FE Electrical and Computer – 3 Exam Prep Tips That You May Have Overlooked

There’s no doubt that the FE Electrical and Computer exam preparation and the exam itself is a race against time. With 110 questions to solve in just 5 hours and 20 minutes, candidates must know how to manage their time to succeed efficiently. But how can you manage your time better?

Although doing more content revision and practice questions should be the core of your preparation, they’re not the only things you can do. As a result, many students need to pay more attention to the preparation tips beyond simply learning the content. 

Here, we’ve gathered 3 FE Electrical Exam Preparation Tips through teaching 100s of students that can help you optimize your performance for excellent time management during the exam.

Top 3 FE Electrical and Computer Exam Prep Tips 

Let’s look at the top FE electrical exam preparation tips that candidates often ignore. These tips will give you a head start in your FE exam prep and on exam day.

This is because students and applicants do not pay enough attention to these. After all, they don’t consider these important against content prep even though they are critical to your success and passing the exam. So, let’s explore these imperative tips in detail and learn how to apply them during exam preparation and on exam day.

1. Know Your Calculator Inside-Out

Whether you choose the TI-36X-Pro, Casio/HP, or any other acceptable calculator, you should extensively practice all relevant functions and be familiar with it. Furthermore, to save time, you must understand how to switch between modes quickly and efficiently.

You should use the same one during your practice rounds to familiarize yourself with its features.

Learn the fundamental operations of the calculator for at least 30 – 45 minutes. We recommend the Casio FX 115 since it is inexpensive and easy to use. However, many students also utilize the TI-36X Pro. The most critical functions that come to mind are rectangular-polar conversion, matrix, and binary-decimal-hex-octal conversions.

Now that you know that calculators are a crucial component of a successful FE Exam study plan, let’s see what else they can do for you. They can dramatically improve the timeliness and assist you in answering inquiries more quickly.

As a result, you must get the most out of your NCEES® certified FE examination calculator by understanding its basic and advanced capabilities, such as those stated below:

• Attempting to solve a variable-dependent equation.
• For long equations, use a layered presentation. For example, putting the value from the previous step into a variable and utilizing it in the next step.
• In addition, derivatives and integrals must be solved.
• Solving vector problems.

2. Don’t Underestimate the Importance NCEES® FE Reference Handbook

The only reference material permitted throughout the test will be the NCEES® FE Reference Handbook. It will be displayed to the left of your computer screen for reference. Spend some time looking over all parts of the reference guide to have a solid understanding of where the critical material is placed.

It contains a wealth of exam-relevant equations, formulae, terminologies, and information that will help you answer questions quickly without learning any of the intricacies.

As a result, you must utilize the most recent edition of the FE reference manual to prepare for the FE exam, which frequently changes over time, affecting your preparation and outcomes. It would help if you also studied from the PDF version rather than the paper edition because you will only be allowed to utilize the electronic version of the Reference Handbook during the FE test.

Every second counts in the FE Exam. And you’ll surely appreciate yourself if you can spare a few minutes on the exam by knowing where to seek what you’re looking for.

3. Become Comfortable with the Computer-Based Testing Format

Let’s be honest. Exams are high-pressure games that may be difficult even for the best-prepared students. However, with 110 timed questions spanning nearly the entire undergraduate engineering curriculum, some will undoubtedly surprise you. 

Although surprises are unavoidable, one thing you can do to reduce stress is to become acquainted with the exam-taking structure so that it does not feel unique and strange to you on test day.

While computer-based examinations are becoming more frequent, the reality remains that most of us are still far more comfortable with traditional pencil and paper testing, especially if that is how we took the exams during your academic career.

The computer-simulated practice test, in-depth lectures, quiz bank, and study guides are excellent resources for preparing for the FE exam. These tools are well-structured, streamlined, and concise to help you correctly approach the difficulties on exam day.

We recommend you take a computer-based practice exam to help you get used to the exam format. Not only that, when taking the practice exam itself, do time yourself and understand the technicalities of the user interface to ensure the exam day is handled smoothly.

Conclusion

These 3 FE Electrical Exam Preparation Tips will help you achieve your goals. Aside from your hard effort, various tactics are required to study for the FE test. Therefore, utilizing these tips will help you ace your exam and should also guide you on the next step after the FE exam, which is the PE exam. 

This post will surely help you in passing the FE test. Those planning to take the FE exam: Congratulations on advancing and improving your profession, and best wishes in your future pursuits!

Wasim Asghar – P.E, P.ENG, M.ENG

Licensed Professional Engineer in Texas (PE), Florida (PE) and Ontario (P. Eng) with consulting experience in design, commissioning and plant engineering for clients in Energy, Mining and Infrastructure.

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