Customer Reviews

How to Prepare for the FE/EIT Exam: Fundamentals of Engineering (Barron's Fe: Fundamentals of Engineering Exam)

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

I bought this text thinking it would be a succinct and useful review of the core fundamentals of engineering--it is anything but that.

It appears that nobody bothered to proofread this text before printing it, as it is full of errors ranging from misnumbered or completely missing equations and references to problem solutions solved using different values than those provided in the problem statement or that are just fundamentally wrong. The dynamics section and circuits section are the worst I have encountered so far, but I expect to find more mistakes before I finish looking through the text.

Having prepared for several standardized tests in the last two years, I can say with certainty that this is the worst review text I have ever purchased. Do not buy this book unless you like to be confused and irritated or like to correct someone else's mistakes.

I bought this book thinking it would give me a good idea of the EIT exam. I read through it and looked at the examples and worked the problems - and found quite a few mistakes (confirmed by fellow engineers who also bought and used this book). As it turns out, the exam is simple anyway - its hardly worth the time to "review" for it. There may be other books out there that are helpful, but this isn't one of them...

good luck with your exam!

Although this review book provides a good coverage of the topics for the EIT, it has been poorly edited and contains numerous errors in the sample problems. It will leave you second guessing your correct answers due to typographical errors throughout the solutions to practice problems. Another draw back to this book is its lack of standard conventions and equations that are provided in the Supplied Reference Handbook that you will use for the exam. This will lead you to memorize unneccesary equations and methods for problem solving. DO NOT BUY

Books does not conform with the NCEES manual, has tons of errors in the text and in the sample problems (confirmed by many, see other reviews), and needs to be re-formatted to follow a logical sequence instead of topics in alphabetical order.

This book so far has a terrible review. I passed the April 2006 FE exam and I feel this is a pretty good book.

Generally I like all the chapters and the subject review included in this book. For example, the chemistry section of the FE review manual does not include all the formulas and explanations required for the exam, but this book has enough subject review, sample problems and exercise problems required for the exam. The problems and explanations provided for Mathematics, Electric circuits, Statics, Dynamics, Thermodynamics, Fluid mechanics, Mechanics of materials and Material science are more than enough to pass the exam. I suggest that the author should have included more explanations for engineering economics sections.

The pros and cons of this book can be listed as follows.

Pros:

1. A mini-diagnostic exam to gauge your current knowledge
2. Each chapter has a subject review
3. Sample problems and answers for each of the subject area
4. Exercise problems with answers explained in the back for each subject area
5. A full length practice exam with solutions included

Cons:

1. The equations and symbols followed are not consistent with the FE review manual
2. The chapters are not organized in the same order as the review manual

In a nut shell this is not an expensive book and you can finish reading it in 15 days (3 hours per day).

Note: The Iron-Iron carbide phase diagram is included in the Thermodynamics section of the FE review manual. I think it should be on the material science section. This diagram may help you in answering few questions in the material science section of the FE Exam.

This book is useless as a study guide due to the many errors, most of which are found in the sample problem solutions.

This exam review is full of errors and does not give a good preparation for the test. I was spending more time reconciling their errors than focusing on prep for the test. Their solutions are vague and incomplete and their equations do not match with the FE supplied reference handbook. I ended up going back to original textbooks for better understanding. Just remember you get what you pay for.
Good luck on the exam and use Lindeburg's 1001 Solved Engineering Problems for a better prep. Couple that with his EIT reference manual and you are all set.

The true appeal of this book is its size. It would be nice to think that all you need to know is in such a manageable book, and not some unwieldy tome. Yet, this book falls far short of "all you need to know". The review is not complete. A sufficient amount of knowledge is assumed. This can be a real nightmare for someone out school for a while (me!). Furthermore, this book doesn't follow the sequence of the NCEES review manual. Not only that, it doesn't even bother to use the equations in the same format that NCEES provides them. I found the key to passing the FE was being intimately familiar with NCEES reference material, so that formulas can be QUICKLY located on exam day. This book does not facilitate the process. I know this book's size is very appealing, but don't be fooled. It doesn't make it as a primary review source, particularly if you've been away from the material for a while.

I own this book... I am starting with chemistry (first chapter) and I found a lot of errors.... Those errors take a lot of my reviewing time.

Check the for typos and calculation errors.

It's too bad I can't return this, as there are much too many mistakes in formulas and example problems. What's the point if every time I think, "wait a minute, that doesn't seem right" (which happened a lot), I end up having to look through my text books for correct formulas. I found a handful of mistakes in just the "Dynamics" portion. If you are at all wanting to spend your money wisely for a primary studying guide and review, do NOT buy this. If you know the material already and need more practice exams, then MAYBE this might be for you.