HOW TO PASS THE FUNDAMENTALS OF ENGINEERING (FE) EXAM

By: Ike C. Griffith, EIT

Civil Engineering
Christian Brothers University

1) PURCHASE A PRACTICE EXAM FROM THE NCEES WEBSITE

 The practice exam will give you a good feel for what type of questions will be on the
exam and will give you an idea on how to strategize and attack the exam.

 The questions on the exam will require critical thinking but nothing dramatically
difficult. There will be some straight forward questions but most will be challenging and
will require you to think.

 When taking the practice exam, refer to the reference manual for every single question.
Even if you are confident about your process, REFER TO THE REFERENCE
MANUAL unless you are 100% sure or pressed for time. Look for keywords in the
questions and/or answers that could possibly be in the reference manual. If you cannot
find your answer or formula needed in the reference manual for a question, answer the
question to the best of your ability.

 Throughout taking the practice exam, pay attention to the subjects you are strongest in,
the subjects you struggled in (but just need refreshing in), and the subjects in which you
are weakest.

 DO NOT CLICK END REVIEW ONCE YOU HAVE FINISHED THE PRACTICE
EXAM. Even though you have finished the practice exam and reviewed the answers, you
are still allowed to review the exam anytime you want within 60 days of your initial
purchase.

2) PREPARE AND KNOW THE ORDER OF YOUR EXAM

 Pages 265-285 in the reference manual are the exam specifications (chemical, civil,
electrical and computer, etc.). Under each exam specifications, the reference manual lists
the subjects that will be on that specific exam and the number of questions that will
appear on the exam from each subject. The order the subjects are in, according to the
reference manual, is the EXACT SAME order the subjects will be in on the actual exam
 as well as the practice exam. It will be helpful to memorize and know the order of your
exam because it will be easier to locate information in the reference manual for questions
knowing what subject you are in during the exam. Example: If you know you are on the
Dynamics portion of the exam, you will know to only refer to the Dynamics section of
the reference manual to find the information needed to answer your question.

3) WORK PROBLEMS, WORK PROBLEMS, WORK PROBLEMS

 The more problems you work the better chance you have of passing the exam. I
personally recommend the FE Civil Practice Problems: For the Civil Fundamentals of
Engineering Exam book for those who are taking the civil engineering exam. I worked
this entire book multiple times over a six week span (2-4 hours a day at least 5 days a
week) and it helped prepare me mentally for the type of questions that will be on the
exam and its difficulty.
 Although the practice exam is helpful in regards to learning how to think through, search,
and solve questions, those are not the only type of questions that will be on the exam.
There will be a variety of questions from subtopics pertaining to each subject that could
possibly be on the actual exam that may not be on the practice exam and vice versa; there
is a small possibility that a few questions from the practice exam will appear on the actual
exam. A part of your studying should include making sure you FULLY UNDERSTAND
EVERY SINGLE QUESTION FROM THE PRACTICE EXAM as far as
understanding the subject concepts and knowing your process of solving each question.
You should re-work the entire practice exam at least twice a week plus your own
additional studying. If you still have your textbooks, work problems from them related to
the subjects that will be on the exam for additional practice

 PAY ATTENTION TO UNITS. The exam will get you if you do not pay attention to
units.

 BEWARE OF GOOD WRONG ANSWERS. The exam is good for having answer
choices that can easily fool you if you use the wrong formula. PAY ATTENTION TO
DETAILS IN THE QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS.
4) THE REFERENCE MANUAL IS YOUR BEST FRIEND, USE IT!
 USE THE REFERNCE MANUAL. Do not answer a question without referring to the
reference manual unless you are 100% sure or pressed for time. Every question may not
be in the manual but there are more than enough questions that can be answered correctly
by referring to the manual to pass the exam. The more you work problems the more you
will be familiar with the reference manual

5) YOUR WEAKER SUBJECTS

 Choose two, no more than three subjects, you feel you have no chance at. Still attempt to
work some problems but do not put emphasis on having to know it all. With that, you
need to be at least proficient in the remaining subjects and diligent in working problems
in those subjects, (if you are proficient in all the subjects, you do not have to use this
point). The subjects I chose as my weaker subjects were environmental engineering and
construction. During the exam, if I didn’t get what I needed to answer the questions from
the reference manual in my weaker subjects, I gave it my best guess.

6) WHAT TO EXPECT DURING THE EXAM

 The exam has 110 questions. The questions are split into 53 questions before your break
and 57 questions after. The test is 6 hours long including a 25 minute break between the
two sessions. SPLIT THE TIME EVENLY FOR EACH SECTION OF THE TEST.
Once you have completed the first section of the test and have taken your break, you will
immediately begin the second section and will not be allowed to go back to the first
section. You will have an average of 3 minutes per question. I personally recommend
saving a little more than of the half time to take test on the second section.

 DO NOT SPEND TOO MUCH TIME ON ONE QUESTION IF YOU HAVE NOT
GONE THROUGH THE ENTIRE SECTION FIRST. Go through the entire section
first. If you do not know how to solve a question, leave it unanswered and skip it. Once
you have answered all the questions you could on your first run through the section, go
back to the ones you skipped and continue to think through the question because you may
 end up figuring it out. If not, answer them to the best of your ability or give it your best
guess.

 You will be at a desktop and given two dry-erase pads and pens. BE NEAT,
EFFICENT, & ORGANIZED when working your problems on the pads. You will not
be able to erase anything from it. There will be one monitor but it will be split screen.
The right side of the screen will be your exam and the left side will be the reference
manual. The NCEES website has YouTube videos that explain the test settings.

 THE FIRST SECTION OF THE TEST IS SUBSTANTIALLY EASIER THAN

THE SECOND SECTION OF THE EXAM. The first session (53 questions) will be
the first nine subjects of the specified exam as aforementioned (#2). It is in your best
interest to get as many, if not all, of those questions correct in the first session and be
confident about it because the second session will be a lot more challenging but do not let
that intimidate you, you will be more than prepared. You only need 77 questions correct
(70%) to pass the exam. DO NOT TRY TO KEEP UP WITH HOW MANY
QUESTIONS YOU BELIEVE YOU HAVE ANSWERED CORRECTLY. All you
need to do during the exam is concentrate on each question and focus on the process in
order to get each question correct. If you do this, everything else will work itself out.

 DO NOT LEAVE ANY QUESTIONS UNANSWERED. There will be some questions

you may have no clue about even with the reference manual. If that is the case and you
cannot afford to waste any more time, give it a good guess. You will have a 25% chance
of getting a guess correct versus not answering at all. LEAVE NO QUESTION
UNANSWERED.
7) AFTER THE EXAM
 YOU’RE FREE! Go celebrate your hard work and reward yourself. You deserve it. If
you put in the work and didn’t cheat yourself, you will get the results you are looking for.

Some may not have to do as much as what I provided to pass the FE exam but this was
my process. I failed the exam the first time I took it, but my failure led to my prosperity.
I used the experience from the first time I took the exam to help me prepare for when I
took it again. To me, the test was quite challenging but it’s nothing hard work cannot
conquer. These are the steps I used to pass the Fundamentals of Civil Engineering Exam.
If you having any questions, feel free to contact me at ikegriffith3@gmail.com.

Ike C. Griffith, EIT

Certificate No. 32652
Christian Brothers University, Civil Engineering ’15
Christians Brothers University Men’s Basketball 2011-2015
Philippians 4:13

Resources I personally used for the Fundamentals of Civil Engineering Exam: