How to Plan Your Schedule While Preparing for EIT Certifications
Getting your EIT certification is an excellent step to improving your career. Being an engineer in training shows potential employers that you know the fundamentals of engineering and are ready to work.
How to Get Your EIT Certifications
The only way to obtain your EIT certification is by taking the FE Exam, previously known as the EIT exam. This exam consists of 110-questions over 5 hours and 20 minutes.
There are seven disciplines engineers can choose from, the most common being FE Civil and FE Mechanical. Each exam is computer-based and available to take year-round. To get more information on the exam, visit the NCEES website.
To study for the FE, you need to plan your schedule. An efficient and productive plan will help you pass the exam faster!
Planning Your FE Study Schedule
Effective study prep starts with a study schedule. We have developed a three-step process that helps you create a study plan, methods to study smarter, and finally, how to create a schedule.
Studying without a schedule can leave you lost and taking months, or years, to finish preparing and feel confident to take the exam.
Confidence in your knowledge starts here, with making a study plan.
1. Make a Study Plan
Before you begin your EIT exam prep, make a study plan. This plan will include all of your study material, tools, and resources. Your study plan should include:
- FE specifications
- Reference Handbook
- Approved calculator
- Notebooks & Cheat Sheets
- FE Practice Exams
- Prep Course
Once you gather these tools, you can then determine how many hours you have available to study. The number of hours will depend on the study resources; books and self-study from YouTube can take more hours, while online courses provide you with everything you need and speed up the process. You must also consider work, community, family time, recharge, and sleep into your hours available for studying.
Using study material that has you always searching online for definitions, not allowing you enough time to understand concepts, or forcing you into their schedule is not helping you pass the FE. If you want to know if your FE resources are helping you pass faster, check out this 8-question checklist.
Part of your study plan should also include your study spot. Create an organized, quiet, and private area for you to study. It should be free of distractions and only be used for your studying. Some students have used libraries or coffee shops as part of their study spots, which is ok too! Find what works for you and keep your study time uninterrupted.
2. Methods to Study Smart
To become an engineer in training faster, find methods to help you study smarter and have productive study sessions. Getting the most out of your day allows you to continue to find times in your life for family, work, and recharge.
Here are my favorite study smart tools:
- Create a time block calendar
- Use a Daily Checklist
- Review your study material once a week
- Use EIT exam prep study material that makes it easier to study
Methods like these will help you learn and retain information for the exam. Additionally, taking time to recharge and reenergize will help you to avoid burnout. Always work in time to exercise, sleep, and be with family and friends. Facing burnout will cause you to have trouble remembering, lose confidence and possibly delay taking the exam.
3. Create an Easy-To-Follow Study Schedule
Before diving into studying, creating your easy-to-follow study schedule is wise. The plan includes determining how many weeks you will be studying, when to use FE practice exams, and when to schedule your exam.
Beware that no one schedule works for everyone. You have your unique work schedule, family obligations, and flexibility. When you consider everything, you can make an easy-to-follow study schedule that will have you taking the EIT exam in just a few months.
Do not try to rush this process. Taking one to four weeks will also not help you pass the exam. Students who cram miss essential information, skip over important problems and concepts, and can get exhausted.
You are covering anywhere from 14-17 different subjects for this exam, meaning you need to take the time to get to know each one.
Download our full FE Exam Study Plan with sample schedules. This workbook will give the starting point to create the study for the FE schedule you need, plus more details on the tips, tricks, and tools to study for the FE.
Why is getting your EIT Certification important?
Obtaining your EIT certification is the first step to becoming a licensed professional engineer. Each state has guidelines to follow to apply for your EIT, so check with your local regulations on how to apply for your EIT.
If you want to build the career you want, start by creating a study schedule that will work for you so that you can take the exam and become an engineer in training.
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