Taking the FE/EIT exam on Saturday

[Northwoods]

For those that are not engineers, the FE/EIT is the Fundamental of Engineering exam for the Engineer In Training certificate.  It's the first of 2 exams one must pass (along with having 4 years of experience supervised by a licensed Professional Engineer plus an ABET accredited engineering degree) in order to be licensed as a "Professional Engineer" (PE for short).

Should've listened to my professors in college and taken it when I was a graduating senior.  Would have been soooo much easier 11 years ago.   

Saturday will be a long day.  I have to be at the Seattle Center (site of the World's Fair way back whenever it was that Seattle hosted it) by 0715, which means the alarm will go off around 5AM.  Exam is supposed to start at 0800.  Morning portion runs until noon, then a 1 hour lunch break, the another 4 hours for the afternoon portion.  Exam should be over by 1700. 

I'll be staying at my wife's aunt and uncle's Friday night.  That'll save me a good 50 miles of driving Saturday morning.  I'll go back there after the exam for dinner and medicinal beer.  Then SWMBO will drive me home.  Hopefully I'll be able to flop into bed by 2200.

Assuming I pass (~80% do their first time) I'll probably go on to the PE exam in October.  If not I'll retake this one.  When I pass the PE exam too, I'll be able to keep a stamp at my desk that I'll never use, put a certificate on the wall that says I'm good at taking the tests.  Have a credential to put on my resume.  Get a 3% bonus.  And check a box to help qualify for a promotion (where the license still won't ever get used).

Got plans to meet a guy from a kayak fishing forum I'm also a member of at Lake Samish on Sunday.  Should be a good chance to decompress after the stress of an 8 hour exam.  We'll be chasing kokanee and cutthroat trout.  Oh yeah.  And drinking beer.  Guy at the sporting goods shop said the kokanee are just starting to come up shallow enough to be able to fish for them without a downrigger.  Said the bite was sparse but there.  Also said there's cutts up to 6 lbs in that lake.  Hopefully the weather will be good and the lake calm.  Otherwise ...         .

 

[drewtam]

I don't know anybody in our office that has a PE. I'm not sure I could find a supervisor to meet that requirement.

[Northwoods]

Out of my nearly 12 years experience, I know for certain I can document 4.5 under a PE.  2.5 at the job I had in Phoenix, and 2 at my current job.  Beyond that, I could probably come up with another 3-5 years under a PE if I had to.  But I don't need any more than 4 years so I won't bother tracking those supervisors down.

[Zardozimo Oprah Bannedalas]

Good luck. You taking general engineering or specific discipline?

[MechAg94]

I took the FE exam as a senior and passed it okay.  I've never gotten the EIT or went for a PE though.  My employer really doesn't use it.  I doubt I have the documented experience anyway.

I recall that the first half of the test was all short plug and chug questions that you either know or not.  I aced that portion and finished early.  The 2nd half was larger problems and included a lot of electric circuits questions that I guessed at (for Mechanical).  I am pretty sure I sucked on the 2nd half and the 1st half carried me.  They had Prep classes on campus that I attended.  There was a lot of stuff I was forgetting even then.  That is the way it was in Texas.  I'm not sure how much it varies from state to state.

[cosine]

Good luck tomorrow. What's your primary engineering discipline?

I don't know if I'll ever bother trying to obtain my PE license. It doesn't seem to be that important of a credential for electrical engineers.

[Northwoods]

I'm doing the Mechanical section for the afternoon.

My degree is Aerospace Engineering.  I've been doing stress analysis since graduation.

I wouldn't have bothered either, but higher management places value on PE licenses for some odd reason.  So while I'll never actually use the stamp the license will help advance myself.

[Northwoods]

Sonofabitch.  Glad that's done.  Just hope I passed.  If I did I'll take the PE in October.  If not I'll re-take the EIT.

If I had to guess I'd say 70% on the morning section, 50% on the afternoon.  If I'm right, that's good enough to pass.

Apparently I suck at heat cycle problems, and work done by compressors/pumps/etc.

[birdman]

You know, I can't think of anyone I work with who is a PE...I mean, I've built plentyof stuff, and the only time a PE was needed was for someone to sign off on the plans...after we built it and it was going into production, as I guess a CYA check-box.   Given that...I don't think I want to be a PE.

[Northwoods]

Good day on the lake.  Fishing was slow.  Only one little trout all day.  But still it was a great time.  My arms are rather sore.  And I really need to get a new seat for the yak.  1/4" of padding is not cutting it.

[Northwoods]

I PASSED!!!

Now on to the PE exam in October.

[vaskidmark]

What do you call the person with the lowest ranking in their medical school class?

Is there a similar name for engineers?

But congratulations anyway.

stay safe.

[TechMan]

Congratulations!!!!!

[MechAg94]

I PASSED!!!

Now on to the PE exam in October.

Congratulations!  One milestone you never have to cross again.

[cosine]

I PASSED!!!

Now on to the PE exam in October.

Awesome. Good luck in October.

[Northwoods]

What do you call the person with the lowest ranking in their medical school class?

Doctor.

Is there a similar name for engineers?

Manager.

[Monkeyleg]

Congratulations on the test (even if you were too old to take it ).

[Doggy Daddy]

Slightly belated congrats on passing!  That's really sumpn'.

DD

[Zardozimo Oprah Bannedalas]

Congrats!

[Northwoods]

Thanks all. 

Right now I'm trying to corner my second-level to get him to sign my training request for the PE prep class.  The money is already in the department budget, my first level has signed the form, but I need his signature before HR will sign it and allow purchasing to create the PO that result in the tuition actually, you know, getting paid - and not by me.

Ah, the joys of working for a large corporation.