Any Update on the Results???????????

[Drewism]

Texas here. 2nd attempt. Failed with a 48/80. Feel bummed at the moment. 

I utilized NCEES practice exam, Zachs course, Eng pro guides and was really doing well on all the practice exams and homework averaging the 80's. I did not feel that this exam was reflective of my knowledge base and substantially increased in difficulty from Oct 17 Exam. I received the exact same score in Oct 17 but I know that my knowledge base has substantially improved. 

I will have to find a way to improve moving forward. The problem is that I honestly don't know what to do different or how to improve. A chunk of the exam questions seemed so out of left field, the study materials will not prep you for them. 

Here's to things improving moving forward. 

A large chunk of the exam was out of left field. It's reflected in the pass rates this time around. The pass rate was 54% which is 3% lower than the April 2018 exam. I failed too and it was my first time. However, I seemed to score higher for a failing grade than most so that's a positive sign.

At the moment, I feel the same way. Very directionless. I don't know which way to turn. Most of my reference and study materials did not help me during the exam. I relied mostly on general knowledge that I've accumulated during studying and tried to apply it to the exam for the questions out of left field.

 

[a4u2fear]

Texas guys, if you got a 48/80 what did it say your score % was?  Usually it doesn't match what 48/80 would be.

 

[Electrical786]

PASSED ON 2ND ATTEMPT IN CALIFORNIA.

1ST ATTEMPT WAS IN APRIL 2018 AND I GOT 44/80. 

2ND ATTEMPT OCT 2018  I WAS MORE CONFIDENT THAN BEFORE SPECIALLY CUZ I NAILED THE CODES, MACHINES , CIRCUIT ANALYSIS AND APPLICATIONS, INSTRUMENTATION PARTS!

STILL I WAS WORRIED FOR PROTECTION BUT I GUESS IT DIDNT HURT AS MUCH!

BUT I THINK I MIGHT BE NOT TOO FAR FROM THE BORDER LINE, AAAYYN HECK WITH IT, AS LONG AS I PASSED  

 

[BirdGrave]

So October 2018 was my third time.  I took it in April 2017 and April 2018 before.  The format between April 2017 and April 2018 changed.  Also the new NEC 2017 came out.  I took a testmasters prep course for the April 2017 test.  I BOMBED the test... I really focused on watching the online classes and reading study material and didnt work out problems (I had NO IDEA what to expect on the test).  From what I remember the problems appeared easy but I only completed half the test because it took me like 15 minutes a problem.   So the easy appearance was probably not reality because we all know they make the easy problems difficult.  I retook the test in April 2018 and got a 42/80.  I actually finished this test but was really upset because about 20% of the test were on topics I have never heard of.  I wrote these items down after the test and printed out information to bring in for the October 2018 test (Things like Q-Factor, Reliability, Weird NEC questions).  Unfortunately, only Q-Factor helped me for the 2018 October Test.  I feel like the October 2018 test had more Per Unit type of problems, more protection, and more battery problems then the other two I took.  I also feel the NEC problems were easier than the 2018 April Test.  

My Study Material (Outside of all the code books)

Test 1: Testmaster books (Two books)

Test 2: Testmaster books, Complex Imaginary book, Engineering Pro Guides, NCEES practice book

Test 3: Testmaster books, Complex Imaginary book, Engineering Pro Guides, NCEES practice book, Graffeo's EE Guide to Pass

Honestly, I feel like the study material I have is great and I felt great after taking the 3rd test.  I just need to figure out where I am making my mistakes.  Ill probably be adding information on protection and batteries to my binder when I retake it for the 4th time in April 2019.  I am open to other material out there if anyone has any other recommendations.  Im definitely interested in more practice tests.  From the list above I have around 7 or 8 practice tests.

Overall did you find the October 2018 test to be more difficult than the April 2018 test?

 

[BirdGrave]

Also worth consideration is that in a year and some change the PE Power exam will be moving to CBT format and can be scheduled at virtually any time, much in the manner that the FE Electrical exam is currently set up.  If rummaging through multiple sources of information during an exam is not something you find comfortable you may be better off when your only resource is the electronic PDF they provide to you.  

 

[DLD PE]

Texas tester. Failed. My percentages in order of Diagnostic Breakdown: (75, 100, 67, 33, 71, 88, 63, 36 and 23). 36 and 23 were for Transmission and Distribution Power System Analysis and Protection. Definitely need to focus on those areas. Overall 46/80

Wow you were all over the place.  I was 43/80 overall and never got anything higher than 67% and nothing lower than 31%.  Protection was 31 and the next lowest for me was 43 (Devices and Power Electronic Circuits).

 

[ZZTops]

Happy to announce that I passed the PE in CA!!!

For all those that are discouraged: I know its tough (this was my third time taking it), but DO NOT GIVE UP! Be persistent and keep trying! I honestly felt I would not pass this time, especially after seeing how low the pass rates were for this administration when they were posted this AM. But here we are. It will happen one day! I promise! 

 

[Drewism]

Also worth consideration is that in a year and some change the PE Power exam will be moving to CBT format and can be scheduled at virtually any time, much in the manner that the FE Electrical exam is currently set up.  If rummaging through multiple sources of information during an exam is not something you find comfortable you may be better off when your only resource is the electronic PDF they provide to you.  

I like the idea of a closed book CBT exam. The questions probably would be slightly easier. It's also less of a burden. No gathering of materials. It's also nice to schedule it whenever you want instead of the painful waiting. It's just a shame that they're going to start offering it in 2021. That's way too long for me.

 

[pgf001]

Overall did you find the October 2018 test to be more difficult than the April 2018 test?

I thought the 2018 April Test was harder.  Im still really surprised I failed the October test.  Only problems that were unfamiliar to me were two protection problems and one battery.  I did struggle on a few others but they were problems I have seen so I wasnt as caught off guard.  I just made lots of mistakes I guess...

 

[Engineer7]

I am so happy, I passed! First Time Taker who studied for about 7 months! 

 

[BirdGrave]

I like the idea of a closed book CBT exam. The questions probably would be slightly easier. It's also less of a burden. No gathering of materials. It's also nice to schedule it whenever you want instead of the painful waiting. It's just a shame that they're going to start offering it in 2021. That's way too long for me.

Ah I misremembered, I thought it was coming out in 2020.  Yea that is a ways off.  

 

[DLD PE]

I took it for the first time in October.  I remember two battery problems, one I got easily going back to my online course notes.  I got 8/12 code questions correct, which, although I did relatively well in that section, really bothers me because I only guessed on 1 and that's because I ran out of time and forgot I checked that one to go back to later, not realizing until too late that I had skipped it.  

Well now that I think about it, there was one problem in particular (in codes) which required some math and I remember coming up with an answer that was not among the choices.  I spent way too much time on it too.  I'm still curious how I could have found the correct answer.

 

[Nashi]

Texas tester. Failed. My percentages in order of Diagnostic Breakdown: (75, 100, 67, 33, 71, 88, 63, 36 and 23). 36 and 23 were for Transmission and Distribution Power System Analysis and Protection. Definitely need to focus on those areas. Overall 46/80

Yes the transmission and protection got me too. The NCEES practice problems review won't do me any good because I didn't have a problem doing those problems. So I don't know which resource to get more practice problems to improve those areas. I will have to do some research...maybe there are better references to get some more practice problems. 

 

[Nashi]

I took it for the first time in October.  I remember two battery problems, one I got easily going back to my online course notes.  I got 8/12 code questions correct, which, although I did relatively well in that section, really bothers me because I only guessed on 1 and that's because I ran out of time and forgot I checked that one to go back to later, not realizing until too late that I had skipped it.  

Well now that I think about it, there was one problem in particular (in codes) which required some math and I remember coming up with an answer that was not among the choices.  I spent way too much time on it too.  I'm still curious how I could have found the correct answer.

I got 8 out of the 12 codes correct too. I remember one I spent at too msuch time on because it was tricky as the first part of the question made you think you had more work to do and then the second portion of the question made it seem you had significantly less work to do once to found the item in the code. Tricky tricky but I knew I got a good number of codes right leaving the test. If I take in April my preparation will be to predominantly do practice exams and practice problems in the areas I did really bad in...transmission and protection. But you know I had a good protection book that I did problems on but not as many problems that I should have. Ladder logic was something new for me but I am familiar with normally open and normally closed components so when i took Zach's course I picked up on that very well. 

Also rotating machines I had very little experience in because my job I work on low voltage systems. But I did very well on rotating machines. 

 

[DLD PE]

I got 8 out of the 12 codes correct too. I remember one I spent at too msuch time on because it was tricky as the first part of the question made you think you had more work to do and then the second portion of the question made it seem you had significantly less work to do once to found the item in the code. Tricky tricky but I knew I got a good number of codes right leaving the test. If I take in April my preparation will be to predominantly do practice exams and practice problems in the areas I did really bad in...transmission and protection. But you know I had a good protection book that I did problems on but not as many problems that I should have. Ladder logic was something new for me but I am familiar with normally open and normally closed components so when i took Zach's course I picked up on that very well. 

Also rotating machines I had very little experience in because my job I work on low voltage systems. But I did very well on rotating machines. 

Yes maybe should spend more time on my protection books (the free GE one and Blackburn).  Zach covered rotating machines quite well.  

 

[chener16]

Congrats! How did you feel after you took the exam? What questions or topics on the exam did you find difficult?

I felt pretty good after taking the exam, although I didn't want to believe I was going to pass until I saw the 4 green letters. I don't think anyone can come out of an exam like that feeling overly optimistic, especially with a 40+ day wait ahead for results.

With my preparation, I probably knocked out half of the exam problems with 90% confidence on my first pass. The rest of the points I attribute to my brain working on test day to solve problems I had never seen before. I also made a few extra effort plays (binding resources, building/organizing solutions, tabbing references, etc.) that paid off for a few problems. At the same time, I spent many hours on topics that didn't show up on the test.

 

[chaosNJ]

The reason I like Graffeo is because there is enough there for you to intuit test answers without actually needing to read them anywhere explicitly.  

But as far as practice exams go out of the 15 or so I did the only one I thought came close to the difficulty of the actual exam was EngProGuides.

Prior to taking the exam I felt really good about Graffeo. It is very well written and very easy to understand. Any topics that were covered in that book were no problem in the exam.

I think the overall pass rate for power (43%) confirms how difficult the exam was. I even more grateful to have passed.

 

[chener16]

Chener I've been reading your exam preparation thread.  One thing that occurs to me right off the bat, is, although you started studying later than I did, you worked out more practice exam problems than I did.  I spent a lot of time on my online review course, and the homework problems associated with that course seemed super long to work out, but your approach was obviously effective so it gives me a good guide to go on.  

I have the CI (all 4), Graffeo and Eng Pro Guides practice exams so I'm well armed.  I just didn't use them as much as NCEES and the online course problems.  

Another thing I noticed was that even though I organized my notes/formulas into sections and put them in binders, I could have done a better job to save time.  

One thing I did not mention in my preparation thread that helped me was my method of studying and scheduling, which of course is subjective and different for everyone. Having a study plan was great, but knowing how to effectively execute that study plan (via active learning) was huge to overcome barriers such as forgetting what I learned last week after moving on to a new topic. You can stuff a bunch of information into your brain after hours of studying, but it's just as important to be able to pull information from your brain after every study session to solidify concepts. Everyone learns differently so it's important to find what works for you before committing hours and hours to studying.

 

[daydreambeliever]

Aww my little guy is 3 years old too It was difficult when he would come into my office and say Mama, lets go play, come on Mama...i would play with him a little and come back but would be up late after everyone went to sleep. I was only able to get 2.5 practice exams done...engineering pro guide, ncees and part of the graffeo exam.

It isn't necessary at my job for me to have but I have two engineers reporting to me and I know eventually it will be expected of me. Its a goal as well for me...I got the FE in 2002 5 months after graduating bc at the time I didn't realize I could take it while in school. I kept putting off taking PE exam and the years flew by. I had to reteach myself everything I forgot but because it takes so long to get approval to sit for exam it ate into time I had. Also there was material I never learned but I didnt better than I thought I would. I really want to try again but the time needed is the problem. 

Yeah it sounds like it would be really beneficial for you. I know for myself if I needed to find another job having my PE would definitely help. Thiswas a goal I set for myself when I was in college. I'm kind of stubborn and when I set my mind to something I can't just give up. I might just need to set my mind on something else 

The hardest part for me was bedtime. I love putting my daughter to bed. She's all cuddly and says "I love you lots mommy" like a billion times and we'll just talk about life for 10 minutes or so. You know the important stuff like our favorite color sucker or what ball we're going to kick outside tomorrow. When I was studying she would come into the room and say "night night mommy" then tuck her head down and walk out. Of course I would immediately get up and go get her. And don't even get me started on the weekends  :laugh:

 

[daydreambeliever]

I understand completely.  If I was in your shoes I might seriously re-consider not taking it.  I have a 1-1/2 year old.  My wife is a stay at home mom and I make more than enough to support all of us, but getting my PE would obviously get me more.  My company isn't requiring me to get it, but they are very supportive and if I do I will have the only PE.  In fact I'm one of only 2 designers and we have to pay another firm to get drawings stamped, so this will be a huge boost.  I'm definitely going to take it again.  

I studied during my child's naps on weekends and at night after he went to bed.  I feel like a lot of the material is fresh in my mind and my score was 43/80 so I should be able to build enough on that to get a passing score this time.

It's crazy how kids turn your world upside down. It sounds like having you PE would be really beneficial for you as well. I really don't want to give up because you are right. It's still fresh in our minds. Good luck on the next go round.