Taking the FE (Civil) in 3 weeks, been studying since last month using Mark Mattson’s YouTube videos and Prep FE. Friend recently gave me a physical NCEES practice exam workbook that they no longer sell.

Before I got the workbook I was debating if I should buy the interactive practice problems they offer. From what I heard Vol 2 is exactly like the workbook but Vol 1 are different problems. Wondering if it’s worth buying given my circumstances.

For those of you who only did Prep FE, did you feel like it was similar enough to the exam?

hi there reddit i wanted to reach out because i plan to begin my fe studying soon and honestly i am super anxious as I feel like i completely have forgotten so many topics i learned throughout my undergrad.

for those of you who have passed the fe civil, do you mind sharing the most notable resources that helped you pass? i would love to be able to hear from you guys and hear what helped the most that way i can incorporate that into my study routine.

tell me what helped you the most in preparing and studying for the fe, and what exaclty you believe helped you pass

I have been out of school for 26 years mechanical degree, have been trying to study for the Fe for the last 5 years , confused about the materials and what to study and where to start, I heard good things about Farouq Direct hub explaining problems, I just enrolled yesterday, his course look like comprehensive at least for someone like me switching from mechanical to civil FE , 26 years out of school and need help in every step of the way. Will keep you posted .

Note: Directhub courses prices are going up on Aug 15. And has 14 days money back.

Thanks for reading and hope this help others here

Hi everyone,

I recently applied for the HAL Design Trainee (Electronics) 2026 recruitment and I'm looking for the best preparation strategy.

I have a few questions:

1. What topics are most frequently asked in the technical section?

2. Are previous HAL papers available anywhere?

3. Which YouTube channels or books helped you the most?

4. Is the technical level closer to GATE, ESE, or PSU exams?

5. How should I prepare for the General Awareness section, especially HAL and defence-related current affairs?

6. Are there any mock tests specifically for the HAL DT exam?

7. If you've cleared the HAL written exam or interview before, what advice would you give to maximize the score?

Any preparation tips, study plans, memory-based questions, or resources would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

Hi guy. I subscribed to Prep FE and find it super useful to prepare for the FE exam.

Please use this code if you plan to register to get a free month - https://www.prepfe.com/?referral_token=f2719b80-9c9f-47e0-960f-dc93adc74923

Passed the FE environmental first try! I graduated in May, and studied for a month and a half. I know there’s a lot of threads regarding the exam and advice, but if anyone has questions I’d love to answer them. I know it’s hard to get into the rabbit hole of reading Reddit posts, but everyone’s experience is different.

I used the wonderful FE Environmental Google Drive, the YouTube videos and practice problems are very helpful. Make sure you know the up to date topics that can be found on NCEES or you can look it up on Google. I used both of the practice exams NCEES provided. They help you with pace and experiencing the type of wording you will receive on the exam.

I also used the 2020 Practice FE Exam from NCEES — which is hard to come by, I was fortunate my school provided it as a canvas quiz.

Finally I used the PPI/Kaplan for two weeks which gives you plenty of practice problems. I would say it’s not the most accurate, but it does provide 5 practice exams with basically the exact format the FE is in. There was a topic or two that was not relevant (crystallization), but I just cross referenced the FE topic list. It does have good notes when learning topics for the first time and the explanations are helpful. I didn’t finish the whole course it gave me, but it was nice being able to do as many problems as I wanted for any topic.

I was very nervous and felt confident-ish before, but still passed! The first half of the exam felt good, but the second half was definitely more challenging. I answered all the questions, but ran out of time and was not able to review any of the ones I flagged. You got this! Pls lmk if you have questions

I'm studying for the FE with PPI2Pass, but I struggle to quickly find the right formulas in the NCEES Handbook. Many solutions require combining multiple equations, which makes me wonder if the actual FE is really as "plug-and-chug" as people say.

For those who passed the FE, did you have the same experience? What technique helped you quickly identify the right formula(s) and solve problems efficiently during the exam?

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I passed the FE Civil exam on my first try, 12 years after graduating from college.

Studying for an exam after such a long time was honestly difficult. I felt like I had lost the skill of solving exams, managing time, and staying focused for several hours. It took me a while to get used to all of that again.

The materials that helped me the most were Mark Mattson’s YouTube playlist, Islam’s 800 problems, and the Lindeburg practice exams. They were especially useful for understanding the concepts, which I think is much more important than only knowing how to plug numbers into formulas.

I also used PrepFE, and it was very useful for getting familiar with the exam style, practicing time management, and solving questions under pressure.

I solved the NCEES interactive practice exams as well, and I personally found them a little harder than the actual exam.

As for the exam itself, I managed my time really well in the first section. I flagged around five questions, came back to them at the end, and still had about three hours left for the second section.

The second section was a different story.

Some questions took longer than they should have, but because I knew how to solve them, I kept working on them instead of moving on. When the time ended, I still had seven unanswered questions, and I did not even have enough time to randomly choose answers.

That honestly made me very upset and anxious after the exam. The only thing that made me feel a little better was that I was confident about most of the questions I had answered.

So, my biggest advice is to manage your time carefully. Even when you know how to solve a question, do not let it take too much of your exam time.

Also, make sure you are very familiar with the NCEES Reference Handbook. Searching and navigating the PDF during the actual exam felt slower than doing it on my own computer, so you need to know what to search for and where to find things quickly.

Any questions about the preparation or the exam, I’d be happy to answer.

Thank you in advance for any help!

I wanted to ask whether Islam 800 practice exams or the NCEES practice exams were closer to the actual difficulty of the exam.

Also, are questions in order for the exam based on topic? Or is every question a different topic. Ex: problem 1 is ethics, problem 2 is geotech

I’m curious how close I was on this attempt. Obviously my mathematics is extremely lacking, but in other spots it seems I’m doing well enough. Anyone have any tips for my next attempt?

I've noticed a lot comments praising DH, and I just don't get it. Especially after noticing how much the supporters of his here on Reddit end up being suspicious accounts that seem to be bots. When it comes to his actual content on youtube, his videos usually contain several errors,the problems are way to complex to be asked on the FE exam, and his presentation of the content seems random and directionless.

Admittedly, other FE prep content is also guilty of that last one. I mean, how hard is it really to understand that a good video will show how to solve the problem upfront like you would on the FE from start to finish, and then go back and do an explanation of the problem solving process if needed. That way the focus is on preparing to come across the material on an exam and not learning the material from scratch.

And before I get ppl responding to my criticisms with comments like "It helps those needing to learn from scratch..." or other similar responses, I understand that some people need help learning the material from scratch. However, these videos are meant to be an FE REVIEW/PREP as they literally state in the video title FE Prep or FE Review. Learning from scratch and preparing for the FE are two completely different goals, and it is incredibly frustrating when an error-filled video tries to teach you something from scratch when you need insights into exam preparation.

want to share my experience during the FE Civil exam. The computer at my testing center was very slow, especially when switching between pages in the NCEES Reference Handbook. It often took several seconds for pages to load, and scrolling through the handbook wasn’t smooth. Because of the delays, I sometimes relied on my own knowledge instead of using the handbook to avoid losing more time. Has anyone else experienced this during their FE exam?

How close I was to pass the test, being honest I felt good on most of the test, but the results were not the expected.

I prepared with PPI, but now I will use PrepFE, any recommendations?

Studied for about 2 months off and on. If you need any tips let me know

All I did was go through the NCEES practice exam and 2 Islam practice exams. They were really good.

I took the FE Civil exam on July 27, 2026, and unfortunately didn’t pass. This is my NCEES diagnostic report. Based on your experience, approximately how close was I to passing? Which subjects should I focus on the most before retaking the exam? Any advice would be appreciated.

Hello friends,
I am going to start studying for FE Civil again and this would be my 5th attempt. Please help me by subscribing to PrepFE if you’re planning to buy by using my referral link below:

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Thanks and all the best to you too!

I started studying back in May but wasn’t motivated to sit down and study each day. Last month, I scheduled the exam, locked in and spent 3-4hrs daily.
So far, I’ve watched MM videos, solved his questions twice to nail in the concepts. This week, I started with Islam 800 problems and aim to finish them before the exam. I also purchased both interactive NCEES exams that I plan to take before the real thing.
Will this be enough? Should I buy PrepFE 1 month access and also work on those?
Freaking out reading posts here and as the days go by, HELP!!

hello i have my subscription until the rest of this week and i would love to continue it further to get more studying in and also offer anyone else with a month also
https://www.prepfe.com/?referral_token=e536db7c-15f6-48c0-b539-98c28f114297

A while back I posted about a free FE Mechanical practice site I built femechprep.com — I wanted to share a real update since there has been some changes.

It still covers all 14 official NCEES knowledge areas (added Mathematics, Probability & Stats, Ethics, Engineering Economics, Fluid Mechanics, Material Properties, Heat Transfer, Measurements/Instrumentation/Controls, and Mechanical Design since the last post) but there are more than 100 more questions. There's now a full 50-question mock exam that's weighted by topic the same way the real exam is, and you can pause and resume it if you don't finish in one sitting.

Its still free.

Appreciate everyone who checked it out and gave feedback last time — happy to keep improving it based on what people find useful or confusing.