Engineers - Tell me your EIT Stories

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

Here it is the evening before the EIT (Engineer in Training) exam, I have just had the busiest semester of school yet, and I have not studied for the EIT exam. I have my exam review book, and at this point I am 75% sure I will be taking this again in the fall.

So, tell me your stories!

Did you pass the first time? Was it hard? Was it useful? Oh, and for kicks throw in what your degree is in and if you got your PE license.

I’m Environmental Engineering, May 2008, and I plan on getting my PE license.

2

I have a Masters in ME. About two years after graduating, some of my workmates took the EIT (now called the FE, I believe) so I decided to take it too. I used Lindeburg’s book which was outstanding.

The test was very easy for me but getting the study book was key because I was out of undergrad for a while and hadn’t seen some of the concepts for a few years. I did need the review. This was in 1992 or so and the test has changed since then.

I ended up getting my PE in ME in 1999. I used Lindeburgs PE book and took a review course. That test was more difficult but I was well prepared and passed easily.

Lindeburg’s website is www.ppi2pass.com. There are message boards there and a huge amount of information about the test.

3

[QUOTE=hajario]
I have a Masters in ME. About two years after graduating, some of my workmates took the EIT (now called the FE, I believe) so I decided to take it too. I used Lindeburg’s book which was outstanding.
[/QUOTE]

Yep, we called it the FE exam too. I was a computer engineer. I studied not one bit. Okay, the night before I literally spent ten minutes bumming an acceptable calculator and looking over the book so I kind of knew where the sections were. The test was hard only because it was so long. I believe mine had around 300 questions. I passed the first time. I took both general sections though since they didn’t exactly have my major as an offered test.

I put it on my resume and a lot of companies actually asked about it (positively) when I interviewed. I wouldn’t stress over it.

Also they are really strict about cell phone usage, etc. They flat out said that if your cell phone rings during the test, they take it up and you fail. They watch you like hawks.

Also I have no intention of ever getting my PE license.

4

Well, first off, I’m a little wiped out now because I just finished taking the P.E. exam in Environmental Engineering today. :wink:

Anyway, I took the FE/EIT exam four years ago. I was really dreading it because I took it over ten years after my undergraduate degree. (I was in the U.S. Navy during that time, so it wasn’t a big priority for me before that.)

I highly recommend NOT waiting to take the EIT. The only thing that saved me was that I taught both chemistry and physics for seven years while in the Navy. That helped a lot. On the other hand, I only studied for three days. (I took three days off work to study right before the exam.) Thankfully, I passed it the first time.

Also, I took the general FE exam, because I didn’t have time to review all of the basic environmental stuff before that exam. This contrasted starkly with my studying for the P.E., in which I studied nothing but environmental, of course.

I have a B.S. in Chemical Engineering and an M.S. in Civil & Environmental Engineering.

Good luck on the EIT! Hopefully neither of us will be retesting in the Fall. :cool:

On preview, let me second dgrdfd about how strict the exam administration is. Do not even bring in any of the prohibited items, including cell phones, pens, pencils, erasers, or unapproved calculators. The proctors emphasized that if any of these items were found in your possession after testing began, your exam would be confiscated, not scored, all fees forfeited, and possible legal action would be taken against you. :eek:

5

When taking the EIT, in the afternoon should I take the general civil, or the environmental?

6

[QUOTE=Jeeves]
When taking the EIT, in the afternoon should I take the general civil, or the environmental?
[/QUOTE]

Look at the afternoon topics here, and pick what you feel strongest in. When I took it, you could change your mind at any time.

I actually considered switching from General to Environmental ten minutes into the afternoon session. The PM exam book had all of the disciplines. All you had to do was change the bubble for what PM exam discipline you were taking.

Warning! I’m not sure that this is still the case! My info is four years out of date for the EIT!

Anyway, I decided to stick with my original plan, and I slogged through the General PM session.

7

I took it about 2 years ago and you could still change. I started off in electrical and switched to general after about 10 minutes too.

8

I clicked on this thread, hoping to find some humorous anecdotes, but then realised that only engineers would be replying…
grin
FML

9

Non-engineer here. Just curious, what do the initials FE stand for?

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[QUOTE=Spectre of Pithecanthropus]
Non-engineer here. Just curious, what do the initials FE stand for?
[/QUOTE]

Fundamentals of Engineering

11

I graduated from Purdue in 1979 with a BSE in Aero and Astro Engineering. I never even *heard * of an EIT till I got my first engineering job 6 years later. (I owed the Navy 5 years of my life after graduation, hence the time lapse.) I will grant you that I wasn’t always the most attentive of students, but one would think that the EIT/PE issue would be mentioned more than once throughout an undergrad curriculum. Yet I don’t recall it ever being discussed.

And since that first engineering job was as a civilian employee of the Navy and since I’ve continued as a civil servant since 1985, there was never any need for me to pursue the tests. It was never a requirement for any of my assignments and, frankly, I didn’t want the designation. I work with several PEs, but in our organization, it only amounts to bragging rights. And being less than 3 years from retirment, I’m not interested in my bragging rights.

12

[QUOTE=FairyChatMom]
I graduated from Purdue in 1979 with a BSE in Aero and Astro Engineering. I never even *heard * of an EIT till I got my first engineering job 6 years later. (I owed the Navy 5 years of my life after graduation, hence the time lapse.) I will grant you that I wasn’t always the most attentive of students, but one would think that the EIT/PE issue would be mentioned more than once throughout an undergrad curriculum. Yet I don’t recall it ever being discussed.

And since that first engineering job was as a civilian employee of the Navy and since I’ve continued as a civil servant since 1985, there was never any need for me to pursue the tests. It was never a requirement for any of my assignments and, frankly, I didn’t want the designation. I work with several PEs, but in our organization, it only amounts to bragging rights. And being less than 3 years from retirment, I’m not interested in my bragging rights.
[/QUOTE]

Same thing here (sort of). 1989 graduate of Rensselaer with a BSE in Mechanical Engineering (tried to be an Aero, couldn’t hack it). The first time I ever heard of such a thing was when I was sitting on our Engineering Economics class senior year, and the professor said, “for those of you taking the EIT on Saturday…” Fully half of us looked at each other and started saying, “The what? Should I be concerned about this?”

I went to work for a steel construction firm, and the only people that really needed a PE license were the Civil Engineers who supervised municipal work, and the occasional Mechanical Engineer who supervised Div. 2 pressure vessel work. Still, it was good for bragging rights and as a resume item.

I took the EIT 5-6 years after I graduated, and then took the PE 3-4 years after that. Passed them both on the first try, and with minimal studying. In all honesty, I’m not sure how. I was a fairly mediocre student in college, and most of my subsequent work was not design intensive, more project management. On the other hand, I’ve always tested well, so maybe that was what did it.

Once I got my license and my stamp, I followed my first boss’s advice. “When you get your stamp, put it as far back in your desk drawer as possible, and don’t take it out unless you absolutely have to.” Well, I did use it to stamp my name in the front of my books, but that’s it. Never had any reason to use it in the course of business.

13

Well, this one might be a bit humerous, but not for me! I took the FE about a year ago. About a week before, my buddy gave me his study guide and an acceptable calculator. I had to go to Albuquerque to take the test, and was running VERY late. I made it to check in with about 30 seconds to spare, and it was at about that time I realized I had left my acceptable calculator at home! So, I had to take the morning session without a calculator. It wasn’t that bad, though. I still finished an hour early, so I still had two hours to go to Target and find a cheapo.

My undergrad was in mechanical, but the mechanical portion of the FE focuses alot on HVAC (from what I hear), so I opted to take the general. It was pretty straightforward, really, and I got a letter a few months later saying I passed. The hardest part is not the material, but how long it is. I’d suggest taking at least a quart of water and a few goodies. I’m pretty sure they let you take food as long as it’s in a clear ziplock. I don’t know why they’re so strict about what pencils you use, ect., because the equation book they give you has way more information than you could fit on a pencil.

14

I took the EIT in the spring of 1987, right before graduating with my BS in Civil. The entire senior class, IIRC, sat for it on the same day. The professors were able to give it at our school, so that made it easier (no traveling). I don’t remember it as being too hard, but certainly rigorous enough. I think I worked the ‘computer science’ portion for the second part because I was into computing. I passed the EIT the first time; most of my classmates did as well.

After working the required 3 years (I got to count my graduate work as 1 year) I sat for the PE. I remember that as being VERY rigorous. I left the exam site feeling like my whole brain had been poured out. :stuck_out_tongue: I also passed the PE on the first try.

Being licensed is essential for me, especially now that I own my own consulting business. At least half my projects will entail documents which need a PE’s stamp. If I were in design, that percentage would probably be around 100% - all of their design plans must be stamped.

The company I worked for as an EIT stressed licensure - and essentially required it for management positions. The company even sponsored study sessions for EIT’s who interested. (I think they still do).

About the only funny part of either test was the story of how I found my Schaum’s Outline for Fluid Mechanics. I began preparing for the PE and could not find the book. I thought I had misplaced it. It’s a very handy reference book and I knew I could have used it during the test.

Three engineers from my company took the test on the same day. My friend Dave came in the room, sat beside me, and begins pulling books out. About the second or third one he pulled out was my Schaum’s Outline ! I was able to use it during the test, after all.

15

You should be done by now and starting to celebrate getting it over with. The EIT exam is of course easier the sooner you take it. I got my B.A.Sc. in Chem. Eng. in Canada so I didn’t take it until my first year of grad school, only a couple years later than most people take it. I recall some Engineers back home in Canada that won’t get a P.E. in any State, not because they’re worried about the P.E. exam but because of the EIT exam.

Both exams were quite easy and don’t need much studying. For the P.E. exam I recommend Lindeburg and checking out the ppi2pass site which has already been mentioned. I seem to recall him stating 300 hours is the average study time for the P.E. exam. IMHO if you spend even a third of that time and don’t pass the first time something’s wrong.

I also reiterate the advice that once you get your P.E. if you can avoid stamping anything do. I received mine about 6 years ago and have only signed about a half dozen or so documents/designs. I’ve yet to sign anything at my current company and I’ve been here almost 2 years.

16

Well, despite the fact that they had more people booked than they had seats, so it started an hour late, it went really well. I had no problems with the first section, other than a couple of electrical questions. In the afternoon I took the environmental section, and was pretty happy with it. I am glad that my water chemistry professor stressed pC-pH diagrams, there was a couple of questions that they made easy. In both sections I finished about an hour early, but I have always been a fast tester.

Since I am Environmental, which shares a lot of characteristics with Civil, a PE license is very important for me. I need to before I start my firm, which I am going to do as soon as I finally get it. The EIT felt like the first really concrete step towards it.

It was neat seeing a building about 760 ft long filled with tables and people testing. The tables were all full, so there was 1,000 people in the room taking the test. A picture would have been great, but would have gotten me booted!

Thanks for the advice from everyone, it helped calm me down last night.

Jeeves

17

Welcome to the ranks, Jeeves. From your post I think you probably passed swimmingly.

After you obtain your PE, you might consider joining the order of the Engineer. It’s a small thing, but I wear my iron ring proudly.

Good luck in your career. :slight_smile:

18

[QUOTE=NinetyWt]
Welcome to the ranks, Jeeves. From your post I think you probably passed swimmingly.

After you obtain your PE, you might consider joining the order of the Engineer. It’s a small thing, but I wear my iron ring proudly.

Good luck in your career. :slight_smile:
[/QUOTE]

Since I got my undergrad in Canada I have an Iron Ring. It used to be how I could identify Canadian engineers down here but a few American schools do it as well. I haven’t taken mine off in more than a decade.