FE Exam Study Tips — In this week’s Pass the FE Exam post, I interview Victor Romo, an engineer-in-training from California who recently took and passed the FE Exam. He is going to share with you how he prepared for the exam through self-study, what his study schedule looked like by sharing it with you, and answer the question: “When exactly should I take the FE exam?”
Now, before I talk to Victor, remember that the FE Exam or Fundamentals of Engineering – is the first step to getting your professional engineering license, and through the videos on our YouTube channel, you will learn how to properly prepare for the exam and, PASS THE FE EXAM!
Subscribe to our YouTube channel here, as our weekly videos will help you Pass the FE Exam. Leave your FE questions in the comments below and we will answer them in future videos.
Here Are the Questions I Ask Victor During This Interview:
- How did you prepare for the FE Exam? Through Self Study or through taking a course?
- What did your study schedule look like?
- Are there any books that you would recommend buying to help with studying for the exam?
- Were there any surprises that you experienced on the actual exam day?
- How long does it typically take you to get your results?
- What advice would you give an engineer that is still deciding on when to take the FE exam – now, or later?
Here Are 8 FE Exam Study Tips To Help You Pass Your FE Exam:
- I prepared for the FE Exam through self study by watching a lot of videos on YouTube and doing online practice problems. The videos that helped me with my study were from Gregory Michaelson, enGENIEer and Direct Hub. You can prepare through self-study if you are disciplined.
- To set up a study schedule you need to have a game plan and a lot of discipline to execute your plan. The FE Exam is broken down into various sections depending on what your discipline is. I got a huge calendar and designated one week for each topic (with timeslots) for each of the different sections (in each topic) that I needed to cover for the exam. Towards the beginning of the week I would watch videos from the aforementioned sources, and then, later on, would try practice problems on my own. What also helped was to set a time limit for each question that I had to answer (about 3 minutes each). Be sure to create and effective study schedule (this post may help with that).
- The FE Civil Practice Exam (effective with exams beginning July 2020) was the only book that I bought to help me in my FE Exam preparation and can be purchased through the NCEES website. I also used a lot of practice problems and PDF booklets of FE Civil and FE discipline practice problems online. Perform as many practice problems as possible.
- The FE Reference Handbook that you get to use during the exam is available to download on the NCEES Website free. You need to use this handbook for your FE Exam preparation, by downloading it before the exam and familiarizing yourself with it. Familiarize yourself with the latest NCEES Reference Handbook (this post may help with that).
- Book your FE Exam well in advance, because due to COVID, there are only a limited number of space available to accommodate examinees. Be sure to book your exam reservation early!
- When taking the FE Exam, I was surprised to find out that there weren’t so many calculation problems, but in fact, more theoretical problems. They weren’t necessarily difficult questions, but I just wasn’t prepared for them as I focused more on calculation based problems. Focus both on quantitative and qualitative problems!
- The results of your exam typically take about 10-14 days, however, I got my results after only 5 days. Try not to be to anxious around the results, as you can’t change them after you take the exam.
- The NCEES requires you to have a couple of years of schooling experience to take the exam. I would recommend taking the FE Exam by the time you are a junior, or at the very beginning of your senior year, or as soon as you have all your education requirements in place. If you fail it the first time, remember that you can take the exam as many times as you want to.
You can find answers to all of these question in the video at the top of the page.
We publish videos weekly on our Pass the FE Exam YouTube Channel. Be sure to visit our page here and click the subscribe button as you’ll get expert tips and tricks each week – to ensure your best success – that you can’t get anywhere else. Believe me, you won’t want to miss a single video.
Lastly, I encourage you to ask questions in the comments of the videos or here on this page and I’ll read and respond to them in future videos. So, if there’s a specific topic you want me to cover or answer, we have you covered.
I’ll see you next week…
Anthony Fasano, P.E.
Engineering Management Institute
Author of Engineer Your Own Success
Leave a Reply