I'm going to be taking the FE exam sometime this upcoming school year, but I don't know which semester to take it in. The FE prep course is in each semester;

The Fall prep course is two nights a week for two hours each night and the exam is around October.

The Spring prep course is one night a week for two hours and the exam is in April, I believe.

As it stands, I have a bunch of tough courses this upcoming semester with CHE Senior Design, Kinetics, Physical Chemistry (CH 457) and a CHE lab course, plus being part of a international job exchange club that does a lot of work in the Fall (or so I've heard). Plus it seems that a lot of job interviews take place that semester from talking to friends, where the companies fly you out for a day or two, plus visiting grad schools and all that (yeah, still gotta decide that whole mess).

Spring semester shouldn't be that bad at all, with the second part of CHE Senior Design taking the most time.

I'm thinking it makes more sense to take the FE exam in the Spring when I have more time to allocate towards it, but what have you people done in the past or are thinking about doing?

4/9/2009 12:13:08 PM

I just took it in the fall with the prep course.

I fell asleep in the prep course enough to make it useless (and skipped about 70% of the time I guess) and I passed, but the FE exam is also heavily slanted towards Civil folks like myself. I'd say do it now, just in case you fail the damn thing and need a chance to retake it before you graduate.

4/9/2009 12:20:16 PM

Well I heard that they have the General FE exam and then a specialized FE exam afterwards (in my case, CHE). Is that what you did?

4/9/2009 12:25:23 PM

I did both general, as the Civil specific portion (the second half) would've been targeted more towards the construction engineering management folks instead of us general civils (based on what you learn with each degree).

4/9/2009 12:27:08 PM

I quit the classes after 2 sessions. The fee in fall 2005 was $150 or so. I decided to gamble the 150 fee that I could pass without studying at all. I figured if I failed I would only be out the money but not any time invested and I could take it seriously in the Spring.

I spent 15 minutes looking over the formula book the night before and thats it. I took general in the morning and Civil specific in the afternoon. At the time the faculty was advising that we take general/general but I did not want to look at any more thermo or circuits questions after the morning session so I went with the Civil. After 7 hours I was pretty much out of juice so I closed the book and randomly bubbled in the 20 or so remaining empty questions and left in time to watch some football.

Around new years I got the skinny letter in my mailbox. Greatest wager I ever made.

4/9/2009 12:51:23 PM

I took it in the fall. Gen/Gen because I was NE and there is not a section for that. Passed by only attending the classes and doing no studying outside of that.

4/9/2009 12:57:03 PM

i took it in the fall, didnt study for it at all. i figured that i was just going to take this one as a practice, get a feel for the layout of the exam and take it in the spring, but i was pleasantly surprised with a skinny letter after new years. the first section was really easy, i left with an hour left. i counted out the questions i guessed on and it was less than 20. the second part was a little more difficult, i took general. the circuits and thermo was pretty hard and i think i guessed on about 20 on the second session.

4/9/2009 2:03:39 PM

Quote :

"I did both general, as the Civil specific portion (the second half) would've been targeted more towards the construction engineering management folks instead of us general civils (based on what you learn with each degree)."

i did the same thing... the civil exam also has some hydrology and transportation engineering questions.

i took the prep course, and it wasnt bad. it was a decent review and there are a lot of sample problems that you go over. i would recommend it, but it is definitely not necessary. i think i still have some old prep books if anyone wants them.

i took it in spring '02. it was not bad at all other than the fact that you are testing all day long, and that can be pretty draining. i finished up the first half pretty early so i had to wait around a couple hours until everyone else finished and took a break for lunch.

4/9/2009 2:22:29 PM

I took both the prep course and the exam in the fall. All you had to do to get credit for the FE prep course (i believe) was to take the FE exam in the same semester. So if your workload is already large, just go to the class on the nights when they are reviewing subjects you aren't so familiar with. The course helped me a great deal.

I also took the general exam in the morning and afternoon. I hear the specialized ones are harder, but I'm not sure of this. I passed first try.

4/9/2009 4:56:57 PM

i went to a few of the E490 sessions and wish i hadn't...didn't recall them being useful at all

if anything, the class helps you navigate through that puke green book of formulae

4/9/2009 5:12:51 PM

FE was pretty easy

but the FI FO FUM was a bitch

4/9/2009 5:15:07 PM

You've got to strike when the iron is hot



anyone? anyone? is this thing on?

4/9/2009 5:15:37 PM

I didn't take the prep course and I passed. I also know several ME's who did the same thing. but like others have said, the test is somewhat biased toward ME/CE

4/9/2009 5:33:21 PM

if you know your basic math and can make educated guesses on stuff you know nothing about, then you should pass

4/9/2009 6:06:48 PM

I wish I had taken it last semester when I wasn't doing ME senior design so I could actually study for it.

on the other hand, only having 2 days to study for it will limit the amount of time I waste studying for it.

The prep class is a waste of time, go once, get the booklet and the course pack and use that on your own. the course pack has sample problems in it. the class consists of instructors that walk through the problems in the course pack, that's it.

4/9/2009 11:44:01 PM

I found the course to be helpful for subjects I had taken a few years ago and needed to review. The class, I agree, was a waste of time for the subjects I already felt I knew.

4/10/2009 1:58:53 AM

i'd take it the first semester for sure, because if you fail it that time you can take it again the following semester. it's good to get it passed before you graduate.

4/10/2009 2:23:39 AM

you dont need a course, just get the lindeburg review manual to familiarize yourself with the format and where to find the equations and go take it, i spent about a day preparing for it and passed it with no problems

[Edited on April 10, 2009 at 7:55 AM. Reason : do NOT take the CHE afternoon exam, take the general one]

[Edited on April 10, 2009 at 7:58 AM. Reason : everything you need to answer every question right is in the test reference during the exam]

4/10/2009 7:55:22 AM

^^ You don't find out your results from the October test until May or so if I recall correctly. You would have to assume you failed and take it again in April. (I could be wrong, but I remember it taking a while for me to get my certificate)

4/10/2009 10:16:26 AM

^

Quote :

"Typically, you will receive your results approximately 12 weeks following the exam date. Your licensing board will contact you with your results, usually in writing"

http://www.ncees.org/exams/scoring/exam_results.php#how

4/10/2009 10:28:10 AM

Cool, forget what i said then. I looked for that, but couldn't find it. I guess I was thinking of when I got my certificate.

Then definitely take it first semester so you can try again before you graduate. I remember people I interviewed with were impressed to see I had already passed the exam before graduating.

4/10/2009 10:58:53 AM

i took mine at the end of october and got it back first week of january

4/10/2009 12:00:34 PM