Should I take the FE exam in october?

[archeng]

I am a civil engineering student. I am a junior. I am planning on taking the FE exam in October 2010. The thing is, I am familiar with 72% of the general part and about 56% of the discipline part. I think that I can get at least 70% right from these through a lot of studying. This would put me at about 107 points. If I could manage another 20 points from guessing then I might just pass (assuming I get >70% on the parts that I do know). Would you take the test If you were in my shoes?

 

[mark.herrmann]

I did exactly that. I was approved to take it as a junior, and was passed it on the first try. I was surprised at how much I was able to recall, specifically in the general portion. I also took the Civil afternoon session, because I was working full time as well, as a quasi-designer. I almost didn't take it, because my first son was born at the end of August that year, and I did not really study too hard for it. If anything, I saw it as test-taking experience, since it's not too often you are required to take that long of an exam. The only con for me would have been shelling out the exam fee, but my employer covered it.

tl;dr ---> Take it.

 

[IL-SE]

What's the hurry? Only a few states even let juniors take the exam. Most require you to be a senior in college. You want to only have to take it once, and if you haven't had all of your required undergrad courses, you'll likely struggle on those questions. You'll probably be in a much better position next October, or even April 2011.

 

[Paul S]

I also took the FE when I was a junior, and did not have all of the courses yet, and I passed it on the first try. If you have the chance to take it I would go for it. If you fail it you will know exactly what to brush up on next time. I think you will have a much, much better chance of passing if you take it while still in school as opposed to waiting until you graduate.

Good luck!

 

[archeng]

What's the hurry? Only a few states even let juniors take the exam. Most require you to be a senior in college. You want to only have to take it once, and if you haven't had all of your required undergrad courses, you'll likely struggle on those questions. You'll probably be in a much better position next October, or even April 2011.

I agree, I want to pass on my first try. Do you know if the number of pass/fail attempts are accessible by employers?

 

[archeng]

I did exactly that. I was approved to take it as a junior, and was passed it on the first try. I was surprised at how much I was able to recall, specifically in the general portion. I also took the Civil afternoon session, because I was working full time as well, as a quasi-designer. I almost didn't take it, because my first son was born at the end of August that year, and I did not really study too hard for it. If anything, I saw it as test-taking experience, since it's not too often you are required to take that long of an exam. The only con for me would have been shelling out the exam fee, but my employer covered it.
tl;dr ---> Take it.

Thanks for your reply

 

[archeng]

I also took the FE when I was a junior, and did not have all of the courses yet, and I passed it on the first try. If you have the chance to take it I would go for it. If you fail it you will know exactly what to brush up on next time. I think you will have a much, much better chance of passing if you take it while still in school as opposed to waiting until you graduate.
Good luck!

Thank you

 

[IL-SE]

What's the hurry? Only a few states even let juniors take the exam. Most require you to be a senior in college. You want to only have to take it once, and if you haven't had all of your required undergrad courses, you'll likely struggle on those questions. You'll probably be in a much better position next October, or even April 2011.

I agree, I want to pass on my first try. Do you know if the number of pass/fail attempts are accessible by employers?

No one can see the number of tries. Either you've passed it or you haven't, and that's all employers really care about. Other than when I applied to take the PE, I've never had to prove that I actually did pass it.

Go to your school library and see if they have the NCEES sample exam (mine did), otherwise I would highly suggest buying it and seeing how comfortable you feel with the material. It is a fairly accurate representation in terms of content and difficulty. I wasn't trying to discourage you from taking it from my earlier post, but you seemed like you weren't very comfortable with the material and more courses in your major will only make you better prepared. I certainly would try to take it while in school, but I'm not sure there is an advantage with taking it so early, especially if you aren't sure that you know the material.

Have you taken engineering economics yet? They are fairly easy questions to get right if you know how to use the tables.

 

[archeng]

What's the hurry? Only a few states even let juniors take the exam. Most require you to be a senior in college. You want to only have to take it once, and if you haven't had all of your required undergrad courses, you'll likely struggle on those questions. You'll probably be in a much better position next October, or even April 2011.

I agree, I want to pass on my first try. Do you know if the number of pass/fail attempts are accessible by employers?

No one can see the number of tries. Either you've passed it or you haven't, and that's all employers really care about. Other than when I applied to take the PE, I've never had to prove that I actually did pass it.

Go to your school library and see if they have the NCEES sample exam (mine did), otherwise I would highly suggest buying it and seeing how comfortable you feel with the material. It is a fairly accurate representation in terms of content and difficulty. I wasn't trying to discourage you from taking it from my earlier post, but you seemed like you weren't very comfortable with the material and more courses in your major will only make you better prepared. I certainly would try to take it while in school, but I'm not sure there is an advantage with taking it so early, especially if you aren't sure that you know the material.

Have you taken engineering economics yet? They are fairly easy questions to get right if you know how to use the tables.

I agree that economics shouldn't be too difficult. I think that I am going to try and pass it. It seems that I have nothing to lose. Even if I don't pass then the material reviewed will only strengthen my chances of getting my undergraduate degree.

Thank you for your time and suggestions!