Failed PE Power

Professional Engineer & PE Exam Forum

Help Support Professional Engineer & PE Exam Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Yep! I'm surrounded by first time passers where I work and none of them took the class. I didn't take it until I failed twice. I did not go through all of the videos since all they do is cover is slides which are the notes (very slow pace). Since the notes and material is procured specifically for the exam, it goes in depth on almost all subjects. Paying for their notes is really where the worth is  imo. If you study all of their notes and work out many practice problems, you will have a solid chance of passing.
Attending the video lectures was torture. Plus if you asked a question the instructor (or lecturer) would flounder and fumble through and never even answer the freakin question (especially the second half instructor, ugh that guy drove me nuts). I got so frustrated. I quit attending and read the notes on my own, which was 100% more benefitial. 

 
Attending the video lectures was torture. Plus if you asked a question the instructor (or lecturer) would flounder and fumble through and never even answer the freakin question (especially the second half instructor, ugh that guy drove me nuts). I got so frustrated. I quit attending and read the notes on my own, which was 100% more benefitial. 
Exactly! I think bypassing the video lectures is the best strategy. The notes/slides were quite comprehensive and were sufficient for me to fill the gaps where I lacked.

 
Exactly! I think bypassing the video lectures is the best strategy. The notes/slides were quite comprehensive and were sufficient for me to fill the gaps where I lacked.
So the value is a condensed study guide.  Dont disagree, but not at that price point

 
A combination of Graffeo and School of PE notes with my own tabs is what got me over the finish line.  I don't mind paying $1300 for them now because a PE license is going to more than pay for that investment in a short time frame.  

 
passed 1st try, no background in EE (not work nor degree)

villanova course was INSANELY good

agreed with others, ppi and school of PE were a joke

kaplan course was simply pathetic (yes, i had access to sll of these courses)

no magic potion here, just lucky to use the right material for study, take it from someone who took the power test as a challenge

 
passed 1st try, no background in EE (not work nor degree)

villanova course was INSANELY good

agreed with others, ppi and school of PE were a joke

kaplan course was simply pathetic (yes, i had access to sll of these courses)

no magic potion here, just lucky to use the right material for study, take it from someone who took the power test as a challenge
Please explain... you do not work in this field or have a electrical engineering degree?  

How did you meet the academic and work experience requirements? 

And you bought what sounds like at least 3 online study review courses for an exam that doesnt appear to relate to you?

I must be confused.

 
passed 1st try, no background in EE (not work nor degree)

villanova course was INSANELY good

agreed with others, ppi and school of PE were a joke

kaplan course was simply pathetic (yes, i had access to sll of these courses)

no magic potion here, just lucky to use the right material for study, take it from someone who took the power test as a challenge
There are so many courses out there, do I take one, do I study on my own? I did not do well in protection everything else was okay. I missed half the code questions which surprised me since I work with the NEC everyday. Just don't know how to choose a course.

 
There are so many courses out there, do I take one, do I study on my own? I did not do well in protection everything else was okay. I missed half the code questions which surprised me since I work with the NEC everyday. Just don't know how to choose a course.
Do you own a copy of the Complex Imaginary code drill book?  It helped me quite a bit in practicing looking up code questions.

 
There are so many courses out there, do I take one, do I study on my own? I did not do well in protection everything else was okay. I missed half the code questions which surprised me since I work with the NEC everyday. Just don't know how to choose a course.
For me, after I failed the first time, I took both the GT course and the Power PE Review by Zach.

 
Please explain... you do not work in this field or have a electrical engineering degree?  

How did you meet the academic and work experience requirements? 

And you bought what sounds like at least 3 online study review courses for an exam that doesnt appear to relate to you?

I must be confused.
You can take any discipline Exam if I remember correctly but providing actual experience might be difficult to get a license.

 
Please explain... you do not work in this field or have a electrical engineering degree?  

How did you meet the academic and work experience requirements? 

And you bought what sounds like at least 3 online study review courses for an exam that doesnt appear to relate to you?

I must be confused.
state did not require this of me. needed it for licensure on something else

only bought villanova and kaplan (kaplan had a trial period, it was terrible)

had access to the other two and skipped sround, they were pretty bad too

 
A combination of Graffeo and School of PE notes with my own tabs is what got me over the finish line.  I don't mind paying $1300 for them now because a PE license is going to more than pay for that investment in a short time frame.  
Agreed.  The School of PE provides excellent notes and solved problems for taking the PE Power Exam.  When I took the course the instructor was a joke, the only section he did reasonably well was the Codes which is important so he did help me somewhat.  You have to study the notes and create a binder of the important pages.  The owner did an excellent job on the engineering economics...get those easy questions.  This was my main resource for the exam.  I also had Camera which helped minimally.  Of course, you have to get the codes books and know how to use them.  The NCEES practice exam is a must...take your time to do and understand the questions, many similar questions appear in the exam.   DO NOT bring too much materials to the exam.  Use tabs and know where to find stuff in seconds.

I passed on my first attempt even though my EE major was in electronics.  I work in a Power environment so that's why I too the PE Power.  Don't under-rate the exam, study hard with exam day in mind so you could know which stuff to bookmark.  Tabs are your best friend during the exam.  GOOD LUCK!

BTW did anyone figure the cut off score for the April 2018 exam?  The highest I saw was a 49 that failed.  It has to be a higher score than that.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Agreed.  The School of PE provides excellent notes and solved problems for taking the PE Power Exam.  When I took the course the instructor was a joke, the only section he did reasonably well was the Codes which is important so he did help me somewhat.  You have to study the notes and create a binder of the important pages.  The owner did an excellent job on the engineering economics...get those easy questions.  This was my main resource for the exam.  I also had Camera which helped minimally.  Of course, you have to get the codes books and know how to use them.  The NCEES practice exam is a must...take your time to do and understand the questions, many similar questions appear in the exam.   DO NOT bring too much materials to the exam.  Use tabs and know where to find stuff in seconds.

I passed on my first attempt even though my EE major was in electronics.  I work in a Power environment so that's why I too the PE Power.  Don't under-rate the exam, study hard with exam day in mind so you could know which stuff to bookmark.  Tabs are your best friend during the exam.  GOOD LUCK!

BTW did anyone figure the cut off score for the April 2018 exam?  The highest I saw was a 49 that failed.  It has to be a higher score than that.
I don't think it's as low as 50, but I do think it's lower than usual, as by all accounts of people who sat for both Oct 2017 and April 2018 the April 2018 one was tougher. And I think the Oct 17 cut score was estimated at around 53.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
I don't think it's as low as 50, but I do think it's lower than usual, as by all accounts of people who sat for both Oct 2017 and April 2018 the April 2018 one was tougher, and I think the Oct 17 cut score was estimated at around 53.
i really don't think there is a cut score, that is why NCEES doesn't post it.

I only say this because i BOMBED the NEC portion. There was about 14 problems when i took it and don't remember if i knew how to do any of them. I simply didn't spend much time studying NEC. Maybe i had a bad night the night before and couldn't concentrate, but i remember also freezing up on nearly half the problems.

So i really think i did at least ok on the engineering portion but simply screwed up the NEC while NCEES let me pass anyways.

 
i really don't think there is a cut score, that is why NCEES doesn't post it.
@RBHeadge PE

giphy.gif


 

Latest posts

Back
Top