I failed the POWER PE Please Help!

[HotFudge]

I have been on this forum gathering tips and advice from people that failed in the past and i used it to prepare myself for this exam in April. Unfortunately i didn't pass either. I had the key study materials that i got really familiar with and i was very confident going into the exam but came out feeling defeated. I don't want to say i had a bad test day but i fee like studying for 4 hours a day 5 days a week for 3 full months should have gotten me more than ready for this exam. I even cut out distractions like games, going out drinking and devoted my entire time to prepping for this exam. I did not take an online course however, i had the Test-masters book as well as the EEPRM. Below is a full list of what i used in preparation of the exam

1. Complex imaginary Test 1-4 i went through this twice and felt really good about myself.

2. Testmaster Booklet and practice exams 

3. PPI EEPRM, Ancilarries and the practice exams that comes with it.

4. Graffeo - Guide to passing the Power PE book (Fantastic book by the way)

5. Wilde book, didnt help soo much

6. NEC code book

7. NESC code book

8. NFPA book

9. NCEES Practice exam on my third try i was in the mid 80's

I am just soo confused right now, because the parts i thought i failed on the exam, i actually did great in and i did terrible in the basics like Measurement and instrumentation, Protection and Power System performance which was all shocking since i thought i aced those problem during the exam. I know this is a long post, but i have no where to go but here and seeing how you guys helped others, i am hoping for the same here as well. Thanks in advance!

 

[satrianic]

what was your score if I may ask

 

[HotFudge]

what was your score if I may ask

I made a 68 i was able to see my score on the TBPE website

 

[satrianic]

Now I feel extremely lucky. I passed with 70%. 1 wrong answer and I would be studying for next 5 month. sorry to hear about your loss though.

 

[justin-hawaii]

Hi HotFudge,

I am sorry that you did not pass.  I sent you a PM with some info.  I was wondering if you had your diagnostics, this should help to focus our help on this forum.  Thank you.

 

[HotFudge]

Below is my diagnostics for this exam

 

[HotFudge]

Now I feel extremely lucky. I passed with 70%. 1 wrong answer and I would be studying for next 5 month. sorry to hear about your loss though.

I will be making sure i know more about the conceptual part of this exam this time around

 

[Ken PE 3.1]

Something isn't adding up on this. 39/80 equals a 68%?

Did they happen to mention 13 questions being tossed?

Studying concepts rather than practice tests is what got me over the hump. I had diagnostics that were much, much worse than this.

It is a major gut punch to not succeed, but you can do it. Many different approaches to tackle this test. Just got to find the best for you. It took me 4 times to figure it out.

Never give up!

Sent from my SM-G920P using Tapatalk

 

[HotFudge]

Something isn't adding up on this. 39/80 equals a 68%?

Did they happen to mention 13 questions being tossed?

Studying concepts rather than practice tests is what got me over the hump. I had diagnostics that were much, much worse than this.

It is a major gut punch to not succeed, but you can do it. Many different approaches to tackle this test. Just got to find the best for you. It took me 4 times to figure it out.

Never give up!

Sent from my SM-G920P using Tapatalk

It's a 58 i didn't know i typed a 68...I have been in a funk sorry for the misinformation

 

[HotFudge]

I made a 68 i was able to see my score on the TBPE website

This should have said 58..im sorry about the error

 

[Ken PE 3.1]

35 minutes ago, Ken PE 3.1 said: Something isn't adding up on this. 39/80 equals a 68%? Did they happen to mention 13 questions being tossed?

Studying concepts rather than practice tests is what got me over the hump. I had diagnostics that were much, much worse than this.

It is a major gut punch to not succeed, but you can do it. Many different approaches to tackle this test. Just got to find the best for you. It took me 4 times to figure it out.

Never give up!

Sent from my SM-G920P using Tapatalk

It's a 58 i didn't know i typed a 68...I have been in a funk sorry for the misinformation

I can definitely understand that. Hang in there, you can do it.

Sent from my SM-G920P using Tapatalk

 

[Warriors never break]

Hotfudge I know exactly how you're feeling now!!! I felt confident going to the exam and almost confident coming out of it! 

Now I'm really confused about NCEES scoring system. Do they calculate the percentages in Texas only considering Texas test takers? Or it is the same nation wide? California doesn't give you any percentage but we have the same diagnostics. I know it doesn't matter right now ... thinking about how close we were to passing only adds to the misery! I have 48/80 based on my diagnostics.

I'm in this with you. I really feel this forum can help us to gather all our motivation and strength again for studying. 

 

[JamesTX]

Fudge-

Sorry to hear about your result, I understand your pain and frustration.  Something to consider, from reading your original post, is not to overwork it by constantly studying.  Granted, you should sacrifice some leisurely activities but I wouldn't say to the point where you are constantly trying to shove your brain full of topics and concepts...because at the end of the day all you've done is be on a 3-4 month cram session.  And to add to all of that, you have a full time job to attend to, if I assume correctly.  At some point, you need to cut loose and let your mind relax!

My advice would be to save your studying and independent review sessions for 3-4 hours a day on weekend days/nights (Friday included)...and maybe skip a weekend or two for an out of town getaway, etc.  After normal study hours, take some time to relax, have a beer/drink, play some Call of Duty, etc.

Next, I would organize all of my notes from school and use those during your independent study along with the references you listed above -- chances are there is LOTS of good information in there that you didn't know you had but you might have already learned...no sense in trying to relearn it using different techniques when it was taught to you using methods that get you to the exact same solution.

I would also consider taking a review course.  I took PPI with Bobby Rauf and found it helpful.  Towards the middle to middle-end of the course, start taking "mock-exams"...meaning wake up early one Saturday morning, sit down in a quiet place at 8 am and start the 8 hour exam split into an AM and PM session each with 40 questions and take a 1 hour lunch.  Try to mimic the exam as much as possible (time yourself and HOLD TRUE to that time, put "Do Not Disturb" signs on the door, turn off your cell phone, etc.)  For the mock exams, I would suggest taking 2 of them and try to take practice exams that you haven't seen before and DO NOT grade them until you have completed both the AM and PM session.

Finally, I would say to try not to overthink things too much and know that your mind needs rest!  Keep at it and you will undoubtedly pass!

 

[Don 3.0]

HotFudge- I used the exact same materials as you but without Testmasters. I think those materials are enough to get you through. I suggest when you start studying again, take each question slowly. Read the question 3-4 times. Look for keywords as these will determine how to properly solve the problem. Sometimes they give you too much information that makes you think a certain equation will work. Read the given solution 3-4 times also, and understand why it was solved that way. Do NOT simply jot down the equation they used without understanding why it was used in that manner. If you don't understand why it was solved that way, then you've successfully identified a weakness that you need to work on for the next exam.

For example, take a look at the NCEES Power practice problem #110. It is asking for the line current, given a load (unit in kVA) between 2 phases, and ph-ph (line-line) voltage. Normally when we see "3-phase" systems we automatically jump to using the equation I = S / [V*sqrt(3)]. They even toss the "lagging power factor" to further confuse you. You can easily solve this question in 30 seconds if you just pay attention to the details: Given load is already in kVA, not in Watts, so you don't need to use the PF at all. Line-Line voltage is given, not Line-Neutral, so you don't need the sqrt(3) factor either. In the end, the answer is I=S / V where S is the given KVA load and V is the given line-line voltage.

In summary: look for keywords, understand what the question wants. I believe if you approach it this way you'll succeed in October. Good luck.

 

[stevetom84]

This was my 2nd time taking the exam and luckily, this time I passed. The first time around (last October), I took the School of PE course and failed with a score of 45/80. This time around I retook the School of PE course, using the free repeat, and used the diagnostics from the previous exam to study harder on the areas I did poor on. Overall, I think the School of PE course is worthwhile. They provide a ton of notes and example problems, and these were one of primary resources I used in the exam. I also created sheets that organized all example/practice tests problems, so I could easily find similar problems to what is being asked in the exam. In addition to the School of PE material and problem sheets I created, I took the NEC handbook, NESC, ANSI device number wikipedia page, complex imaginary practice tests, NCEES practice test, and Power Reference Manual.

Looking at your diagnostics, I would suggest taking a review course of some sort and try not to get discouraged. 

 

[BigWheel]

Hang in there, Fudge, you can do it. Do you work in a field where you work with three-phase power or use codes and standards?

 

[KatyLied P.E.]

Good advice from the earlier posts. Three things that I will reemphasize are

Try a review class,

Prepare a very thorough note sheet. Take your time on this. It took me 2-3 weeks. Helps to drive home the concepts.

Organize your notes. Cross reference your information with sample test problems. Sometimes the key thing is being able to find stuff quickly.

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[KatyLied P.E.]

I will add two other bits of advice. Get a copy of the Spinup sample test book. The problems drive home basic concepts and the introduction has an excellent approach to taking the test. Also, the NEC portion can be challenging but if studied and approached properly is something you can get almost 100% correct. Complex Imaginary publishes a NEC drill book that is excellent. If you just work a third of the problems I think you'll be in good shape. It teaches you how to approach the problems so that you can find the answers quickly in your NEC book.

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[Math]

Does anyone know how can I see my score?

 

[Math]

I'm in California it  dos not show me the score!!!!!!!!