Electrical PE Exam - Apr. 2017

[BigWheel]

For what it is worth.. I felt the morning was fairly straightforward and the afternoon much more difficult for me.  

I studied about 250-300hrs starting in December. 

The questions seemed mostly aligned with the different areas per ncees guide.  

For the second half, it wasn't that I wasn't familiar with the question but rather the phrasing of the question and provided info.  Lot of theory and much less computational which was the exact opposite to what I was expecting.  

Good luck everyone!

^ This.

I want to say that I feel good about my chances of passing, but I don't want to say it out loud because there is the very real chance that I won't pass. I do remember feeling this same way following the FE, and I wound up passing it. 

My friends at work (all of whom are PEs) are having fun with the fact that it will be six to ten weeks before I get my results, which is why they are telling me I should go ahead and start studying for October. Some even claim to have made bets with each other that I failed.

 

[Owism]

For what it is worth.. I felt the morning was fairly straightforward and the afternoon much more difficult for me.  

I studied about 250-300hrs starting in December. 

The questions seemed mostly aligned with the different areas per ncees guide.  

For the second half, it wasn't that I wasn't familiar with the question but rather the phrasing of the question and provided info.  Lot of theory and much less computational which was the exact opposite to what I was expecting.  

Good luck everyone!

This one was a lot less theory than october for sure. 

 

[pete3589]

Good information. How about comparing it with PPI/Kaplan/Chhaya/CI practice tests, 

I did all of the CI tests, none of the others you mention there.  I would say that the test was more difficult than the CI tests. 

It's not so much the material, but the way that questions are asked.  The NCEES test has a way of asking questions in a manner that is meant to confuse you.  Sometimes non-pertinent information is provided, sometimes there is a word in the sentence that makes the problem a lot more work, or a lot less.  There was one question in particular on the test that made me re-read it over and over to be sure of my answer.  Of course, after discussion with some work folks the next day on my method (cause I couldn't remember the exact question), turns out I was probably wrong, which is tremendously frustrating since it should have been a gimmie question on an easy topic.  I always found that if I did my calculations on the CI test and my answer was one of the choices, I was always correct.  I also felt this way about the FE which I took in October.  For the NCEES test I had several occasions where my answer was one of the choices, and it was wrong. 

Overall the CI tests do a good job of making sure you have the fundamentals.  There were no tricks, but I felt they covered all of the important aspects of the tests.  However, when I stat down and treated the NCEES practice exam like the real test (spent a Saturday at work with no distractions doing both 4 hour sessions with a 1 hour break in between to simulate the exact test environment/duration) I didn't do nearly as well as what I did on the CI tests. 

On the CI tests I would break them out into 20 question sections and give myself 2 hours.  I would then use my strategy where I read all questions and give them a 1-3 based on difficulty/time to complete, then do them in difficulty order.  By the end of my studying I would routinely get 16-19 correct in each block of 20. 

The NCEES practice exam shook my confidence quite a bit, and sadly there is only 1 of them.

 

[rg1]

I did all of the CI tests, none of the others you mention there.  I would say that the test was more difficult than the CI tests. 

It's not so much the material, but the way that questions are asked.  The NCEES test has a way of asking questions in a manner that is meant to confuse you.  Sometimes non-pertinent information is provided, sometimes there is a word in the sentence that makes the problem a lot more work, or a lot less.  There was one question in particular on the test that made me re-read it over and over to be sure of my answer.  Of course, after discussion with some work folks the next day on my method (cause I couldn't remember the exact question), turns out I was probably wrong, which is tremendously frustrating since it should have been a gimmie question on an easy topic.  I always found that if I did my calculations on the CI test and my answer was one of the choices, I was always correct.  I also felt this way about the FE which I took in October.  For the NCEES test I had several occasions where my answer was one of the choices, and it was wrong. 

Overall the CI tests do a good job of making sure you have the fundamentals.  There were no tricks, but I felt they covered all of the important aspects of the tests.  However, when I stat down and treated the NCEES practice exam like the real test (spent a Saturday at work with no distractions doing both 4 hour sessions with a 1 hour break in between to simulate the exact test environment/duration) I didn't do nearly as well as what I did on the CI tests. 

On the CI tests I would break them out into 20 question sections and give myself 2 hours.  I would then use my strategy where I read all questions and give them a 1-3 based on difficulty/time to complete, then do them in difficulty order.  By the end of my studying I would routinely get 16-19 correct in each block of 20. 

The NCEES practice exam shook my confidence quite a bit, and sadly there is only 1 of them.

Thanks a lot. It make sense now. Best of luck.

 

[EE2013]

I did all of the CI tests, none of the others you mention there.  I would say that the test was more difficult than the CI tests. 

It's not so much the material, but the way that questions are asked.  The NCEES test has a way of asking questions in a manner that is meant to confuse you.  Sometimes non-pertinent information is provided, sometimes there is a word in the sentence that makes the problem a lot more work, or a lot less.  There was one question in particular on the test that made me re-read it over and over to be sure of my answer.  Of course, after discussion with some work folks the next day on my method (cause I couldn't remember the exact question), turns out I was probably wrong, which is tremendously frustrating since it should have been a gimmie question on an easy topic.  I always found that if I did my calculations on the CI test and my answer was one of the choices, I was always correct.  I also felt this way about the FE which I took in October.  For the NCEES test I had several occasions where my answer was one of the choices, and it was wrong. 

Overall the CI tests do a good job of making sure you have the fundamentals.  There were no tricks, but I felt they covered all of the important aspects of the tests.  However, when I stat down and treated the NCEES practice exam like the real test (spent a Saturday at work with no distractions doing both 4 hour sessions with a 1 hour break in between to simulate the exact test environment/duration) I didn't do nearly as well as what I did on the CI tests. 

On the CI tests I would break them out into 20 question sections and give myself 2 hours.  I would then use my strategy where I read all questions and give them a 1-3 based on difficulty/time to complete, then do them in difficulty order.  By the end of my studying I would routinely get 16-19 correct in each block of 20. 

The NCEES practice exam shook my confidence quite a bit, and sadly there is only 1 of them.

I went through the 4 volume of CI and felt was much easier than the ncees Exam.

CI is a great fundamentals check but not similar to the PE, in my opinion.  Graffeo practice and ncees sample are the most like it.  I was disillusioned by CI until I started on the sample exam. 

 

[efg]

Did any of you take the School of PE Power Exam course? Did it seem like a total waste of time to you? I did until I realized I need to use my time more wisely. Did anyone take a course they really liked? I did buy Graffeo's prep book and found it somewhat useful but he lacks a code section.

Thanks.

 

[Limamike]

I'll tell you this, it was a MILLION times better this time vs what it has been in the past!   Though I did find it very useful for the FE. Heck, I have been out of school for 22 years. Took the FE for the first time last year and I do think that the sope FE course did help me pass. BUT the PE - with our boy Nieves, in F-16, sucked more air, than an A-8 taking off a carrier in the med. 

 

[KatyLied P.E.]

9 hours ago, Apothe said: So who was the guy that said you only needed the NESC table of contents lol

never trust that guy. I figured that out in October ... 

I would be one of those guys who made that statement regarding the NESC. I only give advice based on my experience and, in that case, advice given in the GA Tech review course. Use it as you see fit. Each test is didferent.

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[BigWheel]

I would be one of those guys who made that statement regarding the NESC. I only give advice based on my experience and, in that case, advice given in the GA Tech review course. Use it as you see fit. Each test is didferent.

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I will say that I was very glad to have had a copy of the NESC with me for this exam. 

 

[Owism]

Did any of you take the School of PE Power Exam course? Did it seem like a total waste of time to you? I did until I realized I need to use my time more wisely. Did anyone take a course they really liked? I did buy Graffeo's prep book and found it somewhat useful but he lacks a code section.

Thanks.

School of PE was 50% better than Spring/Fall of 2016 because those were Dr. Nieves days. This time around they got 4 PE's, 1 for each section. Circuits and Rotating Machines had the best Instructors Mr. Sarmad Raheem and Mr. Jules (Jay) Marchesseault. The General power/NEC instructor was good but hard to understand his accent.  The transmission distribution guy was not very good, comparable to Dr. Nieves. I forget their names. A school is only as good as its greatest teachers.

School of PE only recommends the Camara ref book and NCEES practice book, this is a big mistake. Elsewhere in the forum many people mention a lot of other references, gotta use those. and ofcourse your own printouts from searching on topics and definitely a few formula pages for quick reference.

 

[trainrider]

School of PE was 50% better than Spring/Fall of 2016 because those were Dr. Nieves days. This time around they got 4 PE's, 1 for each section. Circuits and Rotating Machines had the best Instructors Mr. Sarmad Raheem and Mr. Jules (Jay) Marchesseault. The General power/NEC instructor was good but hard to understand his accent.  The transmission distribution guy was not very good, comparable to Dr. Nieves. I forget their names. A school is only as good as its greatest teachers.

School of PE only recommends the Camara ref book and NCEES practice book, this is a big mistake. Elsewhere in the forum many people mention a lot of other references, gotta use those. and ofcourse your own printouts from searching on topics and definitely a few formula pages for quick reference.

Glad to hear they are listening to people's reviews. But unfortunately, the damage has been done. 

 

[Owism]

Glad to hear they are listening to people's reviews. But unfortunately, the damage has been done. 

Yeah. Lesson Learned: Dont put all your eggs in one basket. That applies to prepping for the PE exam as much as it applies to monetary investments.

 

[surge82]

I ended up using both Testmasters and School of PE to pass mine. 

 

[Owism]

I ended up using both Testmasters and School of PE to pass mine. 

who was your school of PE and Testmasters instructors?

 

[surge82]

Dr. Nieves was for the school of PE. The testmasters was the professor that is on the youtube videos for the majority of lectures except for the code section. I took school of PE and retook the test with testmasters and the combination got me through. 

 

[BigWheel]

...day 15. 

 

[TWJ PE]

...day 15. 

Probably half way.... or pretty close.

 

[TNPE]

Probably half way.... or pretty close.

Blasphemy!  A quarter of the way there...

And if you're in CA or PA, the clock hasn't even started yet.  

 

[Owism]

exciting and nervous. 

 

[Ken PE 3.1]

The REAL fun has yet to begin around here.

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