Taking the FE Exam? Here are 5 mistakes you need to avoid.

I have dealt with many engineers aspiring to obtain their Professional Engineering (PE) license. Everyone struggles along the way. Here are 5 common mistakes you need to avoid in your preparation for the Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) exam:

1.      Thinking Too Big – Many engineers who are considering taking the Fundamentals of Engineering Exam can’t get out of their own way. They have aspirations of promotions and long-term goals, but get overwhelmed with the steps that it takes to get there.  So they never get started.  Dreams will always be dreams unless you take action.

2.      Inconsistency – Inevitably you will come across problems on the FE exam that you will not be able to answer. Before you take a wild guess, be sure to ask yourself these 3 questions:

a.       Can I find the answer in the supplied reference handbook?

b.      Can my calculator solve it for me?

c.       Can I eliminate any answers and make an educated guess?

If the answer for all three questions is no, then you have to guess. But there is an art to guessing. Whenever you are forced to guess, stay consistent with your choice. Statistics prove that you have a better chance at guessing more answers correctly when you guess the same letter throughout the exam, rather than randomizing your choice each time.

3.      Learning how to solve problems your calculator can solve for you – this one is super important for two reasons. Humans make mistakes and are naturally inefficient. Even if you know how to solve particular math and statistics problems you should try solving them with your calculator. There’s a good chance it can do it quicker and you’ll never have to second guess your calculations.

4.      Trying to achieve perfection – if you have picked up any of the review materials by Michael Lindberg, he talks about how, although NCEES has never officially published the passing scores, historical passing scores have been around 50 percent. This may need to be revisited with the recent change to the Computer Based Testing (CBT) format, but the concept remains the same. Many examinees will stress to learn as much of the content as possible. This hurts them more than it helps. Their concentration is spread thin over the entire test rather than putting a stronger focus on the subjects they are strongest in.

5.      Forgetting about effectiveness and efficiency – Making the most of your time during the exam requires you to define what problems are worth solving and which aren’t. How do we decide if a problem is worth our time solving? Will it take you more than 5 minutes to solve? If so, it’s not worth it. Prioritize the subjects on the exam by which topics you are strongest in and aim to get the most points from those subjects. Likewise, determine your weakest subjects and learn just the very basics. This is critical to maintain your sanity leading up to the exam and making the most of your time during.