FS Exam advice...?

I know NCEES has a exam prep book for the FS. I think it has 50 questions in it. To prepare for my FS exam all I did was make sure I knew how to answer every question in that book. When it comes time to take the test don't spend to much time on questions you don't get just move on and come back to it later. I remember a computer programing question being on the test that I had no idea about. However, the majority is straight forward. Good luck.

Land Surveyor's Workshops has some great training material

http://landsurveys.com/store/cart.php

Larry is a hoot to take a seminar from and he is good people. Feel good about buying from him.

At this point if you don't know it cramming for the test will not help much. From what I remember the FLS is mostly basic stuff with little to no calculation. Terms, technical questions, etc that you should know by now.

Relax. Eat a good meal the night before and try to get some rest. Your brain will be busted after 8 hours of exam. You will do fine and if you fail you will know what you are up against next time.

Good luck!

When in doubt, the answer is "c"!

Hopefully you have been preparing since the time you decided you were going to take the test and send the application. That's my greatest advice/comment. If you're just starting to study now, be prepared to take it again in October, just in case. Learn the information they provide in the book of equations they give out at the exam. Review your elementary surveying text, route surveying, Definitions of Surveying and Associated terms (ACSM). Maybe the Public Lands manual.

I'm sure there's more. It has been awhile since I took this exam (1996).

Don't try to cram the night before. If you don't know it by then, you won't be doing yourself any good stressing the night before and getting a poor night of sleep. Make sure you approach any test in a relaxed and prepared state and most people will do just fine if they do.

That is all the advice I can give you sine I have had plenty exam experience while attending university. I don't know what you know, but be prepared to answer silly questions like what the speed of light is (3 x 10^8 m/s), some computer questions, perhaps some GIS questions, and the typical stuff you would expect like math problems dealing with Trig and Algebra, Plane Geometry, and some Law questions.

The best advice I can give is this.

Read the entire test. Take three colors of highlighters, red, yellow and green.

Dot the easy questions with green, the medium with yellow and the hard ones with red. Start answering the easy ones and WHEN you remember how to answer one of the HARD ones, stop, go to that question and answer it.

However, this process is fraught with the possibility of you coloring in the wrong answer in the scantron and you're not answering the questions in order.

It will however allow your mind to work in the way that is best for you and you get the most knowledge out of your onion.

The real answer is, if you don't know it by now, there is a good change you're not going to know it, so don't sweat the small stuff and remember, the worst that can happen is you take the test 6 months later.

Good luck,

When you sit down at the exam, go through the exam cover to cover and pick off the easiest, quickest questions. Then go back to the front and get on the next level of questions, repeat until done.
Questions will begin to answer other questions, you'll gain confidence and ease into the more difficult stuff.
I watched a guy at my table spend an HOUR on like, the third question. Not good time management.
Don't cram, if you don't know it the night before the exam, you don't know it.
Be super careful with your answer sheet. Fill in the right circle!
The answer to every question is right there on the page. If you get stuck, start backing the answers into the question and bracket that sucker!
They know the mistakes you will make, and that answer is there as well.
READ THE QUESTION.

Work lots of different types of math problems. When I took the FS I worked problems a couple of hours a night leading up to it and looked through the Land Surveyors Reference Manual for the other stuff.

When I came out the exam the only thing I really felt deficient on was some GIS questions I could only guess at, because I hadn't even looked over any info on GIS.

Once inside and testing If I knew how to do the problem as soon as I looked at, I worked it. If it required a lot of thinking out of the gate i skipped it and came back to it. I had about 45 minutes left after each session so I went back and checked and corrected the ones I needed to and the ones I had no clue about I just tried to think through them.

The best way to study is to take the test, fail, and then study what was on the test.

I'm with Tommy...I blew it on my 1st shot, but met the enemy and came back with a bigger gun.

Tommy

That is the absolute worst advice your keyboard has ever uttered. WTF were you thinking dude?

boy - I screwed that process up....passing it on the first time and all.....:-P

Tommy

LOL, it's true. It isn't the cheapest way, and I'm sure it's not what he wanted to hear, but there is no better study guide than the test itself.

Thanks a ton for all of the advice everyone! I hope I can get it on that first go 'round but if not it is encouraging to know that others have had success after the initial fail.

Keep the advice coming! I really appreciate this site and all of the fellow surveyors that participate!

> The best way to study is to take the test, fail, and then study what was on the test.

For F Sake Tommy, Seriously??????

There is so much study information out in the digital world that if you prepare properly all you should be saying when you take the exam is "Wow, I've seen this exact problem just with different numbers." or as it happens many times..... "This problem was in my sample test."

It's simply a test, study it and pass it the first time.

Kelly, do you already have practice exams? If you had an email in your profile I'd send you some study material.

Good Luck
Jered

I used the Fundementals of Surveying (George Cole-third edition)for a sample test to find strengths and weaknesses. It is set up for the actual 8 hr test format-great for practice. I also went through 1001 solved fundemental problems (Jan Van Sickle - second edition) as well as the NCEES sample test. Time mangement is critical.

I do have some study materials. The NCEES FS practice exam. I also have the Surveyors Reference Manual. 2009 BLM Manual. Browns Legal Principals, Elementary Surveying Ghilani, and others.

Any other items would be great! And I have my EMAIL available to view now.

As has been said the NCEE's study book and another I strongly recommend is Harbin's Surveyor Reference Manual, Fourth Edition or any edition you can get your hands on, with the solutions Manual. It will also serve on the PS portions of the test.

I didn't get the solutions manual until I already had 4 registrations. I kind of have a tendency to do things out of sequence.:-P

01: Clearly, the majority of calculation problems do not require 'in depth' calculations. Therefore, don't be misled by comments such as 'Know your calculator inside and out.' One exception: Know how to use the calculator's statistics functions.

daw