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Exam-Day Strategy

You've studied. Now don't beat yourself with the clock or fall for trap answers. These are the habits that turn preparation into a passing score on the day.

Budget your time

40 questions in 180 minutes is 4.5 minutes each — but you won't spend that evenly. Bank time on the easy ones.

Quick recall / definitions	Answer in under 1 minute, no lookup
Single-table lookups	1–2 minutes (flip to your tab, read, answer)
Calculations	3–5 minutes — the ones to budget for
Checkpoint	~20 questions done by the 75-minute mark

The two-pass method

Pass 1: answer everything you know fast, and flag anything that needs a long lookup or a calculation. Don't get stuck.
Pass 2: return to the flagged questions with your remaining time and a calm head.
Final check: make sure no question is left blank — a guess beats a zero.

When to look it up vs. answer from knowledge

Always verify anything with a number: ampacity, FLC, box-fill volume, demand factor, a percentage. Your memory will betray you on the exact value.
Answer from knowledge on definitions and concepts you know cold — then move on. Don't burn lookup time confirming what you're sure of.
If you can't find it in ~90 seconds, flag it and move on. Come back in Pass 2.

Process of elimination

Most questions have two obviously wrong answers. Eliminate them first, then decide between the remaining two — often one is a unit or table-column trap.

Common traps to avoid

Wrong table column: reading 75°C when the question is 60°C (or vice versa) on Table 310.16.
Single-phase vs three-phase: grabbing Table 430.248 when it's a three-phase motor (Table 430.250).
Nameplate vs table FLC: motors use the table value for conductors, nameplate only for overload.
"Not" / "except" questions: read carefully — they invert the answer you'd normally pick.
Demand factors skipped: in load calcs, don't forget to apply Table 220.42 before converting to amps.
Rounding direction: next size UP for OCPD 800A and under (240.4(B)); DOWN over 800A.

Practical reminders

Bring your own tabbed, bound books — loose-leaf is not allowed (confirm bring-your-own with PSI when you register).
Read every word of the question stem before looking at the answers.
Trust your first instinct unless you find a concrete reason to change it.
Keep moving. A 75% is a pass — you can miss 10 and still walk out licensed.

Rehearse this, don't read it. Run full timed simulations using these habits so they're automatic on exam day. The clock should feel familiar, not scary.

Practice under the clock

Start a Timed Exam → Back to the Study Plan