Took FE Exam this weekend...do I have a prayer in passing? 1

[JustinM]

All,

I took the FE exam this weekend, 12 years out of college. I am wanting to get a PE just for a professional goal and differentiate myself. I work in an exempt area (consumer product design) that requires no PE. I have NEVER worked with a PE yet in 12 years, however, I think a PE makes sense, as it will make me stand out more.

I made the big mistake of not taking the FE in college. Various excuses, but that is in the past now!

I spent the last 6 months studying about 5-10 hours a week. I probably put in about 150 hours of prep time, which included working a lot of problems and several mini mock exams.

So, the morning exam went ok. I worked the majority of the problems and guessed on about 20-30% of them.

Now, on the afternoon test I took the "general" exam. I bombed this test. I maybe worked 20/60 problems and had to guess on the other 40!!! I was blown away. It was very frustrating.

I have heard that the raw score for passing is about 90/180 points, or somewhere around 50%. So, I am thinking I might still have a chance, since the morning could carry me.

What is your experience? Do I have a prayer in passing?
My plan moving forward is to understand the common elements in the PE and FE that I am weak in (Thermo!), and start studying while I wait for results. I'll retake the FE in October or take the PE in October if I passed.

Thanks.
JustinM

 

[swivel63]

if you've never worked with a PE, can you even take the PE? i don't think so.

 

[Overvoltage]

One thing you may want to check out is your local licensing entity's requirements. For example, some states require you to work under a PE for a period of time in order to be qualified to then take the PE exam (and become a PE). If you don't have any nearby and don't know any, this could be a problem.

Just something to think about before you dive all the way into this. Passing the PE exam is an accomplishment, but I would hate to see you have to take it twice or something if all of your paperwork wasn't in order beforehand...

 

[metengr]

if you've never worked with a PE, can you even take the PE? i don't think so.

This has been asked so many times and answered with - contact your local PE board for work history requirements and references.

Now getting back to the OP, yes, you have a chance in passing. Now, get back to work and forget about what happened this past weekend. Let us know how you did in several months.

 

[JustinM]

With regards to not working under a PE...

Before I started all this, I called my Board and went over the whole situation. They recognized that in my industry that the "industry exemption" means very few PE's are around and said they would take this under consideration.

I asked bottom line if I were to pursue this whole thing, if I would have a chance in getting a license. They said to pursue doing the examinations and that they would evaluate me under the understanding of the industry exemption. I basically said, "so I have a pathway here, assuming I pass the exams" and they said yes, definitely. So, its not a done deal until they review my application, but the path is there...

There is one PE that is the director of Engineering at one of our clients that would make a nice reference for me. Hopefully, somehow I will run into other PE's. But I have never worked directly for a PE, there just are not many in consumer product design! If I can get a PE, it will only help others get theirs too, as I could be a reference, its just a chicken before the egg thing right now. I think a PE should be required even for all engineers who call themselves engineers, but that's just me.

Thanks.

 

[zdas04]

It is stupid to even discuss whether or not you have to have worked with a PE to take the damn test. The board looks at that stuff prior to granting access to the FE exam. The board said it was OK for him to take the test, his question was about his chances of passing. My answer to that is always "you just can't tell, and it is a pointless excercise to second guess your performance before the results are in, they change the pass/fail critera every test". They will eventually be in and then you can plan your next steps.

Like the OP I waited 12 years between my undergraduate and the FE exam. When I applied for the exam, the board gave me pretty specific time lines for when I could take the PE after passing the FE (assuming I would pass). They stuck to the dates and I had to wait something like 3 years before I could apply for the PE. I never worked under a PE and had a struggle finding one for a reference.

David

 

[JustinM]

My board never gave me any time line, dates or anything. They just said to take the exams and then apply for PE. I am just trying to figure out how or what to study while I am waiting up to 12 weeks for results! I need to start learning about the format of the PE anyway, as I was 100% focused on the FE for the last 6 months. Any resources that people used to study and prep for the PE? I used the FE review manual and

http://www.eitexam.com

for the FE prep. Is there anything similar for the PE prep?

Thanks again.

 

[IRstuff]

There are tons of prep materials, and there are tons of threads discussing this subject as well.

TTFN

FAQ731-376

 

[COEngineeer]

I took the exam with only 1 yr with a P.E. in colorado.

Never, but never question engineer's judgement

 

[ShaggyPE]

JustinM,
If you didn't pass on this go around, don't get down. I recommend the review materials from PPI (

http://www.ppi2pass.com).

You should also consider taking a review course. I took a review course for the PE and it was money well spent. A lot can be said for a directed course of study.


-Dustin
Professional Engineer
Certified SolidWorks Professional
Certified COSMOSWorks Designer Specialist
Certified SolidWorks Advanced Sheet Metal Specialist

 

[JamesBarlow]

I wouldn't worry about either test right now.

If you failed you will have 3 months to prepare for the next exam once you find out. You will have a much better idea of what to study and how to study since if you did fail, it means what you did the first time didn't work. Learn from what you did and make changes and get going. I failed my first time at the PE but did passed the second by making changes.

If you passed you still don't have to worry about the PE exam. I can't speak for your own state but in PA you need 4 years experience to sit for the PE and the clock doesn't start till you pass the FE. Your state may be different but in most you will have plenty of time to worry about the next exam.

 

[SKIAK]

Of course you have a prayer of passing. When I took the test I knew people who I thought for sure were going to fail, and they passed; and I also I knew people who I thought for sure were going to pass, and they failed. No sense in stressing about it now. All I can suggest is do you best, wait for the results, and go from there. Good Luck!

 

[MechEng2005]

I agree with others that have said don't stress about it until you get the results. Since you are going through the process for yourself (i.e. not required in your industry), you are basically doing it for self-improvement. So if you want to study, focus on what you think is relevant to making you better at your job or what you find interesting. If it's a goal to pass the FE and PE, certainly study the prep materials for those.

I am also in an exempt industry and have passed the FE. I took it right out of college since that is when the material on it would be freshest just in-case I wanted to pursue a PE down the road. Who knows what the future holds...

At the moment, I still need a few years experience before I can even consider taking the PE. I'm not sure if I will take it or not. For me, it would also be for a professional goal and to differentiate myself. However, I also don't have access to PEs to use for reference. I know I have heard that exceptions may be made, such as just using "senior engineers" as references, even if they aren't licensed. It will depend on the the state licensing board.

When/if I take the PE, my thought is that I'll talk to the board and submit whatever relevant professional references I can get. If they say the references aren't good enough, I'd like to take the test anyways. It would be for me, not for the license anyways.

If I were an employer in an exempt industry, I'd certainly value somebody who was able to pass the FE & PE but didn't have the correct references about the same as a PE. Sure, it's a little more in-depth to explain that just putting "Professional Engineer" on the resume, but I think it shows certain dedication and desire to learn to take the PE even if you aren't getting licensed.

All that said, it doesn't sound like you are allowed to sit for the PE unless your references are in order, so maybe the last part about taking it even if you can't get licensed due to references is a moot point...


MechEng2005

 

[verbraken]

About the FE exam - here's the trick:
During the exam, there's not enough time to completely work through the problems as though you were writing out your homework. What you need to do in the exam is look at the problem and the given info, look at the answers and decide which are NOT solutions (usually at least 2 of them), cross them out. Then look at the remaining answers, work out the problem JUST until you get enough information to decide which one's the solution.
For instance, in most of the math questions, you can eliminate at least 2 answers because for instance the solution wouldn't be negative, or it wouldn't be in the III or IV quadrant, or it would be an exponential decay, etc, etc.

It's a trick to see if you can smartly solve a puzzle rather than just pushing your pencil through the formulas. If you need to retake it (and I hope you don't), practice in this fashion and don't spend all of your study time SOLVING whole problems. Use the Lindeburg FE prep book and practice eliminating answers and choosing from the remaining. Get a copy of the NCEES supplied reference handbook and exclusively use it while studying so you know exactly where the formulas are. Use an approved calculator while studying so you're fast on it. Re-learn the fundamental rules of math, chemistry, statics, dynamics so you can quickly eliminate non-solutions. Even though you've been out of school a while, the fundamentals will come back strong after you review them for a while.

I took the electrical discipline EIT two years ago and passed it on the first try. I'm still in school for my BSEE, but very part time so it's been about 10 years since my calc/statics/dynamics/chemistry.

Best of luck to you.

 

[JustinM]

All,

After 12 years out of college and studying for the FE exam for about 8 months, I just got my results and I passed! I am a little surprised, because the afternoon exam was extremely difficult, as I had to guess on a lot of the questions. However, I felt OK for the morning exam, so that is maybe what carried me. So, I am now starting to think about the PE exam and am thinking about taking it April or Oct 2010.

I am hoping a PE helps open some doors at some point in the future!

JustinM

 

[zdas04]

Congratulations Justin.

As someone with a mechanical PE, I have to say you shouldn't get your hopes up very high that a PE is going to open doors to wealth and fame.

One bright spot is that I'm seeing an increasing amount of legislation at both the state and federal level that requires a PE stamp for other than Civil/Structural stuff. The one that has mattered most to my business is the EPA's Spill Prevention, Countermeasures, and Control (SPCC) regulations now require a PE stamp and the civil guys seem to be shying away from that convoluted law. There is a lot of work out there on SPCC plans.

David

 

[BJC]

Prayers are alwas answered, sometimes the answer is hard to understand.
At 12 years out of school you should be about right to do it well.
Maturity and attitude can sometimes be better than having just come out of school.
the fact that you attempting says lots about your attitude and maturity. Good luck

 

[Gymmeh]

yes