Just found out I passed my FS exam this morning and figured I??d put this post up to help guide anyone who is taking the exam in the near future. I used this forum a lot to prepare so I feel obligated to offer any advice/answer any questions any of you might have.?ÿ
Congratulations!!
Way to go!!!!
Awesome!?ÿ Congrats!?ÿ It's always great to have somebody with a fresh eye and experience to pass on to the others coming up behind you!
Awesome! I have been looking to take this as well. Give all your advice and what books to prepare should I dust off. ?ÿ
Fundamentals of Surveying Exam Tips
The exam is comprised of two 55 question sections with one being mostly boundary law and the other being mostly math. The NCEES website has a general outline on their website of what??s covered on the exam
The first section is mostly based on survey definitions, boundary law, theoretical GPS questions and planning/land development. My best advice would be to first of all know your survey definitions! Some of these include accretion, erosion, reliction, estoppel, latent/patent ambiguity, perpesture and parol evidence to name a few. I had about 5 questions that were strictly definition based so definitely study up on any survey definitions you can find (especially riparian words like accretion, reliction??). My second piece of advice for this section would be to know your priority of calls! The boundary questions weren??t too hard in my experience if you know and understand the priority of calls. The rest of the questions were mostly random questions you either know or don??t know based off of your experience. This section was the hardest for me due to it being a lot of ??select all that apply? and ??you know it or don??t? type questions. I would also highly recommend brushing up on your contour relations and the Public Land Surveying System. I had like 2-3 questions asking about contours and one asking to label certain parts of a topo map (saddle, upstream??). For the Public Land Surveying System definitely know that error in a township (6x6 miles) is placed in the most north/west sections. Also know that meander lines run along the Mean High Water Line and they are only used to calculate area.
The second section is mostly math based and for me was way less challenging. Out of the 55 questions I only guessed on 4-5 with half of those being narrowed down to one or two answers. My best advice for this section would be to know your horizontal/vertical curves, triangles, traverse closures/Lat/Dep, coordinate geometry, slope/grade calculations, leveling notes(3 wire), average end area, photogrammetry/scale questions. I also had one similar to the one on theNCEES practice book with finding the center of a circle. Even though I would say my math skills were good going in due to my studying and work experience, I still brought my programmed HP35s with Dzign programs. I would HIGHLY recommend getting one or using one for the test because you could easily solve some of those questions in under 30 seconds. Example would be finding the high/low point of a vertical curve or the external distance for a horizontal curve.
All in all, I would say the test is very difficult but very doable if you prepare properly, have a good surveying background and have a solid math background/programmable calculator. I believe the test was about 6 hours and I finished with an hour and a half to spare. I studied for approximately 4-5 months, an hour ?? two per night and felt like that was plenty, maybe even a little overkill for me personally. For my study references I used:
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I passed?ÿ the FS in Summer 2021. My recommendations would be;
The most recent NCEES FS Reference Handbook(This is vital. Study how you Exam) This is the only reference you are allowed.
I used a Casio FX-991EX. I despise reverse polish notation and HP calculators. Use what you are comfortable with.(Only study using the calculator you intend to test with)
Books:
Surveying Solved Problems
Browns Boundary
Elementary Surveying
University Courses:
University of Maine has a great FS prep-course.
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Good Luck!
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I passed?ÿ the FS in Summer 2021.
Congratulations, the easy part is now over with. ?????ÿ
I passed?ÿ the FS in Summer 2021.
Congratulations, the easy part is now over with. ?????ÿ
Thanks!
There's always something new to learn in surveying which is part of the reason I enjoy the profession so much.
I became registered in 1978 and have learned more about surveying here in the last 10+ years than I learned in 20 years of experience. Stick around and participate, you'll learn whether you want to or not. This is a great site for learning what you thought you knew about surveying. ?????ÿ
ps: I assume you are a "Bill", there are several of us here.
Note that the "1001 Solved Surveying Fundamentals Problems" is out of print, freakishly overpriced, and obsolete. Newer editions of that book are titled "Surveying Solved Problems". Same book, same author, updated and retitled. I highly recommend the current edition, but do not get sucked into buying "1001".?ÿ?ÿ
Note that the "1001 Solved Surveying Fundamentals Problems" is out of print, freakishly overpriced, and obsolete. Newer editions of that book are titled "Surveying Solved Problems". Same book, same author, updated and retitled. I highly recommend the current edition, but do not get sucked into buying "1001".?ÿ?ÿ
?ÿ"1001 Solved Surveying Fundamentals Problems" - 1 New from $961.71 ?ÿfor a paperback copy on amazon.?ÿ 5th edition, the newer, current version @Norman-Oklahoma (my former home town) speaks of is $110, just a few copies left, but only claims to have "More Than 900" solved problems. #1 Don't buy books from amazon. #2 Time for me to dig out my old '1001' book with corrected answers by me hand written in and sell it to someone, lol.?ÿ I seriously have well over 500 surveying books (some dupes) dating from 1556 to 2021 if anyone is looking for a particular book let me know and I will see what I got. Some digital, some hard cover and some paperback copies, but I no longer need them. Let me know if you are looking for any old antique instruments, chains, books, etc because I don't use them! My apologies if this is not allowed, but I'm only trying help some young surveyors.
Reading @SurveyorDave96's list of topics and questions it does not seem to have changed at all since I took the entire 16-hour exam given on a Fri and Sat back in Oct 1981 at the OKC Board Room (PE's were in the big room across the hall) for my first license which was issued in Feb 1982. I've taken and passed a dozen state exams that ranged from 1.5 hrs to 5.0 hrs since then. I really needed 2 hours for the 1.5 hour exam but passed anyway and I finished the 5-hour exam in under 4 hours. I thought maybe I missed something and re-read all the questions without changing a single answer and turned it in with 65 minutes to spare, took a cab to the airport for a flight that night, got up at 4am to drive 3 hours for another 2-hour exam first thing in the morning, and passed both on my first try. There were no 2 questions on either exam that were similar to each other, one PLSS state and one Colonial state.
