Oct 2019 - Failing scores

[MagicSmoke]

i attended the August online classes from PPI, which one did you attend August or July?

I used the OnDemand course.  I knew it was going to be difficult to stay on schedule with the live course with family and work schedule.

 

[Orchid PE]

I've always wondered how good this book is:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/1259642585/?coliid=I24BRXL3MWTCXZ&colid=2DY4UGZS02VRE&psc=1&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it

Never seen anyone mention it before.

 

[bdpalmer]

Did you guys that just took the exam "feel" like you could "attempt" almost every problem, but had problems coming up with correct numbers, or did you feel for multiple questions you were like "what the heck? What's that? How would anyone know this?" type questions? 

Sorry I'm taking it for the first time in April and I'm just curious how it actually felt while taking the test. 

I passed this cycle while attempting every problem and didn't guess on any questions without eliminating at least 1 answer choice first. I took Zach Stone's course and followed his advice for studying. One of the things that was recommended to us was to take as many practice exams as you can. I took 5 total practice exams (NCEES official practice exam, Zach's Practice Exam, Graffeo's, and both Engineering Pro Guide exams plus their code exam). If I had more time I would have taken the complex imaginary exams too. The key from this is that you'll be seeing all sorts of questions from different sources. I was still surprised by some questions on the exam, there was a lot more theory questions than on the practice exams, but nothing that totally stumped me. I was able to make an educated guess on every problem.

 

[DLD PE]

I've always wondered how good this book is:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/1259642585/?coliid=I24BRXL3MWTCXZ&colid=2DY4UGZS02VRE&psc=1&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it

Never seen anyone mention it before.

Never heard of that one either.

 

[Sparky Bill PE]

I passed this cycle while attempting every problem and didn't guess on any questions without eliminating at least 1 answer choice first. I took Zach Stone's course and followed his advice for studying. One of the things that was recommended to us was to take as many practice exams as you can. I took 5 total practice exams (NCEES official practice exam, Zach's Practice Exam, Graffeo's, and both Engineering Pro Guide exams plus their code exam). If I had more time I would have taken the complex imaginary exams too. The key from this is that you'll be seeing all sorts of questions from different sources. I was still surprised by some questions on the exam, there was a lot more theory questions than on the practice exams, but nothing that totally stumped me. I was able to make an educated guess on every problem.

Did you print and take all of Zach's notes/quizzes, and did you feel that alone was a amazing resource? I mean I plan on taking my text books, and nec books etc, but all of his notes/quizzes filled up a 5" binder for me that I plan on bringing along with Justins ENGR pro guides book. 

 

[Orchid PE]

Never heard of that one either.

It's 1600+ pages. Huge book.

 

[Zach Stone P.E.]

Don't forget we (www.electricalpereview.com) have a brand new practice exam released last exam semester that has been really well received:  Electrical Engineering PE Practice Exam and Technical Study Guide by Electrical PE Review, INC

It is some of our best material.

 

[LyceeFruit PE]

I heard Power Reference Manual by Camara was pretty bad. I didn't get it, so does anyone else have experience with it?

I have it and I used it for the exams. It helped in some areas, others it fell really flat. 

I've always wondered how good this book is:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/1259642585/?coliid=I24BRXL3MWTCXZ&colid=2DY4UGZS02VRE&psc=1&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it

Never seen anyone mention it before.

I think I have an older edition of this but I never used it for the exams. 

Don't forget we (www.electricalpereview.com) have a brand new practice exam released last exam semester that has been really well received:  Electrical Engineering PE Practice Exam and Technical Study Guide by Electrical PE Review, INC

It is some of our best material.

I did that practice test twice and highly recommend it. 

I cried after the 2nd time I took it since it finally felt possible that I could pass the test. And I did. 

 

[Orchid PE]

I have it and I used it for the exams. It helped in some areas, others it fell really flat. 

I think the biggest complaint I've heard is that it's really big and full of a lot of "filler" information that isn't needed on the exam. So that makes it a little time consuming to get through. Accurate?

 

[LyceeFruit PE]

I think the biggest complaint I've heard is that it's really big and full of a lot of "filler" information that isn't needed on the exam. So that makes it a little time consuming to get through. Accurate?

Probably. I went thru it hard when I first got it for my first attempt in Oct 2015. But since them, I've used it more sparingly. 

But it's a thing I spent money for, it was marginally useful so I  brought it and used it lol 

 

[bdpalmer]

Did you print and take all of Zach's notes/quizzes, and did you feel that alone was a amazing resource? I mean I plan on taking my text books, and nec books etc, but all of his notes/quizzes filled up a 5" binder for me that I plan on bringing along with Justins ENGR pro guides book. 

I did and it took up two 3" binders. I used it for about 70-80% of non code questions. Then I did my code questions, and finally pulled out my other references to finish everything else. Zach doesn't have every formula ever in his materials but has the most relevant ones in there that you will use. He's also got great notes in each chapter that gives you enough information to answer a lot of the theory questions. A lot of reference materials are way to detailed and want to show you how formulas are derived which tends to be a timewaster when trying to look for your answer for a 6 minute problem

 

[Coffee]

I heard Power Reference Manual by Camara was pretty bad. I didn't get it, so does anyone else have experience with it?

 I bought it and it has a lot of fundamentals in it with only about a fourth of the book being useful for the actual exam.

 

[bdhlphcdh]

These are really good in addition to the complex imaginary exams:

[SIZE=11pt]https://www.amazon.com/dp/1731454155/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_U_jO89DbCKH0H0G[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]https://www.amazon.com/dp/1095317660/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_U_kO89DbBGMRSV2[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt]https://www.amazon.com/dp/1726729826/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_U_nO89Db6Z946QV[/SIZE]

Could not agree more.  Very good material.

 

[DilutedAr18_PE]

I can't reiterate enough how close some of these questions are to awesomeness.

Like, real close.... Like "this" *fingers touching* close.

Did you buy all of them? Is the book just formulas and theory and the tests are only practice tests?

 

[GeorgiaEng]

I took and passed the 2019 Oct Exam first try. I am selling my reference materials. 

 

[Orchid PE]

Did you buy all of them? Is the book just formulas and theory and the tests are only practice tests?

Yes I bought them all. Two practice tests and a formula book. I liked the layout of the formula book because it was broken down to match the exam specification sheet.

 

[Shamsdebout]

I heard Power Reference Manual by Camara was pretty bad. I didn't get it, so does anyone else have experience with it?

I think the new one may be more geared to the new format of the exam.  The one I had was not very helpful.

 

[LyceeFruit PE]

I took and passed the 2019 Oct Exam first try. I am selling my reference materials. 

You cannot sell stuff in the main forums. You can do so in the yard sale forum

 

[GHermann]

My score was 43/80 in October 2018.

I took it for the second time and scored 40/80 this past October.

I'm attaching both diagnostics.  I took the weekend to chill and reflect.  I'm still at a loss to explain how I could have possibly done worse.  How is it possible I got 50% of this wrong?  I must be way overconfident on the material I think I know.  

I've took Zach's course before the first exam and went heavier on timed practice exams the second time around.  I've taken NCEES, Graffeo, Eng Pro Guides (both of them including the one on Codes) and Zach Stone's practice exam, the one he issued last fall.  I have the Complex Imaginary exams, but never took any of them since I thought the ones mentioned above were more challenging and it was better to do those, even multiple times instead of CI.

I thought I put in plenty of time, but maybe I"m one of those students who just need more time for all this stuff to sink in.  

I'm open to any suggestions/advice.  Thanks in advance!

View attachment 15486

View attachment 15487

I studied about the same material, and it looks like I got about the same results as well.

 

[Wow_PE!]

Don't forget we (www.electricalpereview.com) have a brand new practice exam released last exam semester that has been really well received:  Electrical Engineering PE Practice Exam and Technical Study Guide by Electrical PE Review, INC

It is some of our best material.

This practice test helped me tons with some topics I needed help with.  After I took it, I put the solutions in my binder but organized them by topic.