April 2019 Power PE Exam

[StrugglingEngineer]

Three days after taking this exam. What are everyone's thoughts on it? I took it again after a 1.5 year hiatus and while I expected the increase in Protection type questions due to the change in the specifications since my last attempt; there were some questions in the PM section that left me scratching my head. Never seen those type of problems before in my previous attempts or during my studying using the usual references and study guides (Graffeo, Wildi, NCEES, etc.) 

Overall, I think the AM went fairly well, however PM portion definitely kicked my butt. I may have guess on ~10-12 questions in the PM. I felt pretty prepared coming into the exam (3rd time taking the test) and probably spent 300 - 400 hours studying in the last 4 months. Anyways, not sure what to expect from my results. I hope my performance during the AM session will be my saving grace; here's hoping for the best.

 

[ItsStudyTime!]

I did not take the exam this year, FYI. I'm piping in with my experience around this topic. Fretting over how you did is exhausting! Ugh. During my exam, I used a '1, 2, 3' method tracking how I felt about each question, and calculated a likely score for myself at the end of the exam. This was only so helpful, since passing score isn't published, but it gave me some peace of mind to feel like I was in the low 70's (likely) for score. I still fretted constantly though, let's be honest.

The text below elaborates on the '1,2,3' thing. It is copied from a little website I wrote up about my study method, so formatting here may not be great, sorry. This is probably more useful to people who are reading this that will be taking the exam in the future. Hopefully that is NONE OF YOU who just wrote the exam Friday =).

''I used a ‘1-2-3’ method while taking the exams. I used to do this in college - it helps identify which questions to return to at the end, and lets you estimate how you did on the exam (so you can spend less time worrying afterwords.) While working on the questions, annotate each one with a ‘1, 2, or 3’ on the far right margin of the page.

1 = I’m sure I got this right.

2 = I was able to narrow it down to 2 answers (of a possible 4) and I had to ‘guess’ a little between those two.

3 = No better than a monkey, I guessed.

When you get through the exam once, you can go back and work on the ‘2’ or ‘3’ questions. If you work on a ‘2’ and decide you got it right, you scratch out the ‘2’ and replace it with a ‘1’. When you have only a few minutes left, you tally up how many of each number you have. Do some quick math, and estimate how you did.

(quantity of ‘1’ questions) * (0.9) = A

(quantity of ‘2’ questions) * (0.5) = B

(quantity of ‘3’ questions) * (0.25) = C

Add A+B+C, and then divide that sum by the total number of questions (40 per section) to get a ‘percentage’ of how you did.

For example, say you had 30 questions marked as '1' (A=30), 30 questions marked as '2' (B=2) and 20 questions marked as '3' (C=20) out of the total 80 questions. That would be (30*0.9)+(30*0.5)+(20*0.25) = 47. So your estimate is that you got 47 out of 80 questions right, or 58.75%. When I did this on my first practice exam, my estimate was that I got a 33% (true answer was 38%). When I did this on the actual exam, my estimate was a 74% (and I passed - but I don't know what a passing grade is on the exam). I lean on the conservative size while doing this exercise, so some of my '2' answers may be closer to a '1' - but I'd rather come up with my 'lowest possible score' during this exercise.''

 

[RadioBox]

This is my second time and hopefully my last.  This exam overall was doable and fair and was nothing like the October 2018 exam.  I guarantee you that the pass rate for this exam is going to be higher than last year.  The protection problems for this exam were on par, and I got all the code questions right.  

 

[ndekens]

This is about my 17th (Yes I mean '17'TH') time taking this exam. The AM portion except for the code questions were a bit unexpected for me. I took almost the whole 4 hours to complete. The PM portion was easier for me. I was done about 45 minutes early. Haven't seen the battery stuff before on one of these exams....at least from what I remember.

I think the majority of the difficulty with this exam was the unexpected questions that my have not been used before.

 

[RadioBox]

This is about my 17th (Yes I mean '17'TH') time taking this exam. The AM portion except for the code questions were a bit unexpected for me. I took almost the whole 4 hours to complete. The PM portion was easier for me. I was done about 45 minutes early. Haven't seen the battery stuff before on one of these exams....at least from what I remember.

I think the majority of the difficulty with this exam was the unexpected questions that my have not been used before.

Good luck, ndekens. We got this. We will pass.

 

[RadioBox]

This is about my 17th (Yes I mean '17'TH') time taking this exam. The AM portion except for the code questions were a bit unexpected for me. I took almost the whole 4 hours to complete. The PM portion was easier for me. I was done about 45 minutes early. Haven't seen the battery stuff before on one of these exams....at least from what I remember.

I think the majority of the difficulty with this exam was the unexpected questions that my have not been used before.

Have you seen some of the same questions? Or has each exam been completely different and new each time?

 

[ndekens]

Have you seen some of the same questions? Or has each exam been completely different and new each time?

Yes they reuse questions, sometime word for word but most of the time reworded. However I don't see them reused in a noticeable way a lot. They use a lot of the same type of questions.

 

[tpkjr2006]

This is my second time and hopefully my last.  This exam overall was doable and fair and was nothing like the October 2018 exam.  I guarantee you that the pass rate for this exam is going to be higher compared to last year.  The protection problems for this exam were on par and I got all the code questions right.  

What what they made it easier..... 

 

[RadioBox]

What what they made it easier..... 

The majority of questions in october 2018 were so left field and impossible to answer, at least for me. 

This April exam the questions asked I felt were more forgiving and straightforward even the hard ones.

Anyone else who took in October please chime in. I would like to know if everyone who took it last year as well feels the same was as I do.

 

[tpkjr2006]

@RadioBox i passed in october. I strongly remembering feeling the same thinking with the questions.

 

[daydreambeliever]

I guarantee you that the pass rate for this exam is going to be higher compared to last year. 

I agree. Oct. 18 was brutal. Some of the questions were so out there that I didn't even know where to begin. 

This time I feel like I killed the AM session. PM was a different story but with some legwork I feel like I was able to get through most of them. Will it be enough......I'll let you know in approx. 6 weeks. NCEES is really good predicting common mistakes so just because I feel ok about the test doesn't mean I didn't fall into their traps.

 

[Nashi]

The majority of questions in october 2018 were so left field and impossible to answer, at least for me. 

This April exam the questions asked I felt were more forgiving and straightforward even the hard ones.

Anyone else who took in October please chime in. I would like to know if everyone who took it last year as well feels the same was as I do.

Yes I took it in October 2018 and I felt the same way. Maybe its because I was more prepared this time that I feel differently.

However, there were questions on this one that I had no resources for to make a good guess.

 

[LyceeFruit PE]

The majority of questions in october 2018 were so left field and impossible to answer, at least for me. 

This April exam the questions asked I felt were more forgiving and straightforward even the hard ones.

Anyone else who took in October please chime in. I would like to know if everyone who took it last year as well feels the same was as I do.

April 2019 was  more forgiving than April 2018 & October 2018. 

I left feeling like there were less questions out of left field. There were still a couple but April 2018, I felt awful about it.

I study 150 hours for this exam cycle and had the knowledge from my previous attempts (which pre-date April 2018 as well but weren't as dedicated & focused as this one cycle)

 

[StrugglingEngineer]

This is about my 17th (Yes I mean '17'TH') time taking this exam. The AM portion except for the code questions were a bit unexpected for me. I took almost the whole 4 hours to complete. The PM portion was easier for me. I was done about 45 minutes early. Haven't seen the battery stuff before on one of these exams....at least from what I remember.

I think the majority of the difficulty with this exam was the unexpected questions that my have not been used before.

Wow, good luck to you! I hope you pass this go around. Which state have you taken it in if you don't mind me asking? I was under the impression that you are only limited to 3 or 4 attempts in most states. Are there some states that allow multiple (more than 4 tries)? If so, I may need a list of those states just in case it doesn't work out for me in my home state.

I felt like like there were way more battery questions on this cycle than previous ones I was expecting one question on the topic but there were multiple.

 

[LyceeFruit PE]

Wow, good luck to you! I hope you pass this go around. Which state have you taken it in if you don't mind me asking? I was under the impression that you are only limited to 3 or 4 attempts in most states. Are there some states that allow multiple (more than 4 tries)? If so, I may need a list of those states just in case it doesn't work out for me in my home state.

I felt like like there were way more battery questions on this cycle than previous ones I was expecting one question on the topic but there were multiple.

VT doesn't have a limit. Yet.

The application is only good for 2 years, which is basically 4 exams. 

April 2019 was Attempt #6 for me.

 

[ndekens]

Wow, good luck to you! I hope you pass this go around. Which state have you taken it in if you don't mind me asking? I was under the impression that you are only limited to 3 or 4 attempts in most states. Are there some states that allow multiple (more than 4 tries)? If so, I may need a list of those states just in case it doesn't work out for me in my home state.

I felt like like there were way more battery questions on this cycle than previous ones I was expecting one question on the topic but there were multiple.

California; You only apply to the CA state board after you pass.......we are going to have a bunch of registered green engineers in like 2 years might not be such a good thing.

 

[Mercy]

I was expecting a bloody battle but found the test to be fair. Can I say with confidence that I passed? Absolutely not. I reviewed a few references after the exam exam and noticed I made mistakes/picked the wrong answer (especially NEC). I never used NEC before, I studied whatever material I could find, watched YouTube videos etc. I learned a lot but I was not as fast as I needed to be (finding relevant information etc). 


 
Also, I spent very little time studying one subject. I recall at least 4-5 questions on the test. Sad part is, I actually spent $$ on a reference book but didn’t have time to review it prior to the exam and didn’t have time during the test to look for the information (unfamiliar with the bloody book).  I did what I could based on my limited knowledge.



 
I wish everyone the best. Please be kind to yourself. 

 

[Mercy]

This is about my 17th (Yes I mean '17'TH') time taking this exam. The AM portion except for the code questions were a bit unexpected for me. I took almost the whole 4 hours to complete. The PM portion was easier for me. I was done about 45 minutes early. Haven't seen the battery stuff before on one of these exams....at least from what I remember.

I think the majority of the difficulty with this exam was the unexpected questions that my have not been used before.

Good luck, I hope you pass. I really respect you and all the others who chose to give it another shot. I am so exhausted mentally & physically, I am thinking of taking a break before signing up for another attempt. I can’t imagine putting my family through another round of this. The whole process is painful.

 

[Saul Good]

I took it for the first time in October 2018. I failed with a 47/80.  So I think I was close to passing last time. Overall I felt about the same coming out of both tests. I didn’t think I passed in 2018 and I don’t feel too confident this time around either.  This was my 4th test in 14 months including two FE tests and all I know is I am done for now regardless of the result.  I gave it all I had (probably 300-400 hours of studying between the two attempts, and that doesn’t even include the time studying/relearning material for the two FE attempts) and this was more of a personal goal for me.  I may pick it back up in the future if I get the itch again.  All I know is that is one hard test.

 

[daydreambeliever]

I am thinking of taking a break before signing up for another attempt

 I may pick it back up in the future if I get the itch again.

Stay positive guys. Hopefully you both passed it!!! I'm a multiple time test taker as well and yeah it's definitely ruff on the family. My daughter was over my excuses by the weekend before the exam.  :laugh:

I'm just keeping my fingers crossed that I got it this time.