Planning on taking CBT, studying advice

[mnsee]

Hello everyone,

I've been lurking this site a few months now, I'm applying to take the CBT (don't have a date yet, or even confirmation from my state board) and I am currently still preparing for the power CBT.

So far I have:
1) obtained the ncees practice exam booklet and have done about 3 passes through, I am comfortable doing about 78/80 problems
2) obtained the Engineering Pro Guide Full and Final exams and the Zach Stone electrical PE review and have done about (at least) 2 passes through on each, I am comfortable with about 60/80 problems on each exam (in the sense I can answer the questions confidently) the remaining 20ish I am working on refining my understanding by practicing and repracticing. Also have the pro guide Textbook and also the exam on the code and have done about two-thirds of the questions within.
3) While I haven't recorded how long I have studied, it is at the least 200 hours over the past year (the estimates I've seen have been 300-500 hours to have reasonable confidence of preparation)

For those of you who have passed, is there anything I should add, modify, etc. to my study plan? Thanks!

 

[DLD PE]

My personal opinion:

If you are scoring around the following percentages for the practice exams listed:

85% on NCEES practice exam
65-75% on Eng Pro Guides and Zach Stone's practice exams

85-90% on code type of problems, since this is your biggest section and you want to be very strong in this area.

You should be in good shape and well-prepared for the power CBT. If you can swing it, I would invest in the Complex Imaginary 1-4 practice exams and maybe even the Cram for Exam books. Complex Imaginary has shorter, more "drill" type problems, which I found very helpful.

 

[mnsee]

My personal opinion:

If you are scoring around the following percentages for the practice exams listed:

85% on NCEES practice exam
65-75% on Eng Pro Guides and Zach Stone's practice exams

85-90% on code type of problems, since this is your biggest section and you want to be very strong in this area.

You should be in good shape and well-prepared for the power CBT. If you can swing it, I would invest in the Complex Imaginary 1-4 practice exams and maybe even the Cram for Exam books. Complex Imaginary has shorter, more "drill" type problems, which I found very helpful.

Awesome- thank you for the feedback. Aside from time invested and scores on practice exams, I'm not sure what other performance indicators are worth checking. I'm also doing a minimum of 10 practice problems a day (either from practice exams or example questions) or up to 30-40 a day.

 

[Dothracki PE]

Welcome and good luck on your journey. Everyone is different on their study prep, but I think you have a good plan thus far. I myself spent over a year studying, gradually increasing the amount of time spent each week studying. Your study sources are very good. The NCEES practice Exams, Engineer Proguides, and Electrical PE Review are the top 3 references that I used and reccomend.

If you haven't already, you should print our the NCEES refence sheet that they will give you on the exam. That is essential to know that document forwards and backwards. On the NCEES dashboard, you should be able to download it under "Useful References".

You should take a look at the engineer pro guides code question exam that covers questions on the NEC, NFPA 99, and NESC. These make up a good portion of the and are much easier points to earn with less chance of error compared to other problems. Many of these are available online for free but the NEC handbook and NFPA 70E would be a good recommended purchase. if you don't have these. The NESC is a bit pricey but you may be able to find used ones, many of the NESC questions you might see are similar to the questions you will see in the NEC but does deal with a different subject matter at times. At minimum you should have a good knowledge of NEC articles 110, 210, 220, 240, 250, and 310, 430, and Chapter 9.

 

[Dothracki PE]

Also don't worry about the amount of hours you study. Just make sure you know the topics on the exam! There are many threads in here with plenty of advice such as this one:

https://engineerboards.com/threads/advice-for-ncees-power-exam-for-first-time-timer.36877/

 

[mnsee]

Welcome and good luck on your journey. Everyone is different on their study prep, but I think you have a good plan thus far. I myself spent over a year studying, gradually increasing the amount of time spent each week studying. Your study sources are very good. The NCEES practice Exams, Engineer Proguides, and Electrical PE Review are the top 3 references that I used and reccomend.

If you haven't already, you should print our the NCEES refence sheet that they will give you on the exam. That is essential to know that document forwards and backwards. On the NCEES dashboard, you should be able to download it under "Useful References".

You should take a look at the engineer pro guides code question exam that covers questions on the NEC, NFPA 99, and NESC. These make up a good portion of the and are much easier points to earn with less chance of error compared to other problems. Many of these are available online for free but the NEC handbook and NFPA 70E would be a good recommended purchase. if you don't have these. The NESC is a bit pricey but you may be able to find used ones, many of the NESC questions you might see are similar to the questions you will see in the NEC but does deal with a different subject matter at times. At minimum you should have a good knowledge of NEC articles 110, 210, 220, 240, 250, and 310, 430, and Chapter 9.

Good points about the code- I don't have the NESC, but I have the NEC (print and pdf) and NFPA-70E. I try to use the ctrl-f function on the PDF as much as I can in case it is in a more "obscure" section of the NEC. Same with the NCEES reference sheet- my pdf copy I have sections highlighted if I've memorized where specifically in the hierarchy a topic/formula is in index hierarchy. This is all super helpful!

 

[Dothracki PE]

Good points about the code- I don't have the NESC, but I have the NEC (print and pdf) and NFPA-70E. I try to use the ctrl-f function on the PDF as much as I can in case it is in a more "obscure" section of the NEC. Same with the NCEES reference sheet- my pdf copy I have sections highlighted if I've memorized where specifically in the hierarchy a topic/formula is in index hierarchy. This is all super helpful!

That's even better practice for the exam. I had everything in print because I was going to take the last pen and paper exam in October 2020 but we got the short end of the stick in the accomodations from NCEES trying to make the exams work amid the pandemic with an accelerated CBT exam.

 

[mnsee]

That's even better practice for the exam. I had everything in print because I was going to take the last pen and paper exam in October 2020 but we got the short end of the stick in the accomodations from NCEES trying to make the exams work amid the pandemic with an accelerated CBT exam.

Well that's a bummer- glad to hear you passed though! I'm hoping to get confirmation from my state board to take the exam soon- getting that would make preparing for the exam much much easier I think.

 

[akyip]

Another thing I like to do is flag any questions you are having a tough time me. I flag the questions I have trouble with by marking them with a red asterisk (or sometimes a green asterisk if the question seems easy but I made a mistake that I should be aware of next time). Focus on the tougher questions that you have a harder time with, try to make sure you understand the solution, and re-do these tougher questions until you finally have an easier time with them.

I had about a whole year of studying due to CoViD pushing back my scheduled exam time twice. These are the practice exams I used to study.

-Cram for PE Power Exams Volumes 1-4
-Electrical PE Review Practice Exam... If you are enrolled in the course, there are also additional End-of-Course and AIT-style exams.
-Engineering Pro Guides Final Exam, Full Exam, and References Exam
-Complex Imaginary PE Power Exam
-NCEES PE Power Practice Exams
-A.S. Graffeo PE Power Exam Reference Book
-PPI Power PE Practice Exams
-Shorebrook PE Power Practice Exam
-Spin-Up PE Power Exams

From this list, I highly recommend getting Zach's Electrical PE Practice Exam and Engineering Pro Guides' Final and Full Exams.

I should also mention that when I first started studying, I used A.S. Graffeo's Reference Guide (which honestly seems a little outdated now), the NCEES PE Power practice exam, Complex Imaginary, and Spin-Up practice exams. Complex Imaginary and Spin-Up practice exams are designed to drill problems into your head and serve as a great starting study point for easier problems, but ultimately you will need to later deal with tougher problems such as those you can find in Electrical PE Review, Engineering Pro Guides, and Cram for Exam practice exams.

 

[mnsee]

Another thing I like to do is flag any questions you are having a tough time me. I flag the questions I have trouble with by marking them with a red asterisk (or sometimes a green asterisk if the question seems easy but I made a mistake that I should be aware of next time). Focus on the tougher questions that you have a harder time with, try to make sure you understand the solution, and re-do these tougher questions until you finally have an easier time with them.

I had about a whole year of studying due to CoViD pushing back my scheduled exam time twice. These are the practice exams I used to study.

-Cram for PE Power Exams Volumes 1-4
-Electrical PE Review Practice Exam... If you are enrolled in the course, there are also additional End-of-Course and AIT-style exams.
-Engineering Pro Guides Final Exam, Full Exam, and References Exam
-Complex Imaginary PE Power Exam
-NCEES PE Power Practice Exams
-A.S. Graffeo PE Power Exam Reference Book
-PPI Power PE Practice Exams
-Shorebrook PE Power Practice Exam
-Spin-Up PE Power Exams

From this list, I highly recommend getting Zach's Electrical PE Practice Exam and Engineering Pro Guides' Final and Full Exams.

I should also mention that when I first started studying, I used A.S. Graffeo's Reference Guide (which honestly seems a little outdated now), the NCEES PE Power practice exam, Complex Imaginary, and Spin-Up practice exams. Complex Imaginary and Spin-Up practice exams are designed to drill problems into your head and serve as a great starting study point for easier problems, but ultimately you will need to later deal with tougher problems such as those you can find in Electrical PE Review, Engineering Pro Guides, and Cram for Exam practice exams.

That seems like an effective method- I like the flagging technique. I also give myself about 48 hours before I'll try a practice problem I got wrong again just to ensure everything I collected "sticks"

 

[Zach Stone P.E.]

Hello everyone,

I've been lurking this site a few months now, I'm applying to take the CBT (don't have a date yet, or even confirmation from my state board) and I am currently still preparing for the power CBT.

So far I have:
1) obtained the ncees practice exam booklet and have done about 3 passes through, I am comfortable doing about 78/80 problems
2) obtained the Engineering Pro Guide Full and Final exams and the Zach Stone electrical PE review and have done about (at least) 2 passes through on each, I am comfortable with about 60/80 problems on each exam (in the sense I can answer the questions confidently) the remaining 20ish I am working on refining my understanding by practicing and repracticing. Also have the pro guide Textbook and also the exam on the code and have done about two-thirds of the questions within.
3) While I haven't recorded how long I have studied, it is at the least 200 hours over the past year (the estimates I've seen have been 300-500 hours to have reasonable confidence of preparation)

For those of you who have passed, is there anything I should add, modify, etc. to my study plan? Thanks!

Hi @mnsee glad to see our practice exam in your list!

If you're looking for advice and personal experience from other power engineers that have passed the new CBT format of the Power PE exam this year, take a look at the following youtube playlist:

Youtube - "How to Pass the CBT PE Exam"

That link is about a dozen or so hour-long interviews with former students of ours that have passed this year, and each one talks about what they did to prepare and pass.

We just filmed one today that we will be adding to that playlist shortly. It's very helpful to get an inside look at what it takes to pass.

 

[mnsee]

Hi @mnsee glad to see our practice exam in your list!

If you're looking for advice and personal experience from other power engineers that have passed the new CBT format of the Power PE exam this year, take a look at the following youtube playlist:

Youtube - "How to Pass the CBT PE Exam"

That link is about a dozen or so hour-long interviews with former students of ours that have passed this year, and each one talks about what they did to prepare and pass.

We just filmed one today that we will be adding to that playlist shortly. It's very helpful to get an inside look at what it takes to pass.

Awesome- thanks Zach- looks like I'll be taking some notes!

 

[mnsee]

Thank you again everyone for the sound advice and encouragement. I received approval from my state board to take the power PE exam (october 28th). Now for a steady five week diet of practice questions and praying lol!

 

[akyip]

Thank you again everyone for the sound advice and encouragement. I received approval from my state board to take the power PE exam (october 28th). Now for a steady five week diet of practice questions and praying lol!

Good luck! Feel free to browse this forum and ask for help when you need it.

 

[mnsee]

Well it's finally time- the day after tomorrow is my exam- after more than a year of studying, it's actually happening. I've gone through all my practice exams at least 4 times- and while I am not burnt out, I do feel like I've hit a "limit" if that makes sense and really just want to spend the next 48 spending time at other tasks. I'll be sure to let you know how I did (hopefully well! lol).

 

[Zach Stone P.E.]

Well it's finally time- the day after tomorrow is my exam- after more than a year of studying, it's actually happening. I've gone through all my practice exams at least 4 times- and while I am not burnt out, I do feel like I've hit a "limit" if that makes sense and really just want to spend the next 48 spending time at other tasks. I'll be sure to let you know how I did (hopefully well! lol).

Good luck!

Friendly reminder to try your best not to cram too hard the night before as tempting as it may be.

You're likely not going to learn anything so significant in the last night leading up to the exam that it could be the difference between passing and failing, but you are more likely to stress, negatively impact your sleep quality and performance the next day.

Try to take a half-day off, reward yourself for all of your hard work so far, and just relax with the best sleep possible!

 

[mnsee]

Well- it's done- as of now I feel about 90% certain on about 48 problems, 65% certain on about 12, and I know I got about at least 6 wrong. Not sure how my experience against everyone elses- or if I'm being too optimistic or pessimistic, but I will say its not the most pleasant of feelings.

 

[mnsee]

Well everyone, thanks again for the help and advice- I really appreciate it. It wasn't in vain- I have in fact passed!

 

[DLD PE]

Congrats!

 

[Pra4surf1]

Well everyone, thanks again for the help and advice- I really appreciate it. It wasn't in vain- I have in fact passed!

Man that’s awesome! Do you have any idea how well you did. I heard if you pass you only get passed and that’s it.