Question: EIT

[xps]

I'll start my review this coming January 2011 for FE exam. Still busy preparing for LEED AP examination for end of December 2010.

I registered for April 2011 examination, so basically I only have 3months to review for FE (General in PM).

I'm planning for at least 4hours a day to review. Base on your experience, 3months is enough?

I only have FE Review Manual (3rd Ed.) by Lindeburg and Supplied-Reference Handbook from NCEES. Anymore suggestion? Online study course maybe?

Also if I paid for April examination, then suddenly I re-schedule my exam by October 2011 - do I need to pay for October exam fee again?

Thanks in advance.

 

[FusionWhite]

I took the general afternoon and (I hope this doesnt scare you) I studied for about 9 months. I dont think that much time is required, but I had to essentially teach myself several of the topics from scratch. Im a ChE and I had only a very loose grasp on topics like dynamics and statics and I spent a big portion of my time learning these topics.

If you are taking the general afternoon the time you need to study really comes down to how well you know the various topics. If you have a good handle on most of them then yes, 3 months should be enough if you put in the time. If your learning several topics that you've never seen before you may have some problems.

My one piece of advice for the general afternoon session is to really really really know the mathematics stuff. I was never very good in calculus and spent a lot of time brushing up on the math and these were relatively easy IF you have prepared for it. Unless your some calculus genius I doubt most people could have gone in and knocked out the afternoon math problems cold.

 

[snickerd3]

how long out of school are you?

 

[xps]

how long out of school are you?

Graduated 1995, BSME

 

[xps]

How about the study materials that I have right now, I can use that too for PM exam or there's another materials that I need?

Thanks!

 

[MadDawg]

How about the study materials that I have right now, I can use that too for PM exam or there's another materials that I need?Thanks!

I took the afternoon general on the FE and all I used to study was the Lindeburg FE book. As long as you're familiar with the NCEES supplied reference and you put in a decent amount of study time (I think 4 hrs/day for 3 months is probably more than enough) you'll do fine.

 

[eedave]

How about the study materials that I have right now, I can use that too for PM exam or there's another materials that I need?Thanks!

I took the afternoon general on the FE and all I used to study was the Lindeburg FE book. As long as you're familiar with the NCEES supplied reference and you put in a decent amount of study time (I think 4 hrs/day for 3 months is probably more than enough) you'll do fine.

I took the EIT five year out of school. I averaged 15 hours/week of studying (brushing off the cobwebs) for three months. Know the supplied reference manual well. Use other resources, such as Lindeburg, to give examples and to work problems, but the supplied reference manual is your guide. I cannot emphasize this enough.

Another great piece of advice I was given, when you receive the manual on exam day, open to each section and crease the binding. This makes skipping from section to section much easier and by this time you should be comfortable enough to skip straight to the section you need and to find the necessary equation.

May I ask why you are taking the FE and LEED? Are you making a career change to the HVAC World?

 

[smc44]

I'll start my review this coming January 2011 for FE exam. Still busy preparing for LEED AP examination for end of December 2010.
I registered for April 2011 examination, so basically I only have 3months to review for FE (General in PM).

I'm planning for at least 4hours a day to review. Base on your experience, 3months is enough?

I only have FE Review Manual (3rd Ed.) by Lindeburg and Supplied-Reference Handbook from NCEES. Anymore suggestion? Online study course maybe?

Also if I paid for April examination, then suddenly I re-schedule my exam by October 2011 - do I need to pay for October exam fee again?

Thanks in advance.

As others have mentioned, make sure you know the supplied reference manual inside and out. Also decide on a calculator and learn everything you can do with it. A lot of the questions on the exam are a matter of looking up a formula and then applying it, so it helps if you can do this fast. Finally, make sure you're familiar with all the topics.

 

[smc44]

How about the study materials that I have right now, I can use that too for PM exam or there's another materials that I need?Thanks!

Yeah, if you are taking the general in the afternoon, then the Lindenburg text is sufficient. I found the afternoon section was easier than the morning, but that might have had something to do with nerves and settling into a groove. Do as many practice problems as you can.

 

[xps]

May I ask why you are taking the FE and LEED? Are you making a career change to the HVAC World?

I want to go back to my field of expertise - HVAC, with FE and LEED AP certificate to back up my 10years of HVAC experience so that I will be ready once the economy improve (hopefully by end of 2011).

 

[jv21]

Speed is key. (and units... they love to screw you on units :bananadoggywow: )

The problems are not unsolvable..... There just isn't much time to solve them. Speed drill, speed drill, speed drill.... Really familiarize yourself with the equations book and index, equations in the book tend not to be in the most logical of order.

Get a bank of practice problems, randomly pull out 20 at a time, set your stop watch and go at it.... then score it, and figure out what slowed you you down... was it the material or the ability to find the right equation.

rinse - lather - repeat

 

[Callan74]

Speed is key. (and units... they love to screw you on units :bananadoggywow: )
The problems are not unsolvable..... There just isn't much time to solve them. Speed drill, speed drill, speed drill.... Really familiarize yourself with the equations book and index, equations in the book tend not to be in the most logical of order.

Get a bank of practice problems, randomly pull out 20 at a time, set your stop watch and go at it.... then score it, and figure out what slowed you you down... was it the material or the ability to find the right equation.

rinse - lather - repeat

Agreed..I would say for the FE...knowing supplied reference book is just as valuable as knowing material.. I tell my engineers taking FE to know book inside and out... U will be surprised what answers are spelled out verbatim.

 

[St_Kentucky]

3 months will be plenty of time to study for the FE. Do lots of practice problems, know the NCEES reference, and be familiar with your calculator. The most helpful thing for me for the FE was to take a practice test a couple of weeks before the exam. I did the AM session one day and the PM the next, but if you can give up an entire day to take a practice test it would be better to do both sessions in one day. I locked myself in a quiet room, timed the 4 hour window, and used nothing but my calculator, pencil, and NCEES reference. I believe doing this helped to calm my nerves during the actual test.

 

[marsuconn]

I'll start my review this coming January 2011 for FE exam. Still busy preparing for LEED AP examination for end of December 2010.
I registered for April 2011 examination, so basically I only have 3months to review for FE (General in PM).

I'm planning for at least 4hours a day to review. Base on your experience, 3months is enough?

I only have FE Review Manual (3rd Ed.) by Lindeburg and Supplied-Reference Handbook from NCEES. Anymore suggestion? Online study course maybe?

Also if I paid for April examination, then suddenly I re-schedule my exam by October 2011 - do I need to pay for October exam fee again?

Thanks in advance.

The online practice tests by NCEES helped me a lot. I didnt find Linderburg's that helpful.

 

[xps]

I'll start my review this coming January 2011 for FE exam. Still busy preparing for LEED AP examination for end of December 2010.
I registered for April 2011 examination, so basically I only have 3months to review for FE (General in PM).

I'm planning for at least 4hours a day to review. Base on your experience, 3months is enough?

I only have FE Review Manual (3rd Ed.) by Lindeburg and Supplied-Reference Handbook from NCEES. Anymore suggestion? Online study course maybe?

Also if I paid for April examination, then suddenly I re-schedule my exam by October 2011 - do I need to pay for October exam fee again?

Thanks in advance.

The online practice tests by NCEES helped me a lot. I didnt find Linderburg's that helpful.

Anybody use the online practice test by NCEES? How is it compare to Linderburgh's review materials?

I don't have problem using NCEEs practice test first just to maximize my time.

 

[gt2004]

I was 5 years out of school and did my discipline specific (chemical) in the afternoon. I procrastinated too long, so all I left time for was to study the handbook and familiarize myself with it before the test. I was surprised I passed, but I made sure to focus on questions I knew how to do in the morning and not worry about things like the electrical problems that were outside my area. I didn't think the discipline specific part was too bad. Five years removed from school most of it was still fresh and I had plenty of time.

 

[Jordan S]

I was 9 years out of school and when studying on my own, I felt overwhelmed at the amount of information I needed to relearn. I put off taking the exam twice. I finally took it this October (and passed)...but I would not have passed if I hadn't taken an online course for it. Mine was through the Minnesota Society of Professional Engineers (though I'm an Ohio guy...Ohio did this course in conjunction with MN). Three hour sessions twice a week, plus some homework. I didn't even do everything...I slacked a lot on the homework and problems, but just listening to all the classes and observing the sample problems and having knowledgeable instructors helped SO much. I went in feeling unprepared but walked out moderately confident. Without the class, I'd have been sunk. With the class, well, I obviously did just fine. I took the General in the afternoon as I did not want to dedicate just as much time to relearning the electrical stuff that I don't use in my job. I'm a consulting engineer who primarily designs lighting, power systems and fire alarm systems, so not a whole lot of the core electrical coursework is used by me on a daily basis...it's much more code knowledge and practical application of design principles, so if I had to relearn all the EE stuff, it would have taken twice as long (though the refreshing probably would have come easier).

Three months should be fine if you either study a lot and do a lot of problems, or take a course to help refresh (or teach new) information you've either forgotten, has changed, or have never learned.

 

[marsuconn]

I'll start my review this coming January 2011 for FE exam. Still busy preparing for LEED AP examination for end of December 2010.
I registered for April 2011 examination, so basically I only have 3months to review for FE (General in PM).

I'm planning for at least 4hours a day to review. Base on your experience, 3months is enough?

I only have FE Review Manual (3rd Ed.) by Lindeburg and Supplied-Reference Handbook from NCEES. Anymore suggestion? Online study course maybe?

Also if I paid for April examination, then suddenly I re-schedule my exam by October 2011 - do I need to pay for October exam fee again?

Thanks in advance.

The online practice tests by NCEES helped me a lot. I didnt find Linderburg's that helpful.

Anybody use the online practice test by NCEES? How is it compare to Linderburgh's review materials?

I don't have problem using NCEEs practice test first just to maximize my time.

I did and they were really helpful. You will get real exam like questions there.

 

[raycpe]

I took the testmasters course. It help a lot, but I have been out of school for about 7 years, so it was a good review for me.

 

[cpp11]

I'll start my review this coming January 2011 for FE exam. Still busy preparing for LEED AP examination for end of December 2010.
I registered for April 2011 examination, so basically I only have 3months to review for FE (General in PM).

I'm planning for at least 4hours a day to review. Base on your experience, 3months is enough?

I only have FE Review Manual (3rd Ed.) by Lindeburg and Supplied-Reference Handbook from NCEES. Anymore suggestion? Online study course maybe?

Also if I paid for April examination, then suddenly I re-schedule my exam by October 2011 - do I need to pay for October exam fee again?

Thanks in advance.

I studied for exactly one day.

Take that as you may.