How to pass PE (power)

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GurvinderSingh

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I will share my experiences in next few days on how I pass PE exam

 
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GurvinderSingh said:
I will share my experiences in next few days on how I pass PE exam
Click to expand...
Let me guess, it will probably follow something similar to this process:

1. Do problems to identify weaknesses

2. Study identified weak areas

3. Do more problems to identify additional weaknesses

4. Study weak areas

5. Rinse and Repeat until exam date

 
I'm hesitant to post my experience as the last thing I want to do is discourage anyone from studying as much as they need to - but I figure this might be useful in helping to convince people to take the PE exam early if possible. (I believe taking it while college is still fresh is a huge advantage)

I graduated in December '09. I took the FE exam in April '09 and passed it. I bought the big yellow prep book and spent a respectable about of time familiarizing myself with the equation book they provide. Other than that, I didn't prep much but bear in mind that I was still in the middle of my undergraduate studies so everything was very fresh in my head. Difficult content but I passed that.

I took the PE this October ('11) and my employer gave me 4 Fridays off to study. I bought the Camara prep book, the NEC, and the NCEES study manual. I spent almost all of the time on these Fridays (but pretty much just these 4 Fridays) going through the practice problems and carefully tabbing every resource I needed to solve all the problems. I also made an effort to make sure I could solve the problem a few different ways. (IE what if they gave us these 2 pieces of information instead, could I still find the missing variable OK?).

The week of the exam, 2 of my coworkers that I took the exam with and I got together to cram every night. It really helped bouncing ideas and making up questions to ask each other. If I failed, I would have tried to incorporate more group studying for my next attempt.

I felt reasonably confident taking the exam and ended up passing it. Take it for what it's worth. Over-studying is always better than under-studying but it startled me to learn how long some people prepare for the exam before I took it. I'm glad I got just enough in without letting it take over my life.

 
I think you need a minimum of 6 months to study. A lot of prep courses teach you just the basics. These courses are not taught on how to actually pass the PE exam. The best strategy is to study every topic mentioned in the guidelines by NCEES. Most courses cover about 40%-50% of what is asked on the exam. I took the folowing textbooks with me:

  1. Wildi textbook..............The Best
  2. Electrical Power by Joe Kaiser.............Excellent value for the money. You can get it for $10-$15
  3. Camara Power book
  4. NEC 2008 handbook
  5. I did google search for each topic which was not covered in the above books. I printed these and made a separate section for each topic.
  6. NTT course on Variable Frequency Drives. These books really helped in understanding VFD's and I was able to answer the questions on the exam.

 
illini1022 said:
I'm hesitant to post my experience as the last thing I want to do is discourage anyone from studying as much as they need to - but I figure this might be useful in helping to convince people to take the PE exam early if possible. (I believe taking it while college is still fresh is a huge advantage)

I graduated in December '09. I took the FE exam in April '09 and passed it. I bought the big yellow prep book and spent a respectable about of time familiarizing myself with the equation book they provide. Other than that, I didn't prep much but bear in mind that I was still in the middle of my undergraduate studies so everything was very fresh in my head. Difficult content but I passed that.

I took the PE this October ('11) and my employer gave me 4 Fridays off to study. I bought the Camara prep book, the NEC, and the NCEES study manual. I spent almost all of the time on these Fridays (but pretty much just these 4 Fridays) going through the practice problems and carefully tabbing every resource I needed to solve all the problems. I also made an effort to make sure I could solve the problem a few different ways. (IE what if they gave us these 2 pieces of information instead, could I still find the missing variable OK?).

The week of the exam, 2 of my coworkers that I took the exam with and I got together to cram every night. It really helped bouncing ideas and making up questions to ask each other. If I failed, I would have tried to incorporate more group studying for my next attempt.

I felt reasonably confident taking the exam and ended up passing it. Take it for what it's worth. Over-studying is always better than under-studying but it startled me to learn how long some people prepare for the exam before I took it. I'm glad I got just enough in without letting it take over my life.
Click to expand...


I agree with you that most people will end up over studying for the exam. How were you able to take the exam less than two years after graduating?

 
seandapaul24 said:
I agree with you that most people will end up over studying for the exam. How were you able to take the exam less than two years after graduating?
Click to expand...
Not aware of any 2 year requirement? AFAIK they let you take the exam whenever you want now. (Recent change within last few years)

 
illini1022 said:
seandapaul24 said:
I agree with you that most people will end up over studying for the exam. How were you able to take the exam less than two years after graduating?
Click to expand...
Not aware of any 2 year requirement? AFAIK they let you take the exam whenever you want now. (Recent change within last few years)
Click to expand...
Most places you have to have 4 years experience before you take the PE exam. I am guessing you are in a state that allows you to take the exam before 4 years of experience.

 
seandapaul24 said:
illini1022 said:
seandapaul24 said:
I agree with you that most people will end up over studying for the exam. How were you able to take the exam less than two years after graduating?
Click to expand...
Not aware of any 2 year requirement? AFAIK they let you take the exam whenever you want now. (Recent change within last few years)
Click to expand...
Most places you have to have 4 years experience before you take the PE exam. I am guessing you are in a state that allows you to take the exam before 4 years of experience.
Click to expand...
Hmm I know you certainly can in Illinois - wasn't aware that this wasn't nationwide. I think it was great taking it 2 years out. I still remembered all the theory from school but also know far more about practical power systems, relaying, substations, etc from my short work experience than I did 2 years ago.

 
Illinois allows you to take the exam whenever. Most other states aren't like that.

6 months for me would be overkill. I would have blown my brains out and then you don't even mention the NCEES practice exams.

This thread sucks.

 
illini1022 said:
Hmm I know you certainly can in Illinois - wasn't aware that this wasn't nationwide. I think it was great taking it 2 years out. I still remembered all the theory from school but also know far more about practical power systems, relaying, substations, etc from my short work experience than I did 2 years ago.
Click to expand...
You'll have to be careful applying for reciprocity. Since some (most) states require 4 years experience prior to taking the exam they may not grant a license if you took it with two years.

 
mudpuppy said:
illini1022 said:
Hmm I know you certainly can in Illinois - wasn't aware that this wasn't nationwide. I think it was great taking it 2 years out. I still remembered all the theory from school but also know far more about practical power systems, relaying, substations, etc from my short work experience than I did 2 years ago.
Click to expand...
You'll have to be careful applying for reciprocity. Since some (most) states require 4 years experience prior to taking the exam they may not grant a license if you took it with two years.
Click to expand...
Completely true. I used to work with a guy who took the PE in another state before he had four years of experience. Many years later when he moved here, he was denied a comity license for that reason and had to take the exam again.

 
SparkyJ said:
Completely true. I used to work with a guy who took the PE in another state before he had four years of experience. Many years later when he moved here, he was denied a comity license for that reason and had to take the exam again.
Click to expand...

List of each state's response: https://apps.ncees.org/boardprofile/results/index.php?survey_id=1003&section_id=9&question_id=98

Survey says that only Indiana and Connecticut would require a retake, and I bet they reconsider at some point.

If a comity applicant took the PE examination in another jurisdiction before obtaining the experience required in your jurisdiction, would your statutes require that the applicant retake the PE examination, even if the applicant has the experience required by your jurisdiction at the time of comity application?
Click to expand...

My guess is this was more of an issue when it was a strange occurrence early on, I think it will be OK going forward.

 
That sucks. These tests are so much easier if you take them right out of college (hence why it is recommended you take the FE ASAP).

 
I will try to solve more problems for my second trial.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
anilsatyal said:
Please name few books for Electrical Power PE exam to pass.
Click to expand...
Hello anilsatyal and welcome to EB.com. Have a look at this thread. A lot of good discussion on the materials people used and recommended for the power PE exam. Hope that helps. Good luck.

 
For lighting, the IES lighting handbook is pretty good. Try to find the edition that is 1-1/2" thick and $50 and not 3" and $200.

 
For all who will be taking the Power PE soon, just remember that when you are going through all these posts on how to study, yeah it might work for the person who is doing the studying, but it might not be in your "study style". Trust me not everyone sees apples to apples, myself "apple pear 3 sigma".

I did a search for what I should bring with me (I will actually be taking the exam April 2013) and then went through that list to see what resources best fit me. I created a binder with a ton of information (okay I realize some states do not allow three ring binders as being "bound" documents) and as of right now I am in the process of putting tabs in the areas I need to study more and then main tabs for easy access to the information. I have alot of sample problems from text that I photocopied and put in the binder. I make sure I understand the formulas and how they came about the answer before I move on!

Most of my binder was stuff that was on the web, it probably would have been good had I saved a link to all this useful information so that I could share, but everything you need is out there on the web.

I would suggest at least one book on power systems, the NCEES practice exam (of course), and whatever information you find relevant to your study style.

A tip - look online for colleges/universities that have class notes, quizzes, tests. I found a wealth of information for my binder just doing that search Check out MIT's open classware

Remember think smarter, not harder!

 

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