# Industrial vs. Mechanical



## folky15 (Jan 22, 2011)

Was hoping you guys could help me decide which exam to take.....

My undergraduate degree is in Mechanical Engineering, but my 5 years of work experience has been closer to what I'd consider Industrial Engineering.

Is the Industrial exam reputed to be any easier than the Mechanical?? I'll be taking the exam in Illinois, so I'll have to deal with all of the restrictions that limit the reference materials that I can use during the exam. Of course, the Industrial exam is only offered in the fall, but I guess I'm primarily interested in learning your opinions regarding the difficulty level of Industrial vs. Mechanical.


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## industrial (Jan 22, 2011)

I took Industrial this fall and passed in first attempt. The numerical problems were straightforward but it was theoretical questions that kept me wondering if I had chosen the right answers.

I don't know how tough mechanical was? The mechanical guy few seats from me had a suitcase full of books in exam room. I used only PE review by Lindeburg (thin book with 300 pages). But it is a kind of solution manual which makes me wonder if IL would allow it? I studied whole year before I took this exam.

Best of luck for your future endeavors.


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## RobertR (Jan 23, 2011)

The NCEES web site would tell you the pass rates for Industrial and Mechanical. That would give you an idea.


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## NorCalEng (Jan 26, 2011)

folky15 said:


> Was hoping you guys could help me decide which exam to take.....
> My undergraduate degree is in Mechanical Engineering, but my 5 years of work experience has been closer to what I'd consider Industrial Engineering.
> 
> Is the Industrial exam reputed to be any easier than the Mechanical?? I'll be taking the exam in Illinois, so I'll have to deal with all of the restrictions that limit the reference materials that I can use during the exam. Of course, the Industrial exam is only offered in the fall, but I guess I'm primarily interested in learning your opinions regarding the difficulty level of Industrial vs. Mechanical.




Get both licenses!


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## chaocl (Jan 26, 2011)

In job wide that Mechanical has more job offering and Industrial has less. One of my firend said that he had no idea that his college life in mechanical (he got low GPA) but until his PE that he pick up industrial really quick and passed the forst time(He passed the FE the thrid times). (According to him that the industrial is easy than the mechanical in prepare the exam)


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