Advice please on stress and depression about test going to CBT

[roy167]

Also remember guys, this test is all relative. If it is difficult for everyone, then they will have to make an adjustment so the pass rate is still what it had been. It might take a cycle or two for it to adjust so one needs to be prepared to take this test for several times. Eventually things should even out. I know the big thing right now is NCEES provided reference material as opposed to you could take whatever you wanted. When I took test, I like many others took boat load of books. They did not help me answer the questions where I really needed help. The stuff that you are supposed to know anyway and is well defined such as per unit system, power factor if you know those topics well, then odds of your passing goes up. There are some open ended areas such as instrument transformer, or ground testing, industrial experience can help there. Put in the work as if you want to ace it and then it is going to be what it is going to be. There is very high chance that if you put a required efforts then you will pass. You have to, because it is not a voodu science. 

 

[Rajan]

Sir @SparkyBill, we are on the same boat. Stressed and depressed with all of these stuffs. I just took the Cram practice Volume 2 and only got 67.5%.   I keep telling myself that I should have done better.Mistakes and errors that are minor were much more depressing when I saw the solution.  We still have 47 days before the exam and hope we could still correct all those errors.

Sir @SparkyBill, we are on the same boat. Stressed and depressed with all of these stuffs. I just took the Cram practice Volume 2 and only got 67.5%.   I keep telling myself that I should have done better.Mistakes and errors that are minor were much more depressing when I saw the solution.  We still have 47 days before the exam and hope we could still correct all those errors.

Hi @sparkyBill and BekeshKing, I am on the same boat. I passed my FE exam last August 2019. For the PE exam, I studied for 7 hours a day for five months and on March the exam got canceled. I am registered for October examination. Hopefully it does not get canceled.

 

[akyip]

Me personally speaking, I'm still a little stressed or nervous that my NCEES account dashboard still says I'm pending board approval... I'm applying from NY State and I was previously approved to take the April 2020 Exam before it got cancelled... If I may ask (am allowed to ask), is anyone in more or less the same boat as me?

 

[Dothracki PE]

Me personally speaking, I'm still a little stressed or nervous that my NCEES account dashboard still says I'm pending board approval... I'm applying from NY State and I was previously approved to take the April 2020 Exam before it got cancelled... If I may ask (am allowed to ask), is anyone in more or less the same boat as me?

I WAS ABOUT TO POST THE SAME THING YESTERDAY

I got my approval letter on June 25th, but it never updated on my account. BUT I just checked it and it was finally changed. So maybe the board finally has gotten in. You should check today and see if it changed. If it doesn't change by tomorrow you should use their contact form and they respond within a business day usually.

 

[akyip]

I WAS ABOUT TO POST THE SAME THING YESTERDAY

I got my approval letter on June 25th, but it never updated on my account. BUT I just checked it and it was finally changed. So maybe the board finally has gotten in. You should check today and see if it changed. If it doesn't change by tomorrow you should use their contact form and they respond within a business day usually.

Thank you for the update, I just checked and I am now approved!

 

[akyip]

Thank you for the update, I just checked and I am now approved!

I just realized something though... Although I am approved on the NCEES website/dashboard, I did not get a letter from my State's Education Department for the October 2020 exam. (I previously got a letter in the mail for the April 2020 exam.) Aren't we required to have this letter in hand when it comes time to take the October 2020 PE exam?

 

[Dothracki PE]

I just realized something though... Although I am approved on the NCEES website/dashboard, I did not get a letter from my State's Education Department for the October 2020 exam. (I previously got a letter in the mail for the April 2020 exam.) Aren't we required to have this letter in hand when it comes time to take the October 2020 PE exam?

I think the exam verification you need comes from NCEES. The website says "Exam Authorizations will be available two weeks prior to exam day."

 

[DLD PE]

You'll get a letter in the mail 2 weeks before the exam.  Just make sure you don't forget it! 

 

[Dothracki PE]

I took my first practice exam using the latest NCEES practice exam over the weekend and definitely was not good. But I identified a few weak areas with auto-transformers, transmission lines, and rectifier circuits that I need to focus on. I also need to learn to really focus on the question because most of my mistakes were really simple ones like missing a simple word like leading instead of lagging or instantaneous. Also trying to figure out what in the question was really important or not. I have three others so hopefully I do better on those after some focused study and more focus on what the questions are saying.

 

[Orchid PE]

missing a simple word like leading instead of lagging or instantaneous. Also trying to figure out what in the question was really important or not.

This is pretty much what the whole test is about. It's about making sure those who are getting licensed truly understand the material. It's less about whether or not you can perform the math, even though that is important. There will be some problems where no math is required, yet there will be people that get lost in calculations because they didn't read the question carefully. Translates into who will be a good PE in the real world.

 

[akyip]

I have a silly question. Has anyone already re-registered for the CBT exam? Do you all recommend registering for the CBT exam right away? The only reason I ask this is that while I have received my refund from NCEES, I have not yet received my refund from Scantron... I'm thinking for putting off re-registration for a little bit until I get the refund from Scantron as well.

What are your thoughts about immediately re-registering for the CBT exam? Do you recommend I can hold it off for a little while, or just re-register ASAP?

 

[Dothracki PE]

My speculation is that they will likely be revising the power exam reference sheet. There has been a lot of buzz online about the reference sheet and hopefully some have given some feedback through official channels. I see other exams have many versions of the specification sheet. The FE reference sheet has at least 10 versions. But again, just my speculation. 

Maybe if you give it a few months they may have some revisions to the reference sheet or at least the questions in their test bank based on performance after at least six months.

I'm going to just get it over with since I've already been preparing for the exam for almost a year now. 

 

[Novanian]

I have a silly question. Has anyone already re-registered for the CBT exam? Do you all recommend registering for the CBT exam right away? The only reason I ask this is that while I have received my refund from NCEES, I have not yet received my refund from Scantron... I'm thinking for putting off re-registration for a little bit until I get the refund from Scantron as well.

What are your thoughts about immediately re-registering for the CBT exam? Do you recommend I can hold it off for a little while, or just re-register ASAP?

At least for me, I am going to spend more months December-February.March studying at the minimum to reinforce concepts because I didn't study for an exam with none of my references allowed.

TLDR, I am not taking it right away, and delaying until February/March.

I want to make sure I have a fairly confident understanding of performing well without any of my references. I am hoping the additional time will give the NCEES group time to clean up the reference sheet.

I am sure there are those who just want it over with and believe/actually do have the ability to take it ASAP in December but I am not one of those people. I have never been a great test taker unless I really prepared myself for the exam through and through and this was to be an exam where I could "memorize" a bit less and rely on certain tabbed and notaded references for conceptual questions such as batteries or motors or even what all the TCC protection graphs meant. For example, even though I do a lot of work with TCC time issues in my real job, the questions they ask on this exam are probably 120% more intricate than what I work with as most of my protection schemes are just a Fast Curve and  slow cruve and are more of an arc whereas in this exam they tend to have different blocks of protection depending on the device. A System Protection Engineer may have it in his/her blood but I sure don't so I need to make sure I REALLY have it down pat.

Even if I have the knowledge down pat I need to spend a lot of time with just the PDF open on the computer and practicing using only it. 

 

[Sparky Bill PE]

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Thank you for the kind words and advice. I have a spreadsheet where I track my hours and problems worked for this PE.  By the end of next week I will have over 500 hours studied, and 2,500 problems worked, and haven't even got to take the test due to Covid. 

Anyone outside the engineering world can't imagine studying 14 months pretty much solid for an exam. 

 

[LouisFalbo]

This is the first time I've been allowed to take PE (passed FE in September of last year) and I was SO EXCITED to buy all my reference books, sign up for Zach's class and DOMINATE this test. I am weird, I semi enjoy learning everything their is to know about electrical engineering. I didn't care if it took 5 years because I will love these books and keep learning my entire life. I'm not the type of engineer that passes this test, sells all my books, and never looks at it again. My goal is to be a chief engineer for a large substation/transmission company.

I can't stop being stressed and depressed about the fact that if I fail 2 times (this year 2020 April/October) after that the test goes to CBT (Computer Based Testing, Like the FE test), and I can't help but think I'm spinning my wheels and almost wasting time on this one. I try to keep the attitude "well just buckle down and pass it the first time", but I go crazy if I "expect to pass". It is VERY HEALTHY for me to go into the FE/PE with the attitude "If I pass great, if not it's not the end of the world I'll get it next time". So far I have worked 725 problems and spent 242 hours on this PE attempt.

I just hate knowing that if i don't pass one of these two times, this THOUSANDS I've spent on classes/binders/tabs/reference books etc will literally be a waste because I will have to use the NCEES provided "reference book" and that's it. (Mechanical PE's are already CBT testing).

Anyways, hopefully one of y'all have a minor in being a therapist and can help me LOL

EDIT: Also doesn't help that I am the go-to engineer on my team so I am constantly teaching/helping less experienced designers/engineers (that is my favorite thing to do!) but they all come to me instead of my boss (which is also an engineer). Sadly, I also have the same "work load" as everyone else. So all this time that I miss by teaching/helping/guiding I have to make up latter which takes time away from studying.

I understand you admirably, I just started preparing, but I already have crazy emotions and stress. For me, preparing for such exams is always stressful. Because my future career largely depends on this. The first time I failed I was depressed for a couple of months. I recently found a method to solve this. I read people's stories about their problems and how they dealt with them. This also allowed for a reassessment of priorities. I realized that study and career are not the most important thing in life. So we need to be less nervous about this and stay calm, even in bad moments.

 

[WingNut]

OK, take a CHILL PILL and relax-- RELAX. This is NOT the big deal that you make it out to be. I have been an Exam development Chair/Co-Chair for the past 10 years-- let me put your mind at ease here-- this is NOT the big deal that you think it is. Yes, you need to pass, yes there is pressure on you, but there is no reason to put anymore artificial pressure on you either. I promise, the sun will rise tomorrow regardless if you pass or fail this exam. If you fail, then try again.

A. The test is designed to ascertain the minimally competent engineer-- the C- student. The test is written to ascertain if the candidate is minimally competent, nothing else.

B. All of the testable material is listed on the test specification-- you should know all of the material on the specification, understand what is being asked for and be able to answer a question(s) related to that.

C. All of the formulae needed to work the exam is in the PE Reference Handbook, which you got from NCEES when you registered for the exam. Any formula you need to work the CBT exam is in the handbook. NOW-- you need to know the handbook-- really know where the formulae are located and how to use the formulae-- time management is crucial on any exam-- if you flounder for 20 min trying to find a formula, then a) you don't understand the concept being measured or b) you are headed down the wrong path or c) you don't know the handbook. Makes no difference which it is-- you lost 20 min. Don't allow this to happen to you.

D. Work the problems to understand the principles being measured. Really understand what is being tested. Sure, you can memorize concepts, but if you don't know the concepts, you are stuck. Really understand the concept that is being tested. Once you have this, you are home free!

E. Each question is designed to take 6 min or less to answer. In some cases, you should be able to answer the question by inspection-- "Oh, that answer is A." Others, you may have work 4-5 calculation steps-- it may take 12 min to do so, however, you had 3 questions that you should have been able to answer by inspection.

F. The exam committee has reviewed each exam probably 5-6 times BEFORE it is administered. We have worked the problem every possible way to be sure that the options listed for answers are viable, with only 1 answer correct.

G. Make sure that your units and conversions track-- if you forget to take the square root of something, you might find an answer option on the exam. Of course, it is the wrong answer, because you failed to take the square root of the intermediate result-- just go slow and carefully.

To further put your mind at ease, I took the PE exam after being out of school for 30 years and not in the discipline that I originally studied at the undergraduate level. Yes, I was just as spooked as you are today, yes, I stewed just as hard as you are now, but I decided that this is just a bachelor's level examination, I had good undergraduate preparation (and great graduate preparation) and I was going to crush this exam. Did I? Will never know, I passed-- that is all that counts. Makes no difference if you get a 71 or a 99, you passed. You can do this-- one and done.

I got my results about a week before Christmas-- was the best Christmas present that I got that year. Good luck-- you can do this-- walk in acting like you know what you are doing and then do it. Just do it! When you get your results-- take your wife/husband/spouse out for dinner-- buy a good bottle of wine and a big juciy steak-- you earned it.

 

[Derek S. Lee]

OK, take a CHILL PILL and relax-- RELAX. This is NOT the big deal that you make it out to be. I have been an Exam development Chair/Co-Chair for the past 10 years-- let me put your mind at ease here-- this is NOT the big deal that you think it is. Yes, you need to pass, yes there is pressure on you, but there is no reason to put anymore artificial pressure on you either. I promise, the sun will rise tomorrow regardless if you pass or fail this exam. If you fail, then try again.

A. The test is designed to ascertain the minimally competent engineer-- the C- student. The test is written to ascertain if the candidate is minimally competent, nothing else.

B. All of the testable material is listed on the test specification-- you should know all of the material on the specification, understand what is being asked for and be able to answer a question(s) related to that.

C. All of the formulae needed to work the exam is in the PE Reference Handbook, which you got from NCEES when you registered for the exam. Any formula you need to work the CBT exam is in the handbook. NOW-- you need to know the handbook-- really know where the formulae are located and how to use the formulae-- time management is crucial on any exam-- if you flounder for 20 min trying to find a formula, then a) you don't understand the concept being measured or b) you are headed down the wrong path or c) you don't know the handbook. Makes no difference which it is-- you lost 20 min. Don't allow this to happen to you.

D. Work the problems to understand the principles being measured. Really understand what is being tested. Sure, you can memorize concepts, but if you don't know the concepts, you are stuck. Really understand the concept that is being tested. Once you have this, you are home free!

E. Each question is designed to take 6 min or less to answer. In some cases, you should be able to answer the question by inspection-- "Oh, that answer is A." Others, you may have work 4-5 calculation steps-- it may take 12 min to do so, however, you had 3 questions that you should have been able to answer by inspection.

F. The exam committee has reviewed each exam probably 5-6 times BEFORE it is administered. We have worked the problem every possible way to be sure that the options listed for answers are viable, with only 1 answer correct.

G. Make sure that your units and conversions track-- if you forget to take the square root of something, you might find an answer option on the exam. Of course, it is the wrong answer, because you failed to take the square root of the intermediate result-- just go slow and carefully.

To further put your mind at ease, I took the PE exam after being out of school for 30 years and not in the discipline that I originally studied at the undergraduate level. Yes, I was just as spooked as you are today, yes, I stewed just as hard as you are now, but I decided that this is just a bachelor's level examination, I had good undergraduate preparation (and great graduate preparation) and I was going to crush this exam. Did I? Will never know, I passed-- that is all that counts. Makes no difference if you get a 71 or a 99, you passed. You can do this-- one and done.

I got my results about a week before Christmas-- was the best Christmas present that I got that year. Good luck-- you can do this-- walk in acting like you know what you are doing and then do it. Just do it! When you get your results-- take your wife/husband/spouse out for dinner-- buy a good bottle of wine and a big juciy steak-- you earned it.

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