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Beehive again, studying for the EIT!
Feb. 25th, 2007 03:22 pmTo become a Professional Engineer, there are four main steps:
1) Get a degree in engineering from an ABET accredited institution.
2) Take (and pass) the Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) exam. Once you pass this exam, you are considered an Engineer In Training (EIT). The FE exam is an 8 hour exam - the morning portion is general (chemical engineering, electrical, mechanical, engineering ethics, etc.) and the afternoon portion is Discipline Specific. I'll take the Civil Engineering DS section, covering transportation, soils, foundations, structural, fluid dynamics, etc.
3) Once you have your EIT, begin accruing years of experience. (In Pennsylvania, you can only begin racking up experience once you have your EIT). After four years of experience, advance to step 4...
4) Take the (and pass) PE (Professional Engineering) exam. This is a more applied exam, and it's specific to your discipline. It is also an 8 hour exam, and the rumor is that it's easier to pass since it relates to whatever you've been doing professionally for 4 years.
Once you pass the PE exam, you are an accredited Professional Engineer! You can buy your stamp, you can put the letters "P.E." after your name, you can boast to your family and friends, you can pose for sexy engineer pinup calendars with pride, etc. Hooray for credentialed alphabet soup.
And so... I am on step 2 right now. I am signed up to take the FE exam on April 21, a little under 2 months from now. Most folks take about 3 months to prepare - most of the prep courses are 11 to 16 weeks long. I have 8 weeks. I signed up in October, but I procrastinated until today. I wasn't sure if I would actually *take* the exam - when Tom and I were planning on an October wedding, taking the exam in April seemed like too much. Also, when I hated my job back in November, the idea of going through hell to become a Professional Engineer seemed like a lot of agony for something I didn't really want. But, now I don't hate my job, and I have no excuse for skipping the exam. So, I'm in! And I have 8 weeks to prepare!
I have some review DVDs which include PDF study guides and hour-long videos covering the material. I also have a membership to www.eitexam.com, which provides sample questions and full-length practice tests. Today marks my first day focusing on the material - I'm about to dig in to the first section of the general, the Chemistry section. Yeehaw :)
This means I'll be pretty focused on the EIT for the next 2 months: my goal is to spend at least 4 hours every Sunday reviewing, and for the 2 or 3 weeks leading up to the exam I'll bump that up to 2-3 hours several nights a week.
Okay, off to study!
1) Get a degree in engineering from an ABET accredited institution.
2) Take (and pass) the Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) exam. Once you pass this exam, you are considered an Engineer In Training (EIT). The FE exam is an 8 hour exam - the morning portion is general (chemical engineering, electrical, mechanical, engineering ethics, etc.) and the afternoon portion is Discipline Specific. I'll take the Civil Engineering DS section, covering transportation, soils, foundations, structural, fluid dynamics, etc.
3) Once you have your EIT, begin accruing years of experience. (In Pennsylvania, you can only begin racking up experience once you have your EIT). After four years of experience, advance to step 4...
4) Take the (and pass) PE (Professional Engineering) exam. This is a more applied exam, and it's specific to your discipline. It is also an 8 hour exam, and the rumor is that it's easier to pass since it relates to whatever you've been doing professionally for 4 years.
Once you pass the PE exam, you are an accredited Professional Engineer! You can buy your stamp, you can put the letters "P.E." after your name, you can boast to your family and friends, you can pose for sexy engineer pinup calendars with pride, etc. Hooray for credentialed alphabet soup.
And so... I am on step 2 right now. I am signed up to take the FE exam on April 21, a little under 2 months from now. Most folks take about 3 months to prepare - most of the prep courses are 11 to 16 weeks long. I have 8 weeks. I signed up in October, but I procrastinated until today. I wasn't sure if I would actually *take* the exam - when Tom and I were planning on an October wedding, taking the exam in April seemed like too much. Also, when I hated my job back in November, the idea of going through hell to become a Professional Engineer seemed like a lot of agony for something I didn't really want. But, now I don't hate my job, and I have no excuse for skipping the exam. So, I'm in! And I have 8 weeks to prepare!
I have some review DVDs which include PDF study guides and hour-long videos covering the material. I also have a membership to www.eitexam.com, which provides sample questions and full-length practice tests. Today marks my first day focusing on the material - I'm about to dig in to the first section of the general, the Chemistry section. Yeehaw :)
This means I'll be pretty focused on the EIT for the next 2 months: my goal is to spend at least 4 hours every Sunday reviewing, and for the 2 or 3 weeks leading up to the exam I'll bump that up to 2-3 hours several nights a week.
Okay, off to study!
