OT: FE Exam - Good Prep Books?

Submitted by Durham Blue on

I plan on taking the FE exam.  Does have any recommendations for good review books or online courses?

BlockM

April 23rd, 2011 at 11:10 PM ^

Which concentration are you planning to take? 

Honestly, if you've got decent notes from your classes that might even be enough. If you're up near the top of your class you could probably just go take it without studying. If you're not, just find any sort of review material and brush up on the basics.

BlockM

April 23rd, 2011 at 11:25 PM ^

Ah, I gotcha. Good call on studying up a bit if it's been that long. It was definitely nice to get it out of the way while even the material I hated and wasn't interested in was fresh in my mind.

Maybe others had a different experience, but I thought the biggest skill they tested was just being able to figure out what type of equation you might need and then look it up in the reference manual relatively quickly. The book they give you to use is massive and decently organized, so if you've got an idea of where to go it's not too tricky.

The percentage you need to pass is something like 60%, so if you made it through Michigan, you should be fine.

dothepose

April 23rd, 2011 at 11:19 PM ^

The civil one was easy. I didnt study for it because I was too busy with steel bridge , the book they give you for the test for the civil had almost every you need on how to solve the equations. 

Vasav

April 23rd, 2011 at 11:26 PM ^

I took a course - the one I took was "Test Masters." It was a commitment but brushed up on everything you needed to know. I'd definitely recommend that approach - it's amazing how much you forget if you don't use it everyday.

Irish

April 23rd, 2011 at 11:27 PM ^

that thing was so easy I was extremely surprised,

study the guide handout that they give you to take the test with.  Know where everything is in it and you will finish without a problem.  I finished both sections an hour early.

This years handout should be available on the website, every equation you need is in that handout

gomaize11

April 24th, 2011 at 1:18 AM ^

I just took the FE two Saturdays ago, I completely agree with Irish's comment. 90% of the exam can be answered just by knowing where to find the right equation in the manual.

I'm printing that thing off and getting it bound. It's ridiculously good reference. 

Bombadil

April 23rd, 2011 at 11:37 PM ^

I used the PPI books to take the General exam after being out of school for four years. If you're working as an ME you should take the ME portion. Just took my PE for Environmental in April but don't find out if I passed for 12 weeks.

Marley Nowell

April 24th, 2011 at 12:47 AM ^

I literally did not look at a thing before taking it and only used about 5 of the allotted 8 hours to take it.  If you just graduated from Michigan Engineering the FE is a piece of cake.

CarrIsMyHomeboy

April 24th, 2011 at 5:39 AM ^

What is an FE examination**? I'm not familiar with that one.

 

 **(and is it redundant to call it an FE examination, as it would be redundant to call something else the MCAT test? [though I at least submit that would be less annoying than "I just took the MCATs" or "LSATs", apropos which: no, unless you covertly concealed that little diddy just now under the confusing veil of your I've-taken-many-"MCATs"-which-is-plural-which-you-didn't-expect looking and sounding identical to a commonplace dialectic idiocy which is most peoples' I-don't-give-my-words-much-thought-and-oh-yeah-what's-a-singular-mean-? "MCATs", you most certainly did not just take the MCATs.])

/much.endnote.foofaraw.about.nothing

Bosch

April 24th, 2011 at 7:49 AM ^

Go to Barnes and Noble.  They have a section devoted to test preparation.  You will be able to thumb through the books to find one you like. 

Finding the best study guide is really dependant on what areas you need to be refreshed in.  Since you've been out of school for so long, you are probably going to want to find one that focuses on some of the basics, with sample questions and solutions. 

 

Frequency

April 24th, 2011 at 9:42 AM ^

I completely agree with what a couple others have already said.

 

Look through the info booklet that they will give you during the test.  You can find almost all the answers they will ask somewhere in the booklet.  You can go on the ncees website and download a pdf of it if you already havent.  if you know how the information is organized and where to it up, you will be ok.  since it has been a few years since school for you, looking through the booklet may help you figure out what else you need to brush up on.

hgoblue

April 24th, 2011 at 6:17 PM ^

The Lindenburg book is by far the best. I studied with it twelve years out of school and passed. Right out of school the test would have been a breeze.

Durham Blue

April 24th, 2011 at 9:58 PM ^

That's the book that I purchased.  I also purchased the NCEES reference manual per the recommendations in this thread.  It sounds like that should be more than enough to prepare for this exam.

Thanks to everyone for the insight and recommendations!

BlockM

April 25th, 2011 at 12:06 AM ^

Standard time to get the FE results is 12 weeks. They pass/fail people based on a percentage of all test takers, so they have to wait for an entire round of testing to finish up at a ton of locations before they can make decisions.

DanUMich

April 24th, 2011 at 9:34 PM ^

It is pretty easy. I started the test still drunk and finished with the worst hangover.

On a similar note, does anyone the exact qualifications before you can take the PE exam? It was never explained to me very clearly.

Eddy184

November 24th, 2015 at 5:15 AM ^

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ben3016

February 2nd, 2016 at 5:23 AM ^

Gain a better understanding of key concepts and save prep time by reviewing FE exam topics and NCEES Handbook equations in a single location. These equations, along with NCEES Handbook figures and tables, 200-120 Exam are distinguished in green text for easy cross-referencing. Use the 13 diagnostic exams to identify where you need the most review and improve your problem-solving skills with over 1,200 practice problems.

 

 

mik897

February 16th, 2016 at 5:36 AM ^

I am an EE, and this book only covers about 2/5-1/2(at best) of the material i need to study, so if you're looking to take this exam, this is only a supplemental review, you NEED another good electrical specific book. DO NOT buy the ones from PPI or Lindeburg, they are not updated for the 2014 exam, they are only questions and overall what you get for what you pay is awful. PMP Dumps Exam