Oct 18 PE Exam

[Drewism]

I've already accepted the fact that I will see the giant red FAIL logo on my account. So, I'll try to act surprised when I do.

 

[DLD PE]

I've already accepted the fact that I will see the giant red FAIL logo on my account. So, I'll try to act surprised when I do.

Same here.  I figure that's mentally the safest approach lol.

 

[Drewism]

Same here.  I figure that's mentally tye safest approach lol.

Just keep expecting to see red. I'm seeing red.

 

[CATSALES97]

I am in agreement as well about this test.  I also took the test in April for the first time, but felt like I didn't prepare well enough for that test and made a 64.  This time, I started studying in June and then took the Testmasters prep course.  Like some of you, I also took 2 practice tests and scored near 80 on both.  I felt really good going into the test like I was prepared enough to pass.  But, my preparation wasn't enough and/or appropriate given the types of questions they asked.  I did well on the code questions.  Morning and afternoon, probably guessed on 20 or so questions.  Hopefully this is enough to pass, but won't know for another 6-7 weeks. 

 

[RadioBox]

This isn’t a Spanish exam in high school. If you’re expecting a massive cut score at 50 or below to pass the power P.E. exam then you don’t deserve to pass. 

Accept it. Change study habits. Retake it. 

Simple as that.

 

[RadioBox]

What do you guys realistically think the cutoff score is? 

Now we know who failed. Lol

 

[daydreambeliever]

I am also kind of surprised how many people were saying the morning session went well. For me, the morning session was a massacre and the afternoon session was so much easier.

I felt the same way. Morning was brutal, afternoon went a lot smoother but that doesn't mean much for me. A couple of times I couldn't figure out how to work a problem so I solved it multiple ways and both answers were available choices! I know that's typical but it still messes with your mind. I had to guess on several just because I didn't have time to dig onto them. 

 

[Nashi]

I'm worried that I thought the Code problems weren't bad...that means I might have fell for traps. One problem I found myself doing a lot of work for and I didn't find an answer choice and then I realized I'm working too hard here I must be going down the wrong road. So I reread the problem and realized it was a lot simpler than I thought. I was so pissed that I had spent so much time on it. But it happens.

I keep remembering things I did and wondering. This will be truly torture until we find out results.

 

[Drewism]

I felt the same way. Morning was brutal, afternoon went a lot smoother but that doesn't mean much for me. A couple of times I couldn't figure out how to work a problem so I solved it multiple ways and both answers were available choices! I know that's typical but it still messes with your mind. I had to guess on several just because I didn't have time to dig onto them. 

Yep. This is pretty much how it went for me. Some I could have done but the calculations would have taken me forever to do. So I had to bite the bullet. Also, some where giving me no answers and multiple answers. Talk about a disaster. I just can't wait to see the giant FAIL logo posted to my account.

 

[ZZTops]

I definitely felt more confident in the AM than PM. I feel like I nailed the standards questions, but there was one that I know I must have missed something since I felt like I needed more info on to answer correctly... and I cant stop thinking about it. haha

 

[Nashi]

In the morning I was working so intently on problems that when they made the announcement "You have 15 minutes left" it scared the beejesus out of me. Then I said to myself ok whatever I don't get to when they call 5 minutes I'm guessing down the line and the ones I have marked as possible figuring out I will spent 10 minutes left trying to do before the 5 minute call.

Which is what I did, then when they said you have 1 minute remaining I was working on the very last one I knew I could do and I got one of the answer choices and put my pencil down. But when I was leaving I was like did I do that KVL wrong? Ugh. So that one might be a wash but I hope not.

Whatever the outcome I worked freaking hard all these months and I'm proud of it. I do have to picture the red fail on my NCEES account as a real possibility.

 

[knight1fox3]

For anyone that took the recent PE exam last Fri., here's a funny exam recap from a previous taker that I typically re-post as being one of my favorites. The intent is obviously to lighten the mood a bit since at this point, there's no changing the outcome (easier said than done, I know, been there). 

EE - Power. "You sunk my battleship."

Preparation Time/Materials: 250 total hours. 5 textbooks, prep coursework notebook, 2 notebooks of graduate class material, calculators, snacks, rolling suitcase.

Money: ~$1,550.

General Observations: Arrived at my site 30 minutes prior to report time. Noticed that many others had literally libraries and libraries of books. Someone had a giant wagon with bungie cords holding all of the books together. Others just had a single piece of paper. Wild. I randomly started thinking of a national geographic special with narration by Morgan Freeman on PE test taking habits. I needed that laugh to clear my head.

AM Session: Felt the AM session was great. Only ended up with 6-7 that I didn't have a single solid answer or couldn't find it in my reference. I finished slightly early and checked only some of my work.

PM Session: Total unadulterated bloodbath. Couldn't seem to concentrate enough to find the equations I needed. Calculator was spitting out answers that were out of this world. Saw stuff that I barely covered in droves. About 2-3 hours into the afternoon, my brain felt like it had been through a dishwasher and I started hopping around from question to question. Not good. I will be lucky if I got a quarter to half right. I might as well have taken another discipline in the afternoon or gone to work. A monkey may have been able to do better.

Final Thoughts: As I left the exam area, I felt numb, dumb, and a little crushed. I felt like I blew the morning session out of the water. Then the PE got off a torpedo as I was heading to collect my stamp, promotion, and better life. I'm not very good at guessing and doing the math in my head all weekend I kept envisioning a percentage score in the upper 60s with an afternoon diagnostic that simply says "monkey". 6 months of neglecting my wife and family might be for nothing in the end except doing it all over again. I know the pass rate for repeaters is low, but what is the divorce rate?

Oh well. If I recall from a coworker, last years results were released in around 45-50 days following the exam. I think he got his in late May. We shall see. I guess the ultimate decision is now do I crack open another book....or another beer?

 

[DLD PE]

For anyone that took the recent PE exam last Fri., here's a funny exam recap from a previous taker that I typically re-post as being one of my favorites. The intent is obviously to lighten the mood a bit since at this point, there's no changing the outcome (easier said than done, I know, been there). 

3rd time I've seen this and it still makes me laugh!

 

[chener16]

Whatever the outcome I worked freaking hard all these months and I'm proud of it. I do have to picture the red fail on my NCEES account as a real possibility.

^^^

Felt good on the morning portion, definitely was a challenge tho. Glad my brain was working.

Had more guesses and 50/50's on the second half, but thought I had a good shot at passing after calculating my projected score. If all of my guesses were wrong, then I'm screwed.

But anyways, whatever the outcome, it was quite the journey. Pass = hard work paid off. Fail = hard work still in progress, work even harder next time.

Fearfully optimistic. 

 

[Kyle L]

I agree with most people's sentiment here that the exam was much more difficult than the NCEES practice exam. It was also much more difficult than when I took the PE October 2016 (this was my second attempt). Typically there were 8-10 quick and easy questions on the practice and previous exam I took, however this time I think there were maybe a 2-3. The first time I also left the afternoon session, after checking over my work, about an hour and a half early. I ran out of time on both this time, as well as had to straight guess about 10. I felt so defeated afterwards. I worked 10x harder than my previous attempt (which I admittedly didn't take super serious), and felt like i probably didn't fare much better this time, and essentially wasted the last three months. So many seemed to come from left field that I wasn't prepared for at all. 

I'm assuming a fail, but I'm forever an optimist. At least I'm not the only one who struggled.

 

[Zach Stone P.E.]

Just want to offer some comfort in this thread.

We know that according to NCEES, that only 57% of first-time takers and 35% of repeat takers passed the previous April 2018 Electrical PE exam.

However, here's some good news that you are free to interpret however you see fit. I speak with a large volume of test takers every year, and guess what? Every single one of them that passes the electrical PE exam is surprised that they did. Every single time. 

If you are feeling dragged down, or a little burnt out, it's natural. You no doubt put a tremendous amount of effort into studying and NCEES did exactly what they do best: surprise you, challenge you, and test you. 

Hang in there until the results come out. Depending on how much you studied, you may be pleasantly surprised in a few months when each state releases their results. If you do find out that you did not pass, the best constructive feedback I can offer is to do your best to leverage the negative emotions into focusing even that much harder the next time around. At the very least, try your best to celebrate the hard work you put in, feel positive about your effort, and be pleased with the new knowledge that you have learned that hopefully betters your career by at least a small amount. I find those that are able to do this tend to be more successful than those that are not. 

 

[LJEngineer]

Also, was it just me or were there like 1-2 questions where you re-read, you were trying to figure out WHAT exactly they were asking for.....Sigh, looks like results come out in early December, so until then....let's celebrate. 

 

[EE_Utility_Guy]

While I was taking the morning session, I felt like I was doing terrible. I've since had time to think about some of those questions and feel I did pretty well. Maybe unsure on 7-8 of them. I was probably just overwhelmed in the moment.

The afternoon session however was a complete wreck. I worked my way through through all of the problems that I knew without digging through reference material. Once I was done doing that, I did the NEC problems. Finally, I went through the problems that would require some thinking/digging - there around 15-17 of them. I had to completely guess on 2-3; I'm not confident at all on the afternoon session.

Will expect the worse and hope for the best! Good luck everyone!

 

[Electrical786]

So far i have only seen 1 or 2 people who have said AFTERNOON session was easier than the MORNING session, and I am also in favor of that.

Actually one thing i realized is the END questions are easier to move ON if you start in reverse order and thats what i did in afternoon session, i also took a 10 minute break, took some snacks,relaxed my brain and it definitely helped. I would definitely suggest to take a 5 to 10 minute BREAK in both sessions.

I loved the NESC and NFPA 70E questions. the NEC questions were not that easy, and i guessed couple of those ones. Overall i have a 60/40 feeling (Obviously 60 being PASS

Lets just hope and PRAY for the BEST!

 

[a4u2fear]

just got the post survey, definitely means i failed.