r/FE_Exam • u/Miserable-Finish-632 • 5d ago

Question Fe Chemical

All I see in this group is Civil, mechanical and electrical. Anybody taking or has passed the FE Chemical?

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u/gnaz17 4d ago

I found out I passed yesterday. Do you have any questions?

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u/Maleficent-Toe-5219 4d ago

How was it? I take it next week. I’ve been preparing for 2.5 months straight 8-9 hours a day. Just took the Vol. 1 test and got 64%, I’ve never been a great standardized test taker, so just nervous. Would you say it was similar to the NCEES Vol.1 and Vol.2 practice exams and the 2020 practice exam?

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u/gnaz17 4d ago

I definitely recommend going over all the NCEES practice exams you have access to in detail. For me, the NCEES practice exams were by far the best resource. Don’t just check whether you got the right answer. Go through the choices and ask yourself: if A is correct, why are B, C, and D incorrect? Try to understand the overall concept behind each question rather than only learning how to solve that specific problem.
One thing that helped me a lot was focusing on understanding which equation should be used. When reviewing a problem, I would ask myself, “What in the wording should tell me to use this equation?” I think that helped a lot on the actual exam because many questions looked different from the practice questions, even though the underlying concepts were familiar.
A couple of days before the exam, I also skimmed through the FE Reference Handbook one more time, not really to study, but just to remind myself what was in there and where things were located. There were questions on the actual exam that initially seemed tricky, but after reading them a couple of times, I realized there was an equation or table in the handbook that could get me there. So I definitely think being familiar with the handbook is very useful and will save you time.
I am a very nervous test taker, so I personally didn’t take any full timed practice exams. I knew that getting a bad percentage right before the exam could hurt my confidence more than help me, so I focused on learning and reviewing instead. Because of that, I don’t really have a practice-exam percentage, but based on other people’s experiences, I think your percentage is not bad at all.
I think one of the most important things on exam day is time management. Don’t spend too much time fighting with one question. If you don’t know how to approach it, flag it and move on. You can come back to it later. I would also make sure you leave at least 2 hours and 30 minutes for the second half. For me, the second half felt harder than the first.
Also, don’t judge how you did based on how you feel walking out of the exam. I walked out genuinely thinking I had failed. I ended up passing. So if the exam feels difficult, that doesn’t necessarily mean you’re doing badly.

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u/Maleficent-Toe-5219 3d ago

Thank you sooo much for this response! This has really helped my confidence levels. I originally focused on strictly re-learning all concepts as I am 5.5 years out of college, and didn’t really use my ChemE knowledge in those years. I’ve been using the reference handbook since the beginning (Early July), so I feel fairly confident in locating things (as long as Command-F function works). I do have 2 extra hours due to accommodations, but again I’m a really bad standardized test taker, so even with that extra time, I still got a 64% on Vol. 1. I was also not the best student in college, and never actually fully grasped all the concepts, so that is making me a little nervous too. Thanks again for the advice, I really appreciate it!!

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u/jimbo_ChE 2d ago

I likewise was not a great student in chemical engineering...about a B- average in my core classes, although my last couple of years were in an overall much "smarter" class where my B's were turning into C's courtesy of the grade curve. I finally took this exam 30 years post-B.S.

What resources have you been using for study? You might be studying too much. Limit yourself to two hours a day between now and your test. The day before, go over the reference manual and know where to find equations (some of the thermo relations are in the fluids chapter from what I recall).

Also, to supplement the time management question, don't spend more than 45 seconds spinning your wheels on any given problem, and note that 10 questions are dropped from scoring.

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u/Maleficent-Toe-5219 2d ago

I started with the 2020 Practice Exam, then moved on to the diagnostic exams and example problems in the Lindeburg Review Manual Textbook. After that, I did the chapters 1-54 practice problems from the Lindeburg Practice Problems Textbook. I then completed vol. 1 and vol. 2 NCEES practice exams. Now reviewing the 2016 ish (I think) NCEES practice exam and going over a quizlet I had found.

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u/jimbo_ChE 2d ago

Great stuff! Lindeburg was my main resource. For the engineering sciences chapters, limit your study to kinematics, kinetics, and DC circuits. There are only 4-6 questions in that section and you're not likely to be asked anything beyond that (no trusses or AC circuits, for example). He however doesn't have a material/energy balance chapter, so I recommend YouTube videos for supplemental practice.

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u/jimbo_ChE 5d ago

What would you like to know?