I failed the FE the first time (that isn’t a typo, I failed that “easy” exam in college). Here’s what I learned and applied to pass the PE the first time.
This was it. The big test I had been preparing for since I picked my college major. Nights and weekends of studying, gallons of Diet Coke, and eschewing the gym and a social life for studying, all came down to this. “This” was the Principles and Practice of Engineering (PE) exam.
I had no less than two plastic milk-crate style storage crates full of resource books, decorated with colorful tabs sticking in all directions for quick reference. Those books weren’t light, so I’d borrowed a milk-crate that had wheels on it, so I could stack a second on top and efficiently get all those resources into the exam, all without needing to make a trip to the chiropractor the next day.
In the exam room, I crammed myself into a desk in a room that looked like it had been updated in the 1970’s. The desk was the sort that we had in high school, that hard, completely un-ergonomic chair with an attached desktop that didn’t move. They were uncomfortable in high school, and they were even worse for an adult with curvy hips. As I shifted my resources to one side of the chair/desk combo for easy access, I bumped my hip into the side of the desk. I’d carry an ugly bruise for the next week.
The roller coaster of emotions that assailed me during the 8-hour test were enough to give me whiplash. Some questions were easy, others were challenging but doable, and still others…..well, I had no clue what the question was talking about. I thought “I got this” in one moment, and then five minutes later thought “There is no way I will pass this test.” There were even a couple moments where I thought, “This question has absolutely no practical application, what were they thinking putting this on there?”
When it was over, my husband met me outside and asked how it went. “I have no clue,” I responded. “I’m just glad it’s over….at least for now.”
Months passed, as I waited for the envelope in the mail to tell me whether I passed or failed. You see, in the field of structural engineering, passing that test means a lot. Having a professional engineering license means you have access to the best jobs, best projects, you have the potential to reach the top of your field, and even the ability to start your own firm if desired. That credential is the difference between the haves and have-nots.
Finally, a very thin envelope arrived, evoking flashbacks to college admissions, when a thin envelope meant you hadn’t gotten in. Already thinking about when I would be able to take the test again, I ripped open the envelope and discovered I had passed!
I passed on the first try, a test I later found out had a 40% pass rate when I took it.
But the reason I believe I passed? It was because I failed the Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) years before. In order to take the PE, you must first pass the FE. Most students take it their senior year of college. It’s known as an “easy” test. I didn’t think I needed to study for it. After all, I was studying for all my other classes at the time. My thesis project was due later in the month. To top it all off, the day I took the test I almost didn’t go because I had the flu.
I failed that test. It didn’t matter that I had gotten mostly A’s in all my major classes. I didn’t study, so I failed.
Many of my classmates told me they didn’t study either. There was a general feeling that you didn’t need to study to pass that test. And of course, those that passed without studying were very vocal about it.
No one who hadn’t passed advertised their failure. I wasn’t going to be the first.
The following spring, I took the test again. This time, I studied in the evenings after work in the weeks leading up to the exam. I passed.
And so, when it was time for me to take the PE exam, I had no illusions that passing that test was anything but an exercise in studying. I had no illusions that I could do it without studying a lot. I had no illusions that I had it covered with my work experience, that my intelligence would carry me through, or that I could thumb through some of old notes and textbooks and call my preparations done.
Here are the three things I learned from my experiences, from both failing the FE the first time and then passing the PE the first time.
1. PASSING THE PE IS AN EXERCISE IN STUDYING.
If you study the right stuff, you pass. If you don't study, you don't. It has little to do with if you are a good engineer or not, although there are plenty of people who will judge your qualifications based on that piece of paper.
There are also some pretty obscure things you'll be tested on that you'll never use. I had bridge questions on my test, and 15 years later I’ve still never designed a bridge.
I know a structural engineer who failed the test 4 times (he never studied until try 5), who started his own firm, and recently celebrated his firms' 10 year anniversary. At least one of the recent American Society of Civil Engineers’ Presidents (who I won’t name) took three tries to pass the exam.
So, repeat after me: Passing the PE is not a measure of your engineering competence. You aren’t more competent the day after you take the exam, or the day you receive the letter saying you passed than you were the day before. Instead, it’s an exercise in how well you have prepared via studying.
To be clear: In civil engineering, and for most engineers in the Architecture/Engineering/Construction (AEC) industry, a PE is basically a requirement for long-term career growth. It’s a certification that makes a huge difference in your career trajectory. You typically receive a decent pay bump, and many more job opportunities are available to you. I am in no way trying to downplay the importance of earning the PE credential.
But, I’ve talked to too many good engineers whose confidence in themselves has been undermined when they failed this test the first time they took it. Your ability to pass or not isn’t your entire professional identity. You aren’t a failure as an engineer if you didn’t pass the first time.
Passing the PE exam is simply a reflection on how much, how well, and if what you studied aligned with the test material. I can't emphasize this enough: you can have fabulous engineering experience working under the brightest minds in the business. If you don't study, you'll still fail the exam.
2. CREATE A STUDY SCHEDULE AND STICK TO IT.
Create an outline of topics you will study, decide when you will study, and then block it out as a non-negotiable appointment with yourself on your calendar.
I am not a great test taker in general. Taking tests has always caused me some level of anxiety, and while I work well with a deadline, without some context beforehand (i.e. like an actual work project), I generally do not make the best decisions when being forced to make snap judgments, which is the very nature of a test.
To create a schedule, I took the SERM (Structural Engineering Reference Manual; there is also a CERM for the civil engineers out there), and broke each chapter down into manageable study chunks. I’d give myself a week for materials I knew well, and two for those I knew less about or for more complicated topics.
Four months before the exam, I started with two hours on my calendar three nights a week, and at least eight hours on the weekend. I wrote all over that book, I re-did all practice problems in there, and I tabbed all my other reference materials so all my subject matter for one subject could be easily found during the test.
In the final month before the exam, I focused on practice-test problems each weekend (because I found I needed at least 4 hours to do that, and I could never find that many uninterrupted hours when I was actually in a mental state to study on weeknights). I'd do that on one day of the weekend, and then spend my study time that next week figuring out what I did wrong, redoing the question if needed and modifying my resources also.
In totality, this meant I was putting in about 14-16 hours a week studying starting about 4 months before the exam, and then getting closer to 24 hours a week in the month before the test.
That’s what worked for me. What worked for me may not work for you. You may want a more structured review course instead of a 100% self-guided studying journey. Do what works for you, as long as you actually study.
I’m approached by far too many engineers who tell me they are taking the test again, and they studied before and still didn’t pass. When I dig into how much they actually studied, the common answer I get is that they started less than a month before the exam.
Please, don’t fool yourself into thinking you studied adequately if you didn’t start until the month of the exam. The exam for me was far more difficult than any exam I had ever taken previously due to the breadth of the material. Yes, there might be some unicorn-types out there who can pull that off, but most of us won’t.
3. ENLIST HELP.
Enlist the help of family, friends, and your employer to free up your time so you can study.
You’re busy. You might have kids, an active social life, or you’re training to run a marathon. Work projects and deadlines don’t stop because you need to study for the PE exam. However, you can make your study experience easier and much more enjoyable when you get your employer and friends/family on board.
Make sure your employer is aware that you are studying and plan to take the test. Communicate the date of the exam so you don't get assigned projects with major deadlines right before or after. Find out if there is any assistance your employer will provide. Some employers allow you to take a day of “administrative time” so you don’t have to take a vacation day to take the exam. Some employers will pay for review classes or the recommended resources to study if your office doesn’t already have them. Some employers are even amenable to having a small amount of study time during work hours, for example, 3-5pm Friday afternoons. You won't know until you ask.
From my own experience, it is really hard to be mentally prepared to study after work if you're routinely working overtime. Being transparent that you need to focus on studying for a finite, temporary period of time, and working with your employer to make sure your workload is manageable in these few months, goes a long way towards helping you pass the exam.
Help also comes in the form of family and friends at home. This is especially critical when you have children. Discuss with those closest to you what it will mean for you to study, and what passing the exam will mean for your career. If you have a long-term partner, spouse, and/or kids, ask for their help in figuring out how you can fit the necessary studying into the schedule.
There are tangible benefits to studying and passing this exam. In most firms, you’ll get a substantial raise when you pass the PE. You have many more job options and a much higher earning potential. Passing the PE exam affects the financial status of your entire household, for years. What could you do with a 10% raise or more, especially when compounded over time?
Particularly if you have a long-term partner or kids, it’s likely you’ll need to rock the boat a bit on whatever your normal routines are to make space for studying. The majority of your studying will not be during work hours. Maximize your ability to be successful on the exam by regaining hours you’re spending doing things after work that you can delegate.
Assuming you already have eliminated typical time-sucking culprits (example: mindless scrolling of social media, funny cat videos, binge-watching Game of Thrones), here’s a couple of things you could do to gain more time on evenings and weekends to give you more time to study:
Delegate meal selection, grocery shopping, and the cooking of meals to someone else. These could be entirely delegated to a partner, or you could use a grocery or meal delivery. You can easily get 4-6 hours back per week on this one alone, even if you only delegate some of the time.
Is there housework you do routinely, for example: laundry, cleaning, mowing grass, or shoveling snow? Consider asking your partner to pick some of these up, or hiring someone to do it for you. (If you’re thinking to yourself “I can’t afford to hire anyone,” consider what the long term cost to you is if you don’t pass the exam now because you didn’t hire someone.)
If you have kids, reconsider your morning and evening routines, particularly around childcare. Can someone else pick up the kids in the evening so you can study uninterrupted at work from 5-6pm and still get home in time for dinner/family time? In the morning, could someone else get the kids ready and dropped-off so you can get some studying in before work? Can you ask your child’s grandparents or partner to take the kids for the day once a month on a weekend so you can fully focus on studying that day?
YOU HAVE TO PUT IN THE WORK TO PASS
But I also think it’s important to understand that there are many really good engineers who didn’t pass on the first try. If that’s you aren't alone in your struggles. You’re not incompetent or lacking intelligence.
Maybe you just had a bad day. Maybe – if you’re really honest with yourself – you made the choice previously to prioritize other parts of your life above the study effort needed to pass the exam. There’s no shame in that either.
Make no doubt about it, there will be a short-term inconvenience and discomfort to you and those around you when you prioritize studying in the months leading up to the exam. No one wants to come home after a long day of work and study for the PE exam. It sucks and I went through it too.
Just remember: it’s temporary, and your focus now will be rewarded when you pass. Believe you can do it, but more importantly, put in the hours of focused studying work so you walk into the test knowing you've done everything possible to put yourself in a position to pass it.
As always, please let us know in the comments if you found this blog helpful, or if you have any other tips for those reading this thread on passing the PE.
