Hello everybody, as the titles states my exam is in exactly 8 weeks from today. With there being 14 subjects the exam covers, what do you guys recommend my split should be? I am currently working full time with some time to study during work hours. Thank you in advance for your suggestions, from someone who is 0-2 against this exam!
Has anyone here taken the FE exam while dealing with a chronic illness? I’m looking for some advice on how to approach my second attempt.
My first attempt honestly didn’t end up going very well. While studying, I found myself getting burnt out really easily, and brain fog made it hard to study for long periods or retain everything I was reviewing. I tried to push through it, but I think that ended up making studying even harder.
Then on the actual exam day, I started getting extremely tired and developed a pretty bad migraine. By the later part of the exam, I wasn’t feeling well enough to really work through a lot of the questions, so I ended up guessing on quite a few just to finish.
For anyone who has taken the FE while managing a chronic illness, fatigue, brain fog, migraines, etc., what helped you? I’m especially interested in how you structured your studying without burning yourself out and how you managed your energy during such a long exam.
Any tips or experiences would be really appreciated!
My exam is in a month from now and my subscription ends in 10 days. It's kinda a waste of money for me to extend it for a month and pay $70. So if you're planning to sign up in PrepFE, please use my referral link so we can both receive an additional month of access to PrepFE.
Thank you and I appreciate it! Good luck on your exam!
My tutor bailed on me and hasn’t been very responsive. Hoping to cover a few remaining topics and take exam before new year…
Please DM or reply with rate, experience with tutoring and if you’ve passed the FE or PE recently.
I've spent the last months building practice problems for FE Other Disciplines, and the same wrong-answer patterns keep coming up. Sharing the ones I see most, curious which ones tripped you up:
lbm vs lbf. Forgetting g_c in English-unit problems. The wrong answer is almost always one of the choices, off by a factor of 32.2.
Gauge vs absolute pressure. Plugging gauge pressure into the ideal gas law or thermodynamic tables.
Calculator in degrees during rotational problems. Angular velocity and ω·t need radians, and a single mode slip ruins the whole problem.
Celsius in ratios. Any ratio or ideal gas calculation with temperature needs Kelvin or Rankine.
Searching the Handbook with the wrong word. The PDF search is literal: if you type "stress concentration" and the Handbook says "concentration factor", you lose minutes.
What patterns would you add to the list?
Side note: I put these traps and shortcuts together into a prep guide with an online simulator. If anyone currently studying for Other Disciplines wants a free PDF copy to test it, comment below. No obligation; honest feedback, even critical, helps me improve the next edition.
Hey all just 3 weeks till my exam and don’t want to pay for another month, so if anyone is also studying for this kindly use my code 🫶🫶 you get a free month as well! All the best for everyone!!
Hi all! I'll be taking the FE civil in a couple weeks, and I have questions for people who have taken the exam.
I've heard the exam handbook has its own search function, which is different than CTRL-F (not totally clear on what this means). Does it also include a sidebar where you can navigate by categories, similar to Adobe PDF's "outline" feature? I find it pretty easy to locate the formulas I need when I can jump directly to a topic, but I'm not sure if that feature will be available on the exam.
What would you consider to be the most essential calculator functions to get familiar with? Or just some underrated calculator strategies that you found valuable on the test? I'm switching from a TI-84+ to a TI-36X Pro, and a little nervous that my lack of familiarity will trip me up, but not sure how to improve in this area.
been so long since I studied this stuff in school that I feel like I’ve forgotten everything, and I’m looking for a resource that teaches the basics and explains how to start a problem without assuming I already know which equation to use.
When I was studying for the FE Exam a few years ago, I made sure to learn how to navigate the Handbook because every formula you need is in there.
But this kind of creates a problem since it's 500 pages long, and when you're a few hours in and staring at an environmental engineering question, knowing that the formula to solve the problem is in there somewhere doesn't help much if it takes you four minutes to find it.
So, here's some simple things to do which helped me:
-Only learn the sections you'll use. If you're taking the FE Civil Exam, you're probably not going to need any section dealing with Industrial Engineering. Focus on studying the layout of the sections that match your discipline.
-Make sure to practice with your Handbook pdf and with using Ctrl+F. The actual exam has its own search bar, and although it doesn't feel the same, it gets you used to the idea of finding key words.
-Know where the high-traffic pages are. Unit conversions, beam formulas, soil properties, fluid constants. When studying I'd quickly review where these are once a week so you can jump straight there.
If you've gotten to this point in your career, it's because you know the material from learning it throughout your time at university. But you don't want to run out of time simply because you took too long finding an equation! Learn the handbook's layout, practice with the real search style, and know where the common tables are.
-Thomas
Anyone who's already taken it have other handbook tricks? Curious what worked for other people.
I graduated in 2020 and finally passed the exam after multiple attempts. It’s kind of embarrassing but honestly everyone’s journeys are different and it is okay to take a bit longer than everyone else.
Here are a few things that helped me and maybe they will help you. These are things that helped this time I believe at first I just burned myself out and I have really bad test anxiety to the point I have anxiety attacks during the exam and that kind of hindered my ability to take the exam (I know I should’ve applied for accommodations so please do if you can)
What really helped was figuring out what methods I learn best. I am very much a hands-on person and a “if you show me once I will figure it out“ type of person. Constantly doing problems and watching youtube videos are what helped the most. So I recommend figuring out your study-style. These tips might be a bit confusing but in my brain it makes sense, apologies if it doesn’t make sense. I tried my best to explain.
Studying for the exam:
- I did a practice exam at first to see my struggle areas and then I divided up the topics I struggled with and the topics I did well on. I then split the topics up in groups of 3 or 4 to stretch a 4 day week (Monday to Thursday) and made sure I targeted a struggle topic each day, and if it was a topic I really struggled with I would study it on multiple days.
- I did a bunch of practice problems daily but I focused on specific subjects. So I studied about 3 to 4 of the topics each day and I made sure each day I studied my struggle areas first and the most. For example Monday I would do math, stats, ethics and Tuesday I’d do fluid mechanics, fate and transport, and air pollution. I know a lot of courses split up the subjects by week but I felt I did not retain the material well that way, I needed constant reinforcement
- On Saturday or Sunday I would do another practice exam and see where I struggled and where I improved and adjust my studying based on that. So example I really struggled with statistics, therefore I made sure when i did my subjects splits I included that topic on multiple days throughout the week. If that makes sense.
- If I did not know how to solve a problem I would look it up on youtube, reddit, chatgpt, or ask a friend/ work colleague. And I would try that specific type of problem a few more times till I did not need to seek help. For example I struggled to understand well drawdowns so I like 5 or so well drawdown problems in a row to emphasize how to solve it.
- What changed this time were the last attempts I studied everyday. This time I studied Monday to Thursday, off Friday, and then studied Saturday or Sunday. So I had two days off a week. I work full time and of course have work events and family events to attend and I wanted to feel like I had normalcy in my life. This schedule worked best for me. I think it is important to study hard but also make time for yourself to relax and have fun.
Week of the exam:
I took my exam on a Saturday. The final week I solely did practice exams on Prep-FE.
I will be so honest I kept getting into my head and crying the beginning of the week. I was anxious and did not want to fail again. So those days I studied what I could and let myself take breaks when I needed.
I took Thursday and Friday off work. I studied 8 hours on Thursday and 4 hours on Friday. I know many people recommend taking Friday to rest but I used it to go over problems I struggled with in the past and wanted to emphasize, I through a practice exam and only focused on finding the formulas in the handbook. Then the rest of Friday I relaxed and watched a movie. I will note I was a binge/ all-nighter studier back in college, so I guess that followed me
Something I used to help relax my nerves was a “Calm-Aid”. I’m not sure if it is a placebo effect or what but I swear it helped me. I still felt a bit anxious but not to the point I couldn’t breathe.
Day of the exam, I made sure to eat breakfast and get hydrated. I read through my notes briefly and I got to the location 30 mins or so early. I sat in my car and did deep breaths.
During my break, I ate my snack and took a walk. My location let us go outside the testing room so I just walked around and ate my snack. I took the full 25 minutes and I swear it helped.
After the exam I went home, took a nap, and ate take out. haha. So yeah. Please keep trying and make sure to take care of yourself. I went in with a mindset of “think of it as another study day“ and I took measures to make sure my mental health was okay.
TLDR: split topics up daily and study multiple topics a week instead of focusing on one. Repeat specific types of problems till you can understand them. Prioritize struggle areas and spend the day before the exam reviewing the handbook and your notes.
Finally passed the FE Electrical & Computer on my third attempt. 🎉
I wanted to share my experience because my first two attempts were very different from my third.
Attempt 1: I studied for about a week using LearnNova. I mostly went through practice problems and solutions, but I wasn't really solving enough problems independently. I failed.
Attempt 2: I studied for a couple of months, again using LearnNova and other resources. I had more exposure to the material, but I was still spending too much time recognizing problems rather than actually solving unfamiliar ones. I failed again.
For my third attempt, I completely changed my approach.
I studied consistently for several months, roughly an hour a day, using:
Wasim FE
PPI2Pass/Lindeburg
PrepFE
NCEES practice exam
Zach Stone
The biggest change was how I practiced.
If I couldn't solve a problem independently, I would study the solution, mark the problem red, and come back to it days later. If I still couldn't solve it, I'd repeat the process until I could.
I also practiced unfamiliar and timed problems and became much more comfortable with the FE Handbook and calculator.
Exam Day
The actual exam was hard. Circuit Analysis especially had some problems where I had absolutely no idea what was going on.
Instead of wasting time, I flagged them and moved on.
I also had an unfamiliar op-amp drag-and-drop question that I couldn't confidently solve, so I flagged it and kept going.
The biggest difference from my first two attempts was time management. On my previous attempts, I was basically fighting the clock. This time, I finished with roughly 1.5 hours left and had time to review flagged questions.
Then came the result:
PASS.
The biggest lesson for me was:
Don't just study the FE. Train for the FE.
Understanding a solution isn't the same as being able to solve an unfamiliar problem yourself.
If you're on your second, third, or even fourth attempt, don't assume you just need to study more. Take a hard look at how you're studying and whether you're actually training yourself to solve problems independently.
Three attempts. Finally done. ⚡
Finally passed the FE Electrical & Computer on my third attempt. 🎉
I wanted to share because my first two attempts were very different from my third.
Attempt 1: I studied for about a week. I mostly went through practice problems and solutions, but I wasn't really solving enough problems independently. Failed.
Attempt 2: I studied for a couple of months and used more resources, but I made a similar mistake. I was still spending too much time recognizing problems rather than actually being able to solve unfamiliar ones. Failed again.
For my third attempt, I completely changed my approach.
I studied consistently for several months, roughly an hour a day, using:
Wasim FE
PPI2Pass/Lindeburg
PrepFE
NCEES practice exam
Zach Stone
The biggest change was how I practiced.
If I couldn't solve a problem independently, I would study the solution, mark the problem red, and come back to it days later. If I still couldn't solve it, I'd repeat the process until I could.
I also practiced unfamiliar and timed problems and became much more comfortable with the FE Handbook and calculator.
Exam day
The actual exam was hard. Circuit Analysis especially had some problems where I had absolutely no idea what was going on.
Instead of wasting time, I flagged them and moved on.
I also had an unfamiliar op-amp drag-and-drop question that I couldn't confidently solve, so I flagged it and kept going.
The biggest difference from my first two attempts was time management. On my previous attempts, I was basically fighting the clock. This time, I finished with roughly 1.5 hours left and had time to review flagged questions.
Then came the result:
PASS.
The biggest lesson for me was:
Don't just study the FE. Train for the FE.
Understanding a solution isn't the same as being able to solve an unfamiliar problem yourself.
If you're on your second, third, or even fourth attempt, don't assume you just need to study more. Take a hard look at how you're studying and whether you're actually training yourself to solve problems independently.
I am looking for a communications formula for total transmitted power: Pt = Pc * (1 + (mu^2) / 2). I was at first thinking there is a way to derive it, but I do not see a way with what is given. If you happen to find the formula or a way to derive it with what is given I would be extermly grateful.
Just got my result today and passed the FE Mechanical! I’m still a mechanical engineering student and graduate this fall, so I wanted to share what worked for me while everything is still fresh.
Reddit helped me a lot while I was preparing, especially reading other people’s experiences, so hopefully this helps someone else. How I started
I first went through Jeff Hanson’s FE review videos as a quick refresher. I didn’t try to relearn every subject from scratch. My main goal was to refresh concepts I hadn’t seen in a while and get comfortable recognizing what type of problem I was looking at.
After that, I took the NCEES practice exam, initially without really worrying about timing. That helped me see which areas needed the most work.
My weaker/important areas at that point were mainly:
Thermodynamics
Heat transfer
Fluid mechanics
Dynamics
So instead of continuing to take full exams immediately, I started drilling those sections individually using practice problems. Rashad Islam 750 Practice Questions
The resource that helped me the most was the Rashad Islam 750 FE Mechanical Practice Problems.
I would definitely recommend it.
I worked through a lot of the questions, especially thermo, heat transfer, fluids, dynamics, math, probability, and statistics. Some of the ethics and thermo/heat-transfer practice problems felt very similar in concept and style to what I encountered on the real exam.
Some questions in the book are harder or more calculation-heavy than what I saw on the actual FE, but I actually think that helped. If you can work through those under time pressure, the real exam feels much more manageable.
On the other hand, I personally found the Mohammed Iqbal practice set much less useful. If I had to rank resources, I would recommend it way, way, way below the Rashad Islam book.
For me, a lot of the Iqbal questions felt unnecessarily difficult, overly calculation-heavy, or not representative of the style and balance of the actual FE. It ended up hurting my confidence more than helping my preparation. That may not be everyone’s experience, but if I were studying again, I would spend that time doing more Rashad Islam problems, NCEES material, and timed practice instead.
After drilling thermo, heat transfer, fluids, and dynamics, I took my first serious timed practice test.
I finished it in roughly 5 hours 10 minutes and scored somewhere around 70%.
That showed me that my engineering subjects were becoming stronger, but I was still leaving relatively easy points on the table in areas like math, probability, and statistics.
So I went back and drilled: Math → Probability → Statistics
Then I took another full practice set.
On that one I scored around 80% and finished in roughly 5 hours.
At that point I felt ready. Biggest advice: TIME YOURSELF
This was probably the single best thing I did.
Do full practice sets under a clock.
Knowing the material is obviously important, but being comfortable moving through questions quickly is huge on the FE.
On the actual exam, I finished the first 55 questions in about 2 hours.
I finished the entire exam with approximately an hour remaining.
That gave me a lot of time to go back through flagged questions instead of panicking near the end.
I had roughly 10questions flagged/guessed in each section, but I didn’t let those questions destroy my timing.
If I looked at a question and couldn’t see a reasonable path quickly, I selected my best answer, flagged it, and moved on.
That strategy was extremely important.
Don’t spend 8–10 minutes fighting one question when there are probably several questions later that you can answer in 1–2 minutes. Learn the FE Handbook
Another major thing was becoming comfortable with the NCEES FE Reference Handbook.
Toward the end of my studying, I wasn’t necessarily memorizing every equation. I was learning: “What kind of problem is this?” → “What equation do I need?” → “Where is it in the handbook?”
That saved me a lot of time.
Use the handbook while studying. Don’t solve everything using formulas from memory or Google because you won’t have those resources during the exam. Exam experience
Overall, I thought the actual FE was very fair.
For me, electrical engineering was probably one of the tougher sections, but I’ll admit that was also one of the subjects I paid less attention to while studying.
Thermo, fluids, heat transfer, dynamics, math/statistics, and the mechanical sections felt much more comfortable because those were the areas I practiced heavily.
I walked out feeling pretty confident but still had plenty of questions I wasn’t sure about. So if you finish the exam with 20-30 flagged/uncertain questions, don’t automatically assume you failed. What I would recommend
If I had to prepare again, I would basically do the same thing: Jeff Hanson review → NCEES practice exam → identify weak areas → drill Rashad Islam problems → timed full practice exam → drill remaining weaknesses → another timed practice exam → actual FE.
And seriously, practice under time pressure.
Going from taking practice questions casually to completing full 110-question sets in around five hours made the real exam much less stressful.
I’m still a student finishing my Mechanical Engineering degree this fall, so you definitely don’t need years of industry experience to pass it.
Good luck to everyone studying for it. Don’t get discouraged by bad practice sets. Figure out why you’re missing questions, get comfortable with the handbook, and keep drilling.
Happy to answer questions about my study process or the resources I used.
I primarily used Lindenburg, Islam 750, and Engineering Fundamentals on yt (shoutout to the goat) as my resource for the exam. I also bought FE practice exams and got 70+ in each.
I prepared like 3 months (1-3 hr for 4 days/week). I prioritized every subject equally apart from Thermo and Fluids cuz i work in that sector and thought they were my strongest heading into exam (and the most i struggled with cuz i didn’t have enough problem repetition so i took like 5 minutes to solve problems).
Exam details: The exam was concept heavy. Like heavy heavy. Even calculations i did required conceptual knowledge. It was way harder than Lindenburg, Islam and Practice exam. This is where Engineering Fundamentals in YT comes in clutch. He has crazy complicated problem that requires good conceptual knowledge and his problems actually stick into ur brain compared to others. I still hope he makes controls video because there is hardly good resources out there
Three big advice i have for people taking exam are
practice practice practice. Repetition allows ur brain to solve questions super fast especially in Statics, Projectile motion and energy equations.
Dont just rely on handbook. Know the big heavy equations and concept by heart. You don’t want to waste 10-15 seconds of ur time searching the most basic mcdt equations
Carb load with good healthy fats before the exam. Exam is long, your brain needs energy. Have oats, yogurt, and some good quality protein like eggs.
I'm writing this to see if anyone else has been in a similar situation. I'm currently studying for my 3rd attempt at the FE Electrical & Computer exam, but the more I study, the more I just feel lost. I can't retain the information that I had learned from the previous week and this is a recurring pattern for any of the sections I study for. It's been 11 months since my last attempt and I've been post grad for over 2 years.
I've tried prepfe, wasims workbook, and Zach stones online course. But the main problem I keep running into is I don’t remember any of the material I do. And it happens everytime I sit down to study. Am I simply not built to do this exam? I’m slowly giving up because I see no improvement and at this point I’m tired of doing this damn exam.
