<p>Have anyone taken this exam? Can anyone comment on the difficulty and usefulness of it (better job prospects?, higher pay?, How does it help me?) Thanks.</p>
<p>The FE exam is a normal prerequisite for an engineering license (the "Professional Engineer" title issued by state governments). If your engineering career will involve site-specific permanent infrastructure (e.g. structures, utilities, roads), then you probably need a state license, and you probably should take the FE exam. </p>
<p>Civil engineers routinely take the FE exam, as do some electricals (power engineers) and mechanicals (HVAC engineers). If you are planning to enter a field like this, then passing the FE exam will definitely boost your resume.</p>
<p>If your engineering career will involve portable, mass-produced products (e.g. cars, appliances, electronics, software), then you are probably exempt from state licensure requirements. In this case, passing the FE exam will probably not be regarded as a significant plus by employers. Most engineering grads enter exempt fields, and never take the FE or PE exams. </p>
<p>Some engineering programs require students to take the FE exam before they graduate, because they use it as an assessment exam, to track the strengths and weaknesses of their students. There are even programs that use the FE as an exit exam; you have to pass it in order to get your degree. </p>
<p>The FE exam is generally regarded as rigorous but fair. Study materials and review classes are widely available. Students in ABET-accredited engineering programs have, on average, about a 70-80% chance of passing on the first try.</p>
<p>i just took it today. 8 hours and a grueling experience I would not wish upon anyone. In general though ,it was pretty straight forward and easy. I finished with hours to spare for both sections. Definitely take it immediately before graduating as you know more than you think and will probably never be as prepared for the test after that time frame.</p>
<p>I thought the test was quite straightforward too when I took it a year ago</p>
<p>If you're even remotely considering entering an infrastructure field, then you should take the FE exam during your senior year. Watch out for the registration deadlines because they can sneak up on you. I know a few who missed them and had to wait 6 months to take it. If you wait a year or two, you'll likely forget many of the subjects. The FE covers pretty much every technical subject you've taken during your college career, and perhaps some you haven't taken, so the longer you wait, the worse off you are.</p>
<p>Passing isn't that difficult though, since you only need to answer about half the questions correctly. </p>
<p>The value of the FE is heavily dependent on the industry that you enter.</p>
<p>I am planning to enter the theme park industry as a ride engineer or something like that. Do I need to take the FE exam?</p>
<p>it wouldn't hurt.</p>
<p>
[quote]
I am planning to enter the theme park industry as a ride engineer or something like that. Do I need to take the FE exam?
[/quote]
The need for licensure ultimately depends on the laws and regulations of the state you are working in. In general, however, permanent theme park rides represent highly customized, one-of-a-kind installations, with a lot of associated safety and liability concerns; they are probably subject to outside review from state inspectors and/or insurance co. representatives. Professional licensure is commonly required in this type of situation. So my guess is yes, it's probably a good idea to take the FE exam, and eventually the PE exam, if you want to enter this field.</p>
<p>The Principal Mechanical [url=<a href="http://www.careercornerstone.org/mecheng/profiles/burkat.htm%5DEngineer%5B/url">http://www.careercornerstone.org/mecheng/profiles/burkat.htm]Engineer[/url</a>] for Walt Disney Imagineering is a PE.</p>
<p>The job environment that exists today may be quite different from the job environment you may encounter 25 years from now. As others have stated, the FE exam is not that difficult if you take it at the end of your senior year. My advice is to take the exam to retain all available options in the future. Your future may involve a career change or a promotion that does require licensure...by taking the exam you retain the option to obtain your P.E. license.</p>
<p>Is it hard to self-study for it? I'm a chemical engineer and haven't had some of the mechanical engineering courses such as statics, dynamics, etc.</p>
<p>It has been a long time since I took the exam, but from reading the website it seems to be very similar. The morning session basically covers the first two years of an engineering program. If you did well in the statics and dynamics you covered in physics, you won't have a problem with most of those questions (which are multiple choice). You can choose the chemical engineering discipline specific exam in the afternoon session. Good luck!</p>
<p>I read online that the first session is 120 questions worth 1 point each, and the second session is 60 questions worth 2 point each. How many points do you need to pass?</p>
<p>
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I read online that the first session is 120 questions worth 1 point each, and the second session is 60 questions worth 2 point each. How many points do you need to pass?
[/quote]
There is no fixed passing score. NCEES adjusts the passing score for each administration of each different exam, depending on the perceived difficulty of the questions that happen to be selected for that particular exam. So the raw passing scores might differ for the April 2007 FE/Electrical exam vs. the October 2007 FE/Electrical exam. And both might differ from the corresponding FE/Mechanical exams. </p>
<p>NCEES does not even release numerical scores, just the "pass" or "fail" results, so it's hard to estimate what a typical passing score might be. As suggested above, if you can answer half the questions confidently, you'll likely pass, even if you guess randomly on the other half.
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Is it hard to self-study for it?
[/quote]
Not particularly. Good study manuals are available. The FE Review Manual from ppi2pass.com, which is probably the most popular study guide, comes with a "pass or your purchase price is refunded" guarantee.</p>
<p>Your school may offer a FE review course. I'm a chemE and some of my discipline colleagues took the review course and they all passed the exam.</p>
<p>I second the recommendation of Lindeburg's FE review book. (ppi2pass). Coupled with your textbooks, it's a great resource. One of my friends took a review course and they based it off of this book.</p>
<p>what about barron's fe book? I used barron's extensively in hs, but this book seems a bit thin for all the material covered on the test.</p>
<p>I'm not that familiar with the Barrons book, though I knew someone who had the Lindeburgh, Barrons, and the REI (?) book, and she felt the Lindeburg book was the best of the three.</p>
<p>I too used Barrons a lot in high school, but I don't trust them as much as I do ppi2pass for professional exams because it's not their specialty. PPI has books for not only the FE/PE, but the ARE (architecture), NCIDQ (interior design) and LEED (sustainability). I didn't even know Barrons made books for exams like these actually.</p>
<p>The only other publisher I would consider is Kaplan AEC. A few years ago, they bought out a company that specialized in FE/PE.</p>
<p>I'd personally just recommend going through the manual that the licensing board publishes. The FE's long and grueling, but it's not too hard to pass. Most of the equations you need are given to you in the accompanying equations manual, which as I mentioned before, is published on the NCEES website. Download it, skim it, make sure you're familiar with most of the equations in your discipline, make sure you can decipher most of the equations in the whole thing, and you'll probably do just fine.</p>
<p>Know what's in the equations manual and what's not, so you don't spend too much time looking up something that's not listed.</p>
<p>I guess you could get by with just the equations manual, but it's very helpful to have practice questions. There aren't really any test-taking tricks or strategies for the FE like there are for the SAT. I remember some SAT review books were all about the tricks. For the FE, you just have to know your stuff, so the benefit of having a review book for the FE isn't as much as for the SAT.</p>
<p>I took the FE this past May.</p>
<p>The FE, in my opinion, doesn't really test your engineering ability but your ability to look up things in the massive reference book it gives you. I'd advise you to take the FE during the last semester of your senior year and in the field that you are most familiar with.</p>