Clemson University FE exam review course

[pstone]

I am preparing to take the FE exam in April 2009 in South Carolina. I recently attended a review course that was offered at Clemson University. A lot of the professors that taught the course actually helped write the exam. I was wondering if anyone else on here had taken this course. I believe most Clemson engineering students attend this review and I remember seeing some one on here with the tiger paw as their picture. If anyone can help, thanks in advance!

 

[chaosiscash]

I took the FE review, years ago. I thought it helped, if nothing else it gets you familiar with the equations book and type of questions you'll see. Of course, that was 6 years or so ago.

The nice thing about Clemson's review course is, as you said, most of the engineering professors there moonlight for NCEES, since their headquarters is right across the lake. I doubt you'll find a review course taught by people that know more about the exam. I have always heard that Clemson students tend to have pretty good passing rates on the FE, and that is generally attributed to the emphasis placed on registration by the professors there.

Clemson also used to teach a PE review course. I'm not sure if they still do, and I never took it, as I was no longer in the area when I took the PE.

 

[Chucktown PE]

I also took the review class. I think I took the FE in 2001 or 2002 and I do remember that the FE was a breeze after taking that review class. I don't think I studied at all other than the class and ended up with a score in the low 90s.

 

[pstone]

I took the FE review, years ago. I thought it helped, if nothing else it gets you familiar with the equations book and type of questions you'll see. Of course, that was 6 years or so ago.
The nice thing about Clemson's review course is, as you said, most of the engineering professors there moonlight for NCEES, since their headquarters is right across the lake. I doubt you'll find a review course taught by people that know more about the exam. I have always heard that Clemson students tend to have pretty good passing rates on the FE, and that is generally attributed to the emphasis placed on registration by the professors there.

Clemson also used to teach a PE review course. I'm not sure if they still do, and I never took it, as I was no longer in the area when I took the PE.

Cool. I work with a PE who got his EE degree from Clemson. He took the PE review courses that were offered for EE. So I have all the review notes and examples to study from once I'm eligible to take the PE exam. He took it a couple of times before attending the review courses. He said that after he took those courses the test was a breeze.

Anyways, I am just now starting to study hard and was just trying to get a feel for where to start. I'm just trying to get some advice from someone who has taken the review course and passed the exam. The course was one night a week for nine weeks. Each night was a different subject that hit all the major engineering topics. The topics were statics, dynamics, thermo, electrical, and so on. Each course spent three hours solving example problems, most of which were said to have been on previous exams. There was also a set of notes for each topic.

My plan is to work through the problems and try to reverse engineer the theory used to solve the problem. That way hopefully I will know how to apply the theory in case the problem is different. I'm also going to locate the formulas in the reference handbook to become familiar with it and make sure the equations are represented the same way.

Having taken the review course and passed the exam, is that the approach you would take? Do you think that would be sufficient for the test?

 

[chaosiscash]

Having taken the review course and passed the exam, is that the approach you would take? Do you think that would be sufficient for the test?

I would think that would be a good way to study. Working problems was always the best way for me to prepare.

Good luck.

 

[Mike in Gastonia]

A lot of the professors that taught the course actually helped write the exam.

I gotta call BS on this. As secretive and anal as NCEES is about security, do you really think they'd allow people that teach review courses to write exam questions? I think if these professors said that, they're just blowing smoke.....

 

[Chucktown PE]

I gotta call BS on this. As secretive and anal as NCEES is about security, do you really think they'd allow people that teach review courses to write exam questions? I think if these professors said that, they're just blowing smoke.....

They're definitely not blowing smoke. They aren't writing the exact questions but they give NCEES direction as to what content should be on the exam. I had 3 professors at Clemson who did work for NCEES in providing exam content.

 

[chaosiscash]

In fact, one of the biggest problems at Clemson is getting engineering professors to teach summer school classes. Professors at CU are on 9-month contracts, and generally very few want to teach over the summers because they can make more money going across the lake to NCEES and working for a couple of months.

 

[pstone]

I gotta call BS on this. As secretive and anal as NCEES is about security, do you really think they'd allow people that teach review courses to write exam questions? I think if these professors said that, they're just blowing smoke.....

Nope, definitely not BS. They may not currently be working for the NCEE but a lot of them did for years. I think they would have a pretty good idea of what kind of problems are on the test. It’s not like they are telling you what’s on the test. Look up the address for the national office, Clemson, SC. Clemson is in the middle of NOWHERE! Definitely not a coincidence. I believe it’s the reason Clemson students have such a high pass rate. They would probably tell you different.

 

[pstone]

In fact, one of the biggest problems at Clemson is getting engineering professors to teach summer school classes. Professors at CU are on 9-month contracts, and generally very few want to teach over the summers because they can make more money going across the lake to NCEES and working for a couple of months.

I could see that happening. I bet they make a killing doing it too!

 

[JoeysVee]

Yeah the review course at Clemson was great. I passed the FE with flying colors. I really wish they offered a PE review course...if they did I know I could pass the damn thing. Seems like they used to do a PE review course in Greenville....I bet the pass rate was very high for the people tht took it.