April 2018 PE Exam

[TWJ PE]

BTW, if anyone is interested, I can share a very entertaining post-exam recap (power specific) from a previous examinee to help clear the air with a bit of humor.

Share, share!!! It never gets old!!

 

[Surf and Snow]

Yes please! Link?

 

[BirdGrave]

Agreed. Very frustrating. I got it wrong on the practice exam because I choose 2'7" because that's what it said in my 2018 70E code book and that's all I had. I have now printed that 2015 table I will bring that and my 2018 70E book and read any questions very carefully. Hopefully the real exam tomorrow will specify the year, like they did in the practice exam. The 2018 NCEES Practice Exam does indeed specify the edition year in question #135: "In accordance with the 2015 edition of the NFPA 70E, the approach boundary for...", so at least it's not ambiguous. Having both the 2018 and 2015 correct answers both shown as options does seem a little wrong to me. Hopefully they dont have other questions that are changes because I dont have the whole 2015 edition.

I must have recalled incorrectly, perhaps from another practice exam.  I don't have the text of #135 in front of me at the moment.  That being said, listing what is now in practice the right answer as an incorrect answer in the test seems disingenuous to me.  But there's not much one can do other than bring both sets of information.  Hopefully there won't be another scenario like that tomorrow.

 

[knight1fox3]

Here it is! Enjoy! And don't let this recap demoralize any of you. As bad as this particular examinee thought things were post exam, he received a passing score in the end. :thumbs:

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?

 

[Xia]

CHECKLISTS:

(1) Exam authorization

(2) ID

(3) Books /Binders/Pages/ I have managed to collect

(4) All the energy and motivation I can find in this world

 

[SSG]

Crap, I guess I get to hope that outside of the approach distances that not much has changed between 2015 and 2018.  Or that other questions won't have the correct answer from 2018 as a wrong choice in the multiple choice selection.

Since approach boundaries have changed somewhat I searched out an online link of 2015 data.  For anyone who needs it.

https://www.powerstudies.com/sites/www.powerstudies.com/files/NFPA 70E-2015 Arc Flash and Shock Boundaries Poster_0.pdf

If someone has a more complete set of the 2015 data feel free to share.  I know I'll be appreciative .

Found this online.

http://safety.ep.wisc.edu/wp-uploads/2017/03/36.-2015-NFPA-70E-Copy.pdf

Hope this helps.

 

[Surf and Snow]

Found this online.

http://safety.ep.wisc.edu/wp-uploads/2017/03/36.-2015-NFPA-70E-Copy.pdf

Hope this helps.

Outstanding! And 10 minutes before I'm about to leave my house to drive to the hotel. Printing this now and hopping in my truck, bound for Salem OR. THANK YOU good sir!

 

[JohnMdd]

Good luck everyone. In a hotel now within walking distance of the Houston test center, one mid-sized crate of books. Going to watch another video on Power Flow, then cartoons and an early night. Remember general exam-taking guidelines: eat wisely, stay hydrated, and don't get nervous. If you're going to fail, worrying won't fix you. Staying calm can help you pass.

 

[BirdGrave]

I'm in a motel about 10 minutes from the Chicago site.  I really hope I don't sleep through my 3 alarms all set for 5 a.m.

 

[Surf and Snow]

Here it is! Enjoy! And don't let this recap demoralize any of you. As bad as this particular examinee thought things were post exam, he received a passing score in the end. :thumbs:

Lol. Classic!

 

[Surf and Snow]

Well, I'm at my hotel in Salem, Oregon about 5 mins from the Oregon State Fair Expo building where the test is tomorrow morning. Feeling good. Been averaging about 85% on last 10 practice exams (I've now taken a total of 16 (SIXTEEN!) full 8-hr practice exams at this point) and logged in somewhere between 200-250 hrs total of study/testing time since I started in January. For win or lose, I definitely feel ready and well prepared. If I don't pass, I don't think it will be for lack of preparation that's for damn sure!

<10 hrs till I'm pencil in hand. Winding down now for bed.

GOOD LUCK TOMORROW EVERYONE!!!

 

[StrugglingEngineer]

Well, I'm at my hotel in Salem, Oregon about 5 mins from the Oregon State Fair Expo building where the test is tomorrow morning. Feeling good. Been averaging about 85% on last 10 practice exams (I've now taken a total of 16 (SIXTEEN!) full 8-hr practice exams at this point) and logged in somewhere between 200-250 hrs total of study/testing time since I started in January. For win or lose, I definitely feel ready and well prepared. If I don't pass, I don't think it will be for lack of preparation that's for damn sure!

<10 hrs till I'm pencil in hand. Winding down now for bed.

GOOD LUCK TOMORROW EVERYONE!!!

16 practice exams? Is there even 16 practice exams available in the market to purchase? Or did you do some practice exams multiple times? Anyways, good luck!!!

 

[Szar]

Good luck all.   

 

[Surf and Snow]

16 practice exams? Is there even 16 practice exams available in the market to purchase? Or did you do some practice exams multiple times? Anyways, good luck!!!

Yup. The exams I took were:

1x 2011 Ncees practice exam in Jan 

1x Graffeo

5x Spin Up

2x Camara/PPI practice exams

4x Complex Imaginary

1x Engineering Pro Guides full exam

.5x 45-problems in Eng Pro Guide tech study guide

1x Camara/PPI practice problems book

1x 2018 NCEES practice exam on Weds 

I’m awake.   WIDE AWAKE! Can’t remember the last time I was so awake on the first alarm. No snooze button this morning  haha Jumping in shower now. 

Good luck all! May our pencils carry us all to victory!!!

-Jay

 

[TWJ PE]

You know as I sit here, on what is typically my day off, at work working a scheduled outage and on 7-12's I realize how lucky I am that I'm not sitting in a testing room taking the PE and the test being overseen by a huge **** (ala Houston site).

But, hey... if you're taking it.... good luck and cheers!

 

[stpitman]

So, what do y’all think? Pretty brutal in my opinion...

 

[JohnMdd]

Man I thought it was great, finished each half early. Had to guess on a couple in each half, and was unsure about a few of my choices, but I felt pretty strong.

 

[stpitman]

xxxxx

Moderator's Note: Please do not post exam question-related content. Everyone, including yourself, signed an NDA before taking the PE exam. NCEES does monitor these boards, so for your own sake, don't post any specific exam question related material! It's that simple.

 

[wvengineer]

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I'm about half paranoid to directly discuss any questions from the exam but I will say that's not the answer I got and I feel pretty confident in my answer for that question.

 

[leggo PE]

I'm about half paranoid to directly discuss any questions from the exam but I will say that's not the answer I got and I feel pretty confident in my answer for that question.

You are rightly half paranoid about this. Note the post you quoted has been modified and the note that was added by a moderator.

Seriously people, don't post specific information about exam questions!