Failed PE Power

[BirdGrave]

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.

Nah I'm sure there's a cut score.  I just think it's atypically low for this exam because this exam in particular was *tough*.

 

[KJS]

Failed Power NY 48. I think the cut score is probably be 50.

 

[Jackal301]

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 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.

Failed Power NY 48. I think the cut score is probably be 50.

@Baconator said the cut score was 57. 

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

Who is this guy? Taking the Power PE for fun?  :angry:

 

[sayed]

Who is this guy? Taking the Power PE for fun?  :angry:

not fun, took it because i needed it for another license in my state. not PE

Nah I'm sure there's a cut score.  I just think it's atypically low for this exam because this exam in particular was *tough*.

i think NCEES analyzes and weighs it differently. why else would their scoring be so secretive? i mean they don't even release scores for people who passed.

i'm sure if they have one person pass at 51 and another fail at 53 test takers would have an issue with it. that's why they keep passing scores under wraps

 

[Anon]

Passed with no EE background (personal reasons for taking test).

I used Graffeo and did Zach's electricalpereview (used Zach's formulas as a bible during PE).  Also bought the PPI book but it tended to be too complicated/big to be useful for me during exam.  Probably spent 150 hours on electricalpereview.com alone and felt it was where I made the best gains (the PPI book and Graffeo didn't dumb it down enough for me to start).

 

[Szar]

not fun, took it because i needed it for another license in my state. not PE

Im still very curious... what type licence requires you to take the PE but is not for a PE? 

 

[Szar]

Passed with no EE background (personal reasons for taking test).

Alright, go on...

 

[wvengineer]

not fun, took it because i needed it for another license in my state. not PE

i think NCEES analyzes and weighs it differently. why else would their scoring be so secretive? i mean they don't even release scores for people who passed.

i'm sure if they have one person pass at 51 and another fail at 53 test takers would have an issue with it. that's why they keep passing scores under wraps

Passed with no EE background (personal reasons for taking test).

I used Graffeo and did Zach's electricalpereview (used Zach's formulas as a bible during PE).  Also bought the PPI book but it tended to be too complicated/big to be useful for me during exam.  Probably spent 150 hours on electricalpereview.com alone and felt it was where I made the best gains (the PPI book and Graffeo didn't dumb it down enough for me to start).

 

[sayed]

Im still very curious... what type licence requires you to take the PE but is not for a PE? 

not required, but it exempted me from the other requirements. much easier to study for a few months than comply with everything else

 

[Szar]

not required, but it exempted me from the other requirements. much easier to study for a few months than comply with everything else

Exempted from what?

 

[Szar]

not required, but it exempted me from the other requirements. much easier to study for a few months than comply with everything else

What are you applying for?

 

[Inductive]

I used Engineering Pro Guide from Justin Kauwale. Very easy to understand and an excellent practice exam. 

The PPI book is crap but it saved my butt for one problem. 

Not sure what’s going on in NY but I have never heard of a PE requirement to get something else waived. Except you want to get self employed, or you’re in the Army Corps of Engineers. 

So Sayed, you got my full attention.

 

[sayed]

Exempted from what?

6 years of W2 employment with very specific experience 

 

[Anon]

Alright, go on...

Yea... you caught me Szar, definitely not personal reasons.  Who takes a PE test for personal reasons?

 

[Szar]

Yea... you caught me Szar, definitely not personal reasons.  Who takes a PE test for personal reasons?

How about you expand upon it and your background?  

I mean, its not like this is what, your second post, and the only thing youve added to the discussion is anonymously posting in a thread about people failing the exam and how you, a person who is not electrical background in nature, manged to pass the test, presumably first try, in a small amout of time considering your non existant background.  

And you did it for ***** and giggles,  Oh, i mean personal reasons.  Not for professional reasons or (like the other guy) for some random exemption to a requirement they wont divulge.

But sure.  Im the bad guy for asking more about information you willingly and vaguely divulged.  If any of my assumptions are wrong, please correct them...

You obviously had a motivation for posting, how is any of your post supposed to help someone who failed the exam except make them feel worse? 

 

[Anon]

It was a poor choice to talk about myself - agreed (too late now though .

I'm a Mech who wanted to spread my breath.  I found studying for power much harder than the Mech exam.  Yall simply don't have much applicable info to study from.

Tried to start studying with PPI book (like i did with mech) and Graffeo but they were too dense/complicated  for me.

Electricalpereview.com (by Zach) saved me in dumbing down concepts and breaking down practice questions so when I'd miss a small detail (or a square root 3 somewhere) - I wouldn't have to look for 2-3 hrs trying to hunt down a small detail.

I then went back to Graffeo (kinda could understand it after Zach) - best part of the book was still the practice test and solutions in the back. Then finished with NCEES practice test.

Order of things I accredit me passing:

1)Electricalpereview.com 

2)calculator that could do the complex math (want to say ti-36..)

3)practice tests (NCEES and Graffeo)

4) NEC Handbook 

5)NESC and Graffeo (non-practice test portion)

6) PPI book (best part of this book was and still is the cover)

Hope something in there helps.

 

[BirdGrave]

It was a poor choice to talk about myself - agreed (too late now though .

I'm a Mech who wanted to spread my breath.  I found studying for power much harder than the Mech exam.  Yall simply don't have much applicable info to study from.

Tried to start studying with PPI book (like i did with mech) and Graffeo but they were too dense/complicated  for me.

Electricalpereview.com (by Zach) saved me in dumbing down concepts and breaking down practice questions so when I'd miss a small detail (or a square root 3 somewhere) - I wouldn't have to look for 2-3 hrs trying to hunt down a small detail.

I then went back to Graffeo (kinda could understand it after Zach) - best part of the book was still the practice test and solutions in the back. Then finished with NCEES practice test.

Order of things I accredit me passing:

1)Electricalpereview.com 

2)calculator that could do the complex math (want to say ti-36..)

3)practice tests (NCEES and Graffeo)

4) NEC Handbook 

5)NESC and Graffeo (non-practice test portion)

6) PPI book (best part of this book was and still is the cover)

Hope something in there helps.

Forgive me if I missed you writing this elsewhere, but did you take the Mechanical exam first and then fail it, only to take the Power exam after?  If you go on the NCEES website after having passed one PE they don't let you sign up for any of the others.

 

[sayed]

Forgive me if I missed you writing this elsewhere, but did you take the Mechanical exam first and then fail it, only to take the Power exam after?  If you go on the NCEES website after having passed one PE they don't let you sign up for any of the others.

i took the Mech test too. HVAC. Only took this one so i could sign off on those incredibly easy energy reports without someone claim i'm not qualified to do so.

Hvac  was much easier than the power test (probably because my background is civil, so lots of overlap). There was a lot less to study from and spent maybe a third of the time studying as compared to EE.

You have to call NCEES to unblock your account to take multiple exams.

 

[Anon]

Forgive me if I missed you writing this elsewhere, but did you take the Mechanical exam first and then fail it, only to take the Power exam after?  If you go on the NCEES website after having passed one PE they don't let you sign up for any of the others.

I called NCEES and they opened up my power registration.  Can't remember if I had to get something from my state board to approve it (think it was just the NCEES call though).

But yea, I agree with Sayed, I took the Mechanical Design Test and there was too much study material.  It was odd having to "hunt" for decent practice problems and material.

 

[Taymosie]

I can share how I passed Electronics Controls and Communications exam the first attempt with confidence. All credit due to a blog post I read by a previous test taker (can’t find the link).  The main takeaway was to create your own reference manual.  My strategy was essentially to create a manual in the style of the FE manual.  I started by taking the creating the table of contents from NCEES category breakdown.  I then started filling it in using the PPI reference manual and my old FE manual.  Next I bought every practice exam I could find (only 3 or 4 for my discipline) and began solving using only my manual.  Every question I was unable to answer, I added the missing information / equations to the manual.  I added relevant “quick reference” sections at the beginning of each chapter that had basic geometric equations, integral tables, transform tables, etc  if it pertained to the chapter.  All in all, it took 4 months and ended up being 105 pages. By the time I was done, I reworked each practice exam to verify I could answer every single question with my manual.  Come exam day, I was able to finish ~30 problems confidently in each section with an hour to spare for the more involved questions.  I did still use other reference material, but for the majority of the problems, I knew exactly where to find the answer in my manual.  This strategy may be viewed as overkill, but I am so thankful I followed through with it. Good luck on the next attempt!