How to Easily Pass a Civil Engineering FE Exam | Past Questions

The Civil Engineering Fundamentals of Engineering Exam is a basic requirement to become a Professional Engineer. However, passing the FE exam is not a piece of cake. For some students, it seems like a mission impossible, but for you, this article explains how you can easily pass the Civil Engineering FE exam in 2024.

Generally, there is no fast track to sitting for and passing an exam except due preparation. The Fundamentals of Engineering exam is not left out. To sit for this exam once and pass, you must prepare rightly.

You may have heard or seen countless articles that explain how hard it is to pass the Fundamentals of engineering exams. While there may be an atom of truth, it is not the truth. This article explains how you can easily sit for your FE exam and pass.

The first step lies in your thorough understanding of the nature of the exam you are about to write. So, this article will explain in detail what FE is and how you can easily pass it even in a sitting.

A glance at the table of contents below will reveal all the subtopics discussed in this piece.

What Are Fundamentals of Engineering Exam?

The minimum requirement to become a civil engineer is a bachelor of science in civil engineering. Upon graduation from a civil engineering undergraduate program, students sit for and pass the FE exam to become Professional Engineers.

It is usually referred to as the Engineer in Training or Engineering Intern exam. This is the first of two examinations engineers must pass to be licensed as Professional Engineers.

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Who Organizes the Civil Engineering FE Exams?

NCEES organizes the FE exams for Civil engineering graduates. NCEES is an acronym for the National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying.

It is a national nonprofit organization that houses U.S. engineering and surveying licensing boards in all 50 states, U.S. territories, and the District of Columbia.

It organizes the exams used for engineering and surveying licensure in the United States. Also, this nonprofit organization promotes professional mobility through its services for licensees and member boards.

What is the Nature of the Fundamentals of Engineering Exam?

As earlier conversed in this article, understanding the nature of FE exams will aid you to prepare properly for one.

Firstly, the exam’s sole eligibility criteria are graduation from an accredited engineering program.

Upon registration, students have the liberty to choose one of the 7 freestanding disciplines of engineering.

This means Civil Engineering students can choose to sit for Civil Engineering FE while Industrial engineering students can sit for Industrial Engineering FE.

Other discipline-specific of the FE exam include:

• Chemical
• Electrical and Computer
• Environmental
• Mechanical and others

Secondly, irrespective of the discipline, the FE exams contain 110 multiple-choice questions. It is a computer-based test written by students in only Pearson VUE test centers.

This means students are not allowed to write this engineer training exam from their personal computers except if they are, of course, Pearson VUE approved. Remember you can only write this exam if you are:

A recent graduate from an Engineering Program or about completing your undergraduate engineering degree.

See: How To Pass Gre Quantitative Reasoning

How Long Do I Have to Answer FE Exams?

Generally, NCEES-organized FE exams are sectioned into a tutorial, the exam proper, a break, and a survey. And students are given a 6-hour appointment to commence and complete this engineering training exam. The sections are broken into:

• Nondisclosure agreement (2 minutes)
• Tutorial (8 minutes)
• Exam (5 hours and 20 minutes)
• Scheduled break (25 minutes)

However, you have 5 hours and 20 minutes to answer all questions in the FE engineering exam. You should bear the notice below in mind.

You can only take the FE test at an approved Pearson VUE test center.

What Can I Take Into The Exam Room?

Unarguably, you should arrive at your exam center on time. To gain uninterrupted access to the test center, you should come along with the following items:

• Your identification card
• NCEES-approved calculator
• Keys to your test center locker
• Pearson VUE provided the reusable booklet.
• Eyeglasses
• light sweater or Jacket
• All items included in the Pearson VUE Comfort aid List
• An electronic version of the FE Reference Handbook

Not yet a Civil engineer? See how to Become a Civil Engineer in 2024

Who Can Take the Fundamentals of Engineering Exam?

Depending on your state, licensure requirements for Civil Engineers may vary. However, FE exams are Professional Engineers preparation exams written by recent graduates of the civil engineering undergraduate program.

In a bid to become a PE, the Fundamental of Engineering exam is one of the two exams written to get licensure.

Only students who have completed a four-year degree program from an ABET or EAC-accredited engineering college can sit for the exam.

How Do I Register for the Fundamentals of Engineering Exam?

To register for the FE exams, you must earn a degree in engineering from an accredited engineering college. Usually, registration opens 3–4 months ahead and closes 4–6 weeks before the exam date. Usually, registration costs about $175.

Then log on to the NCEES official website to register or log in to your account if you are an old-time user. Click on the register button to create an account.

You will need a username or email address alongside the password to log in to the registration page. Also, during registration, you should select your discipline, Civil Engineering.

Upon completion of registration, you will receive an email notification that authorizes you to register.

Log in to MYNCEES and select the schedule button. Follow the instructions below to choose the exam venue and date.

To get a Civil engineering Degree Online, click here.

How Do I Prepare for My Civil Engineering FE Exam?

The best time to write the Civil Engineering FE exam is before or after graduating. While you can sit for the exam twice or thrice a year, it will be interesting to sit for it once.

To achieve the latter, you must prepare rightly and begin preparation in time. The best way to prepare for the FE exam for civil engineers includes the following:

• Purchase NCEE FE computer-based practice exam.
• Practice with the past questions available
• Apply the Tips on how to pass FE easily
• Cover all sub-topics before the exam date.

How to Easily Pass the FE exam for Civil engineering students

To pass the Civil Engineering FE exam, you must follow the tips below strictly:

• Register for the FE exam on time
• Get a copy of the NCEES handbook early enough to know what topics to cover.
• Get the specific practice exam for Civil engineering
• Begin studying months in advance
• Prepare with books and digital tools
• Cover all topics for your discipline.
• Take a prep course and tons of practice exams
• Review simple maths
• Memorize formulas that are not provided in the NCEES handbook
• Take two days or one day break from taking practice exams
• Get a good night’s sleep a night before your date.
• Eat a good meal to avoid any form of discomfort
• Read problems and instructions carefully on exam day before ticking the answer boxes.

Topics You Must Cover for Civil Engineering FE Exams

If you get a copy of the NCEE handbook very early, you will have ample time to cover all suggested sub-topics for FE Exams.

The FE exam questions are drawn randomly from 18 knowledge areas for Civil Engineering Students. Below is a list of topics you should expect questions from.

Mathematics

Students should expect 7-11 questions from the following subject areas:

• Analytic geometry
• Calculus
• Roots of equations
• Vector analysis

Probability and Statistics

4-6 questions will be drawn from the following subject areas

• Measures of central tendencies and dispersions
• Estimation for a single mean
• Regression and curve fitting
• Expected value (weighted average) in decision making

Computational Tools

4–6 questions will be drawn from the following subject areas.

• Spreadsheet computations
• Structured programming

Ethics and Professional Practice

4–6 questions will be drawn from the following subject areas.

• Codes of ethics
• Professional liability
• Licensure
• Sustainability and sustainable design
• Professional skills
• Contracts and contract law

Engineering Economics 4–6

4–6 questions will be drawn from the following subject areas.

• Discounted cash flow
• Cost
• Analyses
• Uncertainty

Statics 7–11

7-11 questions will be drawn from the following subject areas.

• Resultants of force systems
• Equivalents of force systems
• Equilibrium of rigid bodies
• Frames and trusses
• Centroid of area
• Area moments of inertia
• Static friction

Dynamics 4–6

• Kinematics (e.g., particles and rigid bodies)
• Mass moments of inertia
• Force acceleration (e.g., particles and rigid bodies)
• Impulse momentum (e.g., particles and rigid bodies)
• Work, energy, and power (e.g., particles and rigid bodies)

Mechanics of Materials 7–11

• Shear and moment diagrams
• Stresses and strains (e.g., axial, torsion, bending, shear, thermal)
• Deformations (e.g., axial, torsion, bending, thermal)
• Combined stresses
• Principal stresses
• Mohr’s circle
• Column analysis (e.g., buckling, boundary conditions) Composite sections
• Elastic and plastic deformations
• Stress-strain diagrams

Materials 4–6

• Mix design (e.g., concrete and asphalt)
• Test methods and specifications (e.g., steel, concrete, aggregates, asphalt, wood)
• Physical and mechanical properties of concrete, ferrous and nonferrous metals, masonry, wood, engineered materials (e.g., FRP, laminated lumber, wood/plastic composites), and asphalt

Fluid Mechanics 4–6

• Flow measurement
• Fluid properties
• Energy, impulse, and momentum equation
• Fluid statics

Hydraulics and Hydrologic Systems 8–12

• Basic hydrology
• Basic hydraulics
• Pumping systems
• Water distribution systems
• Reservoirs (e.g., dams, routing, spillways)
• Groundwater (e.g., flow, wells, drawdown)
• Storm sewer collection systems

Structural Analysis 6–9

• Analysis of forces in statically determinant beams, trusses, and frames
• Deflection of statically determinant beams, trusses, and frames
• Structural determinacy and stability analysis of beams, trusses, and frames
• Loads and load paths
• Elementary statically indeterminate structures

Structural Design

• Design of steel components
• Design of reinforced concrete components

Geotechnical Engineering 9–14

• Geology
• Index properties and soil classifications
• Phase relations (air-water-solid)
• Laboratory and field tests
• Effective stress (buoyancy)
• Stability of retaining walls (e.g., active pressure/passive pressure)
• Shear strength
• Bearing capacity (cohesive and noncohesive)
• Foundation types
• Consolidation and differential settlement
• Seepage/flow nets
• Slope stability (e.g., fills, embankments, cuts, dams)
• Soil stabilization (e.g., chemical additives, geosynthetics)
• Drainage systems
• Erosion control

Surveying

• Angles, distances, and trigonometry
• Area computations
• Earthwork and volume computations
• Closure
• Coordinate systems (e.g., state plane, latitude/longitude)
• Leveling (e.g., differential, elevations, percent grades)

Also, see: 10 Best Masters In Civil Engineering Programs In Canada | 2024

Where Can I take the Civil engineering FE Practice Exam?

Several online schools compile questions from previous Fundamentals of Engineering exams to aid students in getting an idea of the questions asked in the FE exam.

Taking prep courses and practice exams are some of the best ways to prepare for the FE civil engineering exams. Interestingly, you can take free courses from these practice exam providers.

• Coursera [Free Version] [FE Civil & FE Mech]
• Marshall University [Free] [FE Civil]
•  Daily FE Exam [Free]
• Engineer In Training Exam [Free]

Paid FE Civil Engineering Practice Exam

• School of PE [Paid] – $1,000 early bird, $1,300
• PPI 2 Pass [Paid] – $1,260 – $2,200
• TestMasters [Paid] – $550 student, $1,000 early bird, $1,100 regular.
• Prepineer [Paid]- $250 per month.
• Excel Test Prep – $1,000 live web classes and $1,000 self-paced classes

What Score Do You Need to Pass the FE Exam?

There is no stipulated pass mark for the civil engineering FE exam as NCEE doesn’t publish the score civil engineering students need to pass.

Though students may not necessarily answer 70% of the questions correctly, a scaled score of 70% is required to pass the exam.

A portion of previous exam questions is given on subsequent exams. To get more information and to begin the application properly, visit the official website by clicking the button below.

Official Webpage

Civil Engineering FE Exam

It is a good start if you practice with past questions or take practice FE exams and score 70-77%. To pass the main exam means you have scored over 55% in the FE exam. So, the fundamentals of the engineering exam are not necessarily hard.

The NCEES FE exam consists of 110 multiple-choice questions. It comes in two consecutive sessions. In each section, approximately 55 multiple-choice questions are drawn from specific subjects or knowledge areas.

Generally, NCEES allows examinees to take the exam once each two months and up to three times per year. So, if you fail the FE exam twice a year, you can resist it within the same year.

The total Time Studying for FE Mechanical Exam is 44 to 116 hours.

FE is an engineer intern certification that signifies you have passed the national Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) examination. It is valid indefinitely.

Conclusion

The secret to any exam success is preparation with the right materials. It is difficult to pass the FE Civil engineering exams, though not impossible.

This article explains how you can easily pass the Civil Engineering FE exams. It gives tips on how to prepare alongside the right material to study with.

If you read this article thoroughly, you must have done 30% of all the preparation you need to pass the FE civil engineering exam.

References

• https://ppi2pass.com/fe-exam/resources/how-to-study-for-and-pass-the-fe-exam
• https://www.engineeringonline.ncsu.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2018/02/
• https://www.ppehq.com/fe-exam-prep.html

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