Hey all,
I'm a recent Wake Tech grad In Geomatics Technology with 10+ years of field experience. ?ÿI'm preparing to sit for the FS exam in North Carolina, and due to the broadness of content that this exam covers I feel that I do not know which direction to go in next in terms of what to study. ?ÿI have bought the FS Exam Prep book and gone over it dozens of times but I know that is only a small possibility of what kinds of questions I may be faced with in the actual exam. ?ÿI was just curious to pick the brains of anyone who has recently taken this exam and see if anyone had any suggestions as to what I should focus on next, or what other material I could go through that had practice exercises to help broaden what I did not cover in the FS Prep book. ?ÿThanks for any input, it's greatly appreciated!
Buy the ppi book and study cover to cover. I spent a few months working through the book an hour or so each day. Study interest computation. Study traverses and celestial observations. Being in NC I recommend studying a little PLSS.
Excellent I actually bought and ordered that earlier today. ?ÿGood call, we didn't cover very much on celestial observations or PLSS in school. ?ÿI'm decently familiar with PLSS from studying Keens PLS practice exam book (although it is a bit outdated nowadays), but very weak in celestial computations. ?ÿThanks for the input.
Here are few topics you should be familiar with.?ÿ They are all covered in a 3-day seminar in April 2018.
?ÿ
- Get good rest the days leading to the exam day.
- The day of the exam bring snacks/lunch
- Make sure you have an approved calculator and know how to use. Bring a back up calculator just in case.
- Manage your time!
- Do all the problems you can quickly solve first. If you're taking more than 2 mins to solve any particular problem, you're chasing your tail. move on to the next problem. Don't waste your time trying to solve problems that are too hard/complex/time consuming or you're not sure about. Get all the easy points first.
- After all easy problems are solved. Do the ones you think you can solve but require more time.
- Try to solve the ones you're not sure about. Look at what they are asking. i.e.: If the answer is in apples, look for a formula that outputs apples.
- Last 2 mins, Guess! Choose all C or B. Do NOT leave a question unanswered. There's not penalty for wrong answer.?ÿ
- KNOW YOUR TRIG!!
- Get your Cosine and Sine laws down and know how to apply to solve for missing information.
- Know your curves both horizontal and vertical.
- Know differential leveling (easy points).
- Traverse calculations.
- Area approximations.
- Standard Deviation problems are also easy points.
- Two peg test.
- Matrix math is super easy thus free points
- Tape adjustments are also easy points.
- There were a couple questions about spelling/grammar in my exam. (metes and bounds question)
BTW, I passed the exam my first try. I never made the time to program my HP calculator so I basically took the exam with a regular scientific calculator. If you have the time, I'd say go for it. It should save you time when doing some of the more tedious problems.
Good luck!
NCSS normally has an exam prep class offered yearly. Not sure if it??s in the spring or fall. I went in 2008 and it definitely helped me. I would highly recommend it. Good review of topics on exam.?ÿ
All great points I will definitely apply them on test day and prior to it, I appreciate the advice! ?ÿ