I failed the POWER PE Please Help!

[sayed]

KatyLied's prep is awesome!  To add to the prep for NEC & NESC, you should always bring the right version referred to by the NCEES.  There ARE differences between different release year of NEC and NESC and your answers do make a difference which year you use (I know this for a fact through negative experience of others).  NESC questions may also appear more than you think.  Having a copy of NESC handy is a must.  These are easy points if you know where to get the answers quickly.  I copied the index of NEC and combined it with McHenry to keep in a thin project folder (the one with bent metal at the 3-ring locations to keep the sheets inside the folder).  I tabbed (A-Z) these indexes as well.  The reason I kept the index separately in a thin project folder is for easy & quick access.  It's easier to have index on one side and then NEC on the other to reference quickly instead of having to flip through the thick NEC book.  This helped me save a lot of time.  I also indexed the solved sample exam questions in categories.  Engineering Economics formulas & interest look-up tables are also helpful.  

Not sure how there have been people who (literally) argued that it's a good idea to just bring the NESC index.

 

[rg1]

May look funny, lol but I need to know

1. We have to do the exam with NCEES supplied pencil.  They do not allow examinee's pen to be taken inside exam hall. Is it true? What kind of pencil is this do you have to sharpen it again and again. I mean many like me may not be comfortable writing with pencil.

2. What about rough work. Can you do it around or below the question (I have this habit) or a separate paper is provided. 

3. Can you carry hand written notes- only pen written/ only pencil written notes are allowed?

 

[BigWheel]

May look funny, lol but I need to know

1. We have to do the exam with NCEES supplied pencil.  They do not allow examinee's pen to be taken inside exam hall. Is it true? What kind of pencil is this do you have to sharpen it again and again. I mean many like me may not be comfortable writing with pencil.

2. What about rough work. Can you do it around or below the question (I have this habit) or a separate paper is provided. 

3. Can you carry hand written notes- only pen written/ only pencil written notes are allowed?

1. Yes, it's true you cannot bring any writing utensils into the exam hall. They provide a mechanical pencil with an eraser.

2. Yes, you get a scantron and a test booklet. You are only permitted to write, scribble, or otherwise mark ONLY those two items. If you are seen marking anything in your references during the test, they will disqualify your exam.

3. You can bring handwritten notes. There is no rule about it being in pen or pencil, but most people take their notes in pen for one reason. The proctor can ask to review your handwritten notes, or published references. If everything is in pen, you can unequivocally state that you didn't make those notes while in the exam since they don't permit pens in the exam hall. It would be more difficult to defend pencil-written notes.

 

[rg1]

1. Yes, it's true you cannot bring any writing utensils into the exam hall. They provide a mechanical pencil with an eraser.

2. Yes, you get a scantron and a test booklet. You are only permitted to write, scribble, or otherwise mark ONLY those two items. If you are seen marking anything in your references during the test, they will disqualify your exam.

3. You can bring handwritten notes. There is no rule about it being in pen or pencil, but most people take their notes in pen for one reason. The proctor can ask to review your handwritten notes, or published references. If everything is in pen, you can unequivocally state that you didn't make those notes while in the exam since they don't permit pens in the exam hall. It would be more difficult to defend pencil-written notes.

Thanks @Bigwheel . Helpful info.

 

[Stephen2awesome]

Probably more than you want to know about my strategy and resources.  This is from a post of mine from several years back.  I put in about 300 hours. These were the books I took in with me.  This was my third time taking the test and I passed.  There was a 17 year gap between my 2nd and 3rd attempts.  The first two times I took the exam I had AOL and CompuServe accounts. ( Do some of you even know what those are?).  Thank God for the "internets" and its "world wide webs". :B

Two three ring binders. Composed of GA Tech material, solved problems, and miscellaneous info I printed from the internet. One of the binders was the GA Tech one. By the time I included all the supplemental info I had to split it in two. GA Tech really gives you a good foundation. It also has a good section on code and NESC. I also cross referenced information sections with sample test problems

Camara reference manual along with the associated sample test and solved problems. the reference manual came in handy but I did not really use the other two books.

Graffeo book. Electrical Engineers Guide to Passing the PE Exam. Handy reference manual good and concise. Good lighting and wattmeter info. I recommend a good cursory reading of this book. A nice amount of miscellaneous info which could come in handy. Good section on CT's. also has helpful sample test.

Complex Imaginary sample tests. Good sections on ideal transformers, motors, and code problems. Some problems are on par with actual exam problems.

Spin Up exams. Problems are not as difficult as exam problems but they focus on details which come in handy during exam.

NEC handbook, as opposed to actual NEC book. The additional, clear explanations worked better for me.

Grainger and Stevenson's Power System Analysis. I used it more as moral support than an actual reference.

NESC book. Focus more on NEC as opposed to NESC. I would recommend becoming familiar with the basic goals of NESC and what it covers and doesn't cover. If you read through NESC introduction I think that will be sufficient. There are some who've had different experiences with the NESC so make sure you take the book with you.

Complex Imaginary NEC drill book. I highly recommend getting this. Time was tight so I only worked through about a third of the book. the drills helped me become familiar with where the topics were located. As I attempted each problem I would underline the nouns in each question. then go to the index, look up the nouns and go from there. You just have to grind it out but if you use that process you should be able to answer the drill problems in 6 minutes or less. I felt really good about the NEC test questions as a result of this book.

As I worked through each sample test, if I couldn't find the answer in my reference book I would google it. I'd then print that info out and add to my notebook. A lot of this included PLC's, VFD's, GFCI's, harmonics, voltage classifications, short circuit calc, generation prime movers, load flows/bus types and any other subject I couldn't find.

NCEES sample test. Good overall study guide. Know different ways that the problems can be asked. I only carried in the 2011 edition but also had 2009. Problems are exactly the same. 2009 contained a lot of general info which is now found on NCEES website. My guess is NCEES wanted to be able to quickly update any rule/guideline changes. If I have to do it again I will spend a little more time on this test.

Finally spin-Up suggested a good test day strategy.

1) Don't skip around the test but go through each problem in order. On first pass, work the ones that you know off the bat and don't necessarily have to dig deep to solve.

2) Mark the NEC/NESC problems with a "2" and work on the second pass. That way you don't have to worry about going back and forth between the code books and other reference matl's.

3) Mark all problems with a "3" that you think you can solve after digging deeper in your reference matl's. Also, any code problems that you couldn't work on the 2nd pass should also be marked with a "3".

4) Mark all problems with a "4" that you really don't know but maybe can use solid engineering reason to solve. Hopefully by this time you only have about 20% of test left. I'm not saying I was fortunate enough to have this happen to me I'm just telling you my strategy.

5) Mark all problems with a "5" that you have no idea how to work. Assuming the light bulb doesn't come on for these, I would recommend doing a quick scan on the rest of your answers, seeing what letter is trending and go with that.

On some of the "4" and "5" the light bulb did come on for me after a 2nd or 3rd look. Hopefully that made up for any careless errors I might have made on 1-3. I actually used that same strategy to pass the CEM (Certified Energy Manager) exam in 2013.

Hopefully all this translates into a passing score but nonetheless I felt really good about my test prep. As a result of my cross referencing and various tabs I was able to quickly access a good amount of info. How you organize your references and sticking to a test strategy are just as important as knowing the material.

I am going to do this since I signed up for the GT course for my 2nd attempt. I have all available (decent) practice exams. 

 

[ItsStudyTime!]

This thread is old, but if someone finds themselves here looking for a study method that resonates with them, allow me to share mine which may offer a different take/approach to study that may resonate with you. Everyone is different, and studying is very personal.

This was my approach.