For whatever reasons - both the academic track I took and my professional track - I needed ten years' of solid engineering design experience before I "knew" that I would be eligible to take the FE and PE exams.
So the years went by and I accumulated the experience. But... I didn't take the FE; I probably could've taken it after working for just a couple of years, but no. (I have a BS in a non-engineering science - but spent the next seven years thereafter studying engineering and ultimately getting my master's degree... looking back, I should have worked with my advisor - or asked him the right questions - and taken a couple more labs, or whatever, to acquire a BS in engineering along the way).
ANYWAY, I applied for both the FE and PE at the same time. My application was accepted and for the next six months I studied for both (did the structural option on the PE).
I took both tests in the same weekend and passed 'em both - at age 41!
As the others did here, I got the Lindeburg FE book (and the civil supplement) and did all the problems. I also go the big, brown CERM from Lindeburg again, doing all the problems. I got the "60-second solutions to strcutural engineering problems" book, an NCEES sample exam, the CERM sample exam and all manner of problems.
But first... I identified what my absolute weakest subject was and my absolute strongest. I was weak in surveying and transportation, that was about it. I also hadn't done ANY thermo or electrical stuff for more about 15 years. And I didn't feel comfortable enough in chemistry. My strengths: structures, earthworks, engineering economics and scheduling.
Even though the FE's morning session was general, I felt I had to concentrate on surveying and transportation since, when I thought about it, I didn't know squat about highway design. So I spent the first three weeks in May (I was scheduled to take the October exam) working through the Schaum's outline of surveying. Geometry is a strength, so this surveying stuff was a lot of fun. Next, I decided simply to work through the FE book first, for three months and then do PE-only studying for the remaining three months. I figured that I didn't have to study for the civil FE session since that would be covered by my PE studying.
I adopted a do-or-die mentality, I prayed A LOT, developed a mantra "gonna study, gonna pass, gonna study, gonna DO IT."
Here's how I put it to my wife, right at the beginning, after our first fight in May - because I was "not paying attention to her": 1) support your husband, this is temporary. 2) Your choice is either I stay at work until midnight every night and on weekends or I come home and study and you stay out of my way. 3) If you want to take off for a vacation or something, I'll pay for it, but I'm not going, have a good time.
She agreed, but it was not without a lot of tears on her part, but so what?! I didn't mean I didn't love her, it didn't mean that I didn't care about her, etc. It meant I had a task and I was serious about accomplishing it.
OK, back to studying. My math was good, so I cranked through the FE math studying quickly. Statics I did in half a day! That stuff I can do in my sleep! Thermo and electrical? My dormant knowledge from classes eons ago "woke up" and I was comfortable with my abilitiies. And so on. The toughest subject for me to "grasp" FE-wise, surprisingly, was dynamics - at the beginning, so I went through it three times. Plus I'm still not comfortable with manometers, even though I've done, what, a hundred manometer problems?
When it came time to study for the PE, there was a lot of crossover, especially with fluids. Transportation engineering, which was somewhat new to me, I found interesting and fun - but I didn't have time to be interested or entertained... In the end, I was doing only structures problems.
Other strategies: I took the two weeks before the exam off from work and shut myself in. The last thing I did, before getting A LOT of sleep Thursday, was take an FE exam.
Stuff I didn't do: time myself; I didn't see the need and besides, at least for the FE, the little math problems I can do in less than a minute. I also didn't tell people about my studying woes; I simply didn't talk to people at all - unless I was at work, otherwise: my head is buried in books. I did not take a review course, no time nor desire.
Stuff I did: I filled twenty spiral notebooks with worked problems. I bought two HP-33S's; my 28S and 48S weren't allowed on the exam and being an "HP guy" I needed an RPN calculator. I bought the 33S in April, prior to the exam, and used it exclusively at work and at home from then on. I set up a couple of programs on it: quadratic equation, completing the square, and linear interpolation. I, through means available to me, collected ACI-318, IBC-2003, ASCE 7-02, AISC ASD and LRFD manuals, AASHTO's Green Book and the Bridge manual, the FHWA traffic manuals and the Highway Design Manual from the Transportation Review Board. I was and am very comfortable with the codes, but there's always stuff to learn. I brought these with me for the PE... they were tabbed... One thing I had taught myself while studying was to "know the tabs." The CERM is very good at teaching one to know where you've tabbed what.
I had a car service take me to the exam, both days. I brought MREs with me for lunch (do a google search if you don't know what those are!).
I spent, in total, about $1100 on supplies and related stuff (including the car service).
The morning session of both exams was easier than I thought they would be; I finished both before the time was up. The afternooon session of the PE - structures, was HARD. The civil FE afternoon session was REALLY HARD. In the former case, dang... In the latter, I didn't have a good grasp on environmental engineering. Additionally, the engineering economics questions (both exams!) were vexing.
I fought the "stunned" feeling I had after the PE (the PE was on a Friday, the FE the following Saturday) and had a night, calm dinner and went right to sleep. I dressed comfortably for both tests. I didn't talk to anyone while waiting outside - except for a couple of coworkers.
I left both exams with a feeling that I had barely passed - but I did think that I had passed.
If I had to do it over again I would:
1. Take the FE years before the PE.
2. Studied structures harder; even though my daily work is structures, I don't do much with bridges, high-rises, or prestressed concrete.
3. Have gotten married BEFORE undertaking the effort!
But, in the long run, I passed 'em both. I did better on the FE than I did on the PE - a surprise - but it is all over!
So, waskillywabbit, I wish you much success! It is DEFINITELY worth it. Magic doors start opening, and some you didn't even know were there appear and they're open, too!
