of you guys who have taken the CBT exam.

You are able to highlight text in the provided electronic code books (NEC, NESC NFPA, etc.), right? Something like highlighting in the attached screenshot?

Just asking this question, because I want to make sure I'm using the correct values when looking up values from big tables on the screen. Right now I'm practicing with Adobe Acrobat Reader, to get used to electronic versions of code books.

(I think I heard someone else also mention something about a line/ruler option?)

Highlighting Text.jpg

 
@akyip They have a line tool which you can use to draw a straight line from end to end. And it never goes away, so if you want to recheck your values anytime, you can do that easily as well.

 
Thank you all for your insight. This will be my 5th attempt after 4 pencil and paper exams and 2 cancelled this year. I will be taking it January 8. I have just been trying to understand more concepts as every iteration of the exam can change greatly for me. Congrats to all that passed. 

I have Zach's notes, Cram for PE, NCEES practice test, Study Guide for Power PE and NEC code book. 

I find myself dialing down a certain topic, then moving on, but weeks later I return to that topic and find myself making small mistakes all over. It's very frustrating but I will keep trying. 

Best of luck to all 

 
Cuseman17 said:
@akyip They have a line tool which you can use to draw a straight line from end to end. And it never goes away, so if you want to recheck your values anytime, you can do that easily as well.
Click to expand...
I see. This line tool, it can be used both horizontally and vertically?

I ask because for example: Table 9 Chapter 9 is very long. If for example I had to refer to 750 KCMIL resistance and reactance per unit length...

 
PASSED. I would like to thank @Zach Stone, P.E. , @justin-hawaii , and @Cram For The PE for all of their hard work and dedication, putting their time on helping me achieve my goal being a Professional Engineer. These are the best resources I used to prepare for the exam. Thanks so much!

Enroll or get their references and practice exams if you want to pass... THIS IS THE WAY!

 
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