FE Exam Tips: Answering Difficult Engineering Questions Pt. 1

Taking the Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) exam can be a daunting task for many engineering students and graduates. The breadth of knowledge required to pass this 6-hour-long exam covering a variety of engineering disciplines is vast, leading many examinees to spend months in preparation through reviewing engineering concepts, solving practice problems, and taking practice exams. However, even with thorough preparation, the FE exam can present unexpected challenges on test day. Difficult exam questions can catch students off guard, which can cause anxiety and stress during the testing period.

Having a structured game plan in approaching difficult questions can help ease nerves and optimize performance when encountering unclear or tricky concepts on the FE. This is the first in a two-part series of blogs providing tips and techniques for students to use when answering difficult questions during the FE exam. We will cover strategies such as flagging questions for later, logically working through multi-step problems, leveraging your strengths across knowledge domains, and maintaining a positive mindset. Read on to learn how to conquer tough exam questions on test day.

In this Blog,

1. Assess the Question

2. Work Through the Fundamentals

3. Skip and Flag Questions

4. Leverage Your Strengths

5. Stay Positive

Assess the Question

When presented with a difficult question on the FE exam, before delving in too quickly, take a step back to fully assess what is being asked. Read the question prompt carefully and identify exactly what needs to be determined or calculated. Underline or highlight key parts of the question or any data that is provided. Then, take a few seconds to think - what engineering concept or formula will help me solve this? Trying to isolate the fundamental theory or relationship at hand is crucial, rather than jumping right into calculations. This aligns your thought process in the right direction from the start.

For multi-step quantitative problems, visualizing the scenario can assist with this assessment phase. Quickly sketch or draw the components involved, labeling any information given. This puts the abstract problem into a concrete perspective, clarifying the goal and known factors. Once the question is fully parsed apart, determining the proper formula or method will be more apparent. Rushing into solving before understanding all aspects of a difficult question often leads to mistakes or wasted time from improper approaches. So, take a breath, analyze what’s being asked, and set yourself up for success.

Work Through the Fundamentals

Encountering difficult questions in subject areas that you are less confident about, lean on the fundamentals to push through to the solution. Break down complex problems into simpler, more familiar components that you can grasp. For example, electromagnetism problems can be simplified using basic electromagnetic principles of oppositely charged particles, conductors, electric fields, etc. Reduce the problem to the basics within these core concepts. Identify any simplifying assumptions you can make to remove unnecessary complexity. Isolating these to walk through methodically will often help unlock the proper problem-solving path.

It can also help you think back to the most basic conceptual questions or example problems covered in your study resources for the topic. Difficult exam problems usually test the same principles but in more complex scenarios. If you are completely unsure of how to proceed, go back to the simple case and expand from there. The way core engineering principles interact and build upon each other will guide you through even nasty, difficult questions. Stick to the fundamentals and avoid getting overwhelmed by complexities.

Skip and Flag Questions

Be alert for any difficult questions that you are completely unsure of how to approach after a quick assessment. These types of questions are time sinks, distracting mental energy and motivating a random guessing approach. For these, it is often best to immediately skip them and flag for later return. Quickly flag it in your exam software, write a physical mark on your note board, or even note it on a written list of flagged questions you want to revisit. This will allow you to stay focused on questions you can solve confidently.

Getting mired down on a few difficult questions can derail your progress and timing for the exam. Make sure to budget your time across all knowledge areas accordingly, flagging questions that are too difficult to come back to later. Doing this allows you to maximize your score potential across the board. After returning to other questions, with more time and cleared thoughts, flagged questions may even seem less daunting. Just be sure to keep a close track of flags to circle back before the end of your allotted exam time.

Leverage Your Strengths

On the FE exam, answers to difficult questions in one topic area are sometimes obscured in the relationships to other topics. For example, a challenging dynamics problem may require understanding electrical circuit analysis to unlock the solution. When stuck on a question, think broadly across engineering disciplines and leverage your strengths. What other knowledge domains might offer clues to help solve this? The FE tests a breadth of interrelated engineering concepts, so find the connections.

Also, consider strengths in problem-solving approaches that could be applied. For challenging quantitative questions, is there an easier method you have experience with? Could a scalar-based shortcut help rather than brute-force vector calculations? Your strengths in certain simplification techniques or approaches to specific problem archetypes can enable breakthroughs.

Finally, is there another way to frame the question or check your work? Trying to come at the problem from a different perspective can provide surprisingly simple solutions to seemingly difficult questions. Play to your advantages in mental modeling ability, conceptual understanding, and problem-solving creativity.

Stay Positive

Maintaining a positive mindset when encountering difficult questions is critical for FE exam performance. Getting derailed mentally by tricky concepts can quickly snowball into a downward spiral of self-doubt and rushed guessing. Be ready to take a few deep breaths when prompted with confusing questions to clear your head. Remember that you studied and prepared for this and have the engineering knowledge to reason through it. Trust your mental process, isolate the fundamentals, and be open to creative approaches.

Also, be sure to pat yourself on the back for small successes throughout the day. Give yourself credit for everything you know you answered correctly so far, rather than dwelling on uncertainties. Have confidence in all the knowledge you possess. Motivate yourself to push through the final stages of the mentally taxing FE exam. Keep spirits high, knowing this is a milestone accomplishment in your engineering journey.

With the right problem-solving mindset and strategies, difficult questions on the FE exam can be overcome for success. Assess the core of the question, stick to the engineering fundamentals, strategically skip confusing questions, leverage your strengths, and stay positive. Put these tips into practice during your FE exam preparation and on test day. Trust yourself, your knowledge, and your abilities. You’ve got this!

Did you know School of PE offers tutoring if you need help mastering certain concepts on your FE exam? Our tutors are subject-matter and industry experts who teach only in their respective fields of expertise. They are experienced educators dedicated to helping our students succeed. Check out our tutoring options today and gain the confidence you need to pass on your first try!

About the Author: Khoa Tran

Khoa Tran is an electrical engineer working at the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power and is currently pursuing his master's in electrical Power from the University of Southern California. He is fluent in both Vietnamese and English and is interested in outdoor activities and exploring new things.