2018 POWER PE SURVEY RESULTS



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2018 SURVEY FEEDBACK
FOR THE POWER PE CBT EXAM
Updated in December 2018

Key Takeaways from the 2018 Power PE CBT Version

After every PE exam, I conduct an online survey with as many PE exam test takers that I can find. I primarily ask people who take the Enigneering Pro Guides course, but I will also ask people who have purchased just the Engineering Pro Guides books. The survey provides insight into an estimated passing score, how well test takers do based on experience and number of hours studied, which areas of the exam are difficult or easy. The following is a summary of the feedback provided.

Please see below for a review from a recent Power PE examinee from our course. For more information on pass rates, please see thePower FAQs webpage.

"The engineering pro guides study guide is the most complete study guide out there. Covered everything in a logical way and cut out non-important items. A must buy if taking exam. "   -Nicholas, PE [Passed October 2018, 200 study hours, 5+ years of experience]

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What do you wish you knew before you started studying?

The most mentioned answer is that the exam had 1. a lot of conceptual type problems. Sometimes people focus on using equations to solve problems, without understanding the underlying concept behind the equation. The PE exam does not have many simple problems where you can just find the correct equation and plug-in values. The next common thread is the 2. The amount of study time There is a huge time committment to studying and passing this exam. The most common responses from those who failed, 3. the actual exam was unfamiliar. Those who fail often say that the exam was like none of the practice exams or that they didn't study enough.



"I wish I knew the The number of weeks to devote to studying. At minimum, I'd recommend 8 weeks."   -Shawn, PE [Passed October 2018, 100 study hours, 3 yrs experience]

Adam, P.E. [Passed October 2018, 100 study hours, 5+ yrs of experience]

I wish I knew the emphasis in relay protection.

Melissa, P.E. [Passed October 2018, 100 study hours, 4 yrs of experience]

You need more study time.

I wish I knew how hard the exam and how much more time I needed to review subjects.

Jonathan, P.E. [Passed in October 2018, 100 study hours, 3 yrs of experience]

Start studying earlier

Kyler, P.E. [Passed in October 2018, 200 study hours, 4 yrs of experience]

That the majority of practice available is easier than the exam


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What do you wish you practiced or studied more?

The most mentioned answer is that people wished they studied more on (1) NEC. The codes and standards topic is well known by consulting engineers, but you need a lot of experience to be able to quickly navigate the codes & standards to get the correct answers. The NEC was mentioned by 22% of the engineers in the survey. The next most mentioned answer is (2) Protection. Protection is a very large topic and can also at the same time be very detailed. Engineering consultatns rarely practice different protection schemes outside of sizing circuit breakers in accordance with the NEC. This topic is also very practical, meaning that engineers rarely study the protection concepts tested on the PE exam in college. Protection was mentioned by 23% of the survey responses. Next, the Devices & Power Electronics topics. These topics cover batteries, VFDs, rectifiers, converters, etc.



"The perfect guide. It is focused on the level and difficulty appropriate for the test."   -James, P.E. [Passed October 2018, 200 study hours, 5+ yrs of experience]

David, P.E. [Passed October 2018, 100 study hours, 4 yrs experience]

I wish I had studied more Protective Relaying.

Nick, P.E. [Passed October 2018, 100 study hours, 5+ yrs experience]

I wish I had studied more Power Electronics.

Adam, P.E. [Passed October 2018, 100 study hours, 5+ yrs experience]

I wish I had studied more Relay protection and batteries.

Kyler, P.E. [Passed October 2018, 200 study hours, 4 yrs experience]

I wish I had studied more NEC. Battery chemistry. Protection (not related to NEC).

Mark, P.E. [Passed October 2018, 200 study hours, 3 yrs experience]

I wish I had studied more Theoretical / qualitative / questions, transmission lines and power electronics.

Ravisankar, P.E. [Passed October 2018, 300 study hours, 5+ yrs experience]

I wish I had studied more Protection & some practical examples.

Brett, P.E. [Passed October 2018, 100 study hours, 5+ yrs experience]

I wish I had studied more random topics such as battery chemistry and motor characteristics.

Additional comments or words of advice for future test takers?

The most common words of advice from past test takers are as follows, (1) Study the codes a lot. Next, (2) do as many practice exam problems as you can. It is very important to not look at the solutions, but to really struggle with each practice exam problem. You need to develop the skills of interpreting the problem, analyzing and narrowing down the solutions and finally making sound decisions with your understanding of the concept. (3) Lastly, study the concepts behind the equations. Many people spend hundreds of hours studying the vast amount of topics on the power pe exam.



"Know the NEC in and out, easy problems to get right. Understand topics, don't just memorize formulas and calcs."   -Mike, P.E. [Passed October 2018, 100 study hours, 3 yrs of experience]

Kyler, P.E. [Passed October 2018, 200 study hours, 4 yrs experience]

Take multiple full length practice exams. Do additional practice problems outside of full length exams.

Carlos, P.E. [Passed October 2018, 400 study hours, 5+ yrs experience]

Don't start without a plan. Personally, I went through some practice exams at the beginning of my study, I did not solve any questions just glanced through the questions. This gave me a good idea of what kind of questions to expect in the exams and I planned my study accordingly. For Power System Protection, try to understand basics and how to apply them. Find Protection Relay problems. Do them. Lots of them. Know the NEC.

Joe, P.E. [Passed October 2018, 200 study hours, 5+ yrs experience]

The Code and Protection must have considerable time spent on this topics.

Mark, P.E. [Passed October 2018, 200 study hours, 3 yrs experience]

Attention to detail--be prepared for trick questions. Answer easy questions during the first wave (NEC, Ohm's Law, direct/inversely proportional relationships). Subsequent waves will test how well you organized your reference material. Take time to organize your references. Ask around and search online for advice, references, and practice exams. Good luck! The EPG practice exams definitely test your attention to detail (lead/lag, sqrt(3), 30deg, etc.) which is very important going into the PE. Some of the questions still need verbiage improvement and errata needs to be updated. Mahalo Justin!

Harmon, P.E. [Passed October 2018, 200 study hours, 2 yrs experience]

With 2 hour to go I was devastated and I was certain that I would fail even after a great morning session. I remember thinking that it did matter what I studied for the next time around, there would always be questions that I had never seen before. You have to master every single practice question.

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