Are you ready to take the FE exam but you're having a hard time actually committing to take it? Are you nervous that you are underprepared or overwhelmed by what you know you don’t know?
Just to reassure you, the FE exam is a standardized test, just like the ones you’ve taken regularly throughout your life. You absolutely need to be prepared, but as long as you put in the time and use the right study guides, you will be able to pass it.
Here are some big myths about taking the FE exam that might be holding you back from taking it.
1. You Have To Get a Certain Percentage to Pass
On some standardized tests, you are penalized for every wrong answer you make, so it is best to leave questions that you are unsure of blank. The civil engineering FE exam is not that way.
According to the NCEES Examinee Guide the FE exam accounts for every right answer and is adjusted to a scaled score. That means the your score is adjusted based on what questions tested poorly across the board. So, you can be sure that if there was a throwout question or two in that version of the FE exam, then the exam score will be adjusted in your favor.
The NCEES doesn’t report specific scores for this reason. Instead, they grade the exam as a pass/fail test. They do provide you with a charted breakdown of how you performed on each section, indicating whether you fell above or below average and how far. If you are planning on retaking the test, this breakdown will be particularly helpful to you, since it shows you the sections you need to put extra effort into.
Many people think that you need to land somewhere between 60% to 70% of correct answers to pass the test, but the NCEES doesn’t report any specific percentage. This can make it difficult to gauge how prepared you are when you take your practice exams. When you are taking your practice tests, aim for scores of high 70’s or above to be adequately prepared for the real thing.
2. You Need to Study Like It’s a Full Time Job
Some people think that they need to take time off of school or quit their job so that they can really focus on studying for the FE exam. This is certainly not true. In fact, if you are studying this test like it’s your full time job, you will get burned out very quickly.
The absolute best way to prepare for this test is to give yourself a few months to do it. You cannot cram the night before for this test. This test takes months of studying to be successful. If you are a recent graduate, take 2 to 4 months to study. If you graduated several years ago, then you may want to devote more like 5 to 6 months.
If you study for an hour or two each day for this allotted period of time, then you should be well prepared to take the exam. One of the most beneficial things you can do while you are studying is to follow The Ultimate Civil FE Review Course. This course will guide you through the studying process and give you invaluable tips for passing this test, so you know you won’t be missing any necessary information.
3. You Don’t Think You Have Enough Knowledge
One big thing that holds a lot of future engineers back from taking the civil FE exam is that they aren’t confident in what they know. The FE can be very daunting since it includes pieces of everything that you have studied for your entire college education. Sometimes it can be difficult to remember concepts that you studied last month, let alone the subjects you studied years ago.
There’s a remedy, though. Obviously, you shouldn’t sign up for the test without the intention of studying. You will need to sign up for a test prep course and study this for a few months before the actual exam. This course will help you become more confident, but it will also give you a good example of where you land in your level knowledge when you take the practice tests.
You should also be aware that some people take the FE exam before they are even done with their senior year. So they will take this test knowing that they have not gone over some pretty key concepts. Since this test is pass/fail, you might get many questions wrong that deal with later concepts and still perform well enough to pass. However, if it makes you feel more confident, wait until you near the end of your senior year or after you graduate to take the test, if possible.
If you are qualified to take this civil fundamentals of engineering exam, but you have low confidence in your knowledge, change it by signing up for the The Ultimate Civil FE Review Course. You will be well on your way to passing the exam in just months!
Also, If you didn't catch the first blog in our FE exam series, here it is.