Electrical - Power (April '10)

[electric]

This was my second shot and I thought I was way well prepared than last time and then I saw the test. :smileyballs:

There were few curve balls but still I feel I got 27 & 29 correct which adds up to 56. Even if I missed about 4 questions out of 56, hopefully I make up for those with educated guess.

It's going to be really close but hey what the heck I gave my best and I think the test was way more difficult compared to last October.

 

[roadrunner]

This was my first time taking the test and after the test I felt pretty confident of a passing grade. Now a few days have gone by the nerves are kicking in and making me feel not so confident. It is going to be a long wait.....

Make sure you all don't discuss the questions on the test as that is grounds of that privacy agreement.

 

[Gans]

The exam was not as difficult as I expected. There were a number of questions I was able to answer based on life experience, not workplace experience.

 

[lundoc]

I took the test in October and thought it was very hard and failed. I took a review class and signed back up for April. The morning session of the latest test was a breeze, but I struggled with several questions in the afternoon. I felt pretty confident that I got it this time immediately after the test, but as time passes you start to second guess.

 

[nuclear bus]

I took the Power exam in Oct 09 and failed. I know I bombed the morning session back then but I thought the afternoon went better. Even so, there were a LOT of questions (5-6) in each session I had no idea what they were even asking for.

This time I didn't have any questions where I didn't know what they were asking, and there were only 2 in each session I had to guess on cause I just couldn't get an answer to work out. I don't recall any finance questions on the fall test, but there were quite a few on this one and I consider those kind of the "gimmie" questions cause a multiple choice finance question that isn't too difficult should be a snap, at the very least you can just plug and chug the solutions until you find the one that works. Also, it seemed like there were more NEC questions this time around, and I was always pretty strong there. As was the last time, whoever words some of those questions can kiss my you know what, talk about coming up with the most confusing way to word a question...I also thought there were quite a few questions where if you had the correct reference you were fine, but if you didn't you were toast. I found more than a few helpful hints in the EC&M handbook as well as grainger's power systems (two books I didn't have the first time I took the test...stupid stupid stupid!)

I managed to speak with a couple other Power takers during the lunch break and they didn't seem very confident. They seemed more like me after the first time I took the AM session. Lots of "wow what the heck were they asking for on that question!" kind of remarks.

That being said, was it any easier? Yes...for me. I knew going in the last fall exam there were some things I wasn't strong on and I thought that I would be fine just doing all the stuff I knew how to do. I was SOOOO wrong. So I bought more references, studied all the things I knew I didn't know how to do until I understood them better, and asked a LOT of questions here Also, it took me one time through the test to realize knowing how to do the sample problems wasn't enough, that you really had to REALLY understand the concept they were testing, and I studied and asked questions with that in mind this time. The problems on the actual test, at least in my eyes at the time, were not a lot like the ones in the same exams. You likely couldn't just flip through the sampe problem and go, oh here's one just like the test problem. You'd be looking for a long time with that kind of strategy. That's the strategy I used in the fall exam.

I hope that was enough becasue if I have to sit again through that I may loose my mind once and for all! Right now I'm feeling very confident I passed. I hope I'm not saying this exact same thing 6 months from now

I honestly can say though, that there were questions I would NOT have been able to answer had it not been for the help of the people on EB. I did not know about the EB prior to my taking the test last fall. Had I been here before then, I would definitely have done better. Thanks guys!

 

[nuclear bus]

duplicate post. Please delete

 

[cdcengineer]

Nuke Bus - be careful. It might be borderline to disclose specific topics that may or may not have been on the exam...

The admin for this site decided to shut off posting privileges yesterday because of exam content discussions. I'm not sure if posting question types is allowed, but when in doubt, leave it out..

 

[knight1fox3]

This was my first time taking the test and after the test I felt pretty confident of a passing grade. Now a few days have gone by the nerves are kicking in and making me feel not so confident. It is going to be a long wait.....

I feel the same way roadrunner. Felt pretty confident coming out of the exam but now with the lengthy wait on results, the nerves are definitely kicking in. It sure is going to be a long wait. :mail-296:

 

[electric]

From above posts it seems in general people think the test was not difficult. If that's the case, the passing score might bump up by a point or two.

 

[nuclear bus]

Nuke Bus - be careful. It might be borderline to disclose specific topics that may or may not have been on the exam...
The admin for this site decided to shut off posting privileges yesterday because of exam content discussions. I'm not sure if posting question types is allowed, but when in doubt, leave it out..

If anybody thinks that I said anything that wasn't already public knowledge and already published, including places such as the NCEES Power sample questions and solutions manual exam specifications, then somebody please go ahead and delete that post. I'd edit it out right now but doesn't look like I can.

 

[elmodeer]

Well, I have a BSc in Civil Engineering and I sat for the electrical power exam as I have been in the industry for like 8 years. I would say the exam was not that difficult as I used to hear. Its kinda tricky, you have to pay attention to the wording and exclude the misleading information. It also tests some conceptual topics in the electrical engineering field.

I didnt study economics at all before the exam as it was mentioned here in other threads that October 09 exam didnt have any! But luckily I had the 1001 questions book that I used to study from years back when I sat for the EIT exam and I would say it was good enough to solve the economic questions in the exam.

I prepared a big binder with tabs for each of the exam question sections that included sample problems I collected from many resources. I took with me that binder, the 1001 sample problems, the Schaum's outlines and the NEC book and one of Mike Holt's books and I do believe they were good enough.

So in short, the PE exam is not difficult but its tricky I would say. And if I didnt make it this time, I am happy with the overall expereince. Good luck all.

 

[frecoder78]

I felt the exam was ok, but let me make my final decision at the end of July, beginning of August! Everything I studied was on the exam except a few curve balls they threw in terms of experience related questions. Aside from that I hope I passed. This is my second time taking the exam. Good luck to everyone!

 

[nuclear bus]

Hopefully we don't have to wait until the end of July. If my memory is correct, I took the fall test on October 23, and my results letter was dated December 28. If it's much longer than that I'm going to burst!