Help - Civil FE Exam

I've been studying for exactly 2 months now with the aim of taking the FE at the beginning of January. I have done all of the practice problems from FERM3 relevant to my exam specs. (some of the diagnostic problems too, but not the Exams at the end). I have also gone through all of the problems in the Civil DS manual from the Lindeburg, which I finished last night.

I only did each problem once, so I haven't memorized them which would've taken considerable amounts of time, I know some have done this. But I did spend more time with each of the problems that required understanding of the concepts behind them, for which I researched additional info. on my own. I solved ALL of the problems using the reference handbook from NCEES, so I'm pretty familiar with the handbook. I can say I know how to use about 90% of the equations/tables in the reference handbook relevant to my exam specs. now (with the exception of Environmental Engineering, which is the only topic I don't feel comfortable with). I've also learned how to use the casio fx 115.

However, now that I'm done, despite feeling comfortable with the handbook, concepts and calculator, I'm not sure if I will be able to answer the 110 questions in 5 hrs and 20 mins. It seems like even if you know the reference handbook, it could take more than 3 minutes (that's about the time we will have per questions now) to read through it, understand it and look for the equations in the book while also converting units.

It seems like my main concern now it's time management, I feel like I can tackle any problem with the reference guide, but since I haven't memorized the steps (just the concepts and where to look for the equations), I will need some time to read and think through them.

Any advice to avoid time killing me on the exam?? I guess I have to start doing real timed tests, but where can I find realistic practice tests (in terms of actual difficulty) relevant to my discipline??

Thank you

Take as many timed practice tests as you can. It took me lots of practice to not get hung up on a single problem. I made three passes on the fe. The first was for questions I knew I could answer quick. The second was problems that I could answer with a little bit of work. The third pass was for questions I really didn't know how to approach. With 15 minutes left I guessed on the few remaining. Some questions you'll be able to answer in 25 seconds, others will take you several minutes. I found the actual test easier then the practice problems.

matt267 said:

Take as many timed practice tests as you can. It took me lots of practice to not get hung up on a single problem. I made three passes on the fe. The first was for questions I knew I could answer quick. The second was problems that I could answer with a little bit of work. The third pass was for questions I really didn't know how to approach. With 15 minutes left I guessed on the few remaining. Some questions you'll be able to answer in 25 seconds, others will take you several minutes. I found the actual test easier then the practice problems.

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Thanks. Did you take the Civil section in the afternoon too?

I've done lots of practice problems, but no practice tests yet. Where did you find these?

It's not that bad of a test. I took civil afternoon and only studied for three days and passed. I had to guess on circuits, thermo, heat transfer, chemistry, and some of the construction engineering questions in the afternoon. I found out I passed today. The new test should be easier. You sound like you are well prepared.

bubu1234 said:

It's not that bad of a test. I took civil afternoon and only studied for three days and passed. I had to guess on circuits, thermo, heat transfer, chemistry, and some of the construction engineering questions in the afternoon. I found out I passed today. The new test should be easier. You sound like you are well prepared.

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I've been 5+ years out of school now. How long ago did you graduate?

cbr3544 said:

matt267 said:

Take as many timed practice tests as you can. It took me lots of practice to not get hung up on a single problem. I made three passes on the fe. The first was for questions I knew I could answer quick. The second was problems that I could answer with a little bit of work. The third pass was for questions I really didn't know how to approach. With 15 minutes left I guessed on the few remaining. Some questions you'll be able to answer in 25 seconds, others will take you several minutes. I found the actual test easier then the practice problems.

Click to expand...

Thanks. Did you take the Civil section in the afternoon too?

I've done lots of practice problems, but no practice tests yet. Where did you find these?

Click to expand...

I took the "other discipline" fe. I used mostly material from PPI. I also took a class with School of PE.

For civil afternoon practice tests, they have: http://ppi2pass.com/shop/fe-eit-exam/fe-eit-exam-review-materials/civil-discipline-specific-review-for-the-fe-eit-exam-dsce3.html

PPI also has products for the CBT: http://feprep.com

This may also be helpful when it's launched: http://ppi2pass.com/fe-civil-cbt-pre-launch-special.html

I hope this helps. Good luck on the test.

I passed in April 2013 and took the Civil Afternoon. I felt it was fairly easy this time after failing it in school back in 2010. I didn't study at all while in school and failed with a 52.5%, so I feel I was really close to passing without studying. I studied from New Year's to exam time this time around because I really needed to pass it. I focused on the morning session while studying and used the Lindenburg manual. I only used 2 practice civil exams for the afternoon session. During the exam, the morning session took me longer than I would've like because I had to guess on the entire thermo section. I finished to Civil afternoon session with about an hour left and felt confident win I was done. Good Luck when you take your exam.

matt267 said:

cbr3544 said:

matt267 said:

Take as many timed practice tests as you can. It took me lots of practice to not get hung up on a single problem. I made three passes on the fe. The first was for questions I knew I could answer quick. The second was problems that I could answer with a little bit of work. The third pass was for questions I really didn't know how to approach. With 15 minutes left I guessed on the few remaining. Some questions you'll be able to answer in 25 seconds, others will take you several minutes. I found the actual test easier then the practice problems.

Click to expand...

Thanks. Did you take the Civil section in the afternoon too?

I've done lots of practice problems, but no practice tests yet. Where did you find these?

Click to expand...

I took the "other discipline" fe. I used mostly material from PPI. I also took a class with School of PE.

For civil afternoon practice tests, they have: http://ppi2pass.com/shop/fe-eit-exam/fe-eit-exam-review-materials/civil-discipline-specific-review-for-the-fe-eit-exam-dsce3.html

PPI also has products for the CBT: http://feprep.com

This may also be helpful when it's launched: http://ppi2pass.com/fe-civil-cbt-pre-launch-special.html

I hope this helps. Good luck on the test.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the links, I'll take a look into it.

So School of PE was more of a review only, they didn't give you practice exams?

check out ncees.org for the CBT section. They put out study material for the new test format.

cbr3544 said:

Thanks for the links, I'll take a look into it.

So School of PE was more of a review only, they didn't give you practice exams?

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What I meant was, the level of my preparation prior to taking the School of PE class was already high and the School of PE class helped me review all the topics. I found the review class helped "bring it all together." (I hope that makes sense)

School of PE did not offer a practice exams during the session I took. They did have LOTS of practice problems.The instructors would work some example problems then give us 30 - 45 minutes to complete some problems on our own. I also reworked each problem the week after each session. When I had questions, all the instructors were available via e-mail to help me out. All the instructors were very responsive.

It does cost a lot of money, but I considered it an investment. Now that I passed my EIT, I can expect a small raise at work and see a return on my investment.

snickerd3 said:

check out ncees.org for the CBT section. They put out study material for the new test format.

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https://account.ncees.org/exam-prep/store/category/FE/product/fe-civil-practice-exam-1

I have been out of school for 4 years so I took the School of PE review class, cost about $1k but my company paid for it. I know Kaplan has a cheaper online course. I bought the Lindenburg book and the NCEEs practice exam civil version for extra problems.

IMO this was a good base of information to study with. The key is dedicating your time and doing a lot of FE style problems.

cbr3544 said:

bubu1234 said:

It's not that bad of a test. I took civil afternoon and only studied for three days and passed. I had to guess on circuits, thermo, heat transfer, chemistry, and some of the construction engineering questions in the afternoon. I found out I passed today. The new test should be easier. You sound like you are well prepared.

Click to expand...

I've been 5+ years out of school now. How long ago did you graduate?

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I graduate in May 2014. The Information is still fesh on my mind.

matt267 said:

cbr3544 said:

Thanks for the links, I'll take a look into it.

So School of PE was more of a review only, they didn't give you practice exams?

Click to expand...

What I meant was, the level of my preparation prior to taking the School of PE class was already high and the School of PE class helped me review all the topics. I found the review class helped "bring it all together." (I hope that makes sense)

School of PE did not offer a practice exams during the session I took. They did have LOTS of practice problems.The instructors would work some example problems then give us 30 - 45 minutes to complete some problems on our own. I also reworked each problem the week after each session. When I had questions, all the instructors were available via e-mail to help me out. All the instructors were very responsive.

It does cost a lot of money, but I considered it an investment. Now that I passed my EIT, I can expect a small raise at work and see a return on my investment.

Click to expand...

Yeah, got it.

Aren't PPIs practice exams harder then the actual exam? Or al teast that's what I've read?

cbr3544 said:

Yeah, got it.

Aren't PPIs practice exams harder then the actual exam? Or al teast that's what I've read?

Click to expand...

Yeah, PPI's tests were a little harder for me for the Other Discipline. But it was good practice. NCEES also has practice tests.

matt267 said:

cbr3544 said:

Yeah, got it.

Aren't PPIs practice exams harder then the actual exam? Or al teast that's what I've read?

Click to expand...

Yeah, PPI's tests were a little harder for me for the Other Discipline. But it was good practice. NCEES also has practice tests.

Click to expand...

I guess that's my only option right now. I will start taking practice exams next week when PPI releases their material and practice exams for the new format. Since they're harder, I just hope they deceive me into thinking I have to study more than I need to.