October FE/EIT and P&P PE Exams

[jsummerfield]

Saturday my son took the fundamentals of engineering exam. He advised that he did OK on most things and saw a few things that he had no clue. For those taking the exams, what did you see that was a surprise?

John

 

[JAE]

I've taken the fundamentals exam (many years ago) but your son's statment about "ok on some, no clue on others" fits right in with the nature of that test. It is a very, very broad based test, covering many different subjects, where a single individual will always have "no clue" on some of the questions.

 

[Wrightguy]

Just took it 10-25-03 as well.

Amen! Same consensus as your son!

First 4 hours-General was ok. I took the Civil portion in the pm. Had some trouble with traffic and soils but others were ok. I'm a 36 year old senior without Traffic and CE Materials yet so that might explain my poor showing. I also didn't study for it. I treated it more like a recon mission for when I graduate.

But heck if I luck out and pass.... it is one less thing to worry about.

Tell your son good luck!

After taking the exam it feels like a brotherhood of potential engineers with empathy galore for all that struggled for 8 hrs on Sat.

 

[SB63]

I just took the civil PE exam on Friday and felt that the FE exam was much harder, I took the FE exam in April 2002. The FE exam you have to think on each and every question and there are a lot of them (200 total I believe). The PE exam you can use references and you have to look in a reference quite a bit. If I didn't pass the PE exam it is because I didn't bring any references in a specific area. I thought that doing well on the rest would carry me. I will find out in about 3 months.

 

[Comcokid]

I too took what was then called the "EIT" (Engineer In Training) test some years back. That single test covered chemcial, electrical, civil, and mechanical in it's 'general' morning 1/2 day session, but focused on your paticular speciality in the afternoon 1/2 day session.

There were many things I hadn't encountered on the first day session, but was able to quickly answer from the stack of reference books one was allowed to bring in. Even on the specialized electrical session, there were some subjects never encountered in school since even within a discpline, there are many areas of speciality with little cross-over.

 

[ludikris]

I took the P.E. exam in April of 2003. My thoughts at lunch were that I ace'd the morning session with very few if any incorrect answers. I finished each section early and was able to double check just about everything. The afternoon session was the antithesis and left me shaken (and stirred). The problems were very complex, and although I deal with thermo and heat transfer on a daily basis, the problems were almost exclusively power applications. I was relieved to find that I passed on my first attempt, so I'd say that your son's thoughts are perfectly normal.

E-

 

[imagitec]

I took the FE exam in 1993. It was a point of pride for Virginia Tech that they had the one of the highest participation and/or passing rates (can't remember which). They strongly encouraged it and offered a free review course. I signed up for the course but never went. I did have Lindeburg's FE review book. I walked out of the exam certain that I had failed. I was surprised when I learned I passed with a respectable score. Don't count yourself out til you get your grade.

Rob Campbell