So long story short I was going to take my exam on the 14th of this month, had a covid scare and rescheduled for next month, then found out I actually didn't have it but can't change back to my earlier time slot, so now it's on the 12th of next month instead. This of course is a blessing anyway since looking around on this forum just makes me feel like I was studying poorly for about the last 9 months. Here's what I've been doing so far, I originally was writing this out in a paragraph but it seemed hard to follow:
There were other things here and there that I did but that was the bulk of it and where I am now. The original plan was to take every workday off until my test and study as if it was my job. I'd take the sample exam that came with the 2010 PRM as if I was taking the real exam, 4 hours, break, 4 hours, then work out where I was having problems. I'd pull out the sample exams my co-workers lent me and use those. They include volumes 1 thru 4 of Complex Imaginary Power Practice Exams and a practice test by Chaya Engineering. But then I rescheduled because I thought I had covid. Then I watched this video by Zach Stone on the new handbook and read some forum posts and pretty much started panicking that my plan wasn't going to cut it anymore with how the exam is going to be more theory based then problem solving based. I've always been better at solving problems with math and such then theory and I also find it hard to study theory in the first place.
So now I had to think of a new strategy. I'll take all the workdays off in February leading up to my test. I'll study at least 4+ hours each of those days. Before that, try to get in 8 hours or so a week instead of the 5 I was doing before. As far as studying my first goal is to fill in the few remaining holes I have with the practice exam. It seems like most questions on it already have topics that were asked about them so I'll probably start there. Along with that, combing the Handbook and making sure I at least understand how to use and the theory behind everything as best as I can without deep diving into them. For some parts that's not an issue while I'll need to do some serious research for others. Hopefully I'll be able to find what I need to understand everything, but my google-fu has been pretty weak recently so I might need some help. Once I'm done with that I'll start going at the exams I haven't looked at, making sure to save one for the full practice exam I still plan to do in February.
But that was just my original plan with more time to do it in, which I at least feel like won't be enough. For starters I'll watch the free videos by Zach Stone for sure, I already watched the one on Per Unit and plan on watching it again now that I've had more practical experience using it to hopefully cement my understanding of it, along with a few others I've already watched. I also plan to buy his practice exam book since people have praised it a lot. Cram for the PE and Engineering Pro Guides are also pretty common recommendations, but getting them all would start racking up in cost pretty quickly and I only have about a month to study with, so getting them all wouldn't be worth it. The four ones from Engineering Pro Guides all seem like good choices to me without being so much I wouldn't be able to use them effectively, though their PDF rules make me reluctant to pay for them, but especially the code exam especially seemed good since I'm really at a loss how to study the code without passing out. With only about a month to study and not feeling like they are a good fit for me in general I don't want to do any monthly subscriptions and am not considering them. I might go for one if I fail the exam, but that would mean that I don't give up entirely (I'm about to lose my mind as it is) and don't think I can improve enough to pass the second time.
So ya, this was probably too much, but my anxiety is probably the highest it's been since I decided to take this exam back in March and I have to at least try to alleviate it. Some reassurance that my plan should work out and or some advice on how to correct my plan would go a long way to help. As for the rest of the day I plan to try to relax and enjoy the fact I don't actually have covid. Thank you in advance to anyone who responds.
- Took both the power and controls practice exams, power I seemed to remember more and it'd be more helpful to me anyway
- Read the 2010 Power Reference Manual and did the questions that came with it, this took about 120 hours or 24+ weeks as I studied about 5 hours a week
- Retook the Power exam using only the Power Handbook as reference since by then I knew I had to do CBT, to see how much better I did, and I did do better, but not as much better as I hoped to
- Studied the parts of the Reference Handbook and the questions I didn't understand from the exam, the large ones being:
Per Unit, since I'd basically never even heard of it before and glossed over it in the PRM since it didn't make it sound like a big deal
- Fault Current Analysis, which is Per Unit with the added bonus of Symmetrical Components sometimes, which I knew nothing about
- Auto transformers since the solutions for them in the sample exam didn't make much sense to me
There were other things here and there that I did but that was the bulk of it and where I am now. The original plan was to take every workday off until my test and study as if it was my job. I'd take the sample exam that came with the 2010 PRM as if I was taking the real exam, 4 hours, break, 4 hours, then work out where I was having problems. I'd pull out the sample exams my co-workers lent me and use those. They include volumes 1 thru 4 of Complex Imaginary Power Practice Exams and a practice test by Chaya Engineering. But then I rescheduled because I thought I had covid. Then I watched this video by Zach Stone on the new handbook and read some forum posts and pretty much started panicking that my plan wasn't going to cut it anymore with how the exam is going to be more theory based then problem solving based. I've always been better at solving problems with math and such then theory and I also find it hard to study theory in the first place.
So now I had to think of a new strategy. I'll take all the workdays off in February leading up to my test. I'll study at least 4+ hours each of those days. Before that, try to get in 8 hours or so a week instead of the 5 I was doing before. As far as studying my first goal is to fill in the few remaining holes I have with the practice exam. It seems like most questions on it already have topics that were asked about them so I'll probably start there. Along with that, combing the Handbook and making sure I at least understand how to use and the theory behind everything as best as I can without deep diving into them. For some parts that's not an issue while I'll need to do some serious research for others. Hopefully I'll be able to find what I need to understand everything, but my google-fu has been pretty weak recently so I might need some help. Once I'm done with that I'll start going at the exams I haven't looked at, making sure to save one for the full practice exam I still plan to do in February.
But that was just my original plan with more time to do it in, which I at least feel like won't be enough. For starters I'll watch the free videos by Zach Stone for sure, I already watched the one on Per Unit and plan on watching it again now that I've had more practical experience using it to hopefully cement my understanding of it, along with a few others I've already watched. I also plan to buy his practice exam book since people have praised it a lot. Cram for the PE and Engineering Pro Guides are also pretty common recommendations, but getting them all would start racking up in cost pretty quickly and I only have about a month to study with, so getting them all wouldn't be worth it. The four ones from Engineering Pro Guides all seem like good choices to me without being so much I wouldn't be able to use them effectively, though their PDF rules make me reluctant to pay for them, but especially the code exam especially seemed good since I'm really at a loss how to study the code without passing out. With only about a month to study and not feeling like they are a good fit for me in general I don't want to do any monthly subscriptions and am not considering them. I might go for one if I fail the exam, but that would mean that I don't give up entirely (I'm about to lose my mind as it is) and don't think I can improve enough to pass the second time.
So ya, this was probably too much, but my anxiety is probably the highest it's been since I decided to take this exam back in March and I have to at least try to alleviate it. Some reassurance that my plan should work out and or some advice on how to correct my plan would go a long way to help. As for the rest of the day I plan to try to relax and enjoy the fact I don't actually have covid. Thank you in advance to anyone who responds.
