FE Review: Orientation

FE Review: Orientation September 11, 2014 Glenn Brown Tonight Preparing for the exam Announcement The September 25, 2014 session has been moved to October 23rd with Dr. Klopfstein listed as the instructor. If you haven’t already, go online to registrar http://ncees.org/exams/fe-exam/

 $225 Exam fee

 $50 to change the option after you register

 $50 to change your test date.

 You may take the exam up to a year after you register. FE Exam is now discipline specific

 Chemical

 Civil

 Electrical and Computer

 Environmental

 Industrial

 Mechanical

 Other You need to review what topics are on your exam. There are significant differences in the exams. As an example:

 Chemical: No Eng. Economics, little Strengths

 Civil: No Thermo

 Elec & Computer: No physical mechanics

 Environmental: No strengths

 Industrial: Little engineering science

 Mechanical: No chemistry

 Other: Most topics Net result of changes

 It is no longer true that you should take the exam after you have finished the ENSC classes.

 All exams are weighed more to the junior and senior year classes.

 You may want to wait to take the exam during your senior year. Pass Rate Exam First-time takers (%) Chemical 82 Civil 74 Electrical and Computer 82 Environmental 79 Industrial 70 Mechanical 84 Other Disciplines 86

Pass Rate; Other Disciplines breakdown by degree Program First-time takers (%) Aeronautical/Aerospace 96 Architectural 65 Biological (not 86 Biomedical) Engineering Physics or 94 Science Mechanical 89 Petroleum 83

Computer based exam  Must be taken at a Pearson VUE test center.

 You schedule the exam where and when you wish to take it.

 The OSU Testing Center is a Pearson VUE site.

 Arrive 30 minutes early.

 Must have an I.D.

 Items allowed into the testing room • The ID used during the admission process • A FE calculator (without the cover) • Key to your test center locker • Reusable booklet supplied by Pearson VUE • Eyeglasses (without the case) • Light sweater or jacket • Items included in the Pearson VUE Comfort Aid List including earplugs and tissues. Calculators Only FE approved calculators  Casio: All fx-115 models

 Hewlett Packard: The HP 33s and HP 35s models

 Texas Instruments: All TI-30X and TI-36X models The exam built-in calculator is a TI-36X. Buy a TI-36X now and start using it. Pearson VUE Booklet

 Calculations must be done on Pearson VUE booklet using a special marker.

 Once you use up a booklet you can ask for another. You may ask for more than one when you start. FE Reference “Handbook” th  A new 9 edition of the FE reference handbook is built into the test.

 A search feature allows you to find sections, but it is very primitive. You must use exact spelling, etc.

 You may download a copy at: http://ncees.org/exams/study-materials/download-fe-supplied-reference-handbook/ Reviewing the reference handbook by looking for each section of the test you will be taking is the most productive use of your study time. Time Management

 110 questions  5 hours and 20 minutes total

 2.9 minutes per question.

 Break will be offered after ~55 questions.

 You will not be able to go back to the previous questions after the break.

 Clock at upper right of screen.

 At five minutes the clock will go yellow; not a real strong warning. Scheduled Break

 At about 55 questions you will be offered a break. You will be given the opportunity to finish all the questions you have looked at before accepting the break.

 You can take up to 25 minutes on the break.

 During the break you may go to the locker for lunch, etc.

 You may not leave the building. Unscheduled Breaks (restroom)

 You can take unscheduled breaks at any time, but the clock continues to run.

 You can access your locker, but you may not access cell phones or study guides.

 You will be able to go back to unanswered questions on your return.  Review the seven test videos on the NCEES site (they are very short)

 Pearson VUE exam-day experience

 How to search

 Pearson VUE Booklet

 How to flag items for review

 Onscreen calculator

 Hotkeys

 Managing your time Don’t bother with the any videos intended for faculty. Have a system for taking the exam For example using the four sweep system First Sweep in one hour

 Do easy questions right away. (1)

 Questions you are not sure of or can guess, answer and mark for review. (2)

 Questions that are long that you can do mark for review. (3)

 Questions that you cannot do leave blank. (4) Second Sweep in 40 minutes

 Do #3 questions Third Sweep in 30 minutes

 Do #2 questions Fourth Sweep in 10 minutes

 Pick random answers for any uncompleted questions.

 No answer is more probable to be correct than another. However, if one letter, say “b” has less than the others, use b for your guesses. Question Style  All questions are much simpler than the standard engineering exam.

 Some will be very straight forward and will only require using a single equation.

 Some will be on a concept.

 A few, will be tricky where it appears be require a serious calculation, but are really concept. Keep in mind that this is a multiple choice test

 You may be able to eliminate some answers by sign or magnitude.

 You may be able to back-calculate quicker than a direct solution.