So, when is the best time to take the FE Exam? There are sort of two options: 1) take it as soon as you can, or 2) wait until later. This might sound obvious, but let me explain:
“Option 1” is to take the FE Exam as early as possible and to keep the elapsed time at “A” as short as possible. This way your college training is still fresh in your mind. Then, you take the PE exam some time later (“B”) after achieving the prerequisite on the job experience. This could be several years later and it’s likely you will have to refresh your mind about the broad spectrum of engineering subject matter that the test covers. Your job is probably more narrow focused/specialized and doesn’t involve all aspects of engineering which are covered by the test. You’ll find that if you don’t use the knowledge, you may start forgetting it--yes, it is true, unfortunately. Don’t worry, though, with some modest studying/reviewing the knowledge is easy to resuscitate. The nice thing about this Option 1 is that you take the FE exam at a time when the engineering info is fresh in your mind, and many colleges offer review sessions for the FE exam which might be really convenient for you. One disadvantage, however, is that if you then wait a long time to take the PE exam, you will have potentially more studying to do later.
“Option 1” is to take the FE Exam as early as possible and to keep the elapsed time at “A” as short as possible. This way your college training is still fresh in your mind. Then, you take the PE exam some time later (“B”) after achieving the prerequisite on the job experience. This could be several years later and it’s likely you will have to refresh your mind about the broad spectrum of engineering subject matter that the test covers. Your job is probably more narrow focused/specialized and doesn’t involve all aspects of engineering which are covered by the test. You’ll find that if you don’t use the knowledge, you may start forgetting it--yes, it is true, unfortunately. Don’t worry, though, with some modest studying/reviewing the knowledge is easy to resuscitate. The nice thing about this Option 1 is that you take the FE exam at a time when the engineering info is fresh in your mind, and many colleges offer review sessions for the FE exam which might be really convenient for you. One disadvantage, however, is that if you then wait a long time to take the PE exam, you will have potentially more studying to do later.
What's “Option 2”? Take the FE Exam after you get professional experience on the job and then take the PE exam shortly thereafter. This way, you prep for the first exam, conquer it (riding the positive energy of success) and continue with some momentum in preparation for crushing the second exam. I approached the FE and PE exams in this way. I waited until I had gained the experience on the job, then I took the FE exam. Once that was done, I studied for the PE exam and took it as soon as I could. I believe there is an advantage to this approach because you ramp up and keep the knowledge fresh in your mind. Once I set my mind on studying the materials, I created a new habit of reading the materials and practicing on working problems and I sustained that pattern until I felt I was ready to take the test. I’ll talk about study strategies in an upcoming blog.
I hope this post helps you as you formulate your overall strategy for tackling the FE and PE exams.
Best of luck!
-Andrew Rummer, BSME, MBA, P.E.
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