# Trouble to pass FE electrical Exam



## pigking8190 (Dec 2, 2015)

Hi guys, 

I just got the result for my 3rd attempt of FE electrical Exam after I got out college in 2014 and I failed again. The way I prepared is studied the newest FE electrical Exam from PPI and their additional practice exam. During test, I felt confidence about it, but it turned out that I still failed.

In addition, the attached is my diagnostic, am I close to pass or something, just wondering the grading system. 

Is there anyone can recommend the strategy to study more efficiency ? Or should I take review course that will be beneficial since I really want get it done soon. which review online course is good ? I have been looking PPI or school of PE ? Please give me any advice about it, and I am so frustrating.

Thanks !!!!     

View attachment 2015_C10_11_Examinee_Diagnostic_852265_1452143_565cae33be4fa.pdf


----------



## knight1fox3 (Dec 2, 2015)

I just briefly glanced at your diagnostic report and you are below average in quite a few areas.  I see your discipline is electrical but I'm not sure what specific field you are in.  However, as a fellow electrical, I can tell you the FE electrical specific exam is VERY difficult.  Primarily because for undergrad studies, some of those areas aren't even covered depending on which electrical track might be offered.  For me I primarily studied power &amp; controls.  But ultimately that really just skimmed the surface.  There is so much more to electrical engineering which makes a comprehensive exam like this so difficult in my opinion.  I also started out taking the FE electrical exam but quickly decided to switch to the FE general exam.  Because that covered a wide array of topics that were actually covered in my general eds (i.e. chemistry, statics, calculus, physics, etc.).  The chances for exposure to the various topics were far greater based on my undergrad program.  Just some things for you to consider.  Good luck!


----------



## glockjacket P.E. (Dec 2, 2015)

knight1fox3 said:


> I just briefly glanced at your diagnostic report and you are below average in quite a few areas.  I see your discipline is electrical but I'm not sure what specific field you are in.  However, as a fellow electrical, I can tell you the FE electrical specific exam is VERY difficult.  Primarily because for undergrad studies, some of those areas aren't even covered depending on which electrical track might be offered.  For me I primarily studied power &amp; controls.  But ultimately that really just skimmed the surface.  There is so much more to electrical engineering which makes a comprehensive exam like this so difficult in my opinion.  I also started out taking the FE electrical exam but quickly decided to switch to the FE general exam.  Because that covered a wide array of topics that were actually covered in my general eds (i.e. chemistry, statics, calculus, physics, etc.).  The chances for exposure to the various topics were far greater based on my undergrad program.  Just some things for you to consider.  Good luck!


The only problem might be is he did better on the electrical part than the general stuff according to my read of his [COLOR= rgb(39, 42, 52)]diagnostic, still not great but better, that being said I had a lot of friends take that advice and pass[/COLOR]


----------



## pigking8190 (Dec 2, 2015)

glockjacket said:


> The only problem might be is he did better on the electrical part than the general stuff according to my read of his diagnostic, still not great but better, that being said I had a lot of friends take that advice and pass


But I am wondering if you got EIT for general, is it going be a issue when u taking PE electrical ? and also in the job, some place are require EIT,  will it have issue that your licence are for general and not electrical ? 

Thanks guys


----------



## knight1fox3 (Dec 2, 2015)

pigking8190 said:


> But I am wondering if you got EIT for general, is it going be a issue when u taking PE electrical ? and also in the job, some place are require EIT,  will it have issue that your licence are for general and not electrical ?
> 
> Thanks guys


Some of the knowledge you will use on the PE will be gained from your on the job work experience.  Other areas you will have to supplement by studying on your own.  You will see some basic EE fundamental concepts, however, they will not be directly linked to the content of the FE exam.  

EIT and PE are not indicative of which discipline you elected to take.


----------



## Ken PE 3.1 (Dec 2, 2015)

knight1fox3 said:


> > 30 minutes ago, pigking8190 said:
> >
> > But I am wondering if you got EIT for general, is it going be a issue when u taking PE electrical ? and also in the job, some place are require EIT,  will it have issue that your licence are for general and not electrical ?
> >
> ...


+1000.

The FE and PE have near nothing in common as far as I am concerned, granted I took the pencil FE exam.

Some people just don't do well on high pressure exams, myself being one of those.


----------



## Kovz (Dec 3, 2015)

Pigking, don't give up.  I struggled passing the FE electrical as well.  Finally got it on my 4th try.  But hey, I passed the PE on my first attempt.  I figured out how to study on my own and what worked for me. 

A review course for the FE did not help in my case.  It was 3 years post-graduation and I actually did worse than the first time I took the exam my senior year.  Fast forward to 6 years post-grad, when the exam became CBT, I studied my butt off for 6 months, and failed... then another 2 months worth of studying and finally passed.  Timing and becoming faster was my biggest focus between the 3rd and 4th attempts. 

I think it may be worthwhile hiring a tutor for the Math section.  That is one area that has a lot of weight on the exam.  If you get the math down and ace that section, it should help improve your math skills for the other sections as well.  I went on Craigslist and found a math tutor from a local university and studied with him once a week.  It was very helpful. 

How much study time did you have in preparing for this exam?    Ultimately, I think you need to dig down and find your motivation to push yourself hard.  Put in the time and make it your number one priority.  You can and will do this.


----------



## pigking8190 (Dec 3, 2015)

Kovz said:


> Pigking, don't give up.  I struggled passing the FE electrical as well.  Finally got it on my 4th try.  But hey, I passed the PE on my first attempt.  I figured out how to study on my own and what worked for me.
> 
> A review course for the FE did not help in my case.  It was 3 years post-graduation and I actually did worse than the first time I took the exam my senior year.  Fast forward to 6 years post-grad, when the exam became CBT, I studied my butt off for 6 months, and failed... then another 2 months worth of studying and finally passed.  Timing and becoming faster was my biggest focus between the 3rd and 4th attempts.
> 
> ...


Hi Kovz, 

I usually spend around an hour per day and 2-3 hour in weekend for about 3 month, and I studied review manual from PPI. But their manual doesn't have enough practice problem. so I bough the additional exam from them.

 What material and your strategy to prepare exam ?


----------



## surge82 (Dec 3, 2015)

I used the Kaplan study guide and did ever problem in the book. Followed by the practice ncees test. I passed but I have a good background in math and theory. I think you need to focus on theory and not reciting problems. When I took the test there was often times I didn't have equations in the study guide and I derived them myself. Also there were few problems similar to the problems in the book. Also if you don't understand something look it up to get familiarity it. Also if there are sections you didn't study just skip them and focus more on the electrical stuff. Good luck just don't give up.


----------



## surge82 (Dec 3, 2015)

Also you may need to study more. I studied for about 2 months about 2-3 hours a day. And pretty much all day on the weekends. It sucked but I needed to pass to take the PE this October.


----------



## Kovz (Dec 4, 2015)

pigking8190 said:


> Hi Kovz,
> 
> I usually spend around an hour per day and 2-3 hour in weekend for about 3 month, and I studied review manual from PPI. But their manual doesn't have enough practice problem. so I bough the additional exam from them.
> 
> What material and your strategy to prepare exam ?


I also studied the PPI review manual.  This was the 2nd edition by Lindeburg.  It was a little older and formatted for the paper and pencil exam, but still sufficed for learning the material on the CBT exam.  I also had two other PPI practice books:

Electrical - Discipline-Specific Review for the FE/EIT Exam (Second Edition) by Rober B. Angus, PE, John E. Hajjar, Abdulrahman Yassine, with Michael R. Lindeburg, PE.

FE Exam Review - Electrical and Computer Engineering by Myron E. Sveum, PE

My strategy was doing as many practice problems as I could.  Several rounds of each chapter/section.  I didn't care much for reading the chapters.  I would just try working the practice problems and looking at the solutions to figure out how to solve that type of problem.  If I still didn't understand it, I would try to look it up online or Youtube.  I found this user very helpful: https://www.youtube.com/user/raiyaenergy/playlists  

I probably worked the practice problems in each chapter about 5 times each.  Repetitiveness was the key to my success. 

I think your studying strategy is ok.  Of course more hours may help.  But I wouldn't register again for the exam until you build up your confidence again and feel prepared to ace it.  That may be another 3 months of studying, or maybe 6 months worth.  But like I said, focus on the Math.  It will help overall in a lot of the other section.


----------



## My precious (Dec 9, 2015)

pigking you need to get the newest Lindeburg EE/Computer book. That is the one I used. What is happening is that you are cramming too much information in your brain close to testing time. These six hour test is like a marathon. Yes it is preparation but like in sports, over training is detrimental. If I were you I would schedule another exam as soon as possible. Review hard 3 weeks out and on the last week just focus on the topics that are hard for you. Last 2 days kind a chill out and relax, Need to exercise , walk ,run and relax. Passed the exam yesterday and I am 50+ years old and had been out of school for 25 years. My curriculum back then are just the basics and I have to re-learn most of the concepts.


----------



## My precious (Dec 9, 2015)

Study all the Topics because easy or hard they all equate to ONE POINT. During the exam skip the hard ones, tackle the easy ones for WARM ups then you earn as much easy points you can get. AS you get your rhythm, you can go back to the more complicated ones and you will be surprise that it will all come back. BUDGET your time because you need to answer all the first 55 questions before the CBT gives you a break. First half is easy, second half is more complicated. During the second half, get the EASY ones and there are some questions that you might not be able to get the answer, just guess, eliminate the 2 obvious wrong answer and you lower the risk to 50%. GOOD LUCK, it is EASy if you pass it but it is HARD when you fail it. ALSO take your time solving the problem, you have enough time  for all of them the KEY is to EARN them POINTS. Just guess at the last 5 minutes of each SESSION, the first and the second half.


----------



## My precious (Dec 9, 2015)

GOOD LUCK to all, finally pass this one. Happy holidays!


----------



## TWJ PE (Dec 20, 2015)

I agree with everyone here... don't give up!

A key to pass is you have to get the lay-up questions (i.e Math, ethics, econ, and prob &amp; stats). Make sure you can use your calculator to it's fullest (it will save you time). Practice, practice, practice...

In my experience, I felt like I whipped the first section; however, I feel like the second session whipped me.

I used School of PE and all the practice problems I could find with a google search. Hang in there and good luck!


----------



## ssanshi (Jun 21, 2017)

Kovz said:


> Pigking, don't give up.  I struggled passing the FE electrical as well.  Finally got it on my 4th try.  But hey, I passed the PE on my first attempt.  I figured out how to study on my own and what worked for me.
> 
> A review course for the FE did not help in my case.  It was 3 years post-graduation and I actually did worse than the first time I took the exam my senior year.  Fast forward to 6 years post-grad, when the exam became CBT, I studied my butt off for 6 months, and failed... then another 2 months worth of studying and finally passed.  Timing and becoming faster was my biggest focus between the 3rd and 4th attempts.
> 
> ...


I have taken the FE: electrical 3 times.. and failed.. and now they are changing the format of the exam to AIT.. which I am bit nervous about it..

Most of the time I got stuck with the timing.. I was able to solve the questions, but ended up using time in the morning section and ended up being short on time during the afternoon section..

And mostly, now I don't know what to study anymore.. since they have broad areas asking questions 

AIT format NCEES saying its multiple answers with draw and drag.. 

Would you mind give any of your advice on this exam?

Please PM me if you have any references or materials ..


----------



## TWJ PE (Jun 21, 2017)

ssanshi said:


> I have taken the FE: electrical 3 times.. and failed.. and now they are changing the format of the exam to AIT.. which I am bit nervous about it..
> 
> Most of the time I got stuck with the timing.. I was able to solve the questions, but ended up using time in the morning section and ended up being short on time during the afternoon section..
> 
> ...


Post a copy of your diagnostic report.


----------



## squarepegs (Jan 28, 2018)

Some free problems, with more to come weekly-ish: https://www.sqrpgz.com/c/credentialing-FE


----------



## Arvinder (Oct 4, 2022)

Kovz said:


> Pigking, don't give up. I struggled passing the FE electrical as well. Finally got it on my 4th try. But hey, I passed the PE on my first attempt. I figured out how to study on my own and what worked for me.
> 
> A review course for the FE did not help in my case. It was 3 years post-graduation and I actually did worse than the first time I took the exam my senior year. Fast forward to 6 years post-grad, when the exam became CBT, I studied my butt off for 6 months, and failed... then another 2 months worth of studying and finally passed. Timing and becoming faster was my biggest focus between the 3rd and 4th attempts.
> 
> ...


Hey.. How you did the study, what study material do you prefer ? could you please share your experience ?


----------

