Engineering Tech Grad & the FE exam 2

[DJKeng]

I'm looking for advice from a Engineering Tech Graduate (non-EAC) who's passed the FE. I've just graduated but I've been taking classes 2/semester for 4 years and I'm not sure how much review I'll need. I think most tech grads don't pursue the FE; am i right in thinking this is quite rare?

1) How long after graduating did you take the FE.

2) What materials did you use to study? Did you take a refresher course?

3) It's been 3 years since I took Calc (or used it for that matter). Will this be a problem?

4) Did you find the exam difficult?

5) Did you opt for the general afternoon portion or specialize?

5) What is your degree in?

6) What state did you take the exam in?

I appreciate any other advice as well.

Thanks

 

[DanDel]

1. I took the FE test 1 or 2 years before the end of my bachelor degree program(night classes).
2. I used the study book available from the PPI website. It was very helpful. I also took an FE prep course given by my university.
3. There was not a lot of calc; however, some of the basics were needed(derivatives and integrals) for some plug-in-the-values questions.
4. It was difficult, mostly because of the breadth of material covered. I thought that the PE test was much easier.
5 (first). I took the electrical section.
5 (second). Electrical Engineering Technology.
6. MA

Advice? Get the PPI book and do all the problems that you can. Start at least 3 months before the test. Do problems every night(I studied for 1-3 hours every night for 3 months, for both the FE and PE tests).
Get a copy of the NCEES book that you will use during the test and become intimately familiar with every page. Try to use only this book when you are solving problems during study.
Study everything, but if there are one or two subjects which you are not very good at, don't spend a lot of time studying them, concentrate on the subjects that you can refresh, not learn from the beginning.
Answer every question even if you have to guess.
Check out the location of the test the week before and make certain you have enough time to get there early for the test.
Don't study the day before.
Get a good night's sleep.
Don't be one of those people who didn't pass and rationalize it away by saying they didn't really study as hard as they should; study as hard as possible, pass the test the first time, and get it overwith. You can do it, it just takes a lot of discipline and work.
Good luck.

 

[DJKeng]

Thanks for all the helpful information.

 

[DeeLeigh]

I agree with most of DanDel's post. The FE is a difficult test. I don't think very many people have studied all the topics it covers. I have a friend who's absolutely brilliant. We were in Differential Equations together. She breezed through DiffyQ and got the highest grade in the class - thought it was easy. She tried to take the FE after only studying one or two nights and failed by one point. Don't let that happen to YOU. Don't mess around. It's 8 hours long, expensive, and not an experience you want to keep repeating.

I put a couple hours a night in (usually) for about 3 weeks before the test. I also studied the topics I wasn't familiar with (like thermodynamics and circuits) a little. If you can learn the basics, you can get the easy questions and at least make educated guesses on the harder ones. Also, when you take the test, keep a close watch on the time. Go through and answer the easy questions first, and make sure that you have time to at least make educated guesses at the ones you don't have time to solve. Don't put yourself in a situation where you have to randomly fill in bubbles.

This is the book I used:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1888577533/ref=ase_immaculate-books/002-6918519-9182465

My degree is in civil engineering, and I took the test during my last year of engineering school; the general test for the first half and CE for the second. I took the exam in Michigan. (passed it, phew!)

 

[FredGarvin]

I took it in my senior year of BSME in Michigan. I specialized in the afternoon section. I thought the general section (morning) section wasn't too bad, but the afternoon portion was a real bugger. The afternoon section is tougher because they group questions into multiple questions, so if you have no clue how to work something, you're now guessing on 3-5 answers in stead of 1. If you have been out of it for a while I would definitely study for at least a month before. I would also recommend getting a book that has practice tests. One other thing a lot of people I know had problems with was time management.