PPI FE Mechanical Practice Problems – Comprehensive Practice for the FE Mechanical Exam First Edition

I had been out of school for over 5 years, and studying the problems in this book without a doubt helped me pass. Do not get frustrated if you cannot solve the problems at first, or even after a few tries, because the questions on the FE are much easier than the questions in this book. I think this book does a great job of showing you how to start questions and then where to go in the reference manual.

Excellent review material

I went throw every single exercise in this book, and later on, I bought the Review Manual book from the same author to clarify some points that I was in doubt. I felt very comfortable during the entire exam and passed it without any issue in my first try. The exercises in the exam resemble much alike the exercises in the book. Actually, I felt that the exercises in the exam are simpler than the ones in the book, so, by logic, if you are able to solve the exercises from the book, you won't have problems solving the exercises from the exam.The only thing I had an issue with was that there are too many exercises in the exam to be solved in the time period available. The fact that one knows how to solve a problem, doesn't mean that one will have time to solve it. I literally had to sprint guess the last 15 questions on my exam because I was running out of time.But at the end, it worked out. And that's the point. Worth it.

I waited 3 years post-graduation to take my exam (don't do this lol). I used this, the reference handbook, and review manual.You will get the most benefit from doing as many problems as you can, but don't just read the solutions--do your best and then use the solutions to help you learn why you got the problem wrong. Then move to the next problem and use your new knowledge to help you there.My second recommendation is to become VERY familiar with the reference handbook. I spent the last few days of studying going through each section of the review manual in detail. There are some equations that you won't use during your practice, but if you remember that it's there during the exam you'll be able to find it and complete the problem. Since I was familiar with the reference, I was usually able to quickly find relevant equations even when I didn't immediately know what to do.FE problems are not complicated, and there are rarely more than a couple steps to complete the problem. If you are comfortable with completing practice problems and know the reference manual, you will be fine. Remember, the reference handbook is the ONLY thing you will have in the exam so be prepared.

I have been out of School for 13 years. I have a PE in Canada and moved to the U.S. In order to become a PE in the U.S. I needed to write both the FE and PE exam. These practice problems and two practice exams are the only things I used to study. I just went through the entire book (2 to 3 chapters per night) over the period of about 3 weeks. I then did two practice exams and went over the most heavily weighted subjects (using this book) for the final week, went in this past Saturday, wrote the exam and passed. I pretty much crammed for this exam. Most people say you need about 3 months but if I can pass with only a month of studying (while working a fulltime job) after being out of school for 13 years, I think anyone who graduated recently should be able to do the same. This book was excellent preparation as the problems are, for the most part, harder than the actual exam questions (or a representation of the hardest 2-3 problems that might be on the exam). Some reviews are saying there are no worked solutions in the book. That is simply not true. The book has all the questions you need to pass and step by step solutions to every one of them. If you are looking to study for the FE in an efficient manner, I highly recommend buying this book and doing a couple practice exams. That should be all you need.

I recently passed the FE Mechanical exam. I went through the whole book using ONLY the provided NCEES manual as a reference for equations and concepts and the calculator that I would use on the exam. I spent 3 weeks going through everything and felt comfortable with most of the questions on the actual exam. The questions in this book are more difficult than the ones on the actual exam, which is good because it prepared me for most everything that was on the exam. There were some concept questions on the exam but if you aren't strong with the material, I would suggest the FE Mechanical Review Manual. I also marked chapters that I struggled with and went back over them once I completed all of the problems in the book.From what I have read on how to pass the exam, I would suggest taking one of the practice exams from NCEES, then use this or the manual to brush up on the subjects that you need the most work in. When taking the exam, I found it best to skip over any question that I wasn't sure how to answer, then come back to it when you get to the end of the section. The first section seemed to be easier and take less time than the second section so its best to pace yourself and give yourself more time for the second half.For a calculator I recommend the TI-36x Pro. I usually use a TI-84 plus and the 36x Pro is very similar to it including the ability to store numbers and insert previous equations/answers. I would also recommend using engineering paper and a pen to practice once you feel more confident in a subject. I suggest a pen because you are provided a weird pen-like dry erase marker (which doesn't erase) and a reusable notebook for the test.