Quick Facts about Each PE Exam
Advice from Previous PE Examinees
General questions...
The engineering licensing process involves two exams. The first is the Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) exam. As a rule, this exam may be taken when you are in or recently graduated from college. The Principles and Practice of Engineering (PE) exam is the second exam, and most states have an requirement of several (2 to 6) years of full-time work experience before you can take this test. In most states, if you qualify for the PE exam in terms of experience, you can take the FE and PE exams in the same adminsitration if you wish.
The FE exam focuses on the material that you would typically be expectd to learn in an ABET-accredited undergraduate engineering degree. The PE exam may include questions that only a person with hands-on experience in a specific discipline would be able to answer. The FE exam in closed-book, but a 200-page Reference Handbook, consisting mostly of equations, is provided at the exam site for your use. The PE exams are all open-book, with little restriction on what materials you may bring (although you should check with your state board to be sure).
The Group 1 PE exams--Chemical, Civil, Electrical, Environmental, Mechanical, and Structural I and II--are given twice a year in most states, in April and October. They are scheduled on the same date (and always on a Friday) in every state.
April 24, 2009Most states offer the Group 2 exams only once a year, in October, except for the Naval Architecture/Marine Engineering PE and the Architectural PE exams, which are offered only in April. Check with your state board to verify which exams are given when.
The application deadline varies significantly by state, ranging from 45 to more than 180 days before the exam date. Check with your state board for the deadline that applies to you. Your board will also provide information on exam locations.
The basic PE exams are the same nationwide. These eight-hour tests are written by the NCEES and have been adopted by all US states and territories. However, some states require PE candidates to take additional exams in order to gain their license. For example, California requires civil PE candidates to pass not only the eight-hour PE exam but also two additional exams (2-1/2 hours each) covering engineering surveying and seismic principles. Contact your state board for specific requirements that may affect you.
For the PE exams that have multiple afternoon modules (civil and mechanical), examinees select which module they want to take during the exam itself. When you receive your examination booklet, it will contain all the modules. You may look at the questions for each of the modules before making your choice. It's strongly advisable, however, to decide on this ahead of time, so you can study accordingly.
The PE exams are open-book. In most states, there are few limits on the number or type of books that may be used as references. (See the checklists of useful references for the Civil PE exam and the Environmental PE exam.) Some states do not allow collections of solved problems into the exam.
Most states permit loose-leaf notes and charts as long as they are securely held in three-ring binders. (Turn your binder upside down and shake it; if nothing falls out, it's probably OK.) Loose "scratch" or blank paper is NOT allowed.
All states permit calculators.
To be safe, ALWAYS contact your state board to check what is and is not allowed into the exam, as they have the final word.
Most states will allow you to use "permanent" (glued or taped on, not easily removable) tabs on your references. Some states even allow Post-It® notes. You must check with your state board to determine their policy on tabs.
Your calculator must be battery- or solar-powered, silent, and nonprinting, and it must not have word-processing capabilities. Ideally, you should bring two calculators of the same model with you to the exam, in case one fails.
Some states do not allow certain calculator models into the exam, and a few restrict the use of plug-in ROM cards in calculators. Check Calculator FAQs for further information. You should also contact your state board to get their official word on the subject.
You must use the mechanical pencil that will be provided to you by NCEES at the test site. No other pencils are allowed. The supplied pencils use .7mm lead. You may bring extra lead and your own eraser.
Nominally, each PE exam uses units that reflect current practice in that discipline. For example, the Civil exam uses both SI and USCS units. The Mechanical exam uses only USCS units. Units for each exam are listed in this table.
Steel yourself to having to select answers that are not exact matches for the solution you have calculated. On the PE exams, you will see many questions that ask you to complete the sentence, "The correct value is most nearly..." It can be troubling to choose an answer when you don't find an exact match for the value you calculated.
Here's how NCEES advises how examinees to deal with this situation:
"Many of the questions on NCEES exams require calculations to arrive at a numerical answer. Depending on the method of calculation used, it is very possible that examinees working correctly will arrive at a range of answers. The phrase 'most nearly' is used to accommodate all these answers that have been derived correctly but which may be slightly different from the correct answer choice given on the exam. You should use good engineering judgment when selecting your choice of answer. For example, if the question asks you to calculate an electrical current or determine the load on a beam, you should literally select the answer option that is most nearly what you calculated, regardless of whether it is more or less than your calculated value. However, if the question asks you to select a fuse or circuit breaker to protect against a calculated current or to size a beam to carry a load, you should select an answer option that will safely carry the current or load. Typically, this requires selecting a value that is closest to but larger than the current or load."
Here's an example (it's from the civil discipline, but the same principles apply for all fields). Suppose you are asked to calculate "most nearly" the volumetric pure water flow required to dilute a contaminated stream to a specific concentration. Suppose also that you calculated the answer to be 823 gpm. If the answer choices are (A) 600 gpm, (B) 800 gpm, (C) 1000 gpm, and (D) 1200 gpm, you should select choice (B), because it is most nearly what you calculated. If, however, you were asked to select a pump or pipe with the same rated capacities, you would have to go with choice (C). For issues of capacity, such as the second example, you must choose the answer that meets the requirement, even if it is not the numerically closest to your calculation. If capacity is not an issue (as in the first example), go with the answer that is closest to your calculation.
This can be confusing, and it's very important that you grasp the differences in the two types of questions. Study these examples until you are comfortable with the whole "most nearly" concept.
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In some states, you may appeal your score on an essay-format exam as long as your score falls within your state's cutoff. (NCEES will not review an essay exam with a score below 62 points).
A number of states do not allow appeals, so check first with your state board to find out whether an appeal is possible.
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