Engineering Degrees/FE Exam

[nugget61]

Hey, its that time for me to be thinking about taking the FE exam and I wanted to know what all of you out there have done. Did you take it or not and what was your reasoning for doing so?

I plan on flying for the navy for my 20 and then either retiring or flying commercially after that so I don't see a good reason to take the test - can anyone give me a good reason to take it?

 

[CumminsPilot]

Depends on your degree, but for me it wasn't worth taking.

As an aerospace engineer who didn't ever want to work for a Boeing or somebody big like that, it was a test that would get me nowhere. I worked in the aircraft industry 3 years and only met a handful of ME, EE, and AE folks who had theirs...they were all managing projects at the big companies.

The guy that I absolutely respect most as an engineer has his BSME and his Masters in AE...hands down the best designer I've ever met.

 

[VetteMuscle427]

Take it. Never know what can happen. You might end up NPQ and a CEC officer. I wish I'd have taken it, just to have that card in my pocket.

 

[nugget61]

Well I'm getting my BSEE this week and MENG EE this coming August.
When you say you worked and only knew a handful with em, are you sure you don't mean only a few had their PE? I'm talking about FE.

Would not taking the FE keep the Navy from putting me into an engineering position if I NPQed? (ie Nuke, CEC etc)

 

[CumminsPilot]

When you say you worked and only knew a handful with em, are you sure you don't mean only a few had their PE? I'm talking about FE.

FE is the first step to PE (without lots of years of actual experience), right? I took the prep-class for the FE and then just didn't take the test.

Yes, in the industry, I only ran into a handful who had their PE...all had taken the FE at the end of their college career. I asked why and it was because their career goals were to be managers at large companies in engineering positions. That wasn't, and still isn't my career goal, and from what you said (20 years, then flying commercially) it isn't yours either. I decided to skip the test. Might hurt me trying to get into TPS someday, but I doubt it.

 

[MettGT]

I have a BSME, took the FE, and passed. I never had any desire to be a designer or engineer in the "pure" engineering sense. For a little background, I did work in project management of the service division of a mechanical contractor while I was in school and several months thereafter while waiting to go to Marine OCS.

The way I figured it to be is that having the qualification can't hurt me (other than the pain of taking the miserable test). Not that I ever plan on going back to engineering, but if for some reason life takes me that way, it would be rather difficult to relearn everything required to pass the FE exam years down the road. All that said, it also never hurts to have a leg up over someone else.

 

[sevenhelmet]

Taken, and passed. I think the odds of me using it someday are 1 in 3 at best, but it's still worth it.

I recommend taking your FE. This is your best opportunity, before you get busy with the military and while all that engineering jargon is fresh in your mind. Then you'll have it in your hip pocket (to use the popular cliche) just in case. Career plans change, and what you plan today will change, trust me. Taking it costs you what, a Saturday? The cost of NOT taking it is potentially a lot higher.

 

[Slammer2]

I had too much of a brain storm to want to take it.

 

[red_ryder]

Like Cummins said, the FE is only a step on the road to your PE, which would be the whole point. I think it qualifies you to be an engineer in training, during which time you're supposed to be under the tutelage of another PE, I think? I'm not sure that will work for you in the navy.

And then, after that, you have to take your PE exam, if you remember all that stuff by the time you get it. And even then, if you're a Civil Engineer for example, they're starting to require that you have a master's degree or most of the credits for one in order to qualify.

I'm not sure exactly how useful it is in the industry, but I do know you need one to stamp certain official documents and testify as an expert witness in courts.

As a materials science/engineering major, they didn't really have a category that fit for me, so I didn't take it.

 

[xmid]

What about the fact that with the current climate you could (God forbid) get to Pensacola and be a civilian again 6 months later. It could be the product of something completely out of your control like an NPQ for something you didn't know about. I'm not an engineer, but why not take it? What could it hurt?

 

[smittyrunr]

Aero major, took the test, did not take the prep class, and passed. I doubt I'll ever use it, but for a few hours of pain, much better to take it while school is still recent than try to take it years later.
FYI, a systems engineering prof I had said he thought some of your time in the Navy, even if not actually in a job titled engineer, would count for some of the experienced required for a PE.

 

[PropAddict]

I'll echo some of the sentiments above (as a pragmatist with no real experience, mind you).

I took it sr. yr. and said, "Well, that's $100 and 6 hours of my life I'll never get back." Passed it, don't have to take it again. Ever. If this flyin' gig doesn't work out, I've got one more shiny thing for my resume, and I'm already one step closer to a PE.

Buddy of mine graduated a year ahead of me. NAMI Whammied. Redesig CEC. Real smart guy, good grades; shows up to take the FE a year later after living the life on Pensacola Beach. Doesn't pass. Has to wait to take it again. Spool himself back up on Mohr's Circle and Thermo. Asspain. Double the $$. Looks like a dumbass to his first boss.

In the grand scheme, $100 and a Saturday is not a lot.

Let Pascal's wager take this one: "If you gain, you gain all. If you lose, you lose nothing. Wager then, without hesitation. . ."

 

[Birdog8585]

Take it. I'm a CivE and never did. Granted if a Marine gets NPQ he doesnt get the boot like Navy right now, but It still would be nice to have like Vette said.

(Then again Vette, I don't know why you would need it to design fires - Jab)

 

[nugget61]

Thanks y'all. I plan on taking the test but I worry that if I NPQ from pilot that the navy will want me to do NUPOC or another engineering job rather than SNFO if I take the test - or am I worried about nothing?

 

[llnick2001]

I voted no, because I didn't, but I recommend taking it. If I were to take it now it probably wouldn't be pretty.